Question on Marlin's

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I have a Cabela's credit card which has rewards points. My rewards points have finally reached the level where I can purchase a new rifle. Two strong contenders are the Marlin 444 and the Marlin 45/70 long barrel "Cowboy". Both are lever actions.

Anyone own either or both of these or have any opinions on usefullness, quality or anything else in general.

I do own one Marlin rifle, a 22 lever action so I am somewhat familier with the brand.

I'm not in a huge rush and may not go with either of these, another option simply waiting another year or two and continuing to build up rewards points for something else.

I'm not a collector, just a hunter and sometimes shooter that tends to like more unusual calibers and styles. Obviously, I'm partial to lever actions. With Savage and now Winchester out of the picture, that pretty much leaves Marlin unless I luck into a used rifle that I like.
 
My old neighbor bought a Marlin 45/70 Cowboy rifle...I must say, it was a very nice rifle. It shot very nicely and accurately. Definitely hitting the black from 100 yards with just iron sights. It's got a helluva kick to it, too.
 
I am partial to the .45-70 cause I have an 1895GS, but the .444 offers a host of bullet choices for those who reload. Also shotshells using those CCI shotshell capsules or overshot wads and such. The .444 is a bit more versatile I geuss, but I still like the .45-70. My 18" barrel is pretty stout, but I also handload to about 2100fps, while factory loads are around 1500fps or so. If it is the cowboy version, kinda seems like the .45-70 would be appropriate though.
 
Thanks for the replys. I've wanted a 444 Marlin since the mid 80's but never broke down and bought one.

Seeing this 45-70 though, reading your comments and after reading a nice website that detailed both, I'm thinking the 45-70 might be the way to go.

I like the "old" look it has. Plus they mentioned that due to the bullets, the 45-70 is much better for reloading.

The website managers must have moved this from the General Discussion. It took me a while to find it this afternoon.
 
I don't know ... Every time I pass on what I really wanted I
regret it later. If you get the 444 and it does not work out,
you could probably get a lot of your money out of it towards a
45/70.

F
 
My best friend has the cowboy .45-70 from Marlin I think, as well as my Life Insurance guy. Both of them LOVE my handloads, as they are pretty toasty and you really know when you touch it off. It is a hard decision. .45-70 gives you 300gr or maybe smaller all the way up to 405gr and above. Jacketed and hardcast bullets. I have a box of 405gr hardcast from a local bullet company. If you end up with the .45-70, you are welcome to a few of them to try out, as I don't shoot that many of them, yet...
 
Whichever I decide on, I still have the Cabela's card so in another 2 years can probably pick up the other one. I've never really regretted not getting the 444, I don't "need" it. At that time, I ended up buying a 45-90 original but I don't shoot that one, not yet anyway.
 
derek,

I love it. They have these special deals where if you go in at certain times and get friends to sign up they give you $40 in points right there. I signed up the wife and sister in law for $80. I'm hoping for more family members the next time around. It's also 1% on all purchases and 2% on all Cabela's purchases. It's taken two years to get enough for a rifle but I can't get that with a Discover Card. You need to have a Cabela's pretty close to go to the special sign up events though. I have one about an hour away so we head up there a couple times a month.
 
They have just announced they are building a store in East Hartford, Connecticut, and in MONTREAL Montreal, Quebec. Both expected to be open in the fall of 2007 or spring of 2008.

They are great stores to look at. Huge mountain in the center of the store with all sorts of North American game animals climbing on it. They also have a "deer" room where they showcase trophy bucks. Ours has an African section with mounted elephants, crocodiles, lions, etc. They also have a large aquarium with North American fish.

Prices are so/so. Some things are cheap, others are not, some things depend on when you are there. Pretty much like any other store I guess. I've found Cabela's name brand items to often be overpriced but when they do sales, they knock them down pretty good. The first three times we went, we were just looking at the displays.

They have special events throughout the year. They had a Whitetail show last fall where they had dozens of TV personalities come and speak about various hunting and fishing techniques. They sponsored some PBR guys to come and sign autographs as well as a couple of hunters that shot record breaking bucks.

Their restaurant isn't bad either. Buffet style usually and priced about right. Nothing fancy but good food. Shooting gallery (arcade style) for the kids or dads that want to show off to kids. They have a gun "room" where nothing but very high priced and/or antique guns are shown. They are for sale but very pricy. They have old Winchester's, elephant guns, Weatherby's, etc in there. Cheap guns run in the thousands. And of course they have a couple hundred "normal" guns for the average Joe.

Definately worth the drive for you guys when they are built. Not sure how the Montreal one would be for guns or ammo though.
 
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