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Got the chance to purchase one or the other, my question is are they similar in dis assembley and cleaning, cause the traper on breaking the rifle up for cleaning, looks a right hardship , all those moving parts, if general cleaning is then the same, I think I would go for the traper ????

Secondly I read somewhere that most shooters purchase a 357, but after a while they feel like the purchase should have been a 44 mag.....due to power...is this really the case, feedback would be grateful....

I was advised to go for the Marlin. I've only been able to compare it directly to a Rossi, but the build quality was miles better.

As for the Winchester, I heard (but haven't confirmed) that they reused the same action from a bigger calibre - so it doesn't function as smoothly as a LA dedicated to that calibre.

I've shot a 44 Magnum LA - good fun, but not much different in terms of felt recoil. As we're only using them for target shooting, I'm not sure what the benefit of 'more power' is on a gallery rifle?

With a .38 / .357 you've got cheap, circa £27 per hundred .38 Special ammunition available (producing around 200 ft. lbs) or .357 at more than £40 per hundred (producing over 500 ft. lbs).

The .38 / .357 just seemed the most sensible choice due to the flexibility it gives you.

I've got the Marlins in .357 and in 44Mag - the 44 rarely gets an outing due to the power and velocity limitations on our indoor range and the .357 gets used at least once a week using 38 Spl ammo (and the chamber doesn't get damaged in any way). I love the 44 but use the 357 for my target and competition shooting.
I've given up trying to get the Marlin 30/30 to shoot cast boolits at a reasonable velocity (due to the Microgroove rifling) and want to sell it to generate some funds to get a 45/70 Marlin with Ballard rifling.
I'd love to get some others in older chamberings but they cost too much for me to afford them.

I have a Winchester 94AE in .45LC, bought second hand from a deceased effects so no idea how many rounds before the lifter spring broke as I was warned it would. I shot about 10,000 through it.

Finding replacement springs was a nightmare but I eventually did.

The Winchester is a lovely gun and I'm going to keep it, but you should be aware of the possible difficulties.


HTH

Do yourself a favour and buy a Henry Big Boy in 44mag

Build quality is head and shoulders above anything else, using 200gr lead and 5.4gr of TiteGroup it's both economical and very accurate.

I also had a Marlin 1894 in 44mag, luckily one of the earlier "proper" Marlin rifles not the new Remington produced rubbish, nice rifle, accurate, not a great trigger and lighter than the Big Boy but when using the two side by side the Henry felt so much better.

If you are after a nostalgic firearm the. Buy a Winchester. I had one and it was a nice gun but it a feed and ejection problems. Sandgrouse bought it from me and cured the problems.

If you want a gun that will function reliably, that has available spare parts and is bomb proof then buy a Marlin. A little more expensive but cheaper in the long run. Also more flexible re scopes etc.

As for calibre, simple choice, 44. Bigger hole and inward scoring gives you max advantage.

Go for the 44 in either make. The 357 Winchester is notorious for failing due to a part breaking that the 44 doesn't have.
I had a 44 Trails end for a while then sold it and got the Marlin. It was a good gun but the Marlin is so much easier to work on and clean.
If you reload then the cost of loading 44 isn't much more.
Power is not really an issue. I use 200gn bullets so my target loads aren't far of any 38 cal target load.
As said the hole is bigger so if you shoot gallery rifle comps it helps!
Most of the guys I shoot with have the 44 Marlin.
Really depends what you are going to use it for as to what you get.
If you are competing in gallery comps then go for the Marlin.
Casual club plinking any of the aforementioned will do.
Tony

phaedra1106 wrote: I also had a Marlin 1894 in 44mag, luckily one of the earlier "proper" Marlin rifles not the new Remington produced rubbish, nice rifle, accurate, not a great trigger and lighter than the Big Boy but when using the two side by side the Henry felt so much better.

When did the switch-over happen? My Marlin is second-hand, so I wonder if I've got a 'proper' one or a 'rubbish' one? :)

Back in early 2011, there were considerable problems after the switch of manufacturing plants, quality was appalling and production was halted while Remington addressed it.

The newer Marlins (or Remlins as they are known) are getting better depending on which plant they are produced in, if you fancy a good (long) read have a look at the Marlin owners forum rant section,

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marlin-rant-forum/

Ive not had any problems with my newer Stainless Marlin, had it 2 years and won many a comp with it. I suppose it could be luck of the draw, the OP asks which one to buy, all depends what you intend to do with it really but most comp shooters use Marlins and a lot are changing to .44 cos you get bigger holes.