I think I need a small 18" barreled rifle. Simple, cheap and fun.
Any ideas. I was close to buying the Winchester 94 Compact series.
357 with 9 rounds. Approx 2100ft per second with that length.
Will I get tired of it. You guys enjoy yours?

I have a 94 trapper 16" barrel 44 mag.  Packs a punch!  I like it.

Would you consider this platform (either cal.) a good back up SHTF rifle?
We're talking some nasty ballistics here folks.

Get the 16 inch trapper. In 44 with the big loop. My fave.

My biddy brianksain and I were admiring a .44 Mag Winchester Carbine at the gun show last Saturday.  Sure goes up to the shoulder easy and quickly.

I bet it would be a fine little rifle.

I have a Marlin lever gun in .44 mag. I think of it as my 'truck gun'.

Fun to shoot, pretty accurate, and shares ammo with my ruger super blackhawk

I personally would stay away from them.  Get a rifle caliber if your going for a rifle.

It is all fun but....
If you need the power .44 is the way to go . I have a marlin cowboy and it is a hoot (not as handy as a short carbine but I like the way it looks and shoots). 44mag sucks if you have to buy factory ammo,do you reload?
For cheep shooting you will need the .38/357 unless you reload.
I think the world of the marlin line,and there are plenty of Winchester fans out there but don't overlook the Rossi Pumas. A couple of buds have the Rossi guns, one blue,one stainless and they are both great guns.

Just remember, if you get a pistol caliber carbine, get a pistol in the same caliber.

i have owned a marlin .357/.38.  excellent rifle, wish i'd never sold it.

have 2 friends, one has a winny .45, the other a rossi .44, both swear by 'em and call 'em their faves hands down save for hi velocity deer rifles...

overall response i've seen in the gun world is very positive.  i like the .38 option for cheap ammo, and remember, it's shot placement that counts, always has been and always will be.  

i say go for it.  i like winny's personally, but there are other options, and realistically, i hear nothing but good things about almost all italian imported stuff, uberti, rossi, and others.  i had an italian made beretta 92SB that was stolen, and i've never seen another like it.  never jammed, looked great, fantastic gun, my go-to pistole... i've heard nothing but good things about italian junk, and the stuff i see at the gun shows and shops looks pretty fantastic...

you do what you want, but i'd think this is the prime time to give the italians at least a little consideration...

have fun!

For a bumming around fun gun, it's hard to beat a .357 mag lever. Dirt cheap to shoot, with .38's or .357 reloads. Enough power to take medium game if the opportunity presents itself. I like the Marlin 1894C for the shorter lever throw and ease of takedown to allow cleaning from the breech.

Hmmm... the board is acting funny. Deleted double tap.

I had a Marlin .357 lever gun for it while.  It was a fun little shooter.  I very quickly learned to press my trigger finger against the forward part of the trigger guard when working the action and the back of my hand would get sore whenever I shot more than a hundred rounds or more through it on one outing.

I eventually ended up selling it along with a lot of other stuff to build up my rainy day fund after IBM layed me off.

www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/Cowboy/1894_45Colt.aspx

.44 mag.. there's a winner right there!

 If you want a pistol caliber carbine you are better off with a short action gun designed for them like a Marlin 1894 or Winchester 1892 variant. The older (presafety) Marlins are very well made. The latest ones are OK. There are some nice ones being offered right now esp the 16" barrel stainless guns with laminated stocks. Marlins are drilled for scopes/ peep sights which is an advantage. A Marlin with an XS Scout mount and an Aimpoint is a spooky rig.
 As far as Winchester 1892 style guns the top of the food chain is the out of production Browning B92's. They are still around. The 44 mag guns are easy to find . The 357 versions are like hens teeth.
If you want a good 1892 check out Stevez Guns in Port Author Texas. He will order you a Rossi built 1892 and slick it up and ship it to your dealer. He does a great job.  
 I think your velocity of 2100 is optimistic unless you are talking about a 125 gr out of the 357. Quick version is the 44 is a heavy hitter but has more recoil than you might think out of light carbines. The 357 is a creampuff and deer capable to about 100 yds.
 For social work and varmints the 357 is the better choice. A 140 gr HP out of a carbine is a knarly load on anything less than deer. Cruise over to Leverguns.com for unlimited levergun knowledge.

Quoted:  -snip-  I think your velocity of 2100 is optimistic unless you are talking about a 125 gr out of the 357. Quick version is the 44 is a heavy hitter but has more recoil than you might think out of light carbines. The 357 is a creampuff and deer capable to about 100 yds.  For social work and varmints the 357 is the better choice. A 140 gr HP out of a carbine is a knarly load on anything less than deer. Cruise over to Leverguns.com for unlimited levergun knowledge.

And at 2100 fps, 125 grain JHP's or SP's are so far over their designed speeds that it's best not to use them on anything but dirt clods and varmints. I like Hornady's 158 grain FP/XTP. It's a tough bullet that will hold together at the 1,867 fps average I get from my 1894C and 18 grains of Lil' Gun.

IMI Timberwolf in .44 mag

you really want to have fun, get a .45 can for it and load up some 260 grain subsonics, quiet death to 100 yards, and if you get a 45 can instead of a 44 you will have 2 uses for it ( that is if you own a 45 )

i got to shoot a nef single shot in 44 mag shooting 44 speacials with a can ( 45 ) it was scary to see the plate swing like it did with almost no noise. i would swear the steel plate moved more from the 44 special loads than 7.62x39 or 223

 Double tap

I had an opportunity several years ago to spend some quality time with a Winchester 94 trapper in .44 mag.  It was the 16" with a large lever loop.  I don't really see the need for the large loop.  It's more a personal taste thing that anything.  Personally I like the smaller loop better.

Anyway I digress.  I found the trapper to be a very fun gun to shoot, but it recoiled a LOT more than I expected, and I had several .44 mag handguns at the time.  I thought it was almost on par with my 30-30 model 94 as far as recoil, but it had 4 inches less barrel, so that might have been part of it.

If it were me I would go with a .45 LC variant, just because then I could get a Single Action Army revolver and complete the outfit!  :)  Unfortunately most .45's I see are long barrel CAS guns, not short carbines.

Winchester offered the 1892 in limited production last year.  I believe they made a run of them for Davidson's.  You might be able to find one if you hunt a bit online.  They are a bit more pricey than a model 94, but they are SWEET!  Otherwise there are a ton of excellent clones of the older winchesters out there too, such as the 1873, etc...  I think the older Winchester models or the smaller Marlin variants are more appropriate, since the 94 was always intended as a rifle cartridge platform, not a pistol caliber gun.  Just seems more proper to shoot short rounds in the older style lever guns.  Again, that's just my weird sense of taste or propriety rearing its ugly head again.

If you are set on a modern cartridge though, I'll vote for the .357 for all the reasons the other .357 fans mentioned; cheaper to shoot, low recoil, and plenty of punch for most uses.  And I'm pretty sure there a few good .357 handguns out there to choose from too!  

Friend had a Win 94 chambered for 44Rem Mag/Spl.  The problem he had was that the gun wouldn't feed his reloaded SWC bullet noses.  All of the truncated cone bullet noses feeds good.  He also put on a Pachmayer recoil pad to ease the kick of the his factory equiv. reloads.  He changed the factory sight to an Williams.  Gun shoots good,

Yeah, I forgot to mention I give the nod to the Winchester rifles or their clones.  They seem much lighter and quicker handling IN MY OPINION compared to the Marlins.  Some of the Marlins are not very ergonomic for me to shoot either.

The Marlin's added weight probably would tame the .44's recoil though... it's up to you...

I've got a .44 Mag Rossi and a .357 Rossi.  Both are extremely sweet shooting little rifles.

http://www.gunsamerica.com/2260/2260-random-1.htm

Rossi M92. 16" barrel. Available in .357, .44 and .45.

Should be able to find a used one.

Marlin '94 in .44/.357, 16" barrel.

Super small, light, handy and fast. Great little gun, I absolulely love mine in .44.

Excellent feedback gang. I have the hots for the 44 but ammo price and
and recoil may steer me to the 357. I would prefer light, fast with
quicker sight acquisition too. This is the place for info.

My Marlin 1894 44mag w/ Leupold VXIII 1.75-6 is my deer hunting brush gun that supplements my Browning A-Bolt 270.

That's the hunting combo I'll have for the rest of my life.  I LOVE those two guns.

I have the Winchester 94 in 45 LC and I love it.  It's light and easy to carry in the woods.  I am getting ready to start reloading for it, but I am going to start looking for the 38/357 next.

Quoted: IMI Timberwolf in .44 mag

Repair parts are hard to find for that Timberwolf.

I'm a Cowboy Shooter and have shot Marlins for 5+ years to the tune of 50,000+ rounds.

You'll be happier with the Marlin 1894 than the Winchester 1894.

If you want a Winchester type rifle buy one of the 1892 copies.

If you want a pump action buy one of the new Taurus rifles.
They're coming out in .357 mag and .45 Colt........but no 44 mag.

That's the rifle.......I'm told that carbines are on the way.

I'm so tickled with my 7 Marlins that I'll NEVER part with them!!!

I think the Win 94 is a fine rifle - but understand that it was designed to shoot rifle bullets.  It has a fairly long action and is not increadably smooth.  It is increadably compact, for an action that can accept rifle bullets.

Marlin has two basic actions on their lever guns.  The 336 action is a rifle action - and is considerably stronger (heavier, and larger) than the Win 94.  If you ever want to go with a big bore - this is the way to go.  I love my 45-70  Marlin Cowboy.  Marlin also has a carbine action.  This is a favored gun in SASS competition.  My understanding is that it is easy to smooth, light, and quick.  

That said, SASS people often like 1874 Winchesters because they can be super smooth (but weigh in about as much as my 45-70), and some like the 1892 Winchester.  The 1892 Winchester is downsized 1886 (which was winchester's large bore lever gun).  I have never seen an 1886 in my price range (although have seen some grade IV versions that I would dearly love).  I have a Rossi made (clone) 92.  It did require some slicking up, but afterwards it is one sweet carbine rifle (I have a 20" version).  It is about the same size/weight as the 94, but much more enjoyable to cycle.

I currently do not own a 94, but one in 30/30 is on my wish list.  My brothers own 3, while my father has a 336 30/30.   The 336 is a lot of action for a 30/30 - but seems perfect for my 45/70.
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Taurus has a new lightning out as well - but do not think it is in 44 mag yet.  It has gotten some good reviews so far.
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Oh, one other thing.  When chosing between the Marlin 94 and the Winchester (clone) 92.  The Marlin's looks are somewhat an aquired taste.  The Win 92 was a staple in westerns, the Marlin was not.  The Marlin is a better shooter out of the box, the Win clone will probably scream for an action job.  

I had help with my 92's action job, my brother had a professional do his - regardless, both needed one.  My brother's gun would not cycle a round, mine would at liest shoot out of the box, but needed trigger work, (and benifited on working on shell extraction as well)  Action jobs are not that expensive and can really help most 92 clones.

ihave a winchester m94 in .357. its the 10 shot 20 inch trails end model.

yes 2100 fps is VERY possable remington umc 125 grn JSPs move out at 2150 fps from that rifle. its a blast to shoot.

I had the same interest. Check this out...

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=411490

ETA: shite! trying to make hot

I have the Win 94 trapper in 44 Mag.  It was $300 from Big 5.  Great little carbine.  My velocity is about 1600 fps IIRC, with 300 grain bullets.  Accuracy is actually very good.

It is quite powerful for such a wee gun.  Get a slip-on recoil pad.

I load my bullets long, to the second cannelure, for increased velocity; the bullets would be too long for rifles made for pistol cartridges (Marlin, Win 92, Ruger) or S&W revolvers.  The long cartridges work fine in my Redhawk.  Of course, this is not an issue if you go with the 357 or only shoot factory ammo.