I think the key thing here is that it is a marlin 1894 in 357 magnum. The 44mag and 45colt 1894's are my really that special and are still in production. The 357 mags are not in production and haven't been for a while. So if it's a good condition jm stamped 1894 in 357 is not uncommon for them to easily go for $700 and up. If you are just hankering for a 357 lever gun though, if you can stand to wait, marlin will be releasing the 1894cst and the 1894sbl models here soon and they look sweet. Worth a google.