Marlin Model 1894 357 Magnum

The self-contained centerfire cartridge coming into use in the mid-1870s was revolutionary, especially to those accustomed to working with single-shot firearms. Further, in 1875, Colt Firearms finally chambered the Single Action Army revolver in 44-40 (aka 44 WCF), thus allowing their handgun to use ammunition compatible with the famous 1873 Winchester rifle. But the 1873 Colt pistols still only carried five shots (usually, for safety’s sake), and they were slow to reload, even with cartridges. Effective range was also limited. A short-barreled rifle chambered in the same round fixed many of those shortcomings. Capacity was greater, plus the longer barrel and sight radius made them easier to shoot accurately. The carbine-length barrel also makes more efficient use of the powder in the pistol cartridge, pushing the bullets to higher velocities, which translated into more knockdown power and longer effective range.

Most of us don’t ride the Great Plains while we are worried about an Indian attack, but we do have other threats to deal with. Semi-autos work great, but they are not allowed in a number of states. One of the best self-defense alternatives we’ve seen, no matter your state of residence, is a carbine-length lever-action rifle. It occurred to us that the 357 Magnum round might benefit a lot from the extended barrel length of a carbine, so we lined up two rifles, old and new, chambered in 357 Magnum. Once again, we had access to an older Marlin 1894, and we were really interested to find out if the Micro-Groove rifling once used on Marlin 1894s really delivered the poor performance with cast bullets we’ve read about for years. This is a “JM” marked rifle (pre-Remington), also pre-safety, with the Micro-Groove rifling noted above. The price on Gunbroker.com reflected the scarcity of the early versions, showing current prices to be in the $1200 range.

Our modern selection is the Model 1892 Short Rifle from Winchester, $1500. Sporting a 20-inch barrel along with polished metal, crescent buttplate and original buckhorn sights, we wondered how velocity readings from the slightly longer barrel would compare with the original Marlin. 

We also wondered about the 357 Magnum’s velocity differences between the two carbines and an Old West-style handgun, so we borrowed a Custom Shop 3rd Generation Colt SAA. With a 5.5-inch polished barrel, fitted cylinders for both 38 Special and 357 Magnum, color case-hardened frame and hammer, buffalo bone grips, and an Alan Harton trigger job, this revolver is a joy to behold, much less shoot. But shoot it we did. The modern Colt revolver was shot to test for comparative velocity numbers only. 

With all modern-manufacture firearms, we could use modern rounds across the board, so we picked Cor-Bon’s 125-grain DPX, Winchester 158-grain JHP, and Doubletap’s 180-grain Hardcast rounds. Here’s what we found.

Marlin Model 1894 357 Magnum

~$1200

Gun Tests grade: B+

This is a light, quick handling rifle. It has Micro-Groove rifling that could present problems for those wishing to shoot soft lead bullets, but there is a solution. If you want to use optics, the Marlin 1894 has to be your choice. 

The Model 1894 Marlin was an evolution of the Model 1888 Marlin and was based on a patent from L.L. Hepburn in 1893. The idea was to simplify and strengthen the previous version. The rear locking lug (a finger-pinching monster) was deleted. A two-piece firing pin was added to keep the rifle from firing until the lever was completely closed. 

Initial chamberings of the Model 94 were black-powder type rounds such as the 32-20 and the 25-20. The mid-1950s saw the introduction of the 44 Magnum, and the popularity of the cartridge ran wild through the 1960s and 1970s. That soon ran over to the rifle industry, and Marlin chambered the Model 94 for 44 Magnum beginning in 1969. The 357 Magnum may have been developed earlier than the 44 Mag (1935 vs. 1955), but it was the second pick for high-pressure chamberings in the Marlin lever gun, with the first samples hitting the market in 1979. 

Our Marlin 1894 sported a trim 18.5-inch barrel and weighed a lithe 6.05 pounds. It balanced easily in the hand, with fingers just behind the fore end. We found this carbine shouldered quickly and swung easily. Even with the short barrel, the magazine tube still allowed nine rounds of full-house 357 Magnum ammo or 10 rounds of 38 Special. We added five more rounds to that capacity on the stock with a Butt Cuff from Galco, $119. Sights were a brass-bead front sight and a buckhorn-style rear, both set in dovetails. The rear sight is adjustable for elevation as well. The Marlin has a solid-topped receiver that is drilled and tapped for a base and rings that can carry optics. 

Our sample is one of the earliest versions, with a serial number that dates it to around 1980. Rifles produced in that early era were “pre-safety,” meaning there was no cross-bolt safety on the receiver nor any type of tang safety. The most common safety procedure was to carefully lower the hammer to half-cock for safe transport. The other option was to keep the chamber empty and the magazine tube full, quickly cycling the lever as the rifle is shouldered. Our practice on pricing used pieces is to check auction sites, like Gunbroker.com, and see how things are priced there. We don’t just look at dream prices but, rather, at pieces that are actually being bid on and derive our estimates from there. According to Gunbroker.com, using those guidelines, the “pre-safety” status along with the “JM” proof stamp (meaning that this rifle was produced before Remington took over Marlin) seem to place a premium on this carbine, with a value around $1200. 

The rest of the rifle is what we might expect whether the manufacturer was Marlin or Remington. The stock is American black walnut with a fairly straight grain. The buttplate is hard rubber, and the stock does not have any sling swivel studs. The bottom of the Marlin stock is drilled for a black-and-white Marlin “bullseye” insert. Ours, sadly, is missing. Replacements were available from eBay for about $20.

Current rifles, as produced by Ruger, use a six-groove cold-hammer-forged barrel. The later years of original Marlin production had a six-groove Ballard-type rifling. Ours sports a 12-groove barrel with very shallow rifling, hence the Micro-Groove moniker. We’ve seen reports and heard rumors over the years that the shallow rifling would work great with jacketed bullets, but not with cast lead. We’ve had issues with standard hard-cast bullets with this rifle in the past, with 38 Special lead loads posting three-shot groups in the 6-inch range at 100 yards. We surmised that part of that problem could have been softer lead bullets, originally designed for use in pistols, being pushed to substantially higher velocities. Then we tried very hard lead bullets from Doubletap and had great results, with that load actually posting a better average group size than the two jacketed ammo selections. On a hunch, we pulled one of the Doubletap loads to find, as expected, the bullet was capped with a gas check. It would appear the combination of very hard lead along with the copper base solved the problems with the shallow rifling.

We noted that the Marlin 94 showed an increase in velocity versus the Colt Single Action of 37%, 51% and 42%, respectively, for the Cor-Bon, Winchester, and Doubletap loads. The increase in muzzle velocity was especially interesting with the heavy 180-grain Doubletap ammo, which produced energy figures of 1269 foot-pounds. 

The Marlin was easy to load and feed, unless we made the mistake of rolling the rifle on its side while we worked the lever. We did this originally because the rifle was being shot from a bag on a bench, and the lever extended far enough to hit the benchtop. Rolling it over alleviated that problem, but it also allowed the cartridge to move differently. Sometimes it slipped under the extractors and required that we shift it forward before it could feed properly. Since we don’t think we will be crouching down behind our horse hoping to evade attack by hostiles somewhere on the South Dakota plain, we think we’ll be okay.

Our Team Said: Slim and trim, the vintage Marlin 1894 might be worth looking for used if you want to put optics on it. 

We conducted our tests at American Shooting Centers in Houston. At 50 yards, we fired multiple three-shot groups for accuracy from a well-sandbagged Caldwell TackDriver Pro Rest from Brownells (100-027-023, $49), further supported by a large rear bag, heavy from Tab Gear (TabGear.com, $34).

Written and photographed by Joe Woolley, using evaluations from Gun Tests Team members. GT