Well, I admit to prejudice up to a point. I prefer the Winchester. When I compare an M94 made in 1911 to one made in 1979/80 there are differences, most which have been complained about. The biggest difference I noticed when I bought the latter rifle was they made a change in the drop of the stock. When I snap my 1911 carbine to my shoulder, my eyes are exactly lined up with the sights. The later model I have to hunt for the sights and there is about a full half inch of more less drop to the stock. The only way I could achieve a proper sighting was go to a receiver site.
That's not to say there weren't problems in them. My two pre-64 M64s which are IMHO a much nicer rifle than the M94. For those who don't know what the M64 is, it's an M94 with nicer shaped stock, 24" barrel and half magazine. On I have was made in 1938 and the other shortly before discontinuance in around 1957. The 1938 rifle is quite accurate but the latter not do much. The lever on the latter does not quite sit next to the stock in the up position and one has to squeeze pretty hard in order to get that safety pin pushed in enough to fire. Make accurate shooting difficult.
As for Marlins, they've always felt a bit clubby to me but the ones I've had all were nicely accurate. One exception was in .35 Rem. that had seen better days.
It soon went down the road. I had the standard 336 and a Texan, both in 30-30. I gave the standard to a friend that wanted it but still have the Texan. I like the 30-30 cartridge and my 30-30s are my fun guns. Mostly shoot cast bullets at paper.
Paul B.