I'd love to round out my collection with a classic lever whitetail gun. Love the look of the Marlin 336ss models, but have read the odd person complain about fit and finish even on the more recent ones. I would only put a peep on one and would never scope one. What are your thoughts on if you had to buy a brand new one.....which one would you get?

After spending 10 years searching and shopping for the perfect 30-30 with much the same train of thought as you, I suggest neither.

Too many JM model 336's for the same price if not cheaper than a junk assed remlin. Same with Winchesters. You can get a nice used 94's without the Hillary holes (safety's) the new ones have.

I personally love 94's and have mine set up with a Williams Peep. Awesome shooter. I paid $500 for it. It is a very clean deep blued 1980's model 94.



Good luck,

Todd

Don't buy a new Remington/Marlin unless yo like to gamble. There are too many older, true Marlins around that were made right. The new "Remlins" are hit and miss, with mostly misses. When you get it home and find out it was made wrong, you are on your own,,,,,Their customer service sucks. I'm not a Winchester 94 fanboy, I love the older Marlins, but I'd take one over a new Marlin.

LOL. Thanks for your contribution. Nice looking rig there.

The new Marlin's are really nice actually. I'm a member over at Marlinowners.com and the complaints about QC have gone way down over the past few years. The new Marlins I look over at my LGS are really nice rifle. And I've owned over 20 Marlin levers so I know what I'm looking at.
The new Winchesters are top notch. And I'm a pre 64 guy. You can't go wrong with either one. I'm not just a guy that owns a lever action. I'm a lever action guy. To hell with bolt guns.

No the customer service doesn't suck. You're repeating tales. Several years ago I bought a brand new 336Y and the barrel was improperly indexed to the receiver putting the barrel at an angle. Remington promptly replaced it with a brand new Rifle.

Brand new? Uh, don't. Shop it...

This one is not far from 40 years old.

If you're going to put a scope on your rifle, I'd recommend the Marlin. If you're going to shoot it with the factory open sights or a receiver sight, I'd recommend the slimmer Winchester.

Like others have suggested, I think that I'd rather have an older rifle and in my case, I'd rather have a Marlin 336 Sporting Carbine or a Winchester 64.

I would only say marlin for one reason...the stock. The straight Winchester stock doesn't fit me at all. No straight stocks fit me actually.

But I think the Winchester is a better built rifle.

The new marlins are nicer looking IMO. I like the way they function a little better. The Remlin stocks are a bit fatter than the older Marlin stocks. Other than that, I like the Marlin and the Winchester. They're still cool rifles!

If you go old go 99

The Marlin 336 and Winchester 94 are both good rifles. Get one of each. They're not very expensive.

The early Remlins were crap. Remington had to recreate the drawings and put the manufacturing on modern machinery. That took time.

From what I've seen, the new Remlins are pretty nice.


But all mine are JM Marlins - purchased used and for a song compared to new prices.

Todd, where didja get the leather ammo pack?

"Todd, where didja get the leather ammo pack?"

I made it. The bullet loops are made from a cape buffalo I took back in 2007, and the inside is lined with the cape buffalo suede as well.

Thanks for lookin!

Todd

My experience with 94’s has proven to me that the pre angle eject models are the way to go. I’ve shot several of that vintage with irons and side mount scopes and they’ve been accurate. Angle eject models not so much.

That’s a good shooter.

Ever make one for a customer?

Familiar looking setup.

99😎

No thanks. Tried em didn't much care for the choppy action, lack of an external hammer, no mag tube, and the safety that is terrible for a lefty to get to. I'd climb over all the model 99's in the world to get to a pre 64 model 94.

Many friends of the 30/30 saddle guns like them for the way they handle. You can't get that from somebody else, you have to have one in your hands, feel which one is slicker for a snapshot. The Winchester is slimmer but rather Byzantine inside, the Marlin seems more comfortable in recoil and more direct in design. Having both would be nice.

Moose,

I respectfully disagree, I had a 336 new that would not go bang every time you pulled the trigger with a live round in the chamber. This was less than a year ago. It took me 10 plus phone calls and 4 months without the rifle, to get it fixed. Currently the gun is good to go and shoots well. Marlin maybe improving, they have a long ways to go. Step one produce rifles that don’t need repair upon purchase.

I have both and it is nice.

Well that sucks. I know they're a long way from perfect up there in Ilion but I also know they've come a long way too. They've been steadily improving.

I have the Winchester 1894, I have the Marlin 336, I have the Savage 1899,............................. the Savage is better for the handloader. Higher pressure and pointed bullets.

I have bolt actions for that. I don't need my levers to try to be bolt guns.

How is the better for the "handloader"? How are those advantages different from factory ammo? Isn't that better for "the person that want's better/flatter ballistics"?


I've owned several 99's... Could never get past a dislike for them. I just don't like them. I wouldn't trade my single 94 for any three of them. For the use of a quick handling lever gun, I don't need higher pressure and pointed bullets to kill critters 150 yards and in..


Todd

Hear hear!

If you must have a new one, I suggest a Marlin, but only if you can give it a good going over in person first. The tang safeties on current Miroku Winchesters drive me nuts; totally unnecessary (but placed there at the insistence of the parent company, Browning, possibly because a safety is required in Europe). The Marlin safety is easy to ignore, and there's still a half-cock.

An couple of .30/30 alternatives are the Henry single-shot and the Ruger Number 1s. Both have irons, and look kinda traditional, and are easily scoped when you get too old to shoot without glass. An added bennie is that pointy bullets are safe in them. I have a Henry in .308 on its way, and based on one example I saw recently, they're nicely done, with good walnut, and the fit and finish were not what you would expect on a $400 gun. Not a fan of their goofy-looking lever guns at all, BTW; just not to my taste.

That’d be my choice. I’d find somebody that still had a NIB pre-safety Model 94 for sale. They are not really that expensive. Unless you buy a Pre-64 Model.

I bought a NIB pre-safety Model 94 a few years back from a pawn shop for $550. It’s the shorty Trapper Model with the 16” barrel and probably my favorite.

Another vote for one of each. Heck, get a Savage and Henry while you’re at it.

^^^^^^^^This is the truth as I've seen it in the last year or so.^^^^^^^^^^^^Listen to moosemike. I can tell you for a fact, being over on the Marlin Forum, if there were problems, EVERYONE would be talking about it. Reivertom, is reporting old news. If you want an older JM get one. But I can tell you there were plenty of complaints about those as well.

One thing about "new" Marlins still having issues just might be that they're left over from the period before Remington re-tooled. Not certain, just a possibility.

The reviews of the re-tooled ones have generally been positive, with a few quibbles about the shape of the forend and heavy triggers. If I were considering one, I'd definitely factor a trigger job into the budget. I look at old ones when I peruse the used-gun racks, but have so far stifled the urge. Recently saw a decent one for $450, but a few spaces over there was a pristine Remington 798 for $50 less; no contest for me if I was buying.

man, id be grabbing up one of those miroku 94s in .25-35

My preference is either a Marlin made 1970-1990 or a Winchester 1980's , or pre-64 Winchester. I'm sure the new Winchesters are good, but they are out of my price range. Too many used ones out there. If forced to buy new this is the only version that interests me at all. And it would be a lot better with a lot less wood in the forend like they made them in the 1970's and 80's.



https://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-action/model-336/model-336tdl-texan-deluxe

My first was a Winchester 94 Classic. I was 12 and had good eyes. Regrettably that one is gone. I now have 3 JM stamped Marlins, 2 30-30's and a .35 Rem. Marlins for me because of scopes and side eject. Don't think I would buy new. Lots of good older rifles available from both makers.

Please. I keep trying to tell myself all the reasons why I don't need one.

Depends what you want.
There aren't a lot of used 336Y's around and that's the Marlin I wanted so I had to buy new.

Neither, get a Mossberg.

The Mossbergs and Henrys raise a point. They may be good designs made into fine rifles but part of the beauty of a lever gun for me is the history of the thing. Look at some Charlie Russell paintings and you can see these guns as he saw them more than a century ago. I know my post 64 Winchester 94 is not a Yellowboy or '73 but in my eyes it's part of that line and it has the medicine.

I kinda like the Mossberg .

Good points!

I have been closely watching the quality of the Marlins since Remington took over. The first few years were simply awful. The wood to metal fit was terrible, poorly indexed barrels, very rough actions etc. They have gotten a lot better, but still fall short of a good used genuine Marlin. Granted there were some duds even in the good old days, but they were by and large superior to the ones made today. I say this having owned literally hundreds of Marlin lever guns over the years.

Checked out some new Remlins at Bass Pro in Memphis this week. Gave a new stainless .30-30 a really close inspection.

Not impressed with the wood-to metal fit or wood finish or the unfinished wood next to the grip cap. Metal looked OK.

Havent been able to hold onto a lever action for very long.
In past 2 or 3 yrs I have acquired and refinished and sold or traded at a small gain versus the work I put into em
A marlin 36G
2 win 94,s post 64 top ejects, made 1 into a half tube.
A 1980 marlin .375
All sported William's receiver sights
All the .30-30,s shot leverevolution ammo extremely well..


Kinda thinking of picking up another post 64 top eject late model with the better carrier than earlier ones in .32 win special and making it a half tube.
Might be one i hold onto
If I get another marlin it will be a presafety 444

I got kinda burnt out on projects from December 18 to mid may 19

Needed a break from em.

Isn't the Mossberg 464 the same as a Winchester 94 AE?

I've been tempted to buy one of the Mossberg 464 Brushgun with silver/grey Marinecote metal finish, laminated wood, and a 16.25" barrel.

I've owned a few of the old Mossberg 472/479 lever action 30-30s and found them to be good shooters even though the triggers are part of the the lever like BLRs.

Savage 99

I've owned both a 336 and 94, both pre-safety.
I really think the new Japanese 94's are very well made, but I can't stand the safety...It works on my brain!

All in all, I would follow the advice I've seen earlier in this string, and go buy a used Marlin or 94, pre-safety, for somewhere around 4 to 5 hundred bucks and enjoy it.
Pre-64 in good shape will cost more, but my 75' model 94 is a great shooter and I'm very fond of it.

Good luck in what you decide to do, I'm sure you will enjoy your choice, as many people are not so "against" the needless safety as I am.

This one posted earlier is a Trapper.

Buy an older one ..stay away from new in both brands...I have no real brand loyalty to either and have some of each...honestly the Winchester design I prefer...the Marlins I do still like...the only real advantage to the Marlin is the angle eject if you want a scope...
Most will tell you Marlin is more accurate but I never shot either off the bench for group...it's a 150 yd gun and really paper groups mean nothing in this platform...

Here’s a super nice 70’s production 94 Trapper for sale right here on the Camp 🔥

Be hard to find a nicer one or a nicer seller either.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...-saddle-ring-whats-it-worth#Post14041135

It may be. Im talking about the Mossberg 464 . Id pickup a straight grip version too if i ran across one.

I don't think I've seen a Mossberg 464 yet. Haven't heard much about them either. There was some fanfare when they first came out then that seemed to be the end of it.

If I were looking for a lever .30-30, I too would bypass the new ones and look for a collector version M64 Winchester and probably pay the difference to get the checkered deluxe version. I got my first buck with a borrowed M64 and always considered them a step above the way more common M94. It seems kind of a travesty to scope one of those little rifles, but with older eyes, a scoped early Marlin would be a good option. Two of our deer camp guys bought those short Trapper M94 versions and we called them the "Daisy deer rifles". That short sighting radius made them harder to shoot accurately and there is an 11 point set of antlers in my collection because my .308 shot it better than Bob's Daisy deer rifle.

Don't waste your time. It's priced a bout $397 too high.