Henry Big Boy steel vs Marlin 1894

[c.dunwoody1234]

Hello everyone!

I’m looking into purchasing a lever action rifle chambered in .357 mag, and I’m debating between a Marlin 1894, or the Henry Big Boy steel. The lack of a loading gate on the Henry doesn’t bother me, but I would like to purchase the higher quality rifle. I’ve heard the Henry has problems with the magazine tube tearing out, is this a common issue? I’ve heard Marlins quality is still a little spotty. I’d like to buy a rifle that will last a long time, and feels solid and quality built.
Thanks!

 

[Obturation]

I wouldn't hesitate to get the Henry. Excellent company, excellent warranty & customer service. They make a great gun.

 

[NorthBorder]

^^^
What Obturation said. I have three Henry's and they are excellent. In fact, the wood to metal fit is a little better than my Winchester 73. That said, I am trying to work a trade for a Marlin 44 mag.

 

[Spade5]

No experience with Marlin. I like Henry. Heavy but in my opinion, a fine looking rifle and a good shooter to boot.

 

[Armored farmer]

Handle them both.
My Marlin 1894c has finally gotten smoother, it felt like a can crusher for a while.
The Henrys have considerable drop in the stock.
I think if you handle both, you're gonna know which you want.
I probably lean towards the Henry.

 

[chicharrones]

The new Remington/Marlin 1894s are still "kit" guns, IMO. Which means you'd highly likely have to finish working on the gun that Remington shipped out for sale. It seems Remington doesn't care about selling ready to use 1894s. That comes from me buying a new Marlin 1894 about 6 months ago and having to do some rather extensive internal work just so the gun would be ready for public consumption. Plus, the continued problems experienced by new 1894 owners over at Marlin Owners with new out of the box guns.

Due to that, I recommend to anyone that asks me personally to get the Henry. From what I've read here at THR, Henry actually cares about the products they sell and have real customer support when something goes wrong.

Some more reading here.

Saddens me to say this as I put my money on Marlin lever guns two separate times.

 

[Kevin Keith]

I'm wanting a lever .357 too. f I could find one on any shelf I'd buy either. I have two Henry .22 lever action rifles, so I'm leaning that way. Marlin makes a fine rifle, but I hear nothing good about Microgroove rifling, Any Marlin I'd buy couldn't be Microgroove.

 

[Tommygunn]

The new Remington/Marlin 1894s are still "kit" guns, IMO. Which means you'd highly likely have to finish working on the gun that Remington shipped out for sale. It seems Remington doesn't care about selling ready to use 1894s. That comes from me buying a new Marlin 1894 about 6 months ago and having to do some rather extensive internal work just so the gun would be ready for public consumption. Plus, the continued problems experienced by new 1894 owners over at Marlin Owners with new out of the box guns.

Due to that, I recommend to anyone that asks me personally to get the Henry. From what I've read here at THR, Henry actually cares about the products they sell and have real customer support when something goes wrong.

Some more reading here.

Saddens me to say this as I put my money on Marlin lever guns two separate times.

I keep hearing stories about Marlin being like this. I bought a .357 Marlin 1894 several months ago. It functions fine and wood and fitting may not be exquisite but it's still nice. I was able to examine the particular rifle I bought, and the store only had that one in stock. Perhaps I was a bit lucky in this regard.
I've heard newer Marlins are improving. I hope this is true as its a shame this historic brand has seen some bad quality in recent years. It's bad enough Remington's future is in question. I want Marlin around into the future.
Winchester exists only as a legal entity; Miroku makes them in Japan. They make great rifles, but the New Haven Ct. facility is gone.
We're losing heritage companies!!!!

 

[Obturation]

I'm not the guy who bashes guns/gun companies unless they really deserve it and I'm fair in my criticism. I want marlin to exist in the future but if they sell rifles that take some finishing by the end user they should be priced accordingly. I'm ok with doing some cleanup on a new rifle if I saved money and it'll be exactly what I want when it's done. With that being said, I have seen some Marlins that were very poorly finished inside & out, some that looked pretty decent but had the whole action full of chatter marks and that felt super gritty and I've seen some that look and feel alright. So it's luck of the draw.

The thing that's interesting to me is the model 39a, arguably the finest lever action 22 ever built. Still produced after all these years but have you seen what a new one costs???? I'll tell you- $3700. Is it that difficult to make or does the manpower required take that much time, I don't know. What I do know is, for that money it had better be the finest finished , smoothest 39 to date. I doubt that's the case, my 1957 model 39 is a treasured rifle and I wouldn't sell it for any reason but if someone offered me $3700 for it, I'd probably let it go. My point is , I'd be impressed if the new one is better than my old one.

So marlin must be capable of excellent fit and finish if they sell a $3700 22, why can't they finish their other guns well and charge what it costs? I would be buying them , no doubt. I really like the 45-70 trapper they put out a while back, a version they released some years back called STP (I think) was very similar but limited to 500 or 1000 guns, they're huge money if you can find one. I want a trapper but I won't buy one sight unseen, can't do it. If Henry offered similar (16" barrel, medium/large loop, Skinner sights in hard chrome or stainless) I'd order sight unseen with no reservation or hesitation because I trust the company to take care of their product.

Needless to say I'm still sceptical on what direction marlin is heading and I'm just waiting until I've seen a few good years of good reports before I buy my first remlin. I'm encouraged to see several good reports but I see a lot of bad reports too.

I had originally thought Henry was a commemorative rifle company, or replicas not meant for much use. I didn't really know. When I was shopping for a 45-70 I couldn't find anything nicer unless I doubled the price. My Henry's finish is not glossy deep blueing but it's even and looks good, wood fit is excellent , wood is nice , action us smooth as butter , trigger is very useable and there's no lawyered up safety. I've shot that rifle a lot and put some heavy loads through it, nothing has loosened up , it hasn't given up a thing and accuracy is excellent for what it is. I'm not a fanboy , you'll find more Marlins and Winchesters in my safe than Henry's but I'll keep adding Henry's faster than the other 2 so they'll catch up.

You won't go wrong either way, but if it were me , I would examine the marlin before you buy. Get a good one and then just shoot it.

 

[dh1633pm]

I like my 1894 in 45 colt. I like the history of its design. The Henry is based on the Marlin action. For me I’ll take history any day. You really don’t have to worry. You can’t loose with the choices you have before you.

 

[BlueHeelerFl]

I keep hearing stories about Marlin being like this. I bought a .357 Marlin 1894 several months ago. It functions fine and wood and fitting may not be exquisite but it's still nice. I was able to examine the particular rifle I bought, and the store only had that one in stock. Perhaps I was a bit lucky in this regard.
I've heard newer Marlins are improving. I hope this is true as its a shame this historic brand has seen some bad quality in recent years. It's bad enough Remington's future is in question. I want Marlin around into the future.
Winchester exists only as a legal entity; Miroku makes them in Japan. They make great rifles, but the New Haven Ct. facility is gone.
We're losing heritage companies!!!!

I keep hearing the same, but the 1894C. I bought over a year ago is fantastic. They actually had 2 at the time at my LGS and both seemed to be equally good.

What amazed me was how smooth the lever was on those guns. I was basically shocked how the action being that smooth. My previous 1894CS that I bought used in the 90's took a huge amount of effort comparably to run the action.

There must be huge swings in quality from Marlin, which sadly is not uncommon from all manufacturers nowadays

 

[BlueHeelerFl]

Hello everyone!

I’m looking into purchasing a lever action rifle chambered in .357 mag, and I’m debating between a Marlin 1894, or the Henry Big Boy steel. The lack of a loading gate on the Henry doesn’t bother me, but I would like to purchase the higher quality rifle. I’ve heard the Henry has problems with the magazine tube tearing out, is this a common issue? I’ve heard Marlins quality is still a little spotty. I’d like to buy a rifle that will last a long time, and feels solid and quality built.
Thanks!

The Henry X models have a loading gate and tube

 

[CraigC]

For a .357, pick the one you like best. For the big bores, I'm going to choose the one with the fast twist rate, Henry.

That said, I think people are weird about Marlin. As I understand it, the recent issues arose when Remington went to move production and the old employees would not move to the new location. What they found out is that those old employees were very accustomed to getting the most out of their old worn-out equipment. So new people on old equipment is what caused the quality issues. Now that the equipment has been replaced, the guns are excellent but bad reputations are hard to overcome. IMHO, the older "JM" Marlins were not that great in the first place. Wood to metal fit was always spotty, actions were rough, metal finishes were always more utilitarian and milling marks were very often bead blasted over. The newer guns are FAR better than Marlins of 20yrs ago.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Sorry if I offend the Henry guys, but I think the Marlin looks like a rifle and Henry looks like its sold in the toy section of Sportsman's Warehouse along with the Roy Rogers cap pistol and holster set.

 

[ms6852]

If I were going to buy another lever action I would save the extra money maybe $400 or a little more and get a Taylor & Co, made by Pedersoli great actions and rifles.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

The “Steel” is my favorite of the HBB line. I’m tempted by the .41 Magnum version since no other company currently offers a lever action rifle in that chambering.

If you ever want to shoot cowboy action the Marlin is by far the better competition rifle. The HBBs don’t like to run fast and there are virtually no aftermarket performance parts available to improve it.

 

[Big_Al]

Look for an older pre safety marlin.