I have seem a lot of the older Marlins shoot and they are as smooth as butter to operate. How ever The newer versions have me troubled.
I saw a fellow show up with a new 357 /94 at the range and the rifle did not operate well at all, no matter what we fed it . Reloads of his and mine and even factory loads would stick.
These loads all worked great in my winnie.

He returned the gun.

Now I have seem a lot of Marlins over bored ,which Marlins calls the new SAAMI Spec which can run 1 1/2 bore oversize. Then we hear of the tight spots , where the rifle barrel has been stamped, or dovetailed.( all issues I experianced with the 1895 guide, and seen with the new 336/35 with a loose 360 bore)
Hense one need to buy lead to fit the bore size and lapp the barrel in order to get somw kind of groups , otherwise you may spend the bucks and get three inch groups at fifty yards.
I have heard and seem the rifles jam,heard of concerns with the rifling in the 44 Mag.
Now up here in Canada a new Marlin run close to 900.00 to 1300.00 depending on the model .
I would love to have one of the new tuned Cowboy's , but am afraid to order one spend the money and the have the problems listed and or listed on this forum.

Do you know if the 45 Colt tuned cowboy version has any of these issue's?
As stated at the beginning - I am afraid to purchase another Marlin, to find I bought another anchor as with the 1895 guide and my 17V bolt from Marlin.

Now I may seem a little negative on Marlins , but if I could get another rifle with the fit and is as smooth as my old 336/35 RC, I would have a few more Marlins in the box than the two I have now.
I would Love Marlin 94 , but do not want to have the hassle's.

Should I try a tuned 45 colt version?

Harry, I think part of the problem is actually better manufacturing techniques, leading to tighter tolerances on the newer guns. I bought a new 1894SS two years ago, and an 1894C a year ago, and while the SS has smoothed out nicely, the C has not, because it hasn't been shot much. Were I more patient I'd make up some dummy rounds and practice cycling them through the action. My SS would'nt reliably feed ANYTHING when I first got it, it took a year of occasional shooting before it finally started to feed reliably, now it works just fine with almost any nose profile.

I've been tempted to tear into it and smooth it up myself, but most of my gunsmithing experience is limited to revolvers, and I'm a bit hesitant to start on it until I better understand the working relationships of the moving parts and surfaces. I keep telling myself that when I get a good snowfall I'll sit down and tackle it, but lately it's been seventy degrees, so it may be awhile. I'm shooting for February.

Good luck with your adventures, and remember, if you get a problem child, there is a LOT of knowledge on this board!
Speaking of which, has anyone heard from Swany lately? He must be working a lot........ :rolleyes:

Papajohn

Harry, no problems with my .45 Colt Cowboy. It's a real thumper, on both ends! Haven't done any serious accuracy work, but it'll push 300gr. Beartooth WFNGCs to 1700fps or so..... no problem :D

Harry, I think part of the problem is actually better manufacturing techniques, leading to tighter tolerances on the newer guns. I bought a new 1894SS two years ago, and an 1894C a year ago, and while the SS has smoothed out nicely, the C has not, because it hasn't been shot much. Were I more patient I'd make up some dummy rounds and practice cycling them through the action. My SS would'nt reliably feed ANYTHING when I first got it, it took a year of occasional shooting before it finally started to feed reliably, now it works just fine with almost any nose profile.

I've been tempted to tear into it and smooth it up myself, but most of my gunsmithing experience is limited to revolvers, and I'm a bit hesitant to start on it until I better understand the working relationships of the moving parts and surfaces. I keep telling myself that when I get a good snowfall I'll sit down and tackle it, but lately it's been seventy degrees, so it may be awhile. I'm shooting for February.

Good luck with your adventures, and remember, if you get a problem child, there is a LOT of knowledge on this board!
Speaking of which, has anyone heard from Swany lately? He must be working a lot........ :rolleyes:

Papajohn

I can understand a few hig spots ETC . in the action and understand a wear in time but what I expect is the action to function out of the box .Not loading and ejecting shells. Maybe once in a while but every second or third shell? That is why the 357 1894 was returned prompt.
The situation with the barrels with the tight spots and the generous bores is a problem that I can not tolerate.I could not get .460/461 lead for the 45/70 guide , and then saw problems trying to get groups with the regular sized jacketed bullets that rattled down the barrel . I could never get the gun to group under three inch's on a rest and maybe five inch's off the shoulder.
The 44 Mag is almost off paper at 100 yards.Then here comes some one with a ruger Auto, and he can get them in the black. Bring that ruger to a Cowboy shoot!
Trying to lap the speed bumps out of a barrel is something I think is more than the new gun owner should have to do.
That is like buying a new car and needing to do the final sanding before paint. :rolleyes:

Harry, no problems with my .45 Colt Cowboy. It's a real thumper, on both ends! Haven't done any serious accuracy work, but it'll push 300gr. Beartooth WFNGCs to 1700fps or so..... no problem :D

My 44 Mag rattles them down the bore as fast as you can say bang! but stop and take careful aim at plates past fifty yards.
I can do better with my S%W model 29 at 100 yards with a twenty inch plate.
I need to know your 45 colt rifle is better .

If the colt chambering was better than the 44 with no over boring and speed bumps , I might just buy the tuned 1894 CB,other than that ,--
The only other solution is to buy a used unit and rebuild and rebarrel just as one would for a good custom 45 pistol.
As of yet I have not found a used 1894 Marlin to do that with.

If I hear that one rifle is better than the normal pick off the rack type I would go for it. :cool:

Can't answer for all of them, but mine seems to be a good one. The .45s seem to feed much better than the .44s, due to the different shape of the barrel extension, for what it's worth.....

Haven't slugged it, so can't say re: that matter. But the chamber is definitely smooth.

I concur with Mike G, as my Marlin 1894 .45 Cowboy Competition is smooth, fast cycling and accurate, and has never misfed or jammed. I had a 1894 Cowboy II Limited, in .44, which in hindsight I should never have sold, but right out of the box it was a bit tight and lossened up after shooting a match or two, plus adding a "magic spring" made it a great rifle. It would not feed SWC bullets though, and I think the longer barrel of the CB II Ltd. made the slow twist rate Marlin choses for their .44's a much more accurate than the standard, shorter barreled models. I bought and quickly sold a .44 PG, which didn't put anything down-range where intended. My .44 1894 pre-cross bolt "project" gun (rifle from he__?) should be back from the smith any day now, and hopefully after all the time and money I've spent on it, it will group well enough to keep it. The .38/.357's at first had feeding problems, and no SWC's, but they've been fixed from what I here. When I started CAS, Winchester (.45) got my money because it cost less, but it jammed, had a sloppy action, and wouldn't put bullets on steel or on deer past 30 yards. I've used my Marlin .45 CB Comp. on deer and hogs, and whether I'm using low velocity cowboy loads, up to Buffalo Bore's heavy 300+ grain hot loads, they go where I aim.
.45 brass is so much better than in the past, and you can handload the .45 with heavier bullets at the same velocity as a lighter .44 mag. bullet at the same speed.
I think getting either a Marlin .45 1894 cowboy and either doing some simple polishing and installing a few parts, or getting the comp model would bring you back to loving current production 1894's.

Well a 1894 Marlin in 44 Mag followed me out of the gun shop the other day. I was waiting at the counter saw a 94 Marlin a lad before me wanted to trade in. I bought it. Looks good metal wood finsh all good so I tried it out . Shoots 200. /240 gr. as fast as I can operate the lever and aim. Tried a tube of shells as fast as posable with out aiming . No problems. So we traded the winnie .
Well I have heard lots about the Marlin 94"s good and bad.
Just hope that this is partly because there are so many units out there.
Wish me luck. :cool:

Good luck Harry!

Thanks ! I will need it . I have one Marlin out of three that I am very fond off and would never part with . A 336/35 RC.
Here's hoping -I have another shooter
Happy

Mine (44CB) will feed about anything (lead, as I don't shoot jackted) from 44 special RNFP, to 44 mag with 429421 Lyman Keith, with a pretty long nose.
The faster I work the lever, the better it works.
Fire lapping should fix the tight spots.
I smoothed mine using some 800 grit Clover, avoiding the sear, in the action and cycled it about a hundred times, then cleaned it thoroughly.
Humpty

Well the Marlin 44 was picked up Sunday as I was off to the range with the S&W model 29.
I had three hundred rounds loaded with 240 gr. RNFP lead sized .430 over 5.5 Bullseye.
The weather was a little more agreeable than the week before ,and I could shoot with out having to have gloves on.
I managed to shoot @ 10" plate at25/ 50/100 yards, and with a slight hold over even at the 3" plate @100 with a slight hold over .
Seeing the 3" plate dance was more than I was expecting from this little rifle and mild cast loads.
Well going from the winchester to the 94 Marlin , I see that I need to wrap the lever with some leather as the square lever seems to bite your fingers. I also noticed that I was prone to short stroke the lever and the rifle was not picking the next round. This was happening every now and then with rapid firing. Just something I need to work on going from the winchester to the Marlin .
Is the Marlin faster than the Winnie? Well I got used to the chitty! clang! bang! of the winchester 94 trapper where the Marlin seems to be a lot smoother to operate. My time was about the same.
So with a wrapped lever and a little polish on the high spots and practice I am sure things will improve

Looks like I got a shooter.

Glad to hear your .44 is a shooter Harry. I still haven't been able to get out to the range and see how my rebuilt rifle will keep it on paper.

Glad to hear it worked out okay, Harry! This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. If my eyes worked better, my Marlins would probably make me think they were target rifles. That 35 Remington of mine still astounds me, with pistol bullets even! One hole groups at fifty yards, with me doing the shooting, no less! The heavy stuff shoots a bit wider, but I can live with inch and a half groups at 100, especially from a rifle that everyone told me was outdated, and couldn't possibly be accurate with a two-piece stock. Good thing that rifle can't read...... :p

Papajohn

Glad to hear it worked out okay, Harry! This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. If my eyes worked better, my Marlins would probably make me think they were target rifles. That 35 Remington of mine still astounds me, with pistol bullets even! One hole groups at fifty yards, with me doing the shooting, no less! The heavy stuff shoots a bit wider, but I can live with inch and a half groups at 100, especially from a rifle that everyone told me was outdated, and couldn't possibly be accurate with a two-piece stock. Good thing that rifle can't read...... :p

Papajohn

Your .35 is like the Bumble Bee, since he wasn't told he cannot possibly fly, He just does it. Just don't tell your .35, and it will continue to do it's thing.

Lee L.

I would never part with my 50 year old 336 RC.
There are not too many 35 Marlins in the bush here in Central Ontario Canada that I have seen. Some day I worry about brass drying up, as now I need to travel to find factory ammo for it.
I reload, so as long as I can find brass I am happy .

The Marlin 94 has sparked some new interst in the 44 Mag. I was shooting lead in my revolver and some at the cowboy shoots.
Now being able to shoot groups instead of clusters past fifty yards, it will see a lot of use at the range along with the 336/35.
So many guns - so little time