Henry big boy blues or marlin
 

I'm really wanting a lever 44 mag... so I'm torn between the Marlin(remlin) or the Henry big boy blued... I'm worried the marlin is a piece of crap and that it won't shoot worth a darn... I'm thinking the Henry I a safe bet... what do you guys think

Never owned a Henry, I have read good things abut them and they are made in the US. I have a Marlin 1895 guide gun in 45-70 and I love it. It is a Marlin, made before Remington took over. If you look around you may be able to find a pre-Remington Marlin fo saler lightly used. Mine was lightly used and I bought it for at least $400.00 less than others I saw for sale used and had a Redfield scope one it. You just have to take your time looking. It came with two partial boxes of ammo, the only ones the owner ever bought. He sold it because he creeped up on the scope and it smacked him in the eye.

Marlin. No contest.

I bought a Henry Golden Boy in 22LR as a fun plinker that I can share with my grandsons. For the money it is a very nice gun and the smooth action and USA workmanship is outstanding. Not sure how their bigger bores are as compared to Marlin which I understand makes a great gun.

What I don,t like about the Henry,s is that 99.9%of their levers are straight stocks and I prefer pistol grip style.

Once picked up a .44 mag henry I think? I'm not even sure, but it was so heavy!

heavier than my .30-30

so if the henry is that heavy then I'd get the marlin for sure, if both are tanks, then I dunno.

Marlin, like all the other companies taken over by Rem. and S&W companies, have straightened out their issues pretty much. Marlin rifles were starting to be pretty sorry even before the takeover because they were producing with ancient tooling and it took a bit for Rem to straighten out the production issues that it bought in to. They are now making pretty good rifles nowadays from all reports I'm seeing. I personally have never bought into the hype of Henry rifles. As salukipv1 stated, they weigh a dang ton and are WAY over priced for what you get.

They are heavy and for what I bought that weight is excessive but it appears to be well made no plastic and the price wasn't much over 400. It is a pretty nice looking gun that could be on the wall rather than the safe...It is that nice looking. It shoots good too and is fun for the grand kids.

Think about that statement for a sec there CI..."Not much over $400"....and what was it? A lever action .22!!! WAY over priced!! MSRP for a .44mag Henry is $900!! $900 for a lever gun??? Really?? Add $1000 to that if you want "deluxe" in the model name!!! Now I can see charging that for hand made exceptional craftsmanship and accuracy, but for a brass receiver that weighs a ton made on a CNC I just don't see it. Average of $650-700 for a Marlin that will more than likely shoot just as well, maybe even better, wont weigh a ton, and a whole lot less likely to leave it at home because you will be hunting in heavy cover and may get a scratch on it. Mind you this is just my opinion and everyone is free to spend their hard earned dollars how they wish. I just don't see the appeal of the Henry rifle at their price points.

Marlin all the way between the two choices we're talking about here. SH54 pretty much covered why!

For a hunting rifle, Marlin. The Henry is heavy. I've shot multiple henry rifles. All shot good. All were nice looking, and well made. But they are expensive, and they are heavy. I don't think you'll have any issue with a new marlin. But if you want an older one, just look around. Tons of used marlin lever guns around.
-Jake

I just liked the feel of the action when I played around with it at the gun shop. Way too heavy to hunt with but what sold me on it was the looks and the feel. It just felt like a nice quality action gun and I bought it probably mostly for the eye appeal. I didn't blink twice about paying $400 for it since that is less than half the average cost of most of my other long guns. It is just a plinker and someday will sit in one of my grandsons safe. I have never owned a Marlin and only answered the post because I have owned a Henry for 5 years or so. If price vs value is an issue I have a few others that are probably over priced too but still they sit right there in the safe and are rarely used. I think many gun owners have the same situation.
I do enjoy periodic cleaning days though and when I oil up and wipe off that Henry receiver it sure does look purdy.

Well I had them both in my hands and the Henry just felt better and looked better made... the Remlin had metal chipped off at hole in receiver were cross bolt safety come through...🤔 as soon as I seen that and felt how smooth the action was on the Henry I made up my mind... I think I made the right choose...

The trouble with Henry's is the magazine tube loads from the front like a .22. I think that's kind of cheesy.

I don't know Moose, the originals loaded from the tube and at least you won't get a sore thumb like I do when loading my 45-70 through the reciever port. If I fully load it I use a push rod I bought at Enck's gun barn. Usually I only load three shells, I never needed more than one anyway.:D

The originals did load that way. Though I much prefer "Kings Improvement".

My marlin .30-30 tears my thumb nail up when loading... the .44 doesn't though. But that .30-30 is a pain.
-Jake

You should try the 45-70 Boca. I can see where the shorter .44s would be less of a problem. I was in a gun shop that the owner is involved with SASS shooting and has a lot of customers from that bunch because he does smith work on single action revolvers and shotguns and lever actions of the cowboy era. I was telling him how my thumb gets sore from loading my 45-70 and the last two shells really tear it up so I only load three. He showed me a push rod he developed for the SASS shooters who must reload many times over a days competition, it looks like a ball starter but it is made of a very hard black plastic. It looks like a ball started for a muzzle loader. The rod is 3 1/2 inches long with a ball on one end. I bought one it was only a couple of bucks, when I go for hogs and I take it with me because I load the tube all the way because sometimes when you are walking up to your hog others start coming back so I feel better having a fully loaded rifle.

You sure aint whistling dixie there OT. Don't know how many hogs I've dropped coming back in while I was walking up. ESPECIALLY if I was using one of my suppressed AR's. When walking up on a hog, I ALWAYS have one chambered and my thumb ready on the safety or, if using one of my levers, thumb on the hammer. Head on a swivel too!

Yes sir, I like my legs without bloody slices in them and I sure don't want to leave this world by being eaten by wild hogs.:D

A guy can't rightfully say the Big Boy's tube loading is anything like the Henry 1860 loading.

I'll take a loading gate 8 days a week over the Big Boy tube. I'll tolerate that silly business in a Marlin 60, but only because of all of the other virtues of the rifle - I don't condone the tube feed abomination of the Henry Big boy.

Never hunted them...sounds like there is a lot more to it than shooting a little piggy. We don't have them here and the F&W department made game farms illegal so we won't be getting them in the wild that way. I do love bacon though......:guiness:

Not really CI. Just there is a LOT of underestimation when it comes to the aggressiveness of a wild hog. As tall as I am with my super long legs, my femoral artery is pretty much outta reach for all but the biggest of hogs. They don't tend to jump into an attack. They pretty much bulldoze and try to swipe with their tusks and those buggers are deadly sharp. Even though my height gives me a kinda safety window, when hunting brush, I STILL wear Kevlar Chaps! And Snake gaitors under those! Had one of the guys I hunt with laughing his bloody arse off when I donned those chaps. Danged if he didn't take a tusk swipe from a 270 pound boar that afternoon that opened him up 11 inches up the side of his calf and ALMOST took out the whole muscle group! He wasn't laughing anymore! Calf muscle hanging out, bleeding like a stuck hog (Hogs revenge), screaming like a 3 year old throwing a fit. Had to carry his boohooing rear all the way back to the truck over my shoulder. You can bet he don't laugh at my chaps anymore, especially when putting his OWN on!

Suddenly my penchant for bacon has ebbed. Think I'll stick with deer, turkey and elk.

I owned a lever action Marlin .44 mag years ago. It was a fun little gun to shoot and hunt with. I just used open sights on it and shot a couple of deer with it. I had no trouble with it. I certainly would never categorize it as a "piece of crap" or anything even near that. I think I traded it for a muzzelloader. I don't remember. But I didn't get rid of it because I had any problems with it, I think I just wanted something else and didn't use it much, so it was sacrificed in a trade.

I bought a Remlin in 45-70 a few years back for hunting bears in the brush. It has some cycling issues that I'm not happy with (a little more fit and finish would have helped a lot). Hopefully Remington has straightened those issues out for newer production. Meanwhile, it fires great and is accurate. I did find the LOP a little short for my preference so I added a Limbsaver slip on recoil pad for the additional LOP length. It fits well for me now and the recoil is a big push. My buddy and I both enjoyed the heck out of shooting it and sighting it in. If you like shooting 30-30's, you won't want to get rid of this gun.

I didn't get a bear with it but had a skunk look down the business end while bear hunting in an orchard and that ole skunk turned around and went the other way on the trail. :D