Marlin Lever Gun Quality Is Back - I Think So

F

fourbore

New member
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.
Click to expand...

I agree, but dont use that criteria and then say quality is BACK. That would be a new gun to a new standard, not an old one returning to former glory. Former is not your fathers gun it was the day before the Remington/FreedomGroup purchase.

The was nothing wrong (or high) about the price of marlins when made in Ct on older machinery with skilled labor.

it is not a sign of quality when the OP decides to strip the gun and rework all the moving parts prior to range test. I buy a new gun, I expect it to work right out of the box. I always test a gun right out of the box before I change anything. I clean, I inspect and I shoot. Even the best maker can mess up and if I send it back i want to be returning a virgin gun. Not waste my time and CYA

One more gripe. I had the worse time dealing with Remington customer service and not just me. Not only do the build junk it darn near impossible to get things corrected, or corrected, correctly. And that can take a year or they loose the gun and have to be threatened to just get something back. I did hand one POS back to the dealer and he worked it with Remington and got it back quick. Then I sold that and swore never again.
 
Last edited:
B

Big Shrek

New member
Ilion's had issues since it opened...
part of them due to the NY anti-gun crowd...
as they dearly love to go to work in a New Gun Location,
and screw up the works as best they can until caught.

What's screwy is that the Mayfield, KY plant is going to be closed
instead of ridding themselves of Ilion and the NY headaches
that go along with it...go figure.

On the upside, the new Birmingham, AL plant is running nicely :)

Marlin was never perfect, I've got a 1953 Marlin 336,
which has a canted barrel...on the upside, the cant actually
ends up helping the aiming process and it's dead nuts precise.
The reason old rifles are butter-smooth is due to decades of
the action being worked until it's butter-smooth!!

If one polishes overmuchly to get that feeling,
you're basically shortening the life of those parts,
as you've basically pre-worn them by removing some metal,
so it artificially ages the parts...which is great,
until awhile down the road, they may get sloppy and loose ;)
But since most folks don't put more than a box or two through
their hunting rifles every year, it's acceptable to do that,
as the wear won't make any real difference for decades.
For those who do shoot their rifles a LOT, its actually better
to let nature take it's course and let it smooth in its own time.
 
F

FrankenMauser

New member
Big Shrek,
Don't get too hung up on Mayfield.
As much as it will hurt the local economy, it's not a huge loss to quality and fit/finish.

There's a former Mayfield employee living in my household, and I've talked with them, on many occasions (when employed, and recently), about the situation there.
The majority of the labor force in Mayfield were SSI recipients (including my household guest) that were only there until they were just shy of their maximum allowable monthly income, before federal benefits were cut off.
And they were paid piece-rate, not hourly.
I'm sure you're aware of the kind of quality that comes from piece-rate pay.
They simply didn't care.
Total assemblies pushed down the line from their station was the only statistic that mattered.

Quality? Pffft!
All the next person down the line cares about is combining your XyZ assembly with the ZQC assembly from some one else, so they can collect their own paycheck. They're not going to throw a quality control flag, if it means losing 78 cents!


I have many opinions on what was going on in Mayfield. But the bottom line is that the town will be better off without Remington, once they recover from the temporary loss of income. (There will be another company to prey upon the SSI recipients, sooner than later...)
 
F

fourbore

New member
I did handle a Marlin 45/70 with 26"(?) octagon barrel today. A new remlin gun and although I shot my mouth off big time against freedom group quality. I do see Minorcan's point. The gun has real wood, plain Jane, not laminate and the finish is reasonable. So; disregarding my quibble on the wording, the gun felt promising when dry cycling it, not butter but ok. I think all it would need is a cleaning and grease and dry cycle it for 1/2 hour watching TV. The butt pad is flat plastic not a painful crescent. While, I would not trade my older pistol grip 1/2 magazine 45/70 for this configuration, it had a classy look to it. Not practical, but a look. This maybe a new look (long octagon) and not available in a used older gun. I dont know. I dont know if this is a CB? Or the same model the OP started the discussion with.
 
C

Creed Bennett

New member
I got to fondle a recent production 1894 44 Magnum today and it was one smooth working gun. A few other fellows looked at it and commented on how smooth the lever was. If this one is any indication of how they all are now I wouldn't hesitate to give one a try if I needed one.
 
M

Minorcan

New member
I did handle a Marlin 45/70 with 26"(?) octagon barrel today. A new remlin gun and although I shot my mouth off big time against freedom group quality. I do see Minorcan's point. The gun has real wood, plain Jane, not laminate and the finish is reasonable. So; disregarding my quibble on the wording, the gun felt promising when dry cycling it, not butter but ok. I think all it would need is a cleaning and grease and dry cycle it for 1/2 hour watching TV. The butt pad is flat plastic not a painful crescent. While, I would not trade my older pistol grip 1/2 magazine 45/70 for this configuration, it had a classy look to it. Not practical, but a look. This maybe a new look (long octagon) and not available in a used older gun. I dont know. I dont know if this is a CB? Or the same model the OP started the discussion with.
Click to expand...

That was my point. It is serviceable for my purpose and has the "Style" I like as well. I'm not expecting it to be a 1000 yard sniper rifle or an AR-10. The gun shoots straight and tight groups for its design and caliber. I installed a Williams FP336TK peep sight and hung a leather sling on it and all is well. I'm happy for the money I spent on it.
 
S

shootbrownelk

New member
Fourbore, I'm with you on Remington's horrible customer service. I bought a new Remington 700 in .375 H&H. The barrel was out of round. My gunsmith sent it back, and we waited well over 6 months to get it back. They sent a NEW rifle, not the one I sent them. They could have sent me a new one in a week or two, but they dragged their feet for 6 months. This was 20 years ago, I don't think they have improved to any degree. I handled a new Remlin at the LGS when I first saw this thread. I found the Fit/Finish to be severely lacking. It was a urine poor example of a legendary lever action IMO. If I was looking to buy a Marlin lever action, I'd scour the LGS's and the Internet gun sites for a good, used, REAL Marlin. The older ones will always be worth more than the new, shoddy Remlins.
 
O

Oldbrowngun

New member
Everything I've heard says pretty much what you say. No one likes the receiver finish that is different from the barrel (maybe this is because of some alloy they use on the receivers that wont take a nice blue?) And the wood still isn't quite as nice of a fit to finish. Most people seem to think they have come a long way though, and are on the up swing.
 
G

Guv

New member
I have a 30yr old 110E Savage with a mismatched barrel (polished) and receiver (matte), but it was a inexpensive gun. Can't say that (price wise) for these new Marlins, maybe they intended it that way?:confused: I know the real old Marlins had the complete receiver polished, latter years they matted out the top and bottom on them. I think my 39A has the top tang also matte. So now I guess we get the whole receiver matte.
 
R

reynolds357

New member
The finish on the remains do not bother me. I have it for a shooter, not a safe Queen. I have safe queens to fondle when I want beauty.
 
I

ilmonster

New member
I purchased a 22" 1895 in November 2015, and couldn't be more pleased. The rifle has good wood to metal fit, screws that are not buggered up, sights are not canted and the action is smooth. I have run around 150 rounds through it (mostly reloads) and it has been flawless. Really like my Remlin!

I also own a 2007 Marlin 1894C in .357 and would say the newer 1895 is built just as well as my JM Marlin. Both triggers aren't great, but more often than not a factory trigger from any manufacturer isn't great (except my Anschutz 1416 with the 5098 2 stage trigger - sweet!).
 
Last edited:
R

reynolds357

New member
I can say that on the Remlins, the triggers went from bad(old Marlins) to horrid. I have already re-worked the trigger in my Remlin.
 
T

Tony Z

New member
I picked up a 1979 era 336 in 35 Remington this past weekend at the PGCA meet in Butler, PA. Price was higher than I wanted to be ($540 out the door), but the gun is in top notch shape.

Action, for a gun that doesn't appear to have been shot much at all, is very smooth and trigger is crisp.

Already have a set of peeps ordered for it.
 
2

223 shooter

New member
Saw a couple of new Marlin 44 Magnums in a gun shop last weekend and the fit of the stock to receiver was poor and the "quality" of the checkering was perhaps the worst I have ever seen. They would be better off just leaving the wood smooth like Marlin did years ago. Add to that some pretty lame looking wood.

Last year I picked up a made in 2008 Marlin 1894 357 Mag and it is far better finished than the current 44s I have seen and less damaging to my wallet too!
 
M

Minorcan

New member
I went and looked at some of the revolver caliber Marlins and I don't thin their finish is near as nice or tight as the 1895 Cowboy. I think maybe they are spending a little, not a lot, but a little more effort on the Cowboys. The wood on mine is nicely grained and decently fitted. I thought about applying some oil but its fine for my purposes.
 
2

223 shooter

New member
Minorcan , I'll have to agree with your comment regarding the 1895 Cowboy , those I have seen were fairly nice looking rifles.
 
D

Danwin22

New member
If Remlin builds a Marlin "Mountie" .22 I'd buy it. 'Til then I'll buy Henry, Uberti or Browning.

I like straight stocks on my .22 Levers.
 
J

Jack O'Conner

New member
Yesterday I attended the huge Sportsman's Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I handled all the current lever action rifles and carbines. The "new" Marlins seem quite well made to me. Same goes for the Rio Grande model by Rossi. But I thought the Mossberg 464 seemed a little rough to operate in comparison. Browning's BLR is tops but so is pricing. Smoothest of all are the modified Marlins built by Wild West Guns of Alaska.

Today's consumers have a wide choice of lever actions to choose from.

Jack
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top