SJ UD

I own one of each: Marlin SBL (44), Henry Model X (44), and Chiappa Wildlands 1892 Dark Grey (44). In lever guns, I also have a Henry Long Ranger in 6.5 Creedmoor and a Ruger No 1 in 243 Winchester. Related to the family, I also have an integrally suppressed 44 mag custom made for me by Suppressed Weapons Systems (MISB built on the Ruger 77/44 action). Each of these is a great rifle. The new Marlin SBL (44) or CSBL (357) is excellent as the Remlin curse has been lifted. They are ammo sensitive—you can’t run anything that is even slightly longer than a standard Federal 44 mag round. 44 specials tend to stick a bit but as long as you are feeling the rifle, using gravity (lean a bit forward, tip down on the lever up), you can run the action fast wo any problems. If you want to have a threaded version, you can get the Marlin Dark, which is a blacked out / tactical version of the SBL with some additional rails and a factory threaded barrel, making it an excellent suppressor host. Mine didn’t come threaded as I have stainless version, but I got it threaded. The new Henry’s have side gate loading AND tube feeding, which does give them a little leg up over the Marlins. What is more, out of the box they run pretty smooth. But over time, and with appropriate tuning, the Marlins become smoother and are marginally better for fun stuff. The Henry’s in 44 and 357 tend to be more tolerant from an ammonia perspective but if you just want to shoot one round that is funky, you can drop it directly in the chamber. Overall, I will say that Chiappa is a notch above both Marlin and Henry. It doesn’t have the same capacity as either of them, but the quality difference and feel is obvious. if I had to compare them to cars, I would say Henry is like Volvo or Audi (well behaved and well designed), Marlin is like Mercedes or Porsche (strong personality with human traits), and the Chiappa is like a Ferrari (you see and feel the difference). I am running the Henry with a Silencerco Hybrid 46 suppressor with a direct mount and a red dot, and the Marlin and Chiappa bare. All outshoot me as long as I listen to them, feel them, and take care of them. I have tested each of them with my suppressor and they are all equally quiet, predictable, and accurate with subsonic 44 specials to about 75 yards. I wouldn’t use 44 betond that range. I take it that 38 specials would be even quieter but the 357 to 44 trade off in power just doesn’t make sense to me unless you want to run 357/38 in your handgun too. I just don’t have any meaningful experience with the caliber to say anything else about it. Bottom line: in my view, the 44 is a more versatile caliber, but as long as the rifle has a side loading option and a threaded barrel, one can’t go wrong.