Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Lever gun aficionados

Feelin' the need for a lever 30-30 or a 38-55, 32 Special, 35 Remington or something similar to be used for a walk-about, come-what-may deer rifle, open sights and all. How do Win's and Marlins compare quality-wise, real or perceived or in any other way you'd like to note?

Thanks; I appreciate it!

IMO a walk-about, come-what-may deer gun with open sights is exactly what the Winchester 94 is made for. The Marlin 336 is a heavier gun, more solid IMO, and better suited for scope mounting. Now the Marlin 1894 in something like 357 mag or 44 mag is the best of the two, again IMO (though admittedly the range will be less than the others).

Actually, I'd consider the 45 Colt too.

I've owned/currently own both Marlin and Winchester Levers. My impression is that the M94 is better handling and lighter, but not by a huge margin. I've gotten better accuracy, in general, out of the Marlins. Marlins are also more amenable to scopes, if you don't have an AE model Winchester. Easier to clean, also.

Pre-64 Winchesters and "JM" stamped Marlins are the more desirable ones, again generally speaking.

I've not used a 38-55, but I haven't been able to detect any difference in the killing power of the other three cartridges you mentioned, just use the one that gives you the warm-n-fuzzies.

I do recommend a peep sight of some sort rather than the buckhorn.

Skinner sights are hard to beat for the Marlins.

http://www.skinnersights.com/index.html

The 30-30 is probably the worst of the lot that you mentioned, yet that is what I'd choose if I was only getting one centerfire levergun. You just have to have a 30-30. There are some practical reasons for it too. You can get the 30-30 at Walmart and none of the others are that available. The 30-30 is also available in a wide variety of loads and the others aren't.

For my one and only levergun that meets your specs, I'd get an 1894 Winchester in pre-64 guise or a 336 if I wanted to scope it. I think I would for sure want a pre-64 if I was going with open sights but on the 336 about any would do while my preference would be one without the safety. My own has a safety though.

The Marlin will probably be a little cheaper. I'd budget $500-600 for a very good '94 and probably $400 tops for a 336. In fact, if you can live with Remington's iteration, you can probably get a new 336 for not much more than that, including tax, at Walmart.

These are the exact guns I own, so I'm not just speculating-even though they ain't the only lever actions I have. I think my Winchester was made in 1955 and my Marlin is newish with a cheap scope on it with see-through mounts. It came on it when I bought it used, and I haven't even fiddled with it since it hits where I aimed it in the three or four shots I've taken. It's hangin' on some old truck gun racks I have mounted in my barn right now, with some electrical tape covering the barrel to keep bugs out. The Winchester hasn't been out of the safe in a couple of years except for cleaning or re-arranging.

Ah, need to find yourself a Savage 99. Probably get a decent hunter for $600'ish or less after a bit of looking.

This reblued barrel band carbine ran me less than $500, it's in 303 Savage which is basically a 30-30 class. Great walkabout gun, very light.

Not bad at all. I've thought of it.

Can anybody chime in on how the Savage TD 99s shoot?

the 94 is considerably more handy for carrying. however, in my experience, the 336's are more accurate and better for scope mounting. i have a bunch of 336's and two 94's. one old 30/30 open sites and a 94AE timber carbine 450 with a 2.75x scout scope. the 450 has an 18.5" barrel and weighs about 7 lbs loaded and scoped. it is a joy to carry but a brute to shoot. they made the same gun in a 30/30 and a 44. one of those would be the ticket. a 30/30 is hard to beat for shootability, economy and effectiveness on deer sized game.

George - What about one of the Browning reproductions. Browning made beautiful 92's in 44 Mag that were a very nice copy of the original. I'm not sure if they came in 45 LC or not?


ddj

Most are quite accurate, wouldn't depend on 1" groups. But I'd expect 2" groups or so with a scope, which for a 30-30 class rifle is perfectly good.

There are also steps you can take to improve it usually.

Savage = Ugly!

Don't know that I'd call myself a "lever gun aficianado" but I do like them. I only have 4 of them - Marlin 336 in 30-30, Marlin 1895 CB in 45-70, Winchester '94 in 30-30 and a Rossi (Puma) '92 in 45 Colt. I like them all, with the '95 45-70 the bestest. I do want to get a Savage 99 someday, only because I don't have one.

If you are going to stay with open sights and carry the gun alot, I would recommend the Marlin 1894 or a Winchester 92 copy. They are even lighter and handier than the 94, 336 or 99 and hold a few more rounds of ammo in the magazine.

However, I have to admit,I'd love to own a 250-3000.

Yep, and a .44 Mag out of a rifle ain't nothing to sneeze at.

I'll offer two.
A Rossi in 45 Colt, 20 inch barrel, Lyman reciever sight. Use 300 grain cast bullets, a handful of H110.
My second is a Browning 95 in 30-06 using heavy for caliber cast bullets, should be good for most anything in the lower 48.
The Rossi fits my hands better.

Jim

In my opinion (and in my experience) the Win 94 carries a little better than the 336. With the 336, the "hinge" on the lever is external and happens to be right where it balances in my hand (at least on my rifles). The 94's hinge is internal and where the rifle balances it's flat and comfortable. I also think the 94's are a little lighter and, for me at least, quicker to the shoulder and draw a bead. Don't get me wrong, I like them both for a rifle to "carry" easily through woods and hunt on the move... I'll grab one of my 94's every time.

As for the Marlin 1894 and Win 92, I don't have much experience with them other than drooling on them while fondling and shooting a buddies 92 and from that I can't argue with TNBigbore. In fact, I'll probably have one or the other (or both) in the future.

Glad to see you are looking at iron sights... IMO scoping these guns compromises all the above noted attributes of these rifles. However if you do scope it, I don't think there is much difference in the 339 or a 94AE (angle eject). I will say though if you are looking to keep it with iron sights and you do decide on a Win 94, I highly recommend looking a top eject model. I've found them to generally have much better triggers than the rebounding hammers on the AE's.

Just my $.02 (and it may not be worth even that)

My vote goes to 1894c. I absolutely love my little .357.