I am newbie and bought a brand new 1894 SS. 44. To say the least I was very dissappionted. The gun seemed as if no quality control had been performed. The first thing I noticed was the lever was not closed all the way. There was a reason for that it was jammed. The gun seemed as if it was machined and not even wired brushed to get all the metal shavings off of the metal. I took apart the gun and cleaned it. The action was a little smoother but after putting it back together the lever still did not close. So I contact Marlin and the customer service Guy seemed as if he did not care. It took 7 business days to receive the return label for repair, it should have been overnighted. Anyway I am sending it to a shop that Marlin trained it seems that if Marlin really cared about its product they would just replace it. To make a long story even longer I just purchased a Henry Big Boy 357. And the first thing I notice was the care that it was packaged. Second thing I noticed was the inspection tag that was signed by hand. The action is slick as butter and when I had any questions I was able to E-mail them they answeredi with in a day. I am now going to order a Henry Big Boy 45LC. This should tie me over until I oneday I get my Marlin 1894 SS back if I even care.