Marlin 336 vs Winchester 94

[CaliCoastie]

One thing that hasn't been touched on, on the winny you have to squeeze the lever to pull the trigger, with the marlin the lever pops into place. It always threw me when I took it out to shoot.

 

[788Ham]

I've got an Winchester Big Bore '94 .375, in lever guns, I've always like the heft and the feel of a Win. The Marlin is a nice rifle, they just never fit me very well, didn't have the same esthetics I guess. The Winnies don''t fit like a Savage '99 either ! Another thread, someplace else too. lol

 

[toiville2feathers]

If you want a lever gun that you can mount a scope on then the best choices are Savage 99, BLR Browning . Winchester model 88. Sako Finnwolf. You won't have to mount an ugly hammer spur on the hammer, which could be a possible safety issue. You would have a larger choice of cartridges rather than 30-30, 32Spec., 35 Rem . These are tubular magazines that use large flat noses on the bullet. Do you really need a scope to shoot a flat nosed bullet. These design of bullet don't shoot that far with any degree of accuracy. Pretty
Much the same results if your shooting round nosed bullets. The lever guns that I suggested utilize a variety of high powered cartridges and will accommodate spitzer style bullets that are much more accurate. Just my 2 cents worth if that.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

to me 94 says carbine, 336 says rifle

My view is that the Winchester is a carbine (lighter, slimmer) and the Marlin is a rifle (full sized stock, bit beefer) even if they both have 20 inch barrels.

 

[AKElroy]

to me 94 says carbine, 336 says rifle
My view is that the Winchester is a carbine (lighter, slimmer) and the Marlin is a rifle (full sized stock, bit beefer) even if they both have 20 inch barrels.

I think this close to the truth of it. I bought my 336 from gunbroker, advertised as new "old stock". I doubted it, but it came in the original box, 1973 manufacture, pretty gloss walnut and deep blue finish. I put a nice vintage gloss leupold 2-7x30. It IS NOT a front seat, rough use gun. I sit in a stand with it, and rue the day it gets a ding.

The 3 94's are a different story. One is a special gun, 1974 manufacture, walnut, pretty. Good shooter, Williams peep sight. Great walking around gun, many pigs dropped when walked up carrying that one.

Next up is an early 80's trapper, 16" barrel. I bought it because it is just so compact and cool. Crappy shooter, and not enough weight up front to swing smoothly on walked-up game, so it does not see much use.

The last 94 is a late manufacture AE, crappy beech wood, Nikon scope. It's a shooter, and is ugly enough to be the front seat, fill the feeders, beat the crap out of it gun.

 

[AKElroy]

These are tubular magazines that use large flat noses on the bullet. Do you really need a scope to shoot a flat nosed bullet. These design of bullet don't shoot that far with any degree of accuracy.

My experience differs from yours. With 4 .30-30's and thousands of rounds down range, 2 scoped, 2 with peep sites, both of my scoped .30-30 lever guns shoot nearly 1 MOA or better with 170 gr corlokt ammo. Secondly, some of us older folks have astigmatism, and putting a front post into a buckhorn notch is a futile practice, so scopes or peeps are a must.

As for not shooting accurately "that far", I've taken deer cleanly at AN HONEST 200 yards with the Marlin mentioned earlier. "That far" is a subjective term. I would respectfully suggest that 99.9% of all game is taken inside that distance.

 

[Riomouse911]

You honestly can't go wrong with either one. My scoped 336 in .35 Rem is the most accurate lever I have ever shot; but I like the feel, looks and nostalgia of the 3 94's that reside in the safes (2 20" .30-30 and one .44 16" trapper).

Find the best deal that sings to you and have at it.

 

[MartinS]

"The last 94 is a late manufacture AE, crappy beech wood, Nikon scope. It's a shooter, and is ugly enough to be the front seat, fill the feeders, beat the crap out of it gun."
The true saddle rifle, still alive.

 

[sage5907]

I'm not a lever action owner but I did own a Model 94 back in the 1960's and I don't have anything good to say about it. One of my friends has a Model 336 in 375 Winchester with a half magazine of the type shown on the left side of JMR40's picture. It is a really fun gun to shoot and is smooth and accurate. If I was going to buy a 336 it would be a half magazine and chambered for the 375 Winchester cartridge. There's one for sale on GunBroker but it's not priced to sell.