@Ratshooter is your 357 Marlin pre-Remlin or recently made?
I too leaning toward a Marlin but even the recent feedbacks are not solid positive. Complains are not only about aesthetic.
Thank you all for the replies.
I think I have made up my mind about this: a .357 Carbine is most suitable to my current needs (or lack of needs) and will also help me to get started with hunting small games when chances arrive.
Once I've started hunting I will be able to see for myself if I need a more powerful or longer-range cartridge.
The guns I'm looking at right now are Henry Big Boy Steel Carbine (Big Boy X is nowhere to be found at the moment; the All Weather is 20") and Marlin 1894 C
The Marlin's is a being priced a lot higher than Henry's now with unsure quality. JM Marlin is even more expensive and I don't feel comfortable with buying used gun online...
Gun stores in NJ are small and spared, and I don't think if pawn shops are even allowed to sell guns.
Comparison:
* Henry Carbine
+ Easier and cheaper to get at the moment
+ Not much complains about the built (I heard)
+ Smoother trigger & action (I heard)
+ Better finish although that's not really important
- 7 rounds for any situation with no reload option.
- The standard loop looks shorter than Marlin's, not sure if it's true.
* Marlin
+ 9 more rounds + loading gate
+ 18", not too long & not too short, just nice, and looks more balanced too
+ Seems more popular & easier to find sights on Amazon where I got Prime for free shipping.
+ Better fit although that's not really important
- Hard to find & more expensive
- Quality concerns (I heard)
- Trigger & action require tuning (I heard) which increase cost further
Maybe it's just me but I have not seen any praise on Henry's quality & reliability yet.
People keep saying that "Henry only move up when Remlin became worse" and that sounds like a second choice to me, which is no good.
People also praise their customer service, but that's not something I hope to hear (no CS contact at all is the best).
On the other hand, there still be tons of love for Marlin out there with hope for them to come back. This kind of loyalty is completely lacking for Henry, and there must be good reasons.