I have a Ruger GP100 and thought that this might be a neat addition but I don’t understand why PSA has this for over MSRP? Is there a small supply? Big demand? Are the Marlin now being made by Ruger with the assumed improved quality? The MSRP is $1239 and PSA had them at $1299 but are out of stock when I checked this morning.
Ever since Ruger acquired Marlin, they haven't been able to keep up with demand and prices have been pretty crazy if you can even find one. The .357 model is the most recent release, so that just exacerbates the situation.
Posts: 9551 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
The last new Marlin I bought was a "Remlin" 1894C in .45 Colt, winter of 2019 IIRC. I paid $750 at the LGS, so probably not the cheapest price I could have gotten if I'd taken the time to shop around. Within 2 years they were almost double that, if you could even find one.
Posts: 9551 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
Marlin 1894’s in .357 have always come in batches and have always seemed coveted especially between batches.
People have been clamoring for a Ruger-Marlin in .357 since the change over and Ruger has specifically said they are in limited supply.(now how much of that is truth vs marketing I have no idea).
The point being .357 mag levers seem to always elicit a decent demand.
I bought my 1894C in 2006 for $450 and my 1894CB in 2008 for $537.00, so about $680ish and $760ish in todays money.
"Guns are tools. The only weapon ever created was man."
Posts: 8013 | Location: On the water | Registered: July 25, 2002
That’s why I bought the Rossi M92 in 357, at the time I thought the price was too high for the Marlin. I just saw the marlins are over a grand….ouch.
The little carbine in 357 is fun at the range or super easy to tote around, the 357 can work on deer or rabbits. I used to carry it in my truck when I lived in NC because I knew if it came out of the truck people wouldn’t freak out like they would if it were an EBR. I used it to put down an injured deer at a wreck while the sheriff was on the way.
Good luck OP.
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The cool thing about the Rossi is that you can get it in a 16" barrel. I already have an 18" Marlin 1894C in .357, but I keep looking at those Rossis, telling myself I don't need it, and then looking at them again lol.
Posts: 9551 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
Man, ya'll are gonna have me looking for a stainless Rossi, I swear. Back around 2000, I bought my first couple guns. One of them was a new Marlin 1894C in .44 Mag for about $400. Really fun little gun, but I didn't want to feed it .44 magnum prices, and it was kind of a bitch to load - the cases would stick in the loading gate and if you didn't throw the lever like you were mad at it, it would bind a little. Likely, it was just that it was brand new and probably could have really used some grease and oil, but I was young and stupid and got rid of it. In my defense, it turned into a 1943 Winchester M1. I have always wanted to give another a shot in .357, though, and now I'm sitting on a lot of .357 and .38.
______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”
if you didn't throw the lever like you were mad at it, it would bind a little.
A dirty little secret about the Marlin 1894...a lot of them are kinda ammo picky, and especially don't like the sharp shoulder of a semi-wadcutter bullet as it tends to hang up on the chamber mouth. Some are worse about it than others, and most can overcome it if you run the lever "just right", but that's not something you should have to do. I've done a few things to try and mitigate in the worst of mine, but have never really cured it altogether for SWC bullets. I've switched to round-nose-flat-point projectiles for my levergun loads, as those provide 100% function in all of my 1894s.
Posts: 9551 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
I wondered if that was the case, but I was trying to be fair to it. I guess I need to check out a Rossi, because I have all kinds of ammo from .38 wadcutters to some really stout .357 duty rounds.
______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”
I'm a big fan of .38 full-wadcutters, and I shoot a ton of them out of revolvers, but you're a lucky man if you find a levergun (of any brand) that will feed them reliably out of the box. I've never owned a gun that would feed them, although I've been told they can be tuned to do so if you find the right gunsmith.
Posts: 9551 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
