Marlin 1894c vs Henry Big Boy X vs Henry Big Boy steel 357

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SteadyD

SteadyD

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Which of these 3 rifles would you choose for defensive use, and why? Primarily would be used with 38 special.

I have read that if the Henry isn’t held straight it might not cycle properly. Is that a concern? Are all lever actions susceptible to this?
 
The steel big boy would be my choice if those are the only 3 possibilities . (it's been beaten to death and run over, resurrected and killed again, but...) IMO marlin is still struggling to produce properly built rifles, looked at a stack of new ones last weekend- not one was good.plus the Henry is going to be smoother and they take care of their customers. This opinion isn't based on the merits of the individual guns but rather on the companies that produce them.
 
My order would be

Big Boy X
1894C
Big Boy Steel

As already mentioned, Marlin's quality seems to have declined lately. However, I'm also a big fan of having a side loading gate, which the Big Boy X and 1894C have and the Big Boy Steel does not. So, other things equal I'd take the Henry with the side gate over the 1894C, but a side gate is important enough to me I'd take the 1894C over the Henry without one.
 
SteadyD said:
Which of these 3 rifles would you choose for defensive use, and why? Primarily would be used with 38 special.

I have read that if the Henry isn’t held straight it might not cycle properly. Is that a concern? Are all lever actions susceptible to this?
Click to expand...

The Henry and Marlin with side ejection ports can lose a cartridge while cycling if the gun is canted to the right too far. A top eject Winchester or Rossi have closed receiver sidewalls, so they don't have the same issue.

Back in January 2020 I picked a brand new Marlin 1894 CSBL over a Henry. But the Marlin needed tuning out of the box. A PITA, but once done the gun is exactly what I wanted. It was worth the pain to me as I tend to work on almost every gun that I buy brand new anyway.

Another point, at least from my experience, the Marlin will run .38 Specials and .357s, but the longer .357s cycle more smoothly. The shorter .38 Specials sometimes make you have to partially back off the cycle motion a small bit and then complete the cycle. Known as the Marlin double clutch. I'm not sure if Henry has the same glitch with .38s or not.

As far as home defense, I prefer an autoloader. I'd have to practice a whole lot more to be proficient using a lever left and right handed compared to using an autoloader left and right handed.

Two fun guns below, but the "defense" gun is on the bottom.

View attachment 898442
 
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Lever action in 30-30 will definitely sting a bad guy good. I don't know that I'd prefer a 357/38 in a lever action to simply using a revolver, though.

The keltec KSG seems like a fun self defense gun. Very short OAL and a lot of ammo on board... Hey, the other guy mentioned shotguns first!
 
I won’t be using a shotgun. And this gun will be for fun at the range mostly, but I would like to pick the one that is best suited for home defense should I ever want it for that purpose. I am only considering one chambered in 38/357.

My wife does not tolerate recoil well so anything that generates more recoil is not on the table. And there is no need to recommend an AR, as I am already aware that they have low recoil.

I kindly ask that we only discuss the options listed so I can make an informed decision. Thank you.
 
The other thing to consider if home defense is an option is that the Big Boy X comes with the ability to mount a light, no modification needed. Also, with home defense being a consideration, I'd insist on a side loading gate personally.
 
For whatever reason it's slow at work this week, so I took the Marlin 1894 CSBL to an indoor range for an early lunch today. I fed the gun 110 grain JHP and 158 grain flat nose FMJ, both .357 mag ammo. Distances to targets were 10 to 20 yards. Back in February was outdoor range time at 50 to 100 yards with friends of mine.

That 2x scope on the gun let me see well indoors, but I took it off after a couple magazines worth and fired the gun the remainder of the time with the XS sights. I actually shot tighter groups with the XS hardware, even though it was harder for me to focus on the front post. Less visual sight wobble on target helped me shoot better at close range, it would seem. BTW, that XS ghost ring in the rear is huge and doesn't help my middle aged eyes focus on that front post.

Recoil is noticeable with the .357 mag rounds, but thanks to the fat recoil pad the recoil really just seems like muzzle rise. I've let my friend's wife shoot this Marlin, while she's an autoloader type of person, she did well with the gun and she did not shoot .38 special.

Besides all that, the gun cycled and fired perfectly. Fast cycling and slow "shuck-shuck" cycling, no bobbles or hitches. 8 rounds in the tube under the 16.5" barrel and I'm able to hit smaller targets at 20 yards more accurately and quicker than any handgun I have. With a lot of practice, this gun should make a good defense gun for those that want, or have to choose, a manually operated carbine. It's much easier for me to cycle this lever than any bolt gun I've owned or used.

I figure a Henry carbine in .357 mag ought to perform about the same.
 
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chicharrones said:
For whatever reason it's slow at work this week, so I took the Marlin 1894 CSBL to an indoor range for an early lunch today. I fed the gun 110 grain JHP and 158 grain flat nose FMJ, both .357 mag ammo. Distances to targets were 10 to 20 yards. Back in February was outdoor range time at 50 to 100 yards with friends of mine.

That 2x scope on the gun let me see well indoors, but I took it off after a couple magazines worth and fired the gun the remainder of the time with the XS sights. I actually shot tighter groups with the XS hardware, even though it was harder for me to focus on the front post. Less visual sight wobble on target helped me shoot better at close range, it would seem. BTW, that XS ghost ring in the rear is huge and doesn't help my middle aged eyes focus on that front post.

Recoil is noticeable with the .357 mag rounds, but thanks to the fat recoil pad the recoil really just seems like muzzle rise. I've let my friend's wife shoot it and while she's an autoloader type of person, she did well with the gun and she did not shoot .38 Special.

Besides all that, the gun cycled and fired perfectly. Fast cycling and slow "shuck-shuck" cycling, no bobbles or hitches. 8 rounds in the tube under the 16.5" barrel and I'm able to hit smaller targets at 20 yards more accurately and quicker than any handgun I have. With a lot of practice, this gun should make a good defense gun for those that want, or have to choose, a manually operated carbine. It's much easier for me to cycle this lever than any bolt gun I've owned or used.

I figure a Henry carbine in .357 mag ought to perform about the same.
Click to expand...
Did you install the XS sights or were they factory? Are they night sights?

And what work did yours need to run well?
 
SteadyD said:
Did you install the XS sights or were they factory? Are they night sights?

And what work did yours need to run well?
Click to expand...

The sights came with the gun from Marlin, not night sights though. See the CSBL link here. https://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-action/model-1894/model-1894-csbl

The rest is a bit long winded. :eek:

Fresh from the factory, the magazine was hard to load after the first cartridge was inserted.

It turns out most Marlin .357s are like this as it has to do with the diameter of the hole in the receiver that goes into the tube magazine. Not the side gate opening, but the hole where the mag tube attaches to the receiver. This hole in the receiver needs to be chamfered a bit top and bottom, but much more so on the left side as the .357/.38 rim will catch trying to go through that hole when loading. Interestingly and obviously, .44 Mag and .45 Colt receiver magazine holes match the internal width of the receiver better so they don't seem to have this problem.

Also, filling the magazine past 6 rounds was difficult and it is reported that Marlin uses the same length magazine spring from long barrels to short barrels. I cut the magazine spring from the original 27.5" down to 22.5" for my 16.5" barreled Marlin. The magazine now holds 8 rounds of .357 and 9 rounds of .38s, loads smoothly, and feeds perfectly.

From my research even pre-Remington Marlin .357s needed at least the magazine loading issue worked on when new. Of course, if you can jiggle the cartridges as you press them in, the rim on the preceeding cartridge will skip past the receiver hole going into the magazine tube.

What I don't know is if loading a Henry through the new side loading gate has the same issue in .357 models. Clearly, loading the Henry through the front of the gun would not have this issue.

While I had the gun apart I did some work to the hammer spring strut to allow the spring to expand about an extra coil width, which relaxed spring pressure a bit. I also tweaked the trigger spring for a bit lighter pressure, and I cleaned up the sear on the hammer just a bit. The trigger is better than it was for sure, just below 5 pounds now.

So yeah, a lot of early regret with the Marlin as I didn't study up on it properly, but once the frustration was overcome it was worth the effort. I've heard that many Rossis need an action job out of the box as well, especially with all the references to Steve's Gunz brought up over the years.

See this video about the 10:35 mark to see Hickock 45 speak about loading .357 mag Marlin 1894s.

 
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Another write-in vote for a Rossi M92. I bought mine used but still in the box with the manual and all the other paperwork. The action was incredibly smooth without having anything done to it and the trigger likewise had a very clean and crisp break. It's really lightweight and very quick and easy to get it on target. Bud's Gun Shop currently shows both 16" and 20" barrel models in stock for $515. A comparable Marlin 1894C will run you $673 while a Henry Big Boy Steel will cost you $684.

Z6MOZPT.jpg
 
ColtPythonElite said:
My 92 has cycled anything I have put in it with no problems. I have shot a few thousand magnums through it with no issues.
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That’s what most folks say, although I do hear that many people have to tune them to make them run smooth. I’m not a tinkerer so I need something ready to run out of the box. Which likely means a Henry I am guessing. I wish they made the Big Boy X with a 20 inch barrel so it consequently had a longer tube and more capacity.
 
Any of them would work and do fine. However, out of the three, I would choose the Henry X for the ability to mount a light and suppressor.


Old Stumpy said:
I don't understand the mystique of lever guns as home defense guns.
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Because they're faster than a boltgun and more useful than an AR. If you're one who uses leverguns very often, it is a familiar platform and a good choice over something you may have less use for.
 
CraigC said:
Any of them would work and do fine. However, out of the three, I would choose the Henry X for the ability to mount a light and suppressor.



Because they're faster than a boltgun and more useful than an AR. If you're one who uses leverguns very often, it is a familiar platform and a good choice over something you may have less use for.
Click to expand...

Do you feel those advantages outweigh the higher capacity of the Big Boy Steel?
 
BigBL87 said:
The other thing to consider if home defense is an option is that the Big Boy X comes with the ability to mount a light, no modification needed. Also, with home defense being a consideration, I'd insist on a side loading gate personally.
Click to expand...
While I really like the idea of being able to easily top off, would the extra three rounds the Big Boy already holds be of more advantage? I’m just trying to think all of this through.
 
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