Hot on the heels of the re-release of the Marlin Dark Series, Ruger has just announced the re-release of one of Marlin’s all-time classics, the Model 1894 lever action chambered in .357 Magnum. Unlike the Dark Series guns, the 1894 Classic is, well, a classic. It has blued steel and an American Black Walnut stock with tasteful checkering and a rubber recoil pad.

The new Marlin 1894 sports an 18.63-inch cold hammer forged barrel, an adjustable semi-Buckhorn rear sight, and a hooded brass bead on the front. Capacity is 10 rounds of .357 Magnum or .38 Special loaded into the full-length magazine tube below the barrel.

Overall length is just 36 inches and weight is only 6.2 pounds. Although I don’t see it listed in the specs, it looks like the new 1894 is drilled and tapped for optics mounting as well. It comes with sling swivel studs installed, and an offset hammer spur if you do decide to mount a scope.

The Marlin 1894 in .357 Magnum is probably my all-time favorite lever gun. It’s sleek, fast-handling and packs a good punch for its size. I used the Model 1894 Cowboy in .357 Magnum for years when I was doing Cowboy Action Shooting and got a have of trigger time in behind that gun.

My buddy shot the same model 1894 and there were always a lot of them represented on the line at any match we went to. It’s a heck of a camp and brush gun, too.

Mine has the 24-inch heavy octagonal barrel on it, which I love, but I appreciate the traditional 18-inch carbine as well, so I’m glad to see that being the first 1894 that Ruger is bringing back into the Marlin line.

There’s still a lot of merit to matching up your lever gun to a handgun of the same caliber when it comes to general utility or range and field use, so if you’re a .357 Magnum fan you should be excited to see the comeback of the classic Model 1894.

 


Specifications

Caliber: .357 Magnum/.38 Special
Capacity: 10+1
Stock: American Black Walnut
Material: Alloy Steel
Finish: Satin Blued
Front Sight: Brass Bead with Hood
Rear Sight: Adjustable Semi-Buckhorn
Weight: 6.2 lb.
Overall Length: 36″
Length of Pull: 13.63″
Barrel Length: 18.63″
Barrel: Cold Hammer-Forged Alloy Steel
Twist: 1:16″ RH
Grooves: 6
MSRP: $1,239

 

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46 COMMENTS

      • You wouldn’t even need to silence it. Just load up the heaviest projectile with the lightest load of powder, and it will be very quiet.

    • BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! I know what you mean! Very VERY tempting… Should never have sold the original I had…

  3. A butt plate would be better, at least the recoil is solid. Lop another two inches off the barrel and it would be damn near perfect. Prefer .44 myself though.

    • I have gorilla arms and put a limbsaver on mine just for the extra length. It also keeps it from squirming around when I lever it, so I prefer the rubber pad to the hard plastic or metal.

    • What everybody wants they just don’t know it yet – a BLR-style lever action (rotary bolt, box mag) in 460sw – unlike the older Browning lever designs, the BLR-style gun would (IMO) feed 454 Casull and 45 LC reliably. Put a Savage-type barrel nut on it and expand the caliber options even more…

    • I *really* want this in .41 mag (to match my preferred hand cannon — Dan Wesson pistol pack in .41 mag).

      Marlin did 1894’s in .41 mag for a few years, but going rate for existent examples these days is >$3000!

  4. They blew it by not threading the barrel for subsonic .38 spl and a can… 🙁

    • Yes, especially since it has a side loading gate.

      I got tored of waiting for Henry to make what I wanted so I …
      Got the Henry 20″ case hardened, side gate, 357mag, woody, octagon to start with.
      Then had it chopped down to 16″ and threaded it.
      Blissful.

  5. I’ve got a 336 in .35 Remington but I sometimes wish it was in .357 mag instead. Maybe I should get this so I had one of each.

    I always thought it would be neat if they made this gun in .45 APC too.

      • One all-weather with stainless-steel construction and a solid quality stock would be the bee’s knee’s.

        And a threaded barrel… 🙁

  6. Ruger, please start making the Marlin 22s again, especially the Model 60. We all know the 10/22 is great, but so is the Model 60.

    • Yes, yes, yes, the model 60, and thread those barrels as well…

    • I’ve had both. The older 60 with the longer barrel was a better gun than the 10/22. But Marlin got ruined. I doubt Ruger brings the 60 back. The 10/22 sells like hotcakes and it is a decent gun.

      • If you had all the squirrels ever killed by a Mod 60 in one pile, would it be as big as the pyramids?

        Or bigger?

        • “If you had all the squirrels ever killed by a Mod 60 in one pile,…”

          Squirrels and feral cats.

          ..and occasional possums… 😉

  7. I am happy to see they are giving attention to the concept of a lever action in .357Mag. This does very much interest me. Things might change but this look isn’t something that is likely to play out well with younger shooters. It will appeal to an older generation though. Just like the 45-70 round.

    What I would rather see from manufacturers is something more modular. This is after all a major reason why the AR15 has takin off the way it has. Make it something you can swap out barrels for so that things like length and round vs. octagon can be chosen. Personally, I would rather have an easy choice of loops. I like large loops with leather. Give me the ability to personalize with a variety of stock styles (like traditional vs. something more modern). Let’s have options for the furniture here. How about forend options like wood vs. MLock or choices for sights and optics? I haven’t seen many lever guns with what I consider to have good sling attachments.

    You want to look good to a 25 year old that is thinking about buying a lever action? Let’s start moving away from ladder rear sights. This is the 21st century. This is a time in history when everyone wants pistols with red dots. I’m not necessarily in agreement with that that it is simply the reality of the way things are right now. But then I see Ruger doing THIS?!?!

    If you like this then fine. That’s great.

    • I’m old enough to remember when the ‘wonder nines’ were ushering in the end of revolvers and 1911s.

      • That’s what I’m talking about. I do not understand that kind of thinking. The fact that a 15 round Beretta 92 existed does not mean in any way that the 1911 is useless. But when looking back at it all, there are reasons why the 9mm become one of the (if not THE) most popular calibers. Things do change. It’s so much more than the fact that Beretta was won the government contract.

        This rifle isn’t useless if it’s not chambered in .357mag. But NOT making certain changes does mean that the user base is limited. Just like anything else in life. In the home, everyone wants WiFi with perhaps a little being wired in with cat5 ethernet. In the data center, things are moving away from T1/T2/T3 lines with everyone installing 10/100 gig fiber optic connections and perhaps a little cat6 eithernet. Technology advances and only a fool would stand in the way. That doesn’t mean other stuff is useless or has no place. But companies not giving customers what they want will soon find their competition getting stronger. People want lever guns in .357mag. It should be just as obvious that people want free floating threaded barrels too.

  10. 357 is my favorite round. it’s outstanding in a handgun and keeps on giving out of a carbine. I reload for it, it’s pretty simple compared to tapered or shouldered rounds. it seems like a great round to develop heavy subsonic rounds for, although I’ve never shot a suppressed 357. it would be quite easy to develop a 200 grain load at 1050 fps.

    • 38spl,

      I have thought long and hard about the notion of a single caliber and what that would be–especially in an apocalyptic scenario. My initial conclusion was that .44 Magnum was the best choice. I have now decided that chambering in .357 Magnum is the best single choice.

      I believe .357 Magnum supports the widest range of applications (especially in an apocalyptic scenario as I stated above) and is superior to .44 Magnum simply because the ammunition weighs less–an extremely important consideration if you have to “bug out” in an ugly situation. And you don’t give up all that much with .357 Magnum compared to .44 Magnum in terms of “stopping power”.

      Some would try to argue that 9mm Luger would be better since both handguns and carbines are available in 9mm Luger. I see two downsides to 9mm Luger over .357 Magnum. First of all, 9mm Luger would be a very poor cartridge (even out of carbine) for hunting medium game much less defending against larger/dangerous game. Second of all, the compactness and easier carriage of a lever-action rifle over semi-automatic 9mm Luger carbines is substantial. Try slinging a 9mm Luger carbine over your back for several hours every day for two weeks and tell me how “comfortable” that is. Then repeat the same with a lever-action rifle and tell me which was superior. That alone sends me squarely into the lever-action carbine camp. (Bonus: stout loads out of a .357 Magnum carbine carry a LOT more wallop than 9mm Luger and yet you can “load down” to mild .38 Special loads if desired.)

        • jwm,

          Agree on potential (semi-auto caliber) magazine complications. Yet another reason why I would want a lever-action rifle and revolver combination in .357 Magnum over 9mm Luger in an apocalyptic scenario.

      • a 357/9mm convertible handgun would be a good solution. as for 9mm PCCs, I’ve shot a few. they don’t gain much in velocity, not like the 357. and the recoil is unreasonable to me. someday I hope to chop and thread my 77/357. I think it would be a near perfect suppressor host

  13. P .38 would make an ad hoc defensive short range carbine. P .357 would be a short range deer carbine.. A peep sight would be better than the primitive sight arrangement. Or even a red dot.
    Got mine as a substitute defensive carbine during the clinton ban in case things got worse and confiscation was attempted.

  15. I would absolutely LOVE to acquire a lever-action carbine chambered in .357 Magnum.

    I am absolutely NOT LOVING that price tag. Sheesh.

    I could probably come around to spending $800 on such a carbine. North of $1,000 (the likely real-world price at some gun dealers) is something that I cannot justify, at least not at this time.

    • When I bought my Ruger gp100 the marlins had not be put back into production. On the day I bought the revolver I almost bought a Winchester Trapper model 94 in .357. I did not like the large loop lever so I finally passed on it.

      That was two years ago and they wanted 1200 bucks for it. I will pay that for the Marlin.

      • jwm,

        You bring up a good point: which manufacturer’s lever-action carbine chambered in .357 Magnum is the “best” choice?

        Off the top of my head, these are the options:
        — Winchester
        — Marlin
        — Henry
        — Rossi

        • The Winchester I looked at was of good quality. Never used a Henry. A buddy had a Rossi and it worked quite well and at that time, decades now, it was very well priced.

          But in Lever Guns I have always preferred the Marlin. I’ve had Winchester and Marlin in .30-30. I gave a slight edge to the Marlin. It was a little easier to take apart and had fewer fiddly bits than the Winchester.

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