Marlin Lever Gun Quality Is Back - I Think So

[Minorcan]

I just picked up my new Marlin 1895 Cowboy with the 26" barrel. Vey nice and well made. It may not have the attention to detail the older Marlins have but the machining and fitting is well done, just not to the degree of the older guns. The wood fits tight but is not a nicely rounded where it meets the metal pieces. There is no gross machining marks or defects. There are some rough places on the lever, hammer and bolt that I will polish. The main issue I notice is that the tapered octagon barrel is well blued and highly polished which is great except that the receiver is blued but has a flat almost brushed appearance. It would be nice to have the metal pieces better matched.

I plan on going to the range to give it a work out so I can see what polishing helps soon. I'll follow up with a range report in a few days.

 

[FTG-05]

Good to hear.

I just put a Illion, NY Marlin in .44 Mag on layaway. The bad news is that I didn't check the one I actually bought was from NY or from wherever Rem-Marlin makes the crappier models. Oh well. Live and learn.

 

[Targa]

Congrats on the rifle! I hope a corner is being turned, I really like the looks of the Marlins.

 

[reynolds357]

I thought the quality was back too. I just bought a new 336 in 35 Remington. Either Hornaday is off on their specs on two different lot numbers of ammo, or this rifle has an out of spec chamber. I am betting Hornaday is not off on two different ammo lots.

 

[DPris]

All of the Marlin leverguns are built in Ilion.
Denis

 

[Model12Win]

Good. Perhaps they can now get rid of their matte black "barbecue grill" finish and produce proper blued 336s again.

 

[shootniron]

Good. Perhaps they can now get rid of their matte black "barbecue grill" finish and produce proper blued 336s again.

You can still buy the deluxe blue...you just have to pay more for it.

 

[Minorcan]

I thought the quality was back too. I just bought a new 336 in 35 Remington. Either Hornaday is off on their specs on two different lot numbers of ammo, or this rifle has an out of spec chamber. I am betting Hornaday is not off on two different ammo lots.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. The 35 Rems can be iffy if the barrel isn't clean and dry. I always clean a new barrel first. Hope yours is ammo related.

Good. Perhaps they can now get rid of their matte black "barbecue grill" finish and produce proper blued 336s again.

I agree about the receiver, I may try a case hardened finish to pretty it up a bit. I may lso remove the safety and replace it with a saddle ring. I also am adding a peep rear sight as well.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I hope yours serves you well.


But, unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that Marlin lever guns must now be treated like Taurus products:
Roll the dice and see what you get.
Too many are absolute garbage.
Many function, but have issues.
Every once in a while, someone finds a good one. Once in a while...

(reynolds357's experience is not isolated or uncommon.)

 

[Guv]

That bluing mismatch would kinda bug me. I hope their heat treatment of some internal parts is a none issue anymore. That would be my bigger concern.
I always have had a soft spot for the 45-70 Cowboy, they look so sweet and balance really nice, to me. I hope yours is a good one.

 

[FrankenMauser]

That bluing mismatch would kinda bug me. I hope their heat treatment of some internal parts is a none issue anymore. That would be my bigger concern.

On the MarlinOwners forums, there are still regular reports of issues related to internals that weren't hardened/heat-treated appropriately.

 

[Tony Z]

On parts not heat treated properly, is any indication given if these are oldrr remlins or of very recent manufacture?

Personally, I find the current looks horrible, from the matte bluing on the receiver, mis-matched to the barrel, the s/n ebgraved on the side of the receiver, the horrible wood to metal fit and so forth. I started hunting well over fifty years ago, using an uncle's 336, in 35 Rem. Beautiful gun, was a higher grade gun until this 12 year old got done with it!

 

[Minorcan]

Thanks for posting the concerns, I thought long and hard about the before buying. I know there were fitting and metal treatment issues for a period. I think that is in the past so I bought this one. I have disassembled it and the guts look fine, more shooting will tell.

Took it to the range and she shot to POA and grouped tightly. Shot some light and heavy rounds and some +P with no trouble. I think all is well.

I just couldn't stay away from that tapered octagon barrel.

I would like to put a ladder or at least a peep sight on it soon. I have a Williams on my Pre-64 Winchester 94.

 

[bluetopper]

Is Marlin currently making any in the 444 Marlin cartridge?

 

[FrankenMauser]

bluetopper -
No.
As ridiculous as it may be...
What is keeping the Model 444 out of production, aside from Remington's QC and cost-cutting issues, is, of all things, the magazine.

They tried twice in 2014 and 2015, but the production rifles were said to have been so bad that Remington recalled 50 that shipped to distributors and canceled all production runs.

For the 444, specifically, the problem is the 'fish belly' bulge in the magazine tube.

While 1895s also have a bulged magazine to allow loading of long, fat cartridges into a receiver designed for nothing bigger than .38-55, the larger diameter of the .45-70 magazine tubes make production easier.

444 magazine tubes, on the other hand, require a different profile to the bulge, and the tube is smaller diameter (same as .30-30 magazines). That makes the 444 magazine tube bulge more difficult to form properly. Whatever it is that Remington is trying to do to cut costs in producing the bulged 444 magazines isn't working for them, and they won't offer the model until they figure it out. (They scrapped the Marlin tooling. )



(It really isn't that difficult - it can be done hydraulically, pneumatically, or mechanically [even easier with heat]. They just don't seem to want to pay for production-grade tooling, or contract parts [several small shops have built tooling to create the 444 bulge - such as Ranger Point Precision].)

 

[SJCbklyn]

Picked up an 1894 a few months ago. Love it & it shoots great.

Fit n finish is a lot better on the 1894 than on the 336 I purchased 3 years ago. The 336 shoots great but it came with some eye sores.

 

[fourbore]

Marlin Lever Gun Quality Is Back - I Think So

This is not in Freedom Group's DNA.

Very nice and well made. It may not have the attention to detail the older Marlins have but the machining and fitting is well done, just not to the degree of the older guns.

if you say this, then it is NOT back. Let me lighten up and hope that the gun at least functions 100% after you go over all the moving parts and polish them. I never had to do that with a Marlin.

 

[Minorcan]

Quote:
"Very nice and well made. It may not have the attention to detail the older Marlins have but the machining and fitting is well done, just not to the degree of the older guns."

"if you say this, then it is NOT back. Let me lighten up and hope that the gun at least functions 100% after you go over all the moving parts and polish them. I never had to do that with a Marlin."

There are many high quality guns that function well with not a superior fit and finish. One I can think of is Glock. They may be ugly but shot and last well. It is unfair to expect the fit and finish of old hand fitted guns at thee modern discounted prices. If a gun can fire several thousand rounds accurately without any issues then I would say it is a quality firearm.

 

[Scorch]

To be fair to Remington, they are making a low-volume specialty product that had a tradition of simplicity and reliability. They bought an established company thinking they could incorporate them into their company and add the products to their offerings. They are trying to figure out just exactly how to do it since most of Marlin's skilled labor refused to relocate and left Remington in the lurch, so to speak. So the old Marlin employees are just as much at fault for many of the quality issues Remington is having.

The other quality issues are Remington's, and as soon as they decide to own the issues, the issues will get fixed. I see a lot of Remlins in my shop, many that should have never left the factory, others for seemingly trivial quality issues. The older JM Marlins weren't perfect, either, but at least they worked most of the time. This is starting to remind me of the Winchester 94 Rangers that were made close to the shutdown of the New Haven plant. They didn't work well,either, and people kept pointing at the pre-war and pre-64 94s and wanting one like Grampa had, but weren't willing to part with 2 weeks' wages to get one so they got the cheaper version that didn't work right. At a certain point, you can't put all the labor into it and have the guns as cheap as WlMart/KMart want to sell them. So, not to seem insensitive, but if you want better guns, demand better guns, not cheaper guns.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I didn't intend for this to devolve into a 'History and State of the Marlin Levergun' discussion.
But I did want to address one point of yours, Scorch:

While Remington/FG and some gun writers have claimed (or eluded) that no one wanted to relocate to Ilion, that really isn't the case as I've seen it. There's a notable number of former Marlin employees on the MarlinOwners forums, and this has been discussed many times - from various angles.

From what has been reported by verified employees at the time of the transition; Remington/FG only made relocation offers to about eight employees, and the offers that were made included substantial reductions in pay and benefits.
The rest of the employees were told directly or through the chain of command, one of two things:
1. 'You're free to apply for one of the few jobs open, or opening, in Ilion, if you want to move. But you'll have no preference given. You'll be competing with all other applicants. No relocation allowance will be given.'
2. 'You're Neanderthals using WWII equipment and methods, have no experience with modern CNC technology, and get paid too much. We don't want you, won't be using this equipment, and won't hire you.'


Later on, when they realized that their plans to instantly produce Marlins on CNC machines wasn't as easy as they had thought, then they made some new offers to a few of the former engineers and supervisory personnel, out of desperation. But the few people in that group active on the MarlinOwners forums all say that even those offers were insulting and ridiculous.