Backcountry deer lever - BLR vs Marlin

[elkduds]

336 vs BLR, carry each around for awhile, point them quickly. They feel different as night and day.

Cough savage 99 cough

At times people act surprised when they learn that Browning is now making the Citori, the BLR or the X-Bolt in the Miroku factory in Japan. But the fact is they have always been made there. Even today, production of the Browning line is split largely between Miroku in Japan and Belgium/Portugal in Europe.

 

[PawPawWPG]

Man, I have GOT to stop reading these threads!

I just looked and found a Henry 45-70 and bought it as a Christmas present to myself. Got the last one. It didn’t come with an octagonal barrel though.

Awesome! You’re going to love it. What model?

 

[BrentD]

The one rifle I don’t have (yet LOL) is a lever action. When I do, it’ll be a Henry with an octagonal barrel.

If it's 8 sides that you want, why not a Marlin octagon?

Or a Winchester for that matter?

336 vs BLR, carry each around for awhile, point them quickly. They feel different as night and day.

Cough savage 99 cough

99's. The perplexing lever gun. Can't decide if I love'em or hate'em. They are certainly fine guns, however. But their lines are sorta awesome and hard to like at the same time.

Great gun if a shark has bitten off your thumb, though.

At times people act surprised when they learn that Browning is now making the Citori, the BLR or the X-Bolt in the Miroku factory in Japan. But the fact is they have always been made there. Even today, production of the Browning line is split largely between Miroku in Japan and Belgium/Portugal in Europe.

News to me. My Browning BLR was stamped made in Belgium.

 

[A207X2]

Awesome! You’re going to love it. What model?

The one that I linked to. 45-70 with brass receiver. $871 to my FFL.

Side Gate Lever Action Rifle | Henry Repeating Arms

In the past, our lever action rifles have drawn inspiration from the era of the original 1860 Henry - tube loading, brass receivers, exquisite attention to detail, and a commitment to American gunsmithing.We’ve never been ones to rest on our laurels, and the Model H024 Side Gate Lever Action...

www.henryusa.com

 

[A207X2]

If it's 8 sides that you want, why not a Marlin octagon?


Or a Winchester for that matter?

Really wanted a Henry rifle. Octagon would have been nice, but the Henry was the most important part.

 

[elkduds]

If it's 8 sides that you want, why not a Marlin octagon?

Or a Winchester for that matter?



99's. The perplexing lever gun. Can't decide if I love'em or hate'em. They are certainly fine guns, however. But their lines are sorta awesome and hard to like at the same time.

Great gun if a shark has bitten off your thumb, though.



News to me. My Browning BLR was stamped made in Belgium.

Brent, that is a handsome Marlin. 1895? 45-70?
Agree that Savage 99 leaves your thumb wondering what to do, I'll gladly cross that bridge when a nice 99 comes my way. The rotary magazine in place of underbarrel tube puts the balance right between your hands.

My source for the cut/paste about BLRs from Japan:

A Brief History of Browning and the Legendary Miroku Factory.

General overview of the legendary relationship between the Browning Company and the world-renowned firearms manufacturer Miroku. We hope it serves as a foundation for knowledge and historical research about the combined histories of Browning and Miroku.

www.browning.com

 

[BrentD]

Brent, that is a handsome Marlin. 1895? 45-70?
Agree that Savage 99 leaves your thumb wondering what to do, I'll gladly cross that bridge when a nice 99 comes my way. The rotary magazine in place of underbarrel tube puts the balance right between your hands.

My source for the cut/paste about BLRs from Japan:

A Brief History of Browning and the Legendary Miroku Factory.

General overview of the legendary relationship between the Browning Company and the world-renowned firearms manufacturer Miroku. We hope it serves as a foundation for knowledge and historical research about the combined histories of Browning and Miroku.

www.browning.com

Yes, it is a .45-70 now, and I load it with 70 grs of the holy black and a 410 gr paper patched bullet. I don't know what it was originally. It was a totally bubbaed gun when I got it with a not-original .33 winchester barrel. It had been hacked to a short magazine and nothing worked on it. It also had a hole drilled through the receiver ring from left to right and another drilled down from the top. Now, all welded shut. I replaced barrel, mag tube, springs, and all the wood. But it is more or less an original configuration rifle now, albeit perhaps not the original configuration. Made in 1899, the records for this specific rifle are missing. So far, it has killed one doe antelope in Wyoming and has escorted me on a black bear hunt in AK (no shots fired).



All I can say about the BLR is that I bought it in Tucson in about 1990, and it was labeled made in Belgium. It was used when I bought it, so oldish. I was looking for a Savage 99 at the time, but could not find one in time for the mule deer season, so I bought the BLR. I do not miss that gun in the slightest.

 

[std7mag]

My friend has a Marlin 336 in 444 Marlin.
Neither of us likes it!
Have to hold the lever closed to get it to shoot.
And the factory sights were way off!
As in not hitting paper at 100 yards off!

Were i to get a lever action, it would be a Henry. 45 Colt for me.
45-70 for my friend. He likes big cartridges.

 

[brownbear932008]

I am very interested in laying hands on the new Ruger produced levers once they hit the shops.

Ruger Shows off its 1st Marlin Rifle :: Guns.com

Ruger on Thursday posted a photo of the company's first production Marlin lever-action rifle, made at its plant in North Carolina.

www.guns.com

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Yes, it is a .45-70 now, and I load it with 70 grs of the holy black and a 410 gr paper patched bullet. I don't know what it was originally. It was a totally bubbaed gun when I got it with a not-original .33 winchester barrel. It had been hacked to a short magazine and nothing worked on it. It also had a hole drilled through the receiver ring from left to right and another drilled down from the top. Now, all welded shut. I replaced barrel, mag tube, springs, and all the wood. But it is more or less an original configuration rifle now, albeit perhaps not the original configuration. Made in 1899, the records for this specific rifle are missing. So far, it has killed one doe antelope in Wyoming and has escorted me on a black bear hunt in AK (no shots fired).
View attachment 205084


All I can say about the BLR is that I bought it in Tucson in about 1990, and it was labeled made in Belgium. It was used when I bought it, so oldish. I was looking for a Savage 99 at the time, but could not find one in time for the mule deer season, so I bought the BLR. I do not miss that gun in the slightest.

Is that a vintage lever action with a stone glacier pack and a kifaru sling? Odd combination.

 

[p_ham]

My friend has a Marlin 336 in 444 Marlin.
Neither of us likes it!
Have to hold the lever closed to get it to shoot.
And the factory sights were way off!
As in not hitting paper at 100 yards off!

Were i to get a lever action, it would be a Henry. 45 Colt for me.
45-70 for my friend. He likes big cartridges.

I'd be curious to know the manufacture date of that Marlin.

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

My JM Marlin 444 w/ micro groove barrel has consistently delivered MOA groups at 100y for me w/ Hornady Light Mag and Superformance 265gr Flat Points. I don't do much timber hunts anymore, but it would go with me if I did.

Then again, my Savage 99EG in .308 that I refurbished gets me almost the same accuracy with longer range capability. I don't know which I would take, to be honest.

 

[BrentD]

Is that a vintage lever action with a stone glacier pack and a kifaru sling? Odd combination.

No, that's a Seek Outside pack (Peregrin) and a leather sling from some corner of the muzzleloader world. I think all the folks at Kifaru are vegans, cuz I've never seen anything made of leather from them

So, not so odd after all.

 

[jeff_gibbons]

They'll both do the job if you do your job. I suspect reliability will be pretty close between them. I'd go handle both and make the pick based on how they felt in my hands. Browning is a step above IMO and I've never heard of anyone saying their Browning wouldn't shoot accurately. Good luck.

 

[BrentD]

... Browning is a step above IMO and I've never heard of anyone saying their Browning wouldn't shoot accurately. Good luck.

You haven't heard from me.

 

[nhenry]

I never hunted growing up. I got to college and decided I really would like to, so I did plenty of research and decided that a Marlin 336 in 30-30 was the perfect rifle to get started, and it was. I killed my first two deer with it (one at 170 yards and the other at 40 yards), 5 coyotes out in my horse pens back home, a fox, a couple badgers, and a bobcat that got too close. I haven't hunted with it in a year or so, but I take it out of the cabinet at least 4 times a week just to feel the buttery smooth action.

If you go 336, make sure to check used gun stores for a JM model. I found mine for 370 bucks instead of paying more than double that on Gunbroker.

 

[glennw89]

Thanks for the feedback/opinions thus far folks. As suspected, it looks like either will be quite capable of performing under those conditions. We'll have to see if the more traditional Marlin or modernized BLR wins in the end.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Another vote for 336 here

 

[HSi-ESi]

I have a JM Micro-groove .444 Marlin and a BLR in .308. They both shoot very well.

The BLR's can be tricky to load for. You should get a set of small-base dies - otherwise the rounds can be tough to cycle (mainly fully close the action). Mine was / is very particular on bullet's as well. 180 gr Nosler Partition P.Pt shoot around 1 MOA. Anything else for me is 2.5 to 3 at 100.

Some folks really don't like the trigger on the BLR's. They have a lot of travel. I'm used to it, I've owned the rifle for 32 years and taken >20 elk with it, who knows how many deer.

The Marlin shoots great, I love the trigger. I have not put any glass on it, just upgraded the sights to a Williams peep and Williams Fire-sight. I love packing it around, but haven't ever shot anything with it other than targets.

My vote would be for a BLR.

 

[MNfarmer]

The BLRs changed to an aluminum receiver in 1996 and are easy to carry now. this .30-06 was my first owned deer rifle. Bought new in 1996. Shot 9 deer with open sights. 4 with the little 2.5 x luepold. Shot several of those deer on the run. Very fast to shoot all 5 rounds on a deer drive. The short actions would be even easier to handle I’d assume. But for a back country gun I think the marlins are a tougher and easier to service option. Have 2 336c 30-30’s in our family. They’ve Shot lots of deer between the 2 of them.