A great caliber, created by great men and great American companies. Alas, it fell victim to the concurrent rise of the .44 Magnum, which got a major boost from a movie cop named "Dirty Harry", who blew bad guys and audiences away with his Smith and Wesson Model 629. There were other problems too, like Remington trying to boost it's velocity to the point where it became impractical for law enforcement and self-defense, but the result was that the .41 withered on the vine despite being a ballistic work of art, and today it's carried and admired by a small cult following, and I'm a proud member.
My favorite N-Frame Smith, the Model 58.
The problem with these guns is that not many were made. Marlin has not made this rifle in .41 Magnum in 15 years and they draw a premium when sold, and many of these are being hoarded as collectors' pieces and not shot. But what's the point of a gun that you aren't going to shoot? My Model 58 is beat to tar, but it shoots well and I shoot it a lot. This rifle has a few small handling dings but is still 98% or so. Still, the seller told me that at least two people passed on it because he'd drilled the stock to mount a sling. They thought it ruined the collectibility. To the contrary, I thought it saved me the trouble. I plan to shoot this rifle and carry it afield in company with the Model .58.
I already have one carbine/pistol combo consisting of a Marlin 1894 and a Smith and Wesson Model 66, both in .357 Magnum. I love that set-up for hiking and camping. And now I have a big-bore option for those trips. Or for my wanderings down Bourbon Street.
Lucas McCain, eat yer heart out.
Pure awesome. I'm a huge fan of carbine/sidearm ammo commonality. And finding one in a unique cartridge that you already own a wheelgun in us just icing on the cake!
ReplyDeleteOh--gonna need a holster for that 58. Know anyone?
DeleteMaybe... ;)
DeleteI'm a big fan of pancake holsters for belt-mounted wheelguns. I'm just sayin'. And, congrats on the 1894. Very handy carbine. I had one but loaned it out because I shot it little and suspected it was time to let it go.
Deletehttp://www.simplyrugged.com
DeleteGood holsters. I just scored one from them for my .454 Casull (Ruger Super Redhawk) Alaskan.
SWEET!
ReplyDeleteI just love Marlin rifles. So much so that I have two of them.
But I don't recall ever seeing an 1894 with a pistol grip stock. My 336 has one, but my 1894 has the straight stock.
Nice rifle. I've got an 1894 in .357 w/a Mdl 19 as well and love them. Now if I can ever find a pre-cross bolt safety 1894 in .44 Magnum at a fair price I'll be very happy. One of these days I might let you see an 1888 Marlin in 38-40 that predates the 1894's...
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice looking rifle!
ReplyDeleteOhhhhh... A Marlin 94 is on my list...
ReplyDeleteYou lucky damn dog! My Redhawk in that caliber has been asking for a cousin since the late '80s or early '90s - and the 39A, 336T, 1894-.357, .444, and 1895 need another sibling...
ReplyDeleteClearly Messrs. Jordan and Keith are smiling down on you tonight.
BTW, that's some of the nicest figure I've seen on a Marlin stock.
DeleteThe Rifleman was a good lesson in off-body carry. Typical plot was Pa would set his rifle down on one side of the barn while he worked on the corral on the other side of the barn. Bad guys come and beat the crap out of Pa. Pa gets back to his rifle at the end of the show and drills the bad guys. Pa and Boy are happy again.
ReplyDeleteVERY nice find! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have an ad that covers 1/3 page in August 1984 of Guns Magazine. "Marlin Introduces .41 Magnum Rifle". The rifle pictured is a straight stock with no checkering anywhere on the wood. Model 1894S, with American black walnut wood. Six lbs, solid steel forgings, 20" barrel.
ReplyDeleteThe ad is hung with a magnet, and has been hanging there for a long time. Got the 7.5" Redhawk...
I saw a 1894S once a few years ago and it got away from me. I like the straight stock better myself, but I wasn't going to pass on this one to wait for the next affordable 94S to come along.
DeleteAmigo, THAT duo is my Holy Grail. Being a surburbanite I don't need to reach out and touch someone more than ~200 meters away. The commonality of ammo is a giant plus. Still lookin' for the rifle at a fair price.
ReplyDeleteUntil then, I will drool over yours.
"Fair price". Good luck. The collectors keep this one artificially high by sucking them off the market and squirreling them away.
DeleteGood for you!
ReplyDeleteDidn't SFPD allow model 58s for officer carry some years back? (Until it was determined the rank-and-file had trouble controlling it?)
Always had a minor interest, because it was different, but still a major caliber.
Never owned one, though.
gfa
Yes they did. It was originally intended that the .41 Mag be a police cartridge to replace the .38 Special, but it proved to be a bit too much for many of the SFPD to handle, particularly some of the women that they were bringing on. For all I know, this might have been one of the old SFPD guns as it has lots of holster wear on it, indicating that it was carried quite a lot. I love it personally. It's a heavy gun, but it brings the stopping power.
Delete"Dirty Harry", who blew bad guys and audiences away with his Smith and Wesson Model 629.
ReplyDeleteBzzt! Wrong.
Inspector Harry Callahan carried a Model 29. It was Inspector Sledge Hammer who carried a Model 629.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
Sweetfind
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteYes that is my next rifle and pistol combo on my list. I already have a 6 1/2 barrel Vaquero convertible in 44-40 and 44 magnum and the two Marlins to go with them. thanks for sharing with us!
ReplyDelete