The Winchester 94 was an iconic symbol of the American west and the American hunter. But during the last several years of production, Winchester was having most versions the Model 94 made for them in Japan.

You bring up a good point, John, about the BLR. They are incredibly accurate for a lever action rifle. I have owned five of them over the years. Two were in .308 but I had one of those rebored to .338 Federal. Two were in .358 - oh did they kick. One was is .243. All were the older, slender steel version (pre-1981) that many people are on the lookout for. For some reason I get one, have lots of fun with it, then sell it after 2-3 years only to get another one again later. I don't own any now but I'll probably end up going through the drill again. I wonder if that's a recognized syndrome.

As to the Marlin, I think you're selling it short. They eject to the side so they can be fitted with scopes, top mounted aperture sights, red dots, and Picatinny rails that can attach all sorts of things. The Marlin is stronger than the Winchester 94. When Winchester offered theirs in .375 Winchester and .444 Marlin calibers they had to reinforce the rear of the action with so much material it made the rifle look like a pregnant teenager. The Marlin doesn't need any reinforcement for those and other big cartridges because it is already strong enough to handle them. Marlin also makes a stainless steel version of their rifle and where I live that's a real plus. Winchester offered some 94s that were plated in nickel, chrome, gold (yes!), and other materials but all of those have a tendency to flake if you use them much at all.

The Marlin rifle is also very easy to adapt to other cartridges. Custom shops offer a wide assortment of specialty big bore chamberings and wildcatters can roll their own Marlin loads with a simple rechamber or barrel change.

The .405 Grenadier wildcat is just one example. I think you will appreciate a couple of loads I shoot in my rebarreled Marlin 1895:

300 grain Woodleigh .412" SN, 49.8gr IMR 3031 --- 2138 fps/3045 ft lbs
400 grain Woodleigh .411" SN, 39.5gr RE-7 --- 1871 fps/2818 ft lbs (its a freight train!)

Yes, I think you're selling the Marlin short.