When the Winchester and Marlin came out, the Winchester could be had for a month's wage for a cowboy, about $15!
The Marlin was a bit more expensive, $20 to $25. Therefore the Winchester outsold Marlin!
I cut my teeth and took my first whitetail with my grandfather's Marlin 336Rc.it now sits in my closet.
I just HAD to vote Marlin!

Each gun is dependable. There's no question about that. But for me, I've always loved the 336.

The 336 get my vote. As stated above the pistol grip and side ejection override historical significance.

Stainless or not, I will take a Marlin (a REAL Marlin, not a Rem-lin) over a Winchester 94 any and every day. I like the look & feel of the Marlin better, it is MUCH easier to disassemble and clean, and the action works smoother. with just a little work, the trigger can be made every bit as nice as a bolt action gun (ok, more than a little work). i have no idea how many rounds have been thru my Marlin (my brother has the Winchester), but time and wear has done her no harm. years ago, a scope was not an issue, but it is now. and the Marlin definitely has the nod there. I have no problem with anyone owning any gun. and the Win 94 is no exception. it's just not my cup of tea.

I hate stainless steel so it was a no brainer. If the gun had been blued I would have chosen the 336. I had one with a gold trigger a long time ago and used no scope, you really don't need one for 50 yard shots and I was used to shooting .22's with iron sights.

I love the Winchester 94 but the stupid button under the lever that acts as a safety drives me crazy. I hold my guns very gently and having to squeeze the lever while I shoot is a recipe for a quick miss...

I can deal with the lever better than the stupid shiny gun. Hell if I can see it from 100 yards the deer can see it from 1,000.....

After 40+ years of using and carrying one, I have to vote for the '94. More LH friendly, easier to manage out of a pickup truck or a saddle scabbard, and who needs a scope when you have a Lyman tang sight?

I have one of each. The Marlin is a better fitting rifle and the action is much smoother.

I'll take the Winchester every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The 1894 is simply more agile and more carry-friendly. Sure, you can mount a scope on the Marlins (and the 1894 angle-ejects) but that isn't what a lever gun is about. At least in my reckoning, a lever-gun is for quick work at close range. A short LOP, short barrels and a straight stock are the ticket for that role. Not to mention that the 1894 is more truck and horse friendly. I'd prefer a Trapper model with a ghost ring and no cross-bolt safety, but Hurteau's classic would work splendidly.

I'm partial because I cut my whitetail teeth with a Winchester 94 Trapper. It was a deer killer in the thick, NC swamps and pine woods. I would hesitate to go 100 yards or more with it, but that's not what it was made for. The old girl is in semi-retirement now, as several years of bouncing around behind the seat of my pickup have finally knocked the sights loose. I'll get them replaced, eventually, and look forward to carrying her in the cedars and mesquite of the Texas Hill Country.

By the way, with a traditional lever gun in a short-range caliber like 30-30, I'm iron sights or nothing, so the ability to scope the 336 means nothing to me.

While the Winchester my be "prettier", I'll take the "chunkier" Marlin.....

The Marlin is built like a tank and easier to mount optics on (and my aging eyes tell me I need optics)......

My Winchester 30-30 was mfg. 1958, my Marlin 336 is from the 1990's. I have also had Marlins in .450Marlin and .444.
My vote went to the Winchester. Probably because i started hunting with it although i did occasionally borrow my Uncles .35Marlin. I could move through areas with the Winchester'94 so thick sometimes all you saw were legs. Never had a problem with snow or rain although i have had a bunch of snow fall down my neck more than once. Fast pointing, smooth action and accurate, When given a choice, I will favor the Winchester Model '94 .

I bought my 336C used in 1970. The walnut stock is one of the prettiest pieces of wood I've seen in my 70 years. Mounted a 2.5X Weaver on a Weaver tilt-off mount. I've never looked back. It has taken every deer I've killed and although I've never actually tilted the scope off in the field, I'm satisfied with it. I prefer the looks of the pistol grip over the straight stock and yes, price was an issue when I bought it. I'd love to also own the 94 for purely sentimental reasons, but it'd likely never get carried afield.

I have a model 94 that my grandpa handed down and now to me.
That 30-30 is a fine firearm and is perfect for a saddle gun, and it is also good in tight brush.
I have other firearms for long flat shots, but this gun is a gun for it's own purposes.(ranching, hunting in close brush and thick trees.)
A 30-30 is really about a 100-200 yard gun. So WHY do I need a scope? The scope messes it up for a saddle gun and I can shoot through iron sights up to 200 yards faster and easier.
If I need light gathering so that I can see the animal I am shooting... well maybe I should wait for light.
If I were in a tree stand, I wouldn't be needing a scope....
I could go on but will refrain.
The Winchester model 94 is a great cowboy/saddle gun.
In defence of the Marlin, the stainless would be more durable in the saddle on a rainy day.
BUT, it's still a Marlin. Nuff said!

I like the look of a Winchester better, but the one I had never shot any bullet over 110 grains well, and altho it made a nice groundhog gun with 110 gr Speer varminters it was useless for deer, barely hitting a pie plate at 100 yds W/ 150 gr bullets. the lighter bullets cloverleafed at the same yardage!

I now have a Marlin and it likes 180 gr bullets, giving a respectable sub 1 inch group at 100 yds with Remington corelocks.

So I had to vote for the Marlin for functionality over aesthetics.

I'll try not to let my .32 Special and .35 Remington chamberings pull my bias too much. Say they were both .30-30s...everything in me wants to say 94 is "cooler", and it is, but the .336 is technically better. It's more accurate, it's a stronger action, yet it's still no slouch in the looks or handling departments. I guess it wins.

The Marlin, but not in stainless. I've had both but I only really had the marlin (30-30) because I bought it from a cash-strapped brother-in-law and sold it back to him 8 years later. My 94 is in 25/35 which is a sweet little gun, though not a thumper by any means. The marlin is much sturdier and as Sarge said, it didn't rattle at all. If I was looking for another lever-gun, it would be a Marlin in .35 remington. My father has about a thousand rounds of that cal.that he will never use.

Was looking for a 30-30 for my daughter in Missouri and after talking with hunters familiar with shooting in heavy brush and after handling both the Marlin and Winchester and working the actions I readily chose the Marlin. She killed her first deer the first season with a single shot and was pleased as could be - as was I. The Marlin has much smoother and quieter action and is a very well built rifle.

I'll vote for the 94 in 30-30. That is what I started out with. Just right for a 12 year old in the chaparral and oak hills of central California. With a rifle sling and iron sights it was light, rugged and easy to carry. This was a rifle to teach a young deer hunter how to shoot safe and straight.

Gee Phil, this one was like having an answer to your loving, passionate, brunette haired wife when she comes home as a blonde and you are asked which you prefer.

To All: Have a great Memorial Day

PS Marlin for me.

"94, got to stick to the reasons these levers were built.Up close big game. If you want a scope get a bolt action. the "94" is American history.Don't change a thing! Even the Lord wouldn't recognize Moses without a beard.

If it weren't for the stainless steel, I think the Marlin would definitely be the more attractive gun with its pistol grip, fine wood, and genuine checkering. I'm sorry, but I find Dave's gun to be the real "plain jane" in this case. I also don't like straight grip stocks. Besides being more acceptable for scopes, the Marlin levers are, as they have always been advertised, "dry as a duck's back" and that is a worthwhile attribute, especially for guys like me who prefer tracking in snow. The snow usually is not all on the ground and much of it falls off the trees/brush onto me and my gun. A Model 94, or any of Browning's lever action designs for that matter, would get full of water or ice in those conditions. Not good.

I have a Winchester model 94 chambered in 32 Winchester special. I have to say its one of my favorite deer rifles especially when shooting ballistic tip rounds. As far as the top eject, I have a side mounted Leupold scope which gives me the option of iron or optic sights. Iron when still hunting optics when in the stand!

I have a winchester and the model I have allows for a top mounted scope and ejects at an angle. As for looks have to go with the Winchester all the way\

OK, Mr. Nickens…. Of the Winchester or Marlin choice, I choose Marlin. However, there is a better(IMHO)option…. You can’t touch this! Savage M-99 Brushgun. And don’t worry about the straight grip. This grip is a handful!
The grooved forend also gives full & fast control. Lots of punch, too, with the obsolete but available .358 Winchester cartridge.

If I do want a regular, curved pistol grip I’ll just use the .308 Win. sister to this M-99. Same setup with the tip-off scope that I prefer. If one really wants only a .30-30 they are also available though much older iron.

Regards & best wishes,
RandyMI

99's are the only centerfire lever guns that I own, so I do not feel qualified and unbiased to vote for either.

I have 1 of each plus a Henry and a mossberg 464. I would prefer the Henry shoots more accurate, more heft and it looks so much more (special). I like the Marlin for all the reasons everyone else mentioned, side ejection, scope and little more accurate. Least favorite is Mossberg. But if I could have only 1 it would be the Winchester hands down, no logical reason other then I Love the Winchester and all the Hoopla that goes with it. Besides the Henry is just to nice lookin of a gun to trapes thru the woods and snow with.

Petal was wrong,anyone who has to scope a 30-30 is a "primitive life form".Anyone shooting over 100 yds.w/ a 30-30 needs to have there head examined. If you really think you need a scope try an optometrist first. My first deer rifle when I turned 14 in Up North Mich. was a 94 manf. in 1932 handed down to me by one of my great uncles. Used it until 1984 when I bought into the scoped 30-30 craze,where I bought a 336 and had it scoped at a local gun shop. The owner had retired from U.S.A.F. After 20 years as master armorer. It did not shoot any straiter than the 94. Sold it in 1992 and bought my first 30-06. Thank God I got smart. Of all the lever guns I have owned the most accurate is still my fathers mod.99 in 303 savage. Rested on a bench w/ iron sights it can darn near bring in 1 M.O.A. Guess they just knew how to build em in 1917. Have had a couple of other 94's but they were newer and not to the spec. of the older mods. If this lopsided contest is about practicality and modern conveniences than the 336 wins hands down but if you want to know how it was in the "old days" when one shot might cost two days pay then you cannot use anything but a 94. My vote , Winchester

I don't know why everyone is arguing about which one of these is better, everyone knows the best lever gun ever made is a Savage 99.....at least I think so. ;)

Mr. Petal,my sincerest appologies for misspelling your name. The rest I stand by.