I or my extended family owns Winchesters, Marlins and Henrys. All three great rifles, but I'd hesitate to rank them.
The Winchester 94 is an iconic levergun with over 8 million made. Both of mine are light, trim rifles with Williams peep sights, used as woods-cruising guns. I believe that the Win94 is the trimmest of the three I listed, but for folks who like scopes it might not be the best choice. One is sighted for cast bullets at 1850 fps, the other for jacketed bullets at 2200. They're both great rifles for introducing kids to recoil.
The Marlin 336 series is a little heavier than the Win 94, but mounting a scope is much easier. It's not quite as trim and lots of folks take off the forearm and sand it down to a more pleasing contour. However, the scope makes sighting easier and the rifle is very accurate, in the neighborhood of 1.5 inches at 100 yards. Very nice rifle. Mine is a 1974 version, and I'm hearing some complaints about quality control since they moved the plant to Ilion, so caveat emptor.
The Marlin 1894 is perhaps my favorite of the three. It is very light and makes the .357 magnum into a whole 'nuther cartridge. The forearm is a little bulky and I've been tempted to use a rasp on it, but the wood on mine is so pretty that I've decided to leave it alone. Light, handy, serious power, a good companion to the revolver on my waist. What's not to love?
The Henry is the most fun. Ours is a .22LR and simply a ball to shoot. We've left it as it came from the box and it's great for teaching the grandkids how to use a traditional open sight. It's so much fun that I'm looking for a good deal on one in .22 magnum. Very accurate rifle with the right ammo, it would be tempting to take this one into the squirrel woods this fall while I'm scouting for deer.
No experience with the others. I'm not going to rate any of them. But, if you've not experienced levergunning, you're missing something.
Update: Years ago I bought a Mossberg off the used gun rack for one of my sons to deer hunt. It quickly became a family favorite and was used by all three boys for over 15 years and I couldn't begin to tell you how many cases of ammo went through that rifle. We lived in the country with lots of forest and that rifle was a serious companion. Two years ago it started exhibiting a tendency to "hang-up" and I took it to a gunsmith. He looked it over and told me that we had worn it out. Yep, worn it out. I asked about the quality of the brand and he told me that the quality was good, but that every rifle has a service life and we had exceeded that one.
My second son has it now. I offered to dispose of it, but he keeps it as a memento of his youth. How many folks can say that they've worn out a levergun?
