Lever guns

[1903Collector]

Downloaded with about 10 grains of Unique, they are almost as much fun as the .357.

Love the 44mag.....just bought a Ruger M77 bolt gun in .44 as well, beautiful wood stock.

I had one of those, 77/44. Mine was stainless with synthetic stock...Another one I regret letting go. For me the 44-40 is my favorite lever gun cartridge, it's still a .44 but very pleasant to shoot. I just wish components were more available, I got a nice stash of brass but finding bullets can be challenging at times.

 

[Woodsloafer]

WANT!

The ones I have in 223 (have the same setups in 308), I bought two ultralight stocks and swapped them out for the mannlicher stocks (kept the stocks, of course) on the scoped ones.

 

[Woodsloafer]

I had one of those, 77/44. Mine was stainless with synthetic stock...Another one I regret letting go. For me the 44-40 is my favorite lever gun cartridge, it's still a .44 but very pleasant to shoot. I just wish components were more available, I got a nice stash of brass but finding bullets can be challenging at times.

I sold this one a couple years ago:

 

[grey]

I had one of those, 77/44. Mine was stainless with synthetic stock...Another one I regret letting go. For me the 44-40 is my favorite lever gun cartridge, it's still a .44 but very pleasant to shoot. I just wish components were more available, I got a nice stash of brass but finding bullets can be challenging at times.

I sold this one a couple years ago:

View attachment 827165

I did this one up a few years ago to go along with my '77 1894 and revolvers. It has a Boyd's stock I finished and glass bedded (actually Rust Blue in Natick bedded it). I still have the synthetic stock and wished it could hit the side of a barn but it was terrible and I regretted the purchase until I went through with the stock improvements. 1 deer so far. 3 years ago I let a .444 Marlin slip through my fingers for $779. I still regret that but it would've needed a reloading setup. However my recent 1964 336 in .35 rem acquisition leaves me thinking I still need one

 

[Woodsloafer]

View attachment 827176
I did this one up a few years ago to go along with my '77 1894 and revolvers. It has a Boyd's stock I finished and glass bedded (actually Rust Blue in Natick bedded it). I still have the synthetic stock and wished it could hit the side of a barn but it was terrible and I regretted the purchase until I went through with the stock improvements. 1 deer so far. 3 years ago I let a .444 Marlin slip through my fingers for $779. I still regret that but it would've needed a reloading setup. However my recent 1964 336 in .35 rem acquisition leaves me thinking I still need one

Nice, the 77/XXs can be finicky, glad you got it sorted out.

 

[pinefd]

View attachment 827176
I did this one up a few years ago to go along with my '77 1894 and revolvers. It has a Boyd's stock I finished and glass bedded (actually Rust Blue in Natick bedded it). I still have the synthetic stock and wished it could hit the side of a barn but it was terrible and I regretted the purchase until I went through with the stock improvements. 1 deer so far. 3 years ago I let a .444 Marlin slip through my fingers for $779. I still regret that but it would've needed a reloading setup. However my recent 1964 336 in .35 rem acquisition leaves me thinking I still need one

Hate to tempt you, but...I was fondling this thing of beauty at my LGS yesterday, in case you have any interest:

PM me for details, if you're at all interested, and I believe they're flexible on price.


Frank

 

[grey]

Hate to tempt you, but...I was fondling this thing of beauty at my LGS yesterday, in case you have any interest:

PM me for details, if you're at all interested, and I believe they're flexible on price.


Frank

Maybe one day. I'm less than a month in on my "new" remington 1903 and marlin 336 .35 remington. If I had no other interests I'm balancing right now I would definitely. I just used up my end of year gun money. Thanks though

 

[Woodsloafer]

Hate to tempt you, but...I was fondling this thing of beauty at my LGS yesterday, in case you have any interest:

PM me for details, if you're at all interested, and I believe they're flexible on price.


Frank

I have never had but always wanted a Marlin 444, why did you post this you bastard!

 

[1903Collector]

Is that the one at shooting supply? If so I've been eyeing it for a while, price is just to high for what is really and oddball caliber today, even components are getting hard to find.

Edit: Never mind, looks like your not in MA.

 

[pinefd]

Is that the one at shooting supply? If so I've been eyeing it for a while, price is just to high for what is really and oddball caliber today, even components are getting hard to find.

No, but close. It's about a half hour south of there at A&M in Middletown, RI. Great people there, and usually pretty flexible on price.


Frank

 

[HorizontalHunter]

However my recent 1964 336 in .35 rem acquisition leaves me thinking I still need one

I have been eying one in the classifieds as a bear rifle but the ammo is scarce and expensive. I have been holding off because my hunting days are winding down and I really don’t want to get into reloading.

 

[grey]

I have been eying one in the classifieds as a bear rifle but the ammo is scarce and expensive. I have been holding off because my hunting days are winding down and I really don’t want to get into reloading.

I'm torn on it. I don't need any extra gear in my tiny basement but the price off .44mag and now .35rem might push be over the edge for a simple single stage

 

[Mark from MA]

Hate to tempt you, but...I was fondling this thing of beauty at my LGS yesterday, in case you have any interest:

PM me for details, if you're at all interested, and I believe they're flexible on price.


Frank

That looks like a Remlin. 444's were made very late model. I think only one run of them before they went belly up to Ruger. I almost bought one......but have the exact rifle in 45-70. I do not think Remlin made very many of them.

Right up your alley Woodsloafer. Could be somewhat collectible if Ruger never makes one.

If I wasn't focused on moving I'd be kicking you bastards in the shins to get in front of the line.

 

[Woodsloafer]

That looks like a Remlin. 444's were made very late model. I think only one run of them before they went belly up to Ruger. I almost bought one......but have the exact rifle in 45-70. I do not think Remlin made very many of them.

Right up your alley Woodsloafer. Could be somewhat collectible if Ruger never makes one.

If I wasn't focused on moving I'd be kicking you bastards in the shins to get in front of the line.

I hope Ruger makes them, I picked up my Ruger Marlin 1894 357 today and, after owning 30+ Marlins in my life, this is within the top 3, if not the top 1, fit and finish wise. I honestly cannot find any flaws, bluing is nicely done, butt pad absolutely perfectly fit (which was never the case with even original Marlins), and I lucked out with some decent wood (checkering is very nice). Got home a bit late to fire a few rounds off the deck but will do that tomorrow. Hopefully it fires/feeds/functions as good as it looks, including with 38s.

 

[Woodsloafer]

I hope Ruger makes them, I picked up my Ruger Marlin 1894 357 today and, after owning 30+ Marlins in my life, this is within the top 3, if not the top 1, fit and finish wise. I honestly cannot find any flaws, bluing is nicely done, butt pad absolutely perfectly fit (which was never the case with even original Marlins), and I lucked out with some decent wood (checkering is very nice). Got home a bit late to fire a few rounds off the deck but will do that tomorrow. Hopefully it fires/feeds/functions as good as it looks, including with 38s.

View attachment 827957

View attachment 827958

Cycles the live 357s and 38s that I tried without issue, yay!

 

[Woodsloafer]

That looks like a Remlin. 444's were made very late model. I think only one run of them before they went belly up to Ruger. I almost bought one......but have the exact rifle in 45-70. I do not think Remlin made very many of them.

Right up your alley Woodsloafer. Could be somewhat collectible if Ruger never makes one.

If I wasn't focused on moving I'd be kicking you bastards in the shins to get in front of the line.

If that is a 444 produced later it should be pretty good I would think - it would have been after they gave up on trying to use the old Marlin equipment and "retooled" with all new CAD/CAM machinery, correct?

 

[Harry Christopher]

I hope Ruger makes them, I picked up my Ruger Marlin 1894 357 today and, after owning 30+ Marlins in my life, this is within the top 3, if not the top 1, fit and finish wise. I honestly cannot find any flaws, bluing is nicely done, butt pad absolutely perfectly fit (which was never the case with even original Marlins), and I lucked out with some decent wood (checkering is very nice). Got home a bit late to fire a few rounds off the deck but will do that tomorrow. Hopefully it fires/feeds/functions as good as it looks, including with 38s.

View attachment 827957

View attachment 827958

Many years ago, I had a Marlin 1894 Cowboy with the octagon barrel which I enjoyed shooting very much. I had to sell that rifle to pay some bills and of all the guns I have sold over the course of the last 45 years that is the one that I most regret selling.

Yesterday I was visiting The Gun Rack in Turners Falls looking for something else when I inquired off hand if they had any of the new Ruger made 1894 Marlins in stock in .357 magnum and much to my surprise, they did in fact have 2 of them on hand.

After looking it over very closely.........fondling it sounds so crass......and drooling a bit in an uncontrolled manner.......or so She Who Must Be Obeyed pointed out to me........it followed me home. How it kept up with the car I have no idea.

The balance of the rifle felt just right for me and the workmanship of the exterior impressed me quite a bit. I have a Skinner peep sight on order as a concession to my declining eyesight and when that arrives, I will take the rifle out for its inaugural visit to the range.

The following are some poor cell phone images of the fit and finish that caught my eye and served as my justification for purchasing it:

 

[Woodsloafer]

Awesome, glad to see that you found the same thing with quality/fit. I am in the same boat eyesight-wise and already have a Skinner I will put on, they are nice sights. I also have a nice old Leupold 3X straight tube for it if needed someday.

And, are they not the most beautiful little rifles made? I am so happy that Ruger resurrected them in a nicely done, quality offering.

 

[Harry Christopher]

Awesome, glad to see that you found the same thing with quality/fit. I am in the same boat eyesight-wise and already have a Skinner I will put on, they are nice sights. I also have a nice old Leupold 3X straight tube for it if needed someday.

And, are they not the most beautiful little rifles made? I am so happy that Ruger resurrected them in a nicely done, quality offering.

I was somewhat surprised back in 2020 when Ruger bought Marlin from the failing Remington group in as much as I was not aware that they had any real interest in the manufacture of lever action rifles. I kept their purchase of Marlin in the back of my mind over the last few years and saw recently on their web sight that they listed the 1894 in .357 as a limited available product.

I guess that handling this rifle rekindled some fond memories of my ownership of the original 1894 and the quality of the overall workmanship really caught my attention. In a previous life I had spent about 18 years as a process control specialist for a large manufacturing company and spent my working day looking thru a microscope and testing on a computer for manufacturing flaws in their product production process.

I still tend to view products that I purchase today in the same harsh surgical light of dawn for quality control faults and unfortunately I find those flaws much more than I really would like to see these days.

I purchased a Ruger PC Carbine a few years ago and was impressed with the workmanship and the engineering of the rifle overall. My GP100 bought back in the mid 1980s is still going strong and serves as our.......Harry....the dog is barking and it's 2 in the morning......social response tool for unwanted tourists who have ignored the No Trespassing signs on the property.

I thought about a low powered scope for the 1894 but so far I have held off on looking for one because Mrs. Christopher is interested in shooting the 1894 and as we both wear prescription glasses I was concerned about trying to set up the scope to meet the needs of two different pair of eyes. I thought that the peep sight might be more user friendly to different eyesight conditions and am thinking that 50 yards would constitute a realistic working range for this rifle in view of the layout of our heavily wooded property here in the Back of Beyond.

I did some research on peep sights late last night and the Skinner caught my attention more so than the other available peep sights did so I thought that I would give it a try. I am using a FastFire 3 on the PC Carbine and that can work for both my and the Mrs. eyesight.

I hope that the actual performance of the 1894 at the range will live up to its exterior standards of quality but time will tell I guess.

As a side note the Gun Rack owners tell me that they are getting quite a few customers from both the Pittsfield area as well as the Boston area. They said that the Boston people tell them that they have no comparable gun stores in the Boston area and that by city standards they felt the Gun Rack's prices were very reasonable.

I looked at a $9,000 50 caliber rifle that was on the display counter and asked if there was actually a market for that genre of rifle. They said that they sell them on a regular basis to the aforementioned Boston crowd and those folks apparently have no problems buying 50 caliber ammo at $5 to $6 a round. I guess that is the real definition of the 1% evidently.

I have done business with the Gun Rack for a number of years and while it is a bit of a drive for me, I enjoy dealing with the family that owns and runs the store. As a side note, they inform me that at present their overall inventory is in the 3,000 to 4,000 range of guns on site.

If you have an opportunity to visit them I think that you will enjoy the visit. I hope that your 1894 runs as well as you expect when you have a chance to shoot it out in the wild as it were. One thing that I found interesting yesterday was that they sell every 45/70 lever gun that they can get their hands on. It would appear that there really is a demand for the so called "dinosaur" rifle.........who knew indeed........

Merry Christmas

 

[Woodsloafer]

@Harry Christopher If you don't mind me asking, what was the price on the one's at The Gun Rack?

Anyone else know where they ones locally in stock? I have been trying to come up with Xmas gifts for my two nephews and if I can get two this might be it. Thank you for any leads!

 

[Mesatchornug]

@Harry Christopher If you don't mind me asking, what was the price on the one's at The Gun Rack?

Anyone else know where they ones locally in stock? I have been trying to come up with Xmas gifts for my two nephews and if I can get two this might be it. Thank you for any leads!

need a third nephew?

 

[Woodsloafer]

need a third nephew?

Things didn't work out for my wife and I in terms of having kids, so we tend to overspend on them. I cannot afford a third .

 

[Harry Christopher]

@Harry Christopher If you don't mind me asking, what was the price on the one's at The Gun Rack?

Anyone else know where they ones locally in stock? I have been trying to come up with Xmas gifts for my two nephews and if I can get two this might be it. Thank you for any leads!

The Ruger list price is $1,239 and I paid $1,000 cash for mine. The Gun Rack lists 2 prices on their guns......one for cash and one for credit cards. Their credit card processor charges them 4% per transaction because they don't like gun stores and do what they can to make the store's life harder. They essentially give the buyer a discount for paying cash or check.

Your Christmas gifts for family is a lovely idea which will hopefully help the younger generation appreciate the value of just what the 2-A provides honest citizens and serve as a counterpoint to the anti-gun indoctrination that is so prevalent in schools these days.

The store had one 1894 left in stock yesterday afternoon. If you have an opportunity you could give them a call and see if they can come up with a pair of them for you.

Their number is: 413.863.8721

 

[Caveman]

Many years ago, I had a Marlin 1894 Cowboy with the octagon barrel which I enjoyed shooting very much. I had to sell that rifle to pay some bills and of all the guns I have sold over the course of the last 45 years that is the one that I most regret selling.

Yesterday I was visiting The Gun Rack in Turners Falls looking for something else when I inquired off hand if they had any of the new Ruger made 1894 Marlins in stock in .357 magnum and much to my surprise, they did in fact have 2 of them on hand.

After looking it over very closely.........fondling it sounds so crass......and drooling a bit in an uncontrolled manner.......or so She Who Must Be Obeyed pointed out to me........it followed me home. How it kept up with the car I have no idea.

The balance of the rifle felt just right for me and the workmanship of the exterior impressed me quite a bit. I have a Skinner peep sight on order as a concession to my declining eyesight and when that arrives, I will take the rifle out for its inaugural visit to the range.

The following are some poor cell phone images of the fit and finish that caught my eye and served as my justification for purchasing it:


View attachment 828298

View attachment 828299

View attachment 828301


View attachment 828303

Jealous on the new 1894. That is a beautiful specimen. I have a request in with my dealer for one in 44 so that I can run some Garrett Hammerheads.

Side note for this group.
I’ll post it in classifieds if necessary. But would prefer to keep it in here for like minded enthusiasts. I have a 200rd case of 444 marlin I don’t need. Marlin 444 Marlin Ammo 265 Grain Core-Lokt Soft Point - Ammo Deals

I’m in SNH - Milford area. drop me a PM if interested.

 

[Harry Christopher]

Jealous on the new 1894. That is a beautiful specimen. I have a request in with my dealer for one in 44 so that I can run some Garrett Hammerheads.

Side note for this group.
I’ll post it in classifieds if necessary. But would prefer to keep it in here for like minded enthusiasts. I have a 200rd case of 444 marlin I don’t need. Marlin 444 Marlin Ammo 265 Grain Core-Lokt Soft Point - Ammo Deals

I’m in SNH - Milford area. drop me a PM if interested.

If your future 1894 in .44 magnum is as beautiful in execution as is the one I purchased yesterday is to me then I think you will be delighted in that investment.

 

[Jay77]

I hope Ruger makes them, I picked up my Ruger Marlin 1894 357 today and, after owning 30+ Marlins in my life, this is within the top 3, if not the top 1, fit and finish wise. I honestly cannot find any flaws, bluing is nicely done, butt pad absolutely perfectly fit (which was never the case with even original Marlins), and I lucked out with some decent wood (checkering is very nice). Got home a bit late to fire a few rounds off the deck but will do that tomorrow. Hopefully it fires/feeds/functions as good as it looks, including with 38s.

View attachment 827957

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I’ve been looking but just got hit with a 11k estimate to do a sewer hookup. So beautiful.

 

[Caveman]

I can’t wait for the new 1894. I was just going through some of my stuff this morning and found these two that I forgot I had.

 

[dezignguy]

Here’s my 1978 model 94 chambered in 30-30
I picked it up at my LGS about 10 years ago. Some kid had it handed down from his relative, he traded it for something tacticool. His loss was my gain.View attachment 828383

 

[Jay77]

You guys are killing me!!!!

 

[Harry Christopher]

You guys are killing me!!!!

It always seems that just when you see something that really catches your attention life has a tendency to raise its hand and whisper in your ear that there are actually obligations that take precedence over our interests in the firearm field.........sewer hook ups being one of the more expensive unexpectable expenses that come to my mind. I know that seems hard to believe but that has happened to me on more than one occasion in the not-too-distant past unfortunately.

I ended up waiting almost 20 years before I was able to sort of replace the Cowboy 1894 that I had to sell to meet expenses.

Having entered my 7th decade of trying to survive in a world that apparently passed me by a long time ago I find that I have developed a newfound appreciation for the older genre of rifles that harken back to a time when quality manufacturing was actually seen as an important tenant of the firearms field. It strikes me that we have become inundated by a plague of biblical proportion of MBA graduates telling their companies that the key to improving their margins and returns on investment is to make their products a little bit cheaper and sell them for more money to unsuspecting consumers.

Marlin has had a rough ride when the equity crowd took them over and ran them into the ground. The Ruger purchase of what was left of the Marlin assets came as a real surprise to me, but I am delighted to say that they seem to have entered the manufacture of the new Marlins with serious intent and if the rest of their Marlin line is as well put together as my 1894 is then I think that they will have a definite winner in their entry to the lever action market.

Always remember.........
When you come to a fork in the road on the journey in life.......
Take it........
You can see how well that has worked out for me........
Or something........