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You just can�t go wrong with a Marlin with a peep sight. Pick your caliber from a classic to one of the new ones. Mine's a 450M

I'm rather fond of my 336's. With all the other rifles in the safe, they get some serious play every season. Easy in the hand when moving through brush and they're just plain cool. I've got two, 30-30AI, one with scope and one with peep. The terrain dictates which one I grab, but I admit to preferring the one w/o scope cause it's just "right."

Savage 99 is the one with class..

Win 94 vs Marlin 336. Apples and oranges.

Win 94 -- Excellent pointability. Made the 16" Wrangler in .30-30 and .32Win that are handy for 4-wheelers and pickup seats. Big Bores are still out there. Likely a good investment.

Marlin 336 -- Easy to scope. Stronger action than the standard 94. Probably equal to the Big Bore. Lots of them available in .35Rem and .45-70.

The Fords and Chevys of the lever world. Sav 99's are the Caddys.

Savage 99 is my favorite lever gun....especially the older ones.....favorite "fun gun" is my Marlin 1895G in 45-70, if yah handload its a blast.....can load it from 45 colt levels all the way up to punishing levels.....

I really like my Marlins. I thought that a Win 64 would be just perfect, since I loved my early 336A's in the same configuration. But, I never liked the action in comparison to the 336, so I sold it to a friend.

I currently have 5 Marlins. 3 in the 24" barrel, 2/3's magazine pistol grip model. Two in .35 Remington, a caliber I've really grown to appreciate, and one in .30-30. One Marlin is the standard carbine in .32 Special. One in .444.

I have a Browning 71, in .348 of course, that just keeps a constant smile on my face. And a Savage EG in .300.

My next lever purchase will be a 92 clone in .45 Colt. I'm not as emphatically against scopes on levers as one previous poster, but I sure like my peep sights.

I love levers, and would recommend older Marlin 336's. One in .30-30 and one in .35 Remington. But, I sure wouldn't argue against a pre-64 94.

Henry McCann-am a lover of lever and single-shots myself-have owned many short tube Winchesters-Model 71 in 348 I was told was a 3-inch rifle at 100 yds.- back in the late 60's I found a stash of 150gr. bullets stoked with 4831-with a sidemounted Redfield scope this rifle constantly grouped under 1 inch-what a deer killer-how does your Browning group the 200 and 250gr bullets?-am very interested

re:DanAdair-I love scopes on lever guns, although I have some without-I believe it's more humane if you are going to shoot at deer as far as 300 yds to have something you are sure will put the pill in the boiler room-my wife loves scopes so much, she wants to have me mount one on her old Marlin 410 lever action-just to see how it will shoot slugs-she does love to kill those gophers!

Want a '92 in 38/40 also.

Don't do that!

You will then get dies, a good mold and start shooting
one hole groups at 50 yards with plinking loads.

Then you will start looking through old loading books
to duplicate a few WHV loads for hunting.................

Your other rifles won't see the light of day.

Hard to really pick what is the best lever-action because so many aspects of the decision are subjective. I think all the actions are strong enough for the rounds they are chambered for, and wouldn't spend time obsessing over that.

One neat feature of the Marlin, if one appreciates it, is that it is a simple thing to unscrew and remove the lever and bolt for cleaning from the breech. And the Marlin is generally more affordable than the Winchesters, especially if talking about pre-64. And all model 71's are pricey be they Browning or Winchester. I have a Browning carbine and don't regret the price I paid for it, but I do dislike the price and availability of its brass.

I have a Savage 99C and Winchester 88. I prefer the Winchester over the Savage. Also have a BLR ... like it too . All three of these have a measurable difference in feel of how the lever works. Not surprising as they are quite different in their designs. The 88 needs to be worked fast ... has less leverage on extraction with it's scissor-jack like mechanism. The Savage takes considerably more force, and for more of the stroke, to lock it in closing ... as william iorg mentioned, it takes some getting used to with these levers. The BLR lever is very smooth with its gear, and like the 88, requires just a little more effort at the start of extraction. The 88 has the best carry balance of this group with the BLR just behind it (to me). Both the BLR and Savage are very light, but my 99C seems a little too light at the barrel and it kicks me the sharpest. I attribute it to stock fit and forward light barrel. The 99 and 88 are both .308 and the BLR is .358 Win.

On the tube fed levers, I lean towards the Marlin ... For flat-out coolness and elegance, the 71 rules. It is a little heavier than the Marlin.

On the spitzer firing levers ... I'm on the fence between my 88 and BLR as the best. I really like them both. Never handled a Finnwolf. For me, the 99 is at the rear of the pack, but I like it.

I think the fastest handling lever (quickness to the shoulder) is the Winchester 92 carbine ... although I don't own one, I have handled them. I do have a cowboy Marlin 1894 carbine in .45 Colt and it is also quite quick to shoulder ... not a huge difference between it and the Winny 92 in that respect.

My Marlin in .35 Rem just feels right in the woods and it's action is butter smooth. It was built in 1950 and has a 20" barrel. My newer Marlin 444 is not as friendly to carry at 22" ... not quite as well balanced and light, but still very good.

Well, I rambled enough but that's some of my perspective on it. I hocked a pre-64 Winchester 30-30 in mint condition so I could make rent that month while in college. I really wish I had it back.

Just one comment.. don't judge the Savage 99's by the clip models. They can be good hunting guns, but they resemble the pre-1960 rotary models about as much as a Winchester 88 does.

Rotary magazine with lever safety and a serial number less than 1 million. That's the keys to a great Savage 99..

re:GUYM-I have seen alot of s--t in my 60 odd years of hunting, but that's the first damn squirrel I've seen shooting a Marlin 39A from the prone position!! Well, maybe not, I have seen a few squirels at the shootin' range! This is my first day on the job here, and this is FUN!!! I like it better than talking about politics!! You can tell we live out in the country. I bought plenty of 22's when O got in I ought to be able to keep a 39A going for another 50-100 years. My great-great grandchildren will be using them!!

Never got into lever guns that much but if they made one chambered for 500 S&W, I'd be all over it.

Agree ... I wouldn't judge all Savage 99's off the 99C with clip ... which is why I made sure to specify it. Prices on the older rotary models have gone high enough I doubt I'll ever get one unless I stumble over a good deal.

As for the Model 88, the post-64 Winchester 88's have functional improvements over the pre-64's ... the press checkered stock is purely an aesthetic consideration. I think the post 64 88 is a better 88 -- an exception to the rule for Winchesters for pre- vs. post-64. I also happen to like the press checkering on that rifle, but that is subjective.

My first rifle was a Marlin 336 in 44mg. It is a slick, accurate rifle and death to a deer. Over the years I have developed a real weakness for a lever action rifle and have tried them all. Winchesters, Marlins, Brownings, Savages, I haven't found one yet I didn't like. My post 64 Winchester 88 is much smoother than a pre 64 I owned and shot better too. Trigger was pretty bad on both. I didn't care much for the Sako even though it looked a lot like the Winchester 88 it just didn't feel right and I passed on that one. If it came down to keeping one it would be the Marlin 336 in 44mg.

You should get one of the custom lever rifle builders to build you a custom model 71 in 50 Alaskan. THAT is real levergun power!

the .348 was just a necked down 45-70 wasn't it. it has the same base diameter.
i have had marlins and winchesters and use a 94 when it rains.
the 336 lever pivot is right where the balance point is...makes it a little hard to carry. in a longer bbl, this isn't a problem.
the 94 is also lighter, the main reason (ithink) it remained popular.
an uncle let me use an old '86 in 33 win when i was a kid...that thing weighed a ton!

re:wahoo
the 348 WIN was not a necked down 45-70, it was a necked down 50cal-probably the best lever rifle you've ever had in your hands was your uncle's '86 Model 33 WIN-as for Marlin, I never buy a rifle that I know isn't accurate BEFORE I buy it!-rifling twist means everything-I don't know why Marlin chose the 1-in-36 twist for the .44 and .444 when the right twist is 1 turn in 20 to 22 inches-I have rebarreled many lever guns in .44, and with a 22 inch twist, they will cut clover leafs at 100 yds.-I know from experience that the older 336 in .35 REM is the right twist and is a very accurate rifle-do a study of rifling twists and you will find that the twist in the Marlin lever action, almost makes it a roundball rifle-lots of luck

No, the 348 was based loosely on the 50/70. Base diameter is a little larger at .610 vs .608. Actually, it is a lot closer to some other now obsolete Winchester offerings. Considered a bit too large in several respects to ever work through a model 94 type of action. Might could be shoehorned into a Marlin but the overall length is 2.795 and Marlins OAL needs to be kept at 2.550 or less.

Oldgunsmith.... looks like you and I were typing at th same time! I believe that Marlins thinking was to use the same twist rate as is found in revolvers since thier new cartridge was merely a long 44 Magnum. Probably stabilizes the original 240gr loads OK but with that big case and a rifle 265 - 300 gr bullets are a real upgrade. Original designers likely did not see that coming. Or did not care about what rifle looney handloaders might want to try to do.