jroot

with winchester the older the better. the pre-64s are nice guns, the new winchesters are crap. i bought a new winchester 30-30 last year from k-mart on close out and it doesn't hold a candle to my marlin 444. the marlin is a bit heavier but much better balanced and easier to shoot than the winchester. in addition, the winchester safety is a push button that extends more than 1/4 inches from the receiver, not only does it look stupid but it's very easily pushed in on accident. the winchester doesn't even have the safety hammer cock.

jrbsr

Wal-Mart and K-Mart guns are cheaper made guns.
They arent worth buying there.
Go to a good gun shop it will be a better gun.
It might cost a little more but you get better custmer service to.

mlaubner

What kind of BS is this? Do you really expect me to believe that firearm manufacturers actually make a sub-standard line of guns for large discount department stores?
With the litigious society that we live in today, what gun maker is going to risk it all to make two versions of the same gun? They're NOT! That would be lunacy.
That is like telling folks not to buy a car from Car-max because thay are selling "seconds".
Just because you can sell them cheaper than anyone else does not mean it is a cheaper gun. It just means they have more buying power and can leverage a better deal out of the gunmakers.

Sorry Nomercy, got off the subject a little...
I think if you want nostalgia go with the Winchester. The new tang safety is a huge improvement over the sliding cross bolt type. I like the 94 Ranger but would lean more towards the Trapper, again nostalgia.
I know you like Marlins so I will be respectful to your choices. I have just never really opened up to the whole "micro-groove" thing, don't care for it.
Ballard, broached or button...just not micro-groove for me.
Good luck,
Mark

Nomercy

I was going to let the boy continued to be buffaloed with BS by gunshop owners, thinking that arms makers make a specifically crappier gun just for dept. stores!!! Walmart has cheaper guns because they buy more than anyone else, and they don't have to make as much on each gun as a store that doesn't also sell t.p., lawnmowers, orange juice, blue jeans, and everything else in the world.

Anyway, I've pretty much decided to go with the Ranger Compact:

Ranger 94 compact: likes: smallest, lightest, $300,
Dislikes: Winchester-but it's a .30-30, not a pistol cartridge carbine, short pull

94 Trapper: likes, lighter and cheaper than marlin, longer pull than either
Dislikes: $150 more than Ranger compact, winchester-but it's a .30-30

Marlin Spikehorn 336: Likes, it's a Marlin
Dislikes: Pistol grip stock, Checkered stock, MICROGROOVE BBL, heavy, expensive!!

So that's the way the cookie crumbles, I never thought I'd own another Winchester, but in this VERY RARE turn of events, Win offers something that Marlin just doesn't.

Moose_Maximus

The only thing I'll say in defense of jrbsr's comment is that some chains do indeed carry "bargain" versions of firearms. For example, I bought a hardwood-stocked Marlin 1894C at a Big 5 in Wichita Falls; all the other 1894C's that I've seen have been walnut-stocked, and cost a hundred dollars more.

The mechanics aren't any different--just the lumber.

Georgian

Both the 94 and Marlin are good. Personally tho, I would have to take a Winchester over a Marlin. The Winchester just fits me better and has a better "feel" to it thatn the Marlin for me. I also dont like the heft of a Marlin. To me, the 94 is very special and a very good gun. Some ppl want to bash it cause its not a 338 mag or one of them magnum rnds. They all think they need an elephant gun to do a job.......lol Well, I love my 30-30, aka Thutty-Thutty, aka Treinte-Treinte, etc. My favorite rifle of all time.