Marlin/Ruger now shipping 1894 .44 Magnums

[burneyr]

Announced yesterday that .44 Magnums were shipping to distributors. I had really hoped .357 would have been first.

Great news for us Marlin fans - Model 1894 Classic

 

[browningcollector]

I am hopeful for a 45 Colt version with 16 inch barrel

 

[oldman10mm]

Well, it's a start. Other chamberings will eventually come too. 357 for me too.

 

[tennexplorer]

And the rifling twist is finally correct!

 

[s&wchad]

$1239 MSRP seems pretty high to me, but I suspect they'll sell fairly well. I'm glad I've got one from the 1970's.

 

[LEO918]

Three things Ruger still needs to work on.
1. Lose the ugly ramp and hooded front sight.
2.Forget the stupid sling swivels.
3. Most of all get rid of the dumb cross bolt safety.

My 1970s carbines don't have any of that junk and work just fine.

 

[dmar]

Looking forward to seeing these new lever rifles. I'm curious to see how they compare to the New Haven guns, and to the new Henry guns. I bought a new Henry .44 mag, with the side loading gate, last year and it's a really nice gun. I also have old Marlin and Winchester lever rifles to compare. Glad to see Ruger keeping the Marlin lever actions alive…

 

[rockquarry]

I've bought no guns in years; just haven't seen anything interesting, but I find this one appealing. Should make a fine cast bullet carbine.

 

[smoothshooter]

I would like to see them do this model with a pistol grip stock.
I have a JM gun with one in new condition that I have never fired.
Wish it had Ballard rifling with a faster twist.

 

[AKtinman]

My first thought before I went to the link was that this would be in stainless, not my preference on a lever gun. The rifle looks nice. The hood can be removed from the front sight and the swivels don't bother me.

I imagine they will sell all they can make. Not to me, though. I don't like the unnecessary cross bolt safeties nor the rebounding hammers. Half-cock notch safety worked fine and continues to do so.

 

[Kitgun]

This will be my next long gun purchase.

 

[Sistema1927]

Hard to believe that they didn't re-start the 1894's with the .357. I can hardly take my JM Marlin 1894C to the range without somebody offering me serious money for it. It's almost as if it the ultimate grail carbine.

And, since we like pictures, here it is with some other lever gun cousins.

Top to bottom

Savage 99 .300 Savage
Rossi 1892 .45 Colt
Marlin 1894C .357 Magnum
Marlin 1895 .45-70
Marlin 336 .30-30
Marlin 39A .22

 

[rockquarry]

Hard to believe that they didn't re-start the 1894's with the .357. I can hardly take my JM Marlin 1894C to the range without somebody offering me serious money for it. It's almost as if it the ultimate grail carbine.

And, since we like pictures, here it is with some other lever gun cousins.

Top to bottom

Savage 99 .300 Savage
Rossi 1892 .45 Colt
Marlin 1894C .357 Magnum
Marlin 1895 .45-70
Marlin 336 .30-30
Marlin 39A .22

I wanted one of the Marlin .357s when they came out around 1978 or '79. Apparently they were either announced long before they were available or the production numbers were small; anyway they were very difficult to find. I finally gave up the search and lost interest, but I'll bet these are great shooters, especially for cast bullets.

 

[22lrfan]

I look forward to seeing one but don't see myself getting one. I've accumulated four in .357 and seven in .44 over the years. All are the old, pre-safety ones. Don't have any recent photos but here are a couple from 7-8 years ago.

 

[walnutred]

I can understand the decision to start with 44 Mag. Probably more pistol caliber lever actions are currently sold for deer hunting than CAS. I've had marlins in 357 and 44 Mag and preferred shooting the 44. Only ones I have left are 45 Colt and 32-20 though.

 

[Doug M.]

I managed to order a CSBL in .357 at just the wrong time and have been waiting since. I had a RDS, sling, light and other useful accessories waiting. It's a good travel gun as you don't have to worry about stupid people/places and their reaction to an AR platform.

 

[TheTinMan]

Looking forward to seeing these new lever rifles. I'm curious to see how they compare to the New Haven guns, and to the new Henry guns. I bought a new Henry .44 mag, with the side loading gate, last year and it's a really nice gun. I also have old Marlin and Winchester lever rifles to compare. Glad to see Ruger keeping the Marlin lever actions alive…

I like lever action rifles:

3 of those are JM Marlins made in New Haven. The bottom one is a new Guide Gun made in Mayodan, NC. They are all good rifles but the Mayodan made 1895 is the best functioning of the 4. Fit & finish are very good. The action was smooth from the start. The slightly enlarged lever has rounded edges and is very comfortable. The trigger breaks nicely, although it does have that traditional Marlin flop.And the loading gate works smooth;y and easily instead of trying to take off a piece of thumb like the 1895 LTD on top.

 

[S-W4EVER]

I bought my first Marlin, an 1894 on sale ($119 + tax) back in '77 as a companion to my S&W M29-2. IiRC they only came in .44 Magnum back then. It's a nice rifle, shoots well but the wood fore-end could be a little smoother. I would expect the Rugers to be better finished.

 

[smoothshooter]

Three things Ruger still needs to work on.
1. Lose the ugly ramp and hooded front sight.
2.Forget the stupid sling swivels.
3. Most of all get rid of the dumb cross bolt safety.

My 1970s carbines don't have any of that junk and work just fine.

I like sling swivels on all my guns.
A sling allows you to use both hands for something else, like dragging a deer to the truck or other things.

 

[smoothshooter]

I wish they would do a pistol grip model.