How are the new Ruger made Marlin pistol caliber lever guns?

Eyeing the .357 but only IF quality has improved.

"hickok45" just today put up a segment today on the 1894 Marlin (Ruger) Classic in .44 magnum. While not the .357 you were considering the comments and info may be helpful for you.

Don

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What I have seen/read has been favorable. Just waiting for the specific .357 model to be made, which could be a couple more years.

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NHI, 10-8.

I see. That’s unfortunate. I was hoping for a .357.

Over the last 40 years I have owned 3 of the JM Marlin 357 1894-C's. The first I bought new around 1983 for a then very good price of $159. I did poor modifications and messed the outside up pretty bad. It remained flawless in function. I sold it about 3 years later for $200, and everybody was happy.

The second two were both used, and I have no idea how long this common flaw tokes to develop! But after an unknown amount of wear, they no longer feed 38 specials of any type, but still feed 357's. J.B.Woods, in his book "Troubleshooting Your Rifles and Shotguns" say the easiest fix is a new elevator! Second easiest, is to take a section of hacksaw blade and remove ANY set from the teeth (Grinder or belt sander), then epoxy it over the groove the "Hand" wears in the bottom of the elevator.

Since Rugar hasn't made any yet we don't know if that flaw will continue in the future.

I have had several 1894's in 44Mag and 45 Colt and one 336 in 44 Mag. No matter how used and abused this problem neve arises. BTW Just like the 44 Mag will feed 44 Specials, the 45 Colt will feed 45 S&W Schofield too! Another FYI: 38 S&W, 38 Short Colt, 44 Russian and 45 Auto Rim won't feed in the Marlins. And requires disassembly to return to proper operating condition. The owner's manual said so, and I proved them correct! (Never tried 38 Long Colt.)

I have had around a dozen Model 92 (1 Tigre and the rest by Rossi) None have ever had the feeding issue of the 357 Marlin. The really short shells don't work in them either!

Ivan

Guys the .357 Magnum version of the 1894 has been released.

I already have a .44 Magnum 1894 (early 1970s), so I passed on that but I do own a new 1895 Guide Gun (45-70) and a 336 Classic (30-30). The rifles made in Mayodan, NC, where Ruger built an entirely new factory to produce Marlins, are as nice or better than my “JM” Marlins. For one thing, they have hammer forged barrels with normal rifling. Marlin introduced “microgroove” rifling in the 1950s to reduce production costs. It’s OK for jacketed bullets but can cause problems with lead projectiles.

Fellas the 357 was released after Thanksgiving. I got mine last week.

Classic Series Model 1894

No issue feeding 158gr 38s, but the lighter 38 Special 125gr bullets I tried took some lever fiddling to work. The further you get away from the 357 OAL the more issues you can anticipate. Mine fed every weight 357 I tried.

The only other Marlin lever I own is a JM stamped Guide Gun, and the Ruger-made fit/finish/wood quality is slightly improved.

Yikes.

Being able to feed the less expensive .38s was a big draw for me. That’s a shame. Maybe your rifle has an issue?

No my rifle doesn't have an issue...

The product manual and website states "Reliably feeds a wide range of .357 Magnum and .38 Special factory ammunition."

The rifle is designed around the OAL of 357 Magnum ammunition. The lighter shorter rounds have more deviation from the carrier and feeding geometry, thus the issues. It's been like this since the advent of the lever action. Even my old Marlin manual states an OAL range of 45-70 ammunition for flawless function.

Unsure what 38 Special you might want to use, but as I stated it flawlessly fed every 158gr profile (semi-wadcutter, JSP, and JHP) 38 I had, and I tried it with 357s from 110-180gr in which it performed 100%.

What's in Alloy Steel?

We have a Winchester '94/16" in 44Mag and I prefer the '92 action.
Our WM '92 is a 45 "Long" Colt.
Would get a Ruger Marlin in 357Mag but only a '92.
We can wait.
Hope they make a 460 S&W Mag as the Big Horns
are now $$$$$$.

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I've never had one hiccup with my 1990s-version JM 1894 Cowboy shooting .38 Specials. I used it for Cowboy Action Shooting and have thousands of 158gr round nose and flat nose rounds through it with absolutely zero feed problems.

Is Ruger casting their Marlin frames and small parts or are they forged?

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Very nice. Thank you.

I have tried to order one but they are out of stock everywhere. I imagine it will remain so for a very long time since these are supposedly under limited construction at the moment.

A light, handy .357 carbine would pair nicely with a Blackhawk in the same caliber.

CH4 - Ruger is using forgings on all Marlin lever rifles.

Glenn McMannly - I have found them in-stock at a lot of dealers and the usual auction sites. However, I wouldn't pay the ridiculous prices they are marked up to. Some of these dealers are listing well over an already rich MSRP. Using the recently released Marlin 44 Magnum as a guide, the "new" tax ought to drop off in three months or so to the low to mid $900 range.

I'm a huge Marlin lever gun fan and all of the ones I own are vintage models. Remington pretty much destroyed the Marlin Firearms Company however everything I have seen, heard about and read points to Marlin being resurrected in a proper manner. It seems Ruger has done a very good job with the line and the QC seems right up there! While they slightly differ in looks, I will take my hat off to Ruger and give them two thumbs up! The new version looks great in its own way too.

If someone buys a new Ruger / Marlin I think they would be quite happy and have good reason to be proud of it. In the past I was never a Ruger fan but have grown to realize that Ruger is a very reliable, stand-up company and while many other manufacturers have let their QC fall by the wayside, Ruger has stepped theirs up. The main gripe I have against Ruger now is the triggers on their "target grade" pistols are still horrible.

NOW...... we can only HOPE they resurrect the Marlin 39A in the manner it deserves. IMHO, the 39A was the finest 22 lever gun ever produced! Maybe the Winchester 9422 XTR is purdier however for a grown man, it is a bit too small and short. The full sized 39A is just the ticket for that sort of rifle IMO.

+1 to all that and I've been told we can expect a run of 41 Magnum levers in the near future.

The prices of JM 41s has been beyond absurd for years. Even at 3k plus they do find buyers more regularly than one would imagine.

In stock at Grab A Gun for $1299.99. .

MAC just released today a test video on the .357 version.

I own a Winchester 94 Trapper in .357. How does that compare? Better or worse than the new Ruger? Or the old Marlin for that matter. Seems to me that the "94" designation was originally a Winchester.

I’ve seen and handled a new 1894 in 44 Magnum. The one I saw looked NICE.

I bought my 1984 in .357 in the mid-late 80s for $175 new. No push button safety. I have a hard time turning loose of $1250+ for one with checkering and a safety. My little 357 rifle has killed a lot of deer.

I get a kick out of those who espouse the JM Marlins as some holy grail. I've owned near a dozen of them through the years and they were average in their day at best. The late Remlins were just as good (I know, blasphemy, right?), but I've handled and shot several Ruger/Marlins and they are a step up.

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Live long and prosper

Love my old Marlins. Both are 45colt. The CL was my main match guy forever, eventually developed the Dreaded Marlin Jam. I repaired it with a piece of coping saw blade and jbweld. I rebuilt the carbine into a Trapper. Hoping you get a good one. Good luck on your hunt.

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The Marlin 1894 was released in … wait for it … 1894. I’m not certain that it was the first side-eject lever action, but it certainly is the best known. However, I don’t think that Marlin started pre-drilling holes in the top of the receiver for scope mounts until after WWII. The ability to easily mount an aperture sight or scope on top of the receiver is a big plus.

The Winchester Model 94 was designed by John M. Browning in 1894. It was designed for rifle cartridges like the .30-30 Winchester, while the Marlin 1894 was designed for pistol cartridges up to the .44-40.

I have a JM Marlin .44Mag…one of my favorite rifles. I’m glad to see them back.

As already said…Remington nearly ruined the Marlin brand but there’s more to the story. Marlin’s tooling was quite worn and they didn’t have the money to justify retooling…if they didn’t sell out to Remington they would have closed their doors. Maybe someone else might have bought them…maybe not. Remington did save Marlin in that respect.

Because Remington became embroiled in legal problems they ended up not being able to retool Marlin or their own products and we know the end of that story.

It’s much like AMF buying Harley-Davidson decades ago. They made a lousy product but did save the company which was eventually sold to investors who reinvigorated Harley. This is an earlier parallel to Ruger buying Marlin.

Smith & Wesson, Colt, Dan Wesson, Charter Arms and other gun companies have gone through different ownerships with varying degrees of success and quality control issues. Like it or not…it’s the reality of life.

I’ve had hands on the new Ruger/Marlins at the gun store, and the quality actually looked really good. Wood was really nice, checkering was nice, and the metal work looked pretty good. Haven’t shot one, but I’m interested in buying one at some point.

I’ve got several Marlins from back in the day, and cosmetically, these new Ruger rifles look good to me. That said, they are pretty price. If I was in the market for a lever action, I’d probably also look for an original Marlin that was lightly used. Not a fan of the Remington Marlins, quality was spotty on those. The new Henry lever action center fires are nice. I got one in .44 mag last year, and it’s very nice.

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I have a 1894SS Remlin. It was a jam-o-lever so I sent it back to the “factory”. It came back so ultra smooth with a slick action.

Don’t think many folks would be interested in buying it, so it’s mine forever.

I wish I had bought a Remlin 1894SS in 357, they were going for ridiculous prices at one time. Maybe not so much nowadays, haven’t looked.

Should never have sold my JM 35 Remington.

They have started making .357s, but the version I want is TBD.

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NHI, 10-8.

I want a 357 lever action. I have absolutely no need for one. I have 3 Marlins. A336W in 30-30 a 30 TK on 30-30 and a 336C in 35Rem.

So a marlin 39a in 22LR and a 1894 in 357 would round out the collection nicely.

Since I don't need one. The 357 marlin or possibly a Henry, may have to wait a few years as a retirement gift to myself!

You’re not done yet! Where’s the .45-70?

I would like another 1894 in .44mag.
I had a JM Marlin about 30 years ago and sold it to cover medical bills, then they got expensive after Remington took over.
Unfortunately the new Ruger/Marlin guns are more expensive than the actual JM Marlin's, so I'm not sure which way to go.

If they release a stainless model that would make up my mind.
I have a stainless 336 that's about 25 years old that I hung onto, a matching 1884 would be nice.

I have JM Marlin 1894SS in 357, 44, a blued 1894 32-20 and a 336SS in 30-30 and a 39A Mountie. The 1894s have been shortened to 17" barrels and fitted with peep sights. They are handy as hell and match my 357 and 44 Mountain Guns and Hand Ejector 32WCF. The old western lawmen were on to something with the 44-40s handguns and lever actions. I was a Deputy US Marshal in the 1970s and got the idea from reading some of the records from the old days. I have never had a problem with the JM Marlins feeding as long as I fired 158 grain 38 Special jacketed bullets in the 357 or 200 or greater jacketed in 44 Special. I have fired a 44 Ruger\Marlin with the same results.

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I had one of the 1895 Cowboy Marlins in .45-70 in the late-'90s. It hit me harder than I like to be hit, so I moved it along.

Probably not. Maybe a 444 Marlin!