My 1894C Marlin is one of the older round barrel guns w/o the push button safety. It functions and shoots 38 Special 148 gr. wadcutters and 158 gr. round nose lead bullets VERY well. My standard load is 2.5 gr. of Clays behind a 158 gr. round nose lead bullet and I can get 2" groups all day at 100 yards with a Lyman aperature sight. With the 2.5 grain Clays load with a 148 gr. wadcutter, I get under 1" groups ar 50 yards but have not shot this load out to 100 yards. These groups were shot off a benchrest.

I cannot speak to the cowboy style 1894C as I have not shot one.

George