Which would you buy

I like the way marlins load compared to the tubular magazine of Henry's. But I've read marlin has had some quality control issues, no clue if that's true

I have a Henry in .357. I also have a Marlin (Remlin) 1894 that I bought a year or so ago in 45 Colt.

I like the Henry and it looks great with the brass receiver. Having said that it will not feed 38 reliably and even after sending it back to Henry (great customer service BTW) it still has a wonky feed even for .357. Hard to describe but every now and then you have to wiggle the lever back and forth to get a round to feed. It does not feed very smoothly. The 38 feed issue doesn't bother me really as the ballistics of it are sorta laughable compared to the .357, but the feed issues for the .357 is a lingering concern and dissatisfier.

The Marlin has been flawless. Never had a feed issue, a jam, failure to extract..nothing. And the action is smooth and getting smoother. They have fixed their quality issues they had for several years after Remington bought them.

Now that Marlin has started making the 1894 in .357 again, I am thinking of trading in my Henry for one.

I do recommend putting in the lighter sprung loading gate from Ranger Point Precision (they are in Cypress, TX.) Their peep sight is also very good. I have both on my Marlin.

I have both a Marlin and Henry (in different calibers than you're looking at), and I wouldn't let a few stories about QC at Marlin scare you away if you like the features better.

Both are good guns, I have had my Marlin for close to 10 years now and not had a problem with it. Have a cousin with a 45-70 model that has been great too. Henry makes a great gun as well and my golden boy is one of the best looking firearms I own. But like you I prefer the side loading gate that the Marlin has, both iron sights are fairly similar, both have been very reliable guns for me.

Go with the one that has more features you like or has the right price point you are looking to spend, and don't look back.

Would only buy Henry but the loading system with the tube annoys me every time i reload. Gone to using henry only for rim fire lever guns. This pushed me to marlin for the side loading gate for my 44 mag. May never look back.

Thought i wanted a new winchester lever gun at one point. But the made in Japan stamp bugged me when i was manipulating the rifle in the store. I know they are very good guns, but still.....

Years ago, a friend had a marlin 357 that wouldn't stabilize bullets... it was bad. Keyholed at 50 yards bad. Don't know if that is a common problem, if his was a dud or had screwed up crown, rifling, etc. You may do a search to see if others have the same problem, if there were bad years to avoid, etc.

Irish........I shoot in some cowboy action shooting......for the pure fun of it. I have used some Henry's, older Marlins and Winchesters and some Cimmaron's made by Taylors and Uberti. My favorite of those is the Cimarron rifles. They seem to have very smooth actions and triggers compared to my other lever guns.
However the older Marlin is very well built and is rugged for sure and it has become my go to rifle to carry in the jeep or scabbard on a horse when riding on the ranch.
If you are going to use it heavily in tough conditions I would pick the Marlin. If you are going to have fun shooting it and want to have the feel of some "old west tradition" then I would pick one of the Cimarron rifles or carbines as they really do seem to have nice wood and excellent quality that is a step above others like them.
And that is just my opinion and thoughts.

I had a Henry at one time but got rid of it due to feeding issues, I currently have a Rossi 92 and find it to be one of the funnest guns to shoot.

C4D said:

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Would only buy Henry but the loading system with the tube annoys me every time i reload. Gone to using henry only for rim fire lever guns. This pushed me to marlin for the side loading gate for my 44 mag. May never look back.

Thought i wanted a new winchester lever gun at one point. But the made in Japan stamp bugged me when i was manipulating the rifle in the store. I know they are very good guns, but still.....

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Just curious what bothered you about the Japan stamp? There are many countries to be worried about quality, but Japan wouldn't be one of them imo

Have several of both. If looking to buy one I'd get a Henry.

SWCBonfire said:

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Years ago, a friend had a marlin 357 that wouldn't stabilize bullets... it was bad. Keyholed at 50 yards bad. Don't know if that is a common problem, if his was a dud or had screwed up crown, rifling, etc. You may do a search to see if others have the same problem, if there were bad years to avoid, etc.

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Certainly not a common problem. The 1894c is a very desirable firearm and they bring a pretty penny. There is a fatal flaw in the design but only high volume CAS competitors will encounter it.

Get that Jurassic world dinosaur killer. Marlin 45-70 sbl

DeWrecking Crew said:

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C4D said:

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Would only buy Henry but the loading system with the tube annoys me every time i reload. Gone to using henry only for rim fire lever guns. This pushed me to marlin for the side loading gate for my 44 mag. May never look back.

Thought i wanted a new winchester lever gun at one point. But the made in Japan stamp bugged me when i was manipulating the rifle in the store. I know they are very good guns, but still.....

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Just curious what bothered you about the Japan stamp? There are many countries to be worried about quality, but Japan wouldn't be one of them imo

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I have to pass on guns that were made in Japan also. Not a quality issue. History

I have a weatherby with a Japan stamp.
It's easy to ignore.

I own both a LA in Marlin and Henry. Both are awesome and a lot of fun to shoot. Neither are in .357 as I'm not a fan of owning a LA in a caliber that's intended for a hand gun.

I would suggest a 30-30 by Marlin

C Loves L said:

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I'm not a fan of owning a LA in a caliber that's intended for a hand gun.

I would suggest a 30-30 by Marlin

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Weren't all the original lever guns in handgun calibers??

Have owned a Marlin .357 for about 35 years. Love it.

AnScAggie said:

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C Loves L said:

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I'm not a fan of owning a LA in a caliber that's intended for a hand gun.

I would suggest a 30-30 by Marlin

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Weren't all the original lever guns in handgun calibers??

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According to hickok45, yes they were.

.44 Rimfire/Henry came first, so it's technically a rifle round, although it's more like a .45 auto ballistically. It was around when they started converting cap and ball revolvers to cartridges.

I believe the trend continued usually that way. .44-40 (WCF) and related .38-40, etc. were tapered rifle cartridges that Colt was smart enough to also chamber in their handguns, so you only needed one cartridge for both. Things like .44 Colt, .44 Russian, .45 Schofield, .45 Colt, etc. were handgun rounds of the era and I don't think many if any rifles were chambered the other way around (handgun caliber in rifle) until much later when the old cartridges died out.

Mas89 said:

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DeWrecking Crew said:

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C4D said:

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Would only buy Henry but the loading system with the tube annoys me every time i reload. Gone to using henry only for rim fire lever guns. This pushed me to marlin for the side loading gate for my 44 mag. May never look back.

Thought i wanted a new winchester lever gun at one point. But the made in Japan stamp bugged me when i was manipulating the rifle in the store. I know they are very good guns, but still.....

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Just curious what bothered you about the Japan stamp? There are many countries to be worried about quality, but Japan wouldn't be one of them imo

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I have to pass on guns that were made in Japan also. Not a quality issue. History

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Since God only knows where the steel was sourced from, it doesn't bother me as much. Any gun made in the US likely has at least gas some steel from overseas, especially Given the amount of steel that comes out of China these days.

Of course, I also have owned Austrian/German guns, so I must be a bit amoral given the history from the same era.


Edit - Stupid typos. Clarification

Neither, get a Winchester or Uberti. 1873.

I got a pedersoli 1876 last year, love that gun.

When Marlin was bought by Remington, Remington moved the factory and spent the next couple years struggling with quality control.

A Marin with a JM stamp on the barrel was made before the buyout and move and is quality. A more recently made Remlin is also supposed to be better again and won't demand the same price a JM stamped gun would.

My JM stamped 1894c in .357 is right up there with my Granddads Savage 99 in 300 Savage on my "never, ever sell" list, and I'm not one of those guys who refuses to ever sell a gun by any stretch.

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/marlin94fix.html

agrams said:

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I got a pedersoli 1876 last year, love that gun.

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Do you make your own stocks?

Whichever one comes with a shotgun style stock instead of the crescent stock.