I had a chance to handle a Winchester 1894 Trails End in 44 mag recently. I was very impresed with the quality and feel of the gun. In fact it has so many features over the Marlin it has me considering selling my Marlin 1894 and picking up a trails end. The Winchester has a tang safety which I find mighty nice over the Marlin cross bolt. I'd rather not have either so I guess I need to send a thank you note to the American Trial lawyers for that. The Tang safety is fast especially since you can "thumb" the safety with your shooting hand. That's a big improvement over the Marlin. The Winchester has a one piece firing pin Vs the Marlin pin which has always seemed whimpy to me. Trigger pull and smoothness on the gun I handled was light years ahead of the Marlin. The Winchester is available in either a SRC variant with a round barrel or a Octagon barrel short rifle. Both are 20". The octagon barrel has the benefit of a dovetailed full magazine. No barrel bands ! The Winchester also sports a 1/26 twist rate on the 44 mag Vs the 1/20 on the Marlin. I'm wondering if that's enough to be beneficial in stabelizing cast bullets in the 260-300 grain range. I also like the crescent buttplate on the Winchester and the overall look is very close to a origional. I believe I paid roughly $400 for my Marlin and the Trails end here retails at $600. Both are D/T for scope use. Has any one else seen shot or bought a trails end ????

You know you can get one of the "Ludwig Safety Delete kits" for the Marlin for about $10.00. It takes all of 3 minutes to install. As far as the cowboy guns themselves, the fit and finish on the Winchester is very nice, the wood a tad better but I like the side ejection on the Marlin (no cases in my face!) and the fact that it does not have the rebounding trigger. Also the Marlins seem to smooth up quicker than the Winchesters.

Chuck,
Kinda' like a Chevy vs Ford debate. Whatever floats ur boat man. Interestingly you haven't taken a look at the CB versions of the Marlins. Take it from someone who has 1000's of rounds down a 357Mag Cowboy with a 24" octagon ballard cut barrel, they are shooters.
I have winnies, including some older ones. The only one that comes close to the Marlins is the Model 71 IMHO.
Cheers,
R*2

Buy a well used Marlin. It will be slick from use, and it will not have the useless modern safety. Unless CAS is your reason for owning it, the 35Rem is a better choice of caliber than the 44 or a 30/30: Oh yea, the 35 is unavailable in the Win., another plus for Marlin.

The 35 does not come chambered in a 1894. That's a 336. I do very much like the 336 in 38-55. If Marlin made the 336 or the 1895 look like the origionals with a bolt like the 1894 I'd be sold. I'm not involved with CAS at all but I prefer the origional or antique look. As far as better calibers than the 44 we could find a whole list. The Winchester '71 would be a even better choice in 348 than the 35. But we each have our own ideas about what's best. One of the other posters here sent me photos of his 1895 converted to 50 express. That was mighty impressive as well. Hey Gregg bring that puppy up and let a Michigander show you how to shoot it !

Chuckwagon,
I'll bring it up anytime---it is fun to shoot. your hunting area sounds real nice-- would enjoy seeing you shoot a nick buck with it!!
I also would like to have the old square bolt style on the 336 action, maybe someone here with much more mechanical ability than me could turn some out?

Hey Guys, Count me in on liking the old square bolt Marlins better also!I have a couple and would eventually like to get more. The reason I gravitated towards the 1894 I bought last was mainly due to the square bolt. Those old Marlins sure are slick!

Buckeye,
If your ever up this way and want to shoot just let me know. I'm just North of Detroit and we do have some public ranges here but they are all single load only. My property is near Mackinaw and 4.5 hours from me. That don't stop me from heading up 3 out of 4 weekends but then I drive 40k a year. I'd love a chance to see some of Doug Turnbulls work up close and shoot a 50 Alaskan ! Can't wait until tomorrow as I'm going to pick up the USFA SAA that I ordered from Turnbull on my way out of town.

I just called Marlin customer service. It's $270 to convert a 1894 to a 1894 Cowboy. Wait time is estimated at 6 weeks. I guess there are more than a few guys getting this done. It should tell Marlin that more than a few of us like the origional look ! Marlin customer service # is 1-800-544-8892