Supply/Demand
I have both a Marlin 336C (.30-30) and 1894C (.357).
Both are the "deluxe" version with checkered walnut furniture.
I bought them at different stores, and the difference between them was about a hundred bucks.
If I had bought them both at Wal*Mart, the 336C would have been about $200-250, but without walnut, and the 1894C would be $400, and I'm not sure on the furniture, because they never have them on the rack; gotta special order them. If I bought the 1894C at Big 5, I'd spend about $350 (sale price, every few weeks, no walnut).
My impression is that they make fewer of the 1894C, which would seem to indicate less demand. I have trouble reconciling that with the renewed interest in cowboy shooting, though.
For whatever reason, the .357 and .44 carbines seem to uniformly cost more than the .30-30s, though I don't see "double" where I am.
However, given that I paid $100 dollars more for my .357 carbine, and given that I can shoot it for 20 cents/round (.38 special), I'm pretty sure I'll make up the price difference in a month or two (given that .30-30 ammo is 50 cents at the low end).
I can live with that.