Lever Rifle - Buy once, cry once

Yeah, even before Rem got a hold of them, Marlin was a bit disappointing with their 1894 line. I've had 3 of them and didn't think they were worth mentioning here.

I had better luck with my old Rossi Puma 1892 clone.

These days if I needed a revolver caliber carbine I would save up for a nice Italian or Japanese 1872 or 1892 clone.
 
You want the history then you can't go wrong with your basic Model 94. The pre-64 versions are a little nicer and command a premium. I got this one off Gunbroker a few years ago for $!65. The wood and metal show a lot of history.

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Savage 99, yum, that Winchester 94, beautiful rifle to be proud of and enjoy shooting, nice! The 99s are so unique.

J
 
I laugh when everything I hear that Marlin is a high quality gun, I am 67 years old and in my youth when you could not afford a high end gun you bought a marlin, because it was cheap and affordable. I have owned a number of marlins in my life time and I don't consider them a quality firearm. they are a budget gun that will do the job but are a far cry from a quality high end gun.
 
hanleyfan said:
I laugh when everything I hear that Marlin is a high quality gun, I am 67 years old and in my youth when you could not afford a high end gun you bought a marlin, because it was cheap and affordable. I have owned a number of marlins in my life time and I don't consider them a quality firearm. they are a budget gun that will do the job but are a far cry from a quality high end gun.
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I never considered Marlin to be high end either. They were and are an affordable, functional, accurate and reliable weapon for hunting. Some of the older Marlins did have nicer wood fit and better walnut with more figure but the new REP guns have nicer metal if I were pressed to say so. But high end, now or in the past, no. High end might be rifles costing $2,000 plus or more, not the current sub $1,000 where nearly all Marlins live or adjusted for inflation $ in older times.

But then, what makes a gun high end, apparently that term is defined by the user?

3C
 
What's this idea of only owning 1 lever action? You need at least 2. Most likely 3.


Here's my 1965 Winchester 94 Dirty Birdie 30-30 that I picked up used for $125 a couple years ago. The wood and metal have some character to them.

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I also have a Rossi 92 in 357 / 38spl that is in my top 3 most fun to shoot guns. Using semi-wadcutter 158gr mouse fart 38spl loads, it's suppressor quiet, with no paperwork required.

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Lastly, I'm in the market for a 45-70. Haven't found the right one yet.
 
This by once cry once had to be though up by someone that could afford to buy what they wanted from the start! Lot of us are not that well off and we end up buying what we can afford. All the inecpensive gun's on the market today are not junk! they are not as well finished s some of us might but with proper care they will shoot with and lst as long as really expensive gun. I talking rifles here. aDon't know much about handgun's
 
If you want function and strength, go with a JM Marlin. I've owned the 1895s and 1894s and never really had a bad one. A lot of people say the RP versions are crap, but I've never owned one. If you just want a cool looking lever, I'd go with a 94 winchester. Never saw what all the fuss was about pre-64. The ones from the 60s and 70s seem to work just fine. I personally hate the angle eject models. Also, avoid Win 94s if you want to use a scope. I've shot Rossi's before and they are fine, but would much rather have a Win or Marlin.
 
My Step dad pulled out a 336 Marlin in 30-30 the other day, he wanted me to shoot it and see how good it is. I don't think he is up to shooting anymore.

Never had a lever gun, always was curious but never enough to buy one.

Will get it down to the range and see how I feel about it.

If its promising I might scope it (nice to see a lever gun setup for that) though 30-30 is not a target cartridge nor the Levers noted for it.
 
A good friend of mine just bought a 30-30 in a Marlin 336 two weeks ago. It's a good looking gun that is fun to shoot. The action was a little stiff at first but started smoothing out after we put some rounds through it.
 
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