Between the Winchester 94 and the Marlin 94, the Marlin is MUCH better for our game. The Marlin is much more reliable. As noted, cartridge length does matter on these guns. Some of them work fine with the shorter 38 Specials, but many prefer a longer cartridge. On my Marlin 94, I loaded the 38 special brass but crimped in the lube groove so the cartridges were about the same length as the 357 Mag cartridge.
The copies of the Winchester 92 are nice as well. I have one that likes 38 specials just fine and on that prefers longer loads. Just cannot tell until you try the gun.