Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum Lever-Action Rifle 20.25 in. Black Laminate – Superb Brush Rifle

Description

The Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum is the short, fast-handling lever gun that the 1894 action was always meant to produce. Model 70917 pairs a 20.25 inch cold hammer-forged barrel with a black laminate stock, a matte blued forged receiver and a ten-round tubular magazine, and the whole rifle comes in at 6.4 pounds and 37.75 inches overall.

This is a Ruger-era Marlin, and it shows. The barrel roll mark reads MARLIN, MAYODAN, NC, USA, which is the tell for the rebuilt production line rather than the troubled years that preceded it. Fit and finish on the Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum are noticeably better than the guns that wore this name a decade ago, and the checkering is sharp enough to feel like it was cut rather than pressed.

It also feeds 44 Special. Drop the pressure and the recoil falls away to almost nothing, the magazine holds eleven instead of ten, and you have a rifle that a new shooter can learn on and an experienced one can hunt with. Very few rifles cover that much ground.

Features of the Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum

• 20.25 inch cold hammer forged barrel, 1:20 right-hand twist with six grooves
• Ten rounds of 44 Remington Magnum in the tube, or eleven rounds of 44 Special
• Receiver, lever and trigger guard plate CNC machined from alloy steel forgings, matte blued
• Brass bead front sight with a hood, and an adjustable semi-buckhorn rear
• Push-button cross-bolt manual safety alongside the traditional half-cock hammer position
• Offset hammer spur, so a mounted optic does not block the thumb
• Black laminate straight stock and slim forend with sharp checkering, soft rubber buttpad, sling studs fitted
• 6.4 pounds, 37.75 inches overall, 13.63 inch length of pull

What the 44 Magnum lever action rifle does best

• A 240 grain bullet gains roughly 300 to 400 feet per second out of a 20.25 inch barrel compared with a revolver, which turns a handgun round into a serious 125 yard deer cartridge
• The 44 Magnum lever action rifle points like a shotgun and clears brush, doorways and treestand rails that a bolt gun fights with
• Recoil is mild for the energy delivered, because 6.4 pounds of rifle and a soft rubber buttpad absorb what a revolver sends straight into your wrist
• Straight-wall legality: the 44 Magnum is accepted for deer in most states that restrict bottleneck rifle cartridges
• A tube magazine tops off one round at a time without unloading, which matters more in the field than magazine changes ever do

Marlin 70917 specifications for the Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum

• Model number: 70917
• Caliber: 44 Remington Magnum, also chambers 44 Special
• Capacity: 10 rounds of 44 Magnum, 11 rounds of 44 Special
• Barrel: 20.25 inches, cold hammer forged alloy steel, matte blued
• Twist rate: 1:20 right hand, six grooves
• Overall length: 37.75 inches
• Length of pull: 13.63 inches
• Weight: 6.4 pounds
• Receiver: alloy steel forging, CNC machined, matte blued
• Stock: black laminate, straight grip, slim forend, soft rubber buttpad
• Front sight: brass bead with hood
• Rear sight: adjustable semi-buckhorn
• Safety: push-button cross-bolt, plus half-cock hammer
• Sling studs: fitted front and rear
• UPC: 7-36676-70917-5

Sights, safety and the cold hammer forged barrel

The cold hammer forged barrel is the single biggest reason these rifles shoot better than the older Marlins did. Hammer forging work-hardens the bore and produces a more uniform groove diameter than button rifling on a production line, and on a 44 Magnum that mostly shows up as consistency from lot to lot of ammunition rather than tiny groups. Expect two inches at 50 yards with iron sights and decent ammunition, and better than that if you put glass on it.

Sighting is handled by a brass bead front with a hood over it and an adjustable semi-buckhorn rear. The hood is worth keeping, because a bare brass bead picks up glare from the wrong direction and walks your groups. The push-button cross-bolt safety sits at the rear of the receiver and works independently of the half-cock notch, so you have two mechanical positions rather than one. The hammer spur is offset to the right, which leaves room for a scope if you decide to mount one.

The muzzle is not threaded. Marlin does not list a thread pitch for the 70917 and the factory photographs show a plain crowned muzzle, so do not order a brake or adapter for this rifle expecting it to spin on. MAG5 Firearms does not sell NFA items such as suppressors or short-barreled rifles in any case; that route would require ATF approval through a dealer who handles those transfers.

Black laminate stock and how this rifle carries

Marlin catalogs the furniture as a black laminate stock, and it is worth setting expectations honestly: the laminate is layered, so what you actually see in the hand is charcoal and pale gray banding running through the grain rather than a flat black. It photographs gray and it looks gray in daylight. That is the correct stock for this model, not a substitution.

Laminate is the right choice for a guide gun. It does not move with humidity the way walnut does, it shrugs off the knocks that a rifle collects riding in a truck or leaning against a tree, and it adds a little weight down low where it steadies the rifle. The straight grip and the slim forend keep the Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum quick between the hands, and the sling studs are already fitted so you are not drilling anything.

Ammunition and what feeds this Marlin 1894 Guide Gun 44 Magnum

For hunting, look at the Buffalo Bore 44 Magnum +P 240 grain Deer Grenade, which is loaded to take advantage of a rifle-length barrel. For volume practice, the Magtech 44 Magnum 240 grain JSP is the honest working load, and we carry it deep. Lever guns feed flat-nose and round-nose bullets reliably; avoid sharp-pointed bullets entirely in a tubular magazine, because the point of one round rests on the primer of the next.

If you want the same action in a different shape, compare the Marlin 1894 Classic in 44 Magnum with its walnut furniture, or the shorter Marlin 1894 Trapper. Full factory specifications for this model are published on the Marlin Model 70917 page.

Why this firearm earns its place

• Cold hammer forged barrel and a forged, CNC-machined receiver at a price where most competitors use castings
• Two chamberings in one rifle: full-power 44 Magnum for hunting, gentle 44 Special for practice and for teaching
• The offset hammer spur and drilled sight system mean you can run irons now and add an optic later without a gunsmith
• Ruger-era Mayodan production, which resolved the fit and finish complaints that dogged the Marlin name for years
• 6.4 pounds and 37.75 inches is a rifle you will actually carry, rather than one you leave in the truck

This rifle suits the whitetail hunter working thick cover inside 125 yards, the guide or rancher who wants something short and quick behind the seat, and the shooter in a straight-wall state who has to leave the bottleneck cartridges at home. It is also a fine first centerfire rifle, because 44 Special turns it into a gentle gun for an afternoon of teaching.

Every firearm we ship goes to a licensed dealer in your state for the transfer and the background check. If you are not sure which shop near you accepts transfers, call us and we will help you line it up before you order.