I've been looking at some of the Marlin lever action rifles in .357 on the gun auction sites. I know the ones with the JM rollmark are more desirable but some have no safety. Are the ones with no safety also more desirable? Thanks.

Some may pay more. It's like the S&W IL thing. Some won't have one, others don't care.
Check Google. There are a couple of parts available to eliminate the cross bolt safety if you buy one with.

Absolutely. A lever rifle needs a safety like a submarine needs a screen door, and they are priced accordingly.

Here is what they will do @ 100 yards with a good bullet . Not good --not bad. Not a pistol load. Carbine. I have put this up before. I have never shot a good group at 100 with a lead or gas check bullet in a .357 rifle but I haven't spent a lot of time. I am a pistol guy & old.

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I have a '76 M336 in .30-30 Win. It's in 95% and knocked down many a deer. Gold trigger and no goofy cross bolt safety. A pristine example of what used to be made in this country. When Remington bought Marlin and moved it out of Connecticut, quality went out the window with nearly 20% of these "Remlins" returned to the factory to get "fixed". If you can find a good old one, get it and don't look back... My 2 cents

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ExFed

The 1894's pre- cross lock are highly prized amongst SASS shooters.

My Dad's 1894c that I inherited still shoots very well but is very sensitive on overall length of the cartridge when using .38 specials not so on .357's. It also is MUCH happier with round nose or round nose flat point's over semi wad cutters.

There is quite a cottage industry with SASS shooters to smooth out their Marlins

Randy

Don't know about Marlins but, like S&W revolver IL's, safety's don't belong on lever actions. There is a small industry springing up to remove them from Rossi 92's.

I love my .357 Rossi 92, with 24" octagon barrel. Take's an already versatile handgun round up a notch in effectiveness. Great fun as a 100 yard gun, that you can afford to shoot all day.

I own several 1894s / Marlins. I would go the extra and pick up
a older one. Marlin was experiencing some fit and finish about
that time so it's not just the safety issue. Mine will do 1 1/2" at
60 yds. with 158 gr JSP. They aren't target guns but serviceable
short range dear gun.

Pre cross-bolt safety Marlin levers are the stuff. I treasure my '82 336...just right with aperture sights and a simple sling.

Quality with Marlin started to go downhill well before the sale to Remington. The employees who could leave on their own terms did so. Most people peg it at around 2004/05. I don't know the last date of the crossbar safety but it's not really important...if it has it, it has it

If Marlin had REALLY screwed up and had taken out the half-cock on the hammer, I could see a strong preference for the older guns. But it's easy enough to just set the rifle on FIRE and use it like an earlier one.

I owned a 1895 that had been rejected by Cabela's upon arrival (must have been pretty bad to not even put it up for sale), sent back, and purchased by the guy I bought the rifle from. It was fire-sale pricing so I couldn't pass it up. It shot fine but was really rough around the edges and was a real mess when you took it apart --- anything hidden when assembled was all tool marks and scratches. I no longer own this rifle.

Over the years I have owned 7 or 8 Marlin 94's, 2 in 357, one pre, one post cross bolt. Of the 4 or 5 post cross bolt safety guns, I found them to be just fine in every aspect of operation (unlike my limited experience with Smith's IL). The only problem is if the lock was put ON by you or someone else and you go to shoot, every thing works fine except for going bang. There is a way around this whole thing without removing the safety button. From the factory there is a set screw beside the tang on the right side of the receiver (butt stock must be removed to access). Put the safety button on "FIRE" and tighten the screw with a small Allen wrench and replace the butt stock back on 15 minutes max if tools are present!

I never tried 100 yard shots with any of my 1894's, BUT with my 1895 45-70 Guide Gun W/Safety; doing Speed Drills with 2100 fps, 400 gr cast loads. I consistently got 1 1/2 inch groups in 2 to 2 1/2 seconds (5 shots). These guns will shoot with good ammo all day long.. I found that the older Micro-Grooved refiling guns prefer jacketed bullets. Both type of rifled 357's liked 158 gr. to 180 gr jacked bullets best, both guns shot 125 gr lead RNFP Cowboy loads fine. One of my sons used the for Cowboy Shooting, but I've sold off the 357 Marlins, as I prefer 357 Rossi 92's (my action jobs get a 92 much smoother!)

If you want to smooth up a Marlin action, most of your problems are in the bolt. You will need a one piece firing pin, and to "stone" the high spots on the bolt. There are some replacement springs to be installed also. VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT CUT THE TRIGGER SPRING!! Replace it with a reduced power spring (a short spring affects the sear/ hammer notch reliability)! Midway has all the parts you will need as does Brownell's and others.

Ivan

If you are going to shoot lead bullets you will need to be aware of the different kinds (2 I think) of riling. Maybe seone ill comment.

I have a pre safety Marlin 94c in .357 magnum. They are more
desirable and the prices they bring on GB are proof. Lever action rifles
with the traditional half cock safety have been with us for a very long
time and the visible hammer makes it easy to see when the gun is
ready to fire. Lever actions don't need any kind of added on safety.

The Marlin .357 is a very popular gun for Cowboy Action Shooting. The 'Cowboys' like the guns without the safety. You will pay more for a good solid older gun. With very little work you should get handloads to stay inside 4" at 100 yards. I didn't use a Marlin for CAS but did kill many deer, rabbits and squirrels with one. I wish I had kept it. Check the Cowboy Shooting sites for a Marlin.

I have a 1894 in .44 mag with a Burris fast fire on it, nice sweet light weight gun. It will do 3-4 inch groups at 100 yards if I do my part.

I agree after Remington acquired them fit and finish is lacking, though to be fair I haven't shot one. The Henry's are much nicer, and do shoot well.

I have 2 1894 44 magnums, both pre safety, 77 and 81, and an 1895 built in the early 2000's.. quality wise all 3 are great, the older ones have nicer wood but all function fine.. I wouldn't let the safety stop me from buying one as long as it was a jm stamped gun. Google the later ones and you can read some real horror stories..

My 1894 44mag will shoot very close to 1" 3 shot groups with factory Magtech ammunition. I haven't been able to handload anything that shoots this well.

Among my Marlins I have two, a336 in 30-30 and a M1895 in 45-70, that have the cross bolt safety. They both perform extremely well. Since I started shooting rifles, bolts, semi and full automatic, they all had safetys and I cut my teeth on them. The two Marlins I have with safetys I use with no problem.

I've got a recent 1894. Factory jacketed groups well enough for what it is, a 100 yd deer rifle. Cast bullets at handgun velocities are acceptable, pushing cast at full rifle speed is so far, problematic. That's OK, the carbine is then just a much easier to shoot substitute for a 44 mag handgun.
I think the best solution is to use a polymer tip pointed bullet. The ballistics at Mach 1.5 just have to be way better than a blunt object.

I have an 1894 in .22 mag and it has the safety.
I like it because I can dry fire with the safety on with no worries typical with rimfire dry firing.
There is sometimes a silver lining to these things.

The Marlin 1894 in .357 Magnum are very difficult to find in this area - new or used, with or without the safety. I was very lucky to find one NIB and bought one a few years ago at an excellent price - $500.00 including the factory box and literature. Mine has the safety, and it doesn't bother me a bit. It's a fun little carbine, and it made me understand the wisdom of the old cowboys in carrying one round for both handgun and rifle. When shooting 158gr. JHP bullets, it feels like shooting a .22LR on steroids - no real recoil, just a gentle push against your shoulder.

Regards,

Dave

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I run .357 jacketed pistol bullets through my 1959 Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. It's one of my favorite shootin' irons. Buy the gun that makes you happy. If you don't find the Marlin of your dreams, the Henry rifles are very well made (in USA), and come without a safety.

Well I learned one thing from this thread. My 1895 JM Marlin is
junk, I guess. After much experimenting with loads and bullets
I have got it shooting right around 11/2" to 2" groups at 100yds.
That is 5 shot groups off sand bags with 3x9 Burris. If the new
models can shoot 400gr bullets into 1 1/2" 5 shot groups at 100
yards, off hand, with peeps, in 2 to 2 1/2 seconds I must have
one. Can you imagine what this gun would shoot with a good
scope off bags. I will get one post haste, I might turn pro.

You are a better man than me Gunga-Din

Like most gun stuff,,the earlier production of a model is generally more sought after and priced higher. This is before changes are usually made in production to save dollars that cheapen the quality in the eyes of the buyers. Or add in the case of the Marlin, the safety addition, which does not have a big fan base.
Older JM proof marked guns show those built while the company was still under the ownership of the Kenna family (2007 and before IIRC). After that Remington took ownership.

'NewHaven, CT' marked Marlin guns are pre-68, then they moved to the new plant in North Haven, CT.
The original Model 1894 (not ever made in 44mag of course but was in 44-40) was made in New Haven only.

The 44mag Model 1894 came out in late 69. IIRC, the 357 version not till about 1978 or '79. They both had micro-groove rifling as did all the other Marlins then.

Some time in the 1990's Marlin went back to so called Ballard style rifling of 6 lands/grooves to try and improve the accuracy of the 44mag and 357 cal Model 1894's. Probably because of the use by the Cowboy shooting crowd.
Microgroove rifling (12 and 14 groove) was always suspect for poor accuracy when using lead bullets in the other centerfire rounds, but Marlin never changed them as jacketed hunting rounds were the commercial ammo of choice. Now however, they were dealing with high volume shooters using their rifles with lead bulleted ammo.

They are not bench rest rifles, never were meant to be. Buy what satisfys you, I'd suggest examining the gun in hand before purchasing or at least have a 3-day return right on it.
What can pass for a great gun to one person is a catastrophe to another, Fit and finish on Marlins can run hot and cold especially once they moved to the North Haven plant.
I seem to hear & read bad feedback on the guns made after the Remington takeover, but personally, I have no experience with them.

My apologies. After I read Drm 50's post, I re-read my post and realized that I didn't say my guide gun was at 50 yards and not at 100. And further it wasn't with peeps, it was with a red dot. I haven't messed with levers at 100 very much. I was trying to point out that even at rapid fire with potent ammo they are quite accurate. The last time we all discuses this topic someone was offended at the poor 50 (1.5-2") yard groups I was producing.

The wonderful thing about the lever gun is, you can use them for many different forms of shooting. From a tree stand, from horseback, as a stalking rifle or varmint hunting. They are available in center fire from 218 Bee to 50-110 Winchester Express, and even in big bore wildcats like 450 & 500 Alaskan. Before WWII more American game was killed with 44-40 than all the others combined (Not sure but think 30-30 is King now with the NATO rounds taking over soon). With the pistol caliber small actions you have a medium to large game rifle in 44 & 357 magnums and turn right around and have a mild plinking and training gun by using 44 & 38 Specials all without handloading. In the Large actions we have 444 & 450 Marlin and hotter loadings of 45-70, that will drop anything that will eat you these days. Teddy Roosevelt used 1886 &1895 Winchesters to hunt Rhino, Lion and other "Dangerous" game in Africa (and if you so desire and can afford it, you can today also).

Not only have the lever guns of Henry/Winchester, Marlin, Spencer and Kennedy been used extensively in North and South America. But in the late 1800's other countries have used them to defend their nations from aggressors, In fact Turkey did not become a Russian possession due to Henry rifles (and Remington Rolling Blocks) wiping out a superior sized Russian army in a 2 day battle close to there current boarder. (The Czar personally shot his field commander for the loss!) Which influenced Russia in buying more than 100,000 Winchester 1895 Musket models in 7.62x54R for WWI.

With all this history and hunting ability, no wonder the OP and a "Zillion" other people want a lever action, and especially in a common handgun round that will kill deer sized animals. That is why you have a hard time finding Marlin and Winchester 357 lever action on the gunstore shelf!

Ivan

The safety on the Marlin is nothing like the S&W IL. It doesn't interfere with anything. If you leave it off it acts just like a per-safety lock Marlin. If you're buying one to hunt with I sure wouldn't pay a premium for one without the safety. I own both and it is simply a collector thing. Ivan's post is right on.

Definitely buy one with the JM marked barrel. I've never shot the Remington's ones but just looking at them they are b_tt ugly wood and finish, can't believe they would shoot any better.

Tangent: Would someone with a 1894 357 measure the barrel diameter at the muzzle and post it? Just wondering how the barrel profile compares with the 44.

.357 carbine=.650 30x30 rifle=.650 .44 mag=.650 All JM guns. Not good photos but I shot the Christmas moon last night. It was so bright you could drive without headlights. Maybe that is what the 3 dudes on camel back thought was a guiding star. I had to sing Star Of Wonder in a Christmas play in school one time.

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I was going to respond but Beemer Mark (3 posts above) said it for me

My solution after looking the 357 rifles over was the Henry:

I don't own a Marlin but have the Rossi M92 instead.

After reading all this the only thing I can add is; the story is that Remington fired everybody at the Conn. plant when they moved it to NY and when they got there nobody could assemble a .357 mag "Remlin" (as they are now called by, well, everybody) and they haven't been able to ship a lever gun in .357 since they moved the plant. They tried to ship a few but they all had problems and found their way back. Remlin is no longer producing .357 mag lever guns - the way I've read it anyway - and I was looking for a new one for some years recently.

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But then, what do I know?

Mine didn't shoot the Hornady Leverevolution, or ftx, or whatever they are well at all.

If not one of the older, JM Marlin's , I would go for a newer Henry....

The other version of the story is that Remington engineers went to the old plant after the acquisition and found a shambles. Worn out machinery that dated from the 1960's, shop prints that lacked critical dimensions and tolerances (evidently stored in worker's heads, job security).
Summary: Remington paid too much for what was left of a long declining company.
Remington tried to make use of what they bought but finally made the decision to not make guns till they could produce a quality product. There are a lot of guns in the Marlin line back in production.
I am patiently awaiting restart of 39A production, myself. That's an expensive gun to make though and the youth market wants semiauto these days.

I haven't been able to hunt for years, but I still miss my late-1960's 39A and 336 in .30-30. I traded the 336 on a Remington 700ADL many years ago, and recently gave my lovely, lightly-customized 39A to my son and his three boys.

Marlin was building superb rifles in those years.

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Oh well, what the hell.

shouldazagged, what did you customize on your 39A? I LOVE mine. I just put peeps on my lever actions.
Also, got my 357 lever action fix with a B92.

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Fight socialism. Never stop.

I still remember as a kid the somewhat common occurrence of hunters accidentally shooting themselves or others with lever action rifles. Some of the old timers considered them unsafe because of the lack of a safety. I imagine there were some lawsuits too. So a safety was added to try to alleviate the issues....and now people complain about the safety...

Just like when I was younger, the first thing everyone did with their K frame was take the wood grips off and put rubber ones on. So then the factory started shipping them with rubber circa 94 I think. And people complain...

Walmarts should be getting in current production Marlin .30-30s. These should be functional and decent guns for hunting and utility use if anyone wants one.

This is mostly correct, though the Remington marked guns reflect when production moved, not when Remington bought Marlin. And even then, some barrels were brought over to the Remington plant and assembled there.

Consensus is that the early Remington guns (2010-2011) are the absolute worst and quality has improved steadily from 2012 on...though nowhere near what it was in the early 2000s and before. Those quality levels are likely gone forever.