Custom Marlin leverguns: big-bores for bear, boar and buffalo

Guns Magazine, Oct, 2002 by John Taffin

If there is anything that even comes close to rivaling a big-bore sixgun when hunting deer, bear, or wild hogs in heavy brush or timber, it is a short-barreled lever-action chambered in a big-bore sixgun or rifle cartridge.

When the .44 Magnum arrived in the mid-1950s it changed the face of sixgunning forever, giving handgun hunters what had to that time been unheard of power in a revolver. It also soon found its way into lever action carbines. Just as they had done earlier with the .357 Magnum, custom gunsmiths began to convert old Model 1892 Winchesters to .44 Magnum.

It did not take firearms manufacturers very long to discover there was a real market in chambering their leverguns for the .44 Magnum, and by the mid-1960s both the Winchester Model 1894 and the Marlin Model 336 were available in the big .44. I purchased one of the very early Marlin .44 Magnums more than 30 years ago, and it long ago became one of those never sell or trade away rifles.

It would be very hard to find a more suitable round and rifle than a .44 Magnum levergun for close range deer, black bear, and feral pig hunting. Winchester, Marlin, Browning and Rossi have all produced lever action .44 Magnums. The Brownings are long out of production, however, the .44 Magnum is alive and well in Rossi, Winchester, and especially Marlin leverguns.

Marlin's First .44 Magnum

The first Marlin .44 Magnum was chambered in their long Model 336 action. The short action Marlin 1894, which had been chambered in the .25-20, .32-20, .38-40, and .44-40, was dropped from production in 1935. However, Marlin could see the market for a return to a short action levergun and a modernized version of the 1894 was introduced in 1969.

Since that time, in addition to .44 Magnum, it has been chambered in the .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .45 Colt, .44-40, 32-20, .25-20, and .218 Bee. Hopefully, someday soon we'll see the other hyphenated cartridge added to the 1894 line up, that being the .38-40.

In the last quarter of the 19th century, sixguns and leverguns chambered for the same cartridge were a popular combination. This idea is still popular today, and the most commonly encountered combinations are the Magnums .357 and .44 in both sixgun and long-gun form. Depending upon which area of the country one lives in, one or both of these combinations makes a great deal of sense.

My old Marlin 336 .44 Magnum has spent a lot of time as a companion to either a Ruger .44 Blackhawk or a S&W .44 Magnum. It is simply one of the handiest leverguns ever offered.

Having said all that, one might conclude that it could not be improved. That would be wrong as every firearm can be improved to some extent.

Making A Good Gun Better

My original Marlin 336 .44 Magnum has gone through two improvements. The first year I used it in a wet Idaho winter, the stock finish, or what little there was, died. I spent several weeks refinishing that stock with about a dozen coats of Tru-Oil followed by rubbing with 0000 steel wool.

About ten years ago, I made a further improvement by having the butt stock and forearm slimmed down to make an even handier 1evergun. I could have made a good case for having arrived at levergun perfection. However, any good guncrank knows the path to enjoyment is trying to get closer and closer to that all elusive perfection.

For the past several months I have been shooting and enjoying a Marlin .44 Magnum levergun that dramatically reduces the space between perfection and my Model 336. This little big-bore levergun was built for Ashley Emerson who designed the Express Sight Systems Ghost Ring sight.

Emerson is a kindred spirit. He appreciates sixguns and easy handling leverguns both chambered for big-bore cartridges. We also share a favorite hunting spot, that being the Penn Baggett Ranch outside of Ozona, Texas.

David Clay Custom Takedown

Emerson's custom .44 Magnum was built by DRC Custom Guns. In addition to the ghost ring sights, both forearm and butt stock have been slimmed down and refinished. A Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad has been carefully fitted, the octagonal barrel has been slimmed to reduce weight, all metal parts have been richly refinished in a deep dark blue and all sharp edges gently rounded for carrying and handling comfort.

The entire package turns out to be just about the slickest little levergun one can imagine. However, there is more. To make it easy to transport, this little Marlin has been transformed into a take-down model. This makes transportation very easy as it can be packed into a small container that does not shout, "Rifle Enclosed."

The take-down feature is easily operated. With the action opened, two spring loaded detents at the front end of the magazine tube are pressed simultaneously which allows the tube to move far enough forward so that the barrel, magazine tube, and forearm may be unscrewed as a unit. When they are replaced in reverse order, a transverse catch behind the back end of the forearm locks into place.

DRC specializes in takedown leverguns that feature a locking mechanism to allow cartridges to remain in the magazine tube during the take-down process and also an adjustment between action and barrel assemblies to correct any possible future wear. From what I have seen of this levergun and other work by DRC, I can recommend them highly.