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This question embarasses me to ask , but what are the differences between the early production Marlin 1894's and the 1889? A rifle I'd had all along and thought was an 1889 in .32-20 someone looked at it who seems to know more than I ever did about gun history, and said "No that's an 1894." but other conversations were going on, and he never had a chance to elaborate.
It wouldn't be the first time in my life I've been wrong about something, though. . .
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Model 1894 is marked on the top tang, 1889s aren't. Locking bolt on a 1889 comes down in front of the trigger and an 1889 has a catch to keep the finger lever against the bottom tang.
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In addition to what Cowboykell wrote, I would like to add the 1889's were all blued while the 1894's had case colored receivers. Some of the later 1894's also had blued bolts. These bolts looked very nice in contrast to the case colored receiver. Of course, like Winchesters, there were many variations, along with special order finishes, so it is possible to find a CC '89 or vise-versa.
If my little brain serves me right, the 1889 had a solid firing pin while the 1894 was a two piece set up. More safety involved here.
I have one 1889 in 38-40 that has logged over 4K rounds and who knows how much it was fired since it was made in 1891. ----------Sixgun
, but what are the differences between the early production Marlin 1894's and the 1889? A rifle I'd had all along and thought was an 1889 in .32-20 someone looked at it who seems to know more than I ever did about gun history, and said "No that's an 1894." but other conversations were going on, and he never had a chance to elaborate. 
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----------Sixgun