Back in the day, you had to read a gun review very carefully to pick-up any hint that a firearm was a POS. Thankfully, internet gun forums arrived to end the information blackout. The Truth About Guns has done its best to honor, continue and build upon the forums’ tradition of no-holds-barred product reviews. When The Freedom Group bought Marlin, when the storied brand fell from grace like a rock dropped off the the Golden Gate Bridge, TTAG was there . . .
On May 6, 2011, we ran an article on an unfired Marlin 1894 whose stock split in half. The quality control problems at Marlin went from bad to worse to completely unacceptable – to the point where Marlin modifiers like Grizzly Custom Guns now charge customers a premium to breathe on post-Freedom Group rifles (to pay for rectifying factory errors).
From time to time we’ve had glimpses of the doofuses (doofi?) behind the curtain and reported the facts back to you. Now, thanks to an article entitled Marlin Makes a Comeback in the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s publication shotbusiness.org, we’ve got an inside, intimate look at Marlin’s cataclysmic decline. As Warren Zevon sang, it ain’t that pretty at all.
To say we made a couple of mistakes is a bit of an understatement,” says Teddy Novin, director of public affairs. “We opened the door for Rossi and Henry, but with our new production process for the receiver in a side-byside
comparison, there is no comparison. We’re working hard to bring it back.”Part of that hard work was recovering from a poorly planned [2010] move from Marlin’s longstanding manufacturing plant in North Haven, Connecticut, to Remington-operated factories in Ilion, New York, and Mayfield, Kentucky . . . While the craftsmen at Marlin were first-rate, the manufacturing facilities in North Haven were less than great. Machines were held together with what amounted to little more than Band-Aids, creating inefficient and costly production processes . . .
“We were dealing with equipment that was old—in some cases, more than 60 years old. Some of the equipment was in such bad shape that sheet-metal dams had been built around the machines to keep fluids from leaking out onto the floor.”
Just four hours away, in Ilion, Remington’s factory had some open floor space where it could move Marlin, keep it autonomous from Remington [!], and yet improve efficiency. “We realized it would be a challenging move,” says Fink. “It required moving equipment, setting it up in a new location, and training people to build these rifles.
Old equipment does not travel well. Once this equipment was moved to Ilion, many of the pieces were running at a rate that was even less efficient than before.”
Compounding the difficulties, Remington discovered dimensioned drawings of Marlin’s iconic rifles did not exist. The plans at North Haven had simply been passed down through the generations. Many of these workers hadn’t made the move to Ilion, so much of that inherent knowledge had been lost. “We were training a new workforce to build these rifles,” says Fink. “We have a great workforce in Ilion with gunmaking talent, but they had never built lever-action rifles before, so there was learning curve.” . . .
To save Marlin from imploding, Remington invested both dollars and manpower in a multifaceted approach to achieve the kind of quality that had slipped during the transition. From a manufacturing standpoint, the company has set up a stand-alone Marlin factory within the Ilion plant, with its own designated managers, workforce, and assemblers, people who are committed and invested in the Marlin brand.
On the product side, Marlin reduced its offerings from 29 catalog lever-gun models down to 18 . . . The SKU reduction allowed the factory to focus on the rifles they had a greater ability to produce on a consistent basis, which tended to be the highest-volume offerings. Plans call for rifles that were suspended to make their way back into the line as the manufacturing process works outs its kinks. “We hoped to do that in late 2012, however we were not as far along as we would have liked to have been,” says Fink. “This process was very painful for me, as it would be for anyone who is passionate about rifles.”
At the same time lines were being reduced, R&D engineers started a project to complete three-dimensional drawings of all the parts. Meanwhile, production engineers were evaluating what new modern equipment would be necessary once they knew the exact dimensions that would be coming off the machine.
That is one sorry tale of corporate mismanagement. And there’s no getting around it: Marlin should have shut down manufacturing completely during this “transition.” The company has done major damage to the brand by selling thousands of crap guns. Anyway . . .
“We have now completed these dimensional drawings for the 336 line and 1895 line, since they are the most similar,” says Fink. “This year, we will also be in the same position on the 1894 line. New equipment for these lines has been purchased and is operational. We have seen great improvement over the year, and we continue to focus on further improvements.”
For 2014, Marlin is reintroducing four suspended offerings, including two .338 Marlin Express rifles, the 1895 Cowboy, and the .444 Marlin. The company is also introducing a Limited Edition series, with the first rifle being a 336 Limited featuring a high-grade walnut stock, high-polish blued metal with some light scroll engraving, and the Marlin horse and rider in 24-carat gold on the left receiver panel. Future plans call for a new introduction to the series each year, with changes in engraving patterns, model, and overall configuration.
Right. Gussying-up a gun of questionable quality will rescue Marlin from it’s ten-foot-pole exclusion zone amongst knowledgeable consumers. In fact, you have to wonder if it’s too late for Marlin. Can the brand survive four years of cranking out dreadful firearms, especially with Henry Repeating Rifles eating its breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Maybe. Lest we forget, Mercedes – once “engineered like no other car in the world” – released some truly miserable models in its brand extension wilderness-wandering days – and came back. The Marlin name is at least as strong. But millennials aren’t as brand faithful as their predecessors, and time is running out. We’ll contact the company for a T&E gun, or buy one on your behalf, and report back.
Cost?
My dad, brother, and I all had 336 Marlins 35 cal. I’ve been using mine over 30 years and it was used when I got it. My brothers was bought new in 1971and my dad’s was older, lots older, but he kept it in great shape. My nephew has it now, he makes that gun a 3 generation gun. Sighted in at 100 yards [all three] I’ve dropped bucks over 200 yards with 2 of them. Great knock down power. My son and younger brother both use 336s in the 30.30 caliber. So I guess you could say our family is Marlin fans.
Yes, back when Marlin had a little thing called pride in workmanship, and quality control.
I’m the lucky owner of a pre-Remlin 1894CL in .32-20 that I had slicked up by a CAS gunsmith. It’s silky.
I’m itching for a .44 someday, and it will probably be a Rossi. But if Remington does get its act together, I wouldn’t hesitate to grab another 1894.
Henry rifles are not an option. They have no heritage, they’re ugly and they have a stupid loading system. Their “Henry original” is the rifle they should have designed in the first place, and I’d buy one, but not at $2300.
Oh, yeah, a company the made the first practical and commercially successful lever-action repeating rifle in 1860 has “no heritage”. Henry rifles are also beautiful pieces of machinery as well, and always have been.
As for the price, though, I still concur. $2,300 is a bit much for any rifle in that class, truthfully.
I’m pretty sure Henry of today has no connection to Henry of yore, other than making rifles that are cosmetically similar.
Sorry but Henry did not make the first but I will grant you that they have heritage…The first lever action was made by Volcano Firearms and they were made with both cast iron and brass receivers…An old boss of mine owned one at one time and I think he told me there was less that 20 of them left in existence and his was the only one with a iron receiver….Winchester borrowed it from him and put it on display since they had never seen one with the iron receiver…Also Henry’s are a decent firearm however I never bought one because I too felt that they were over priced even when I could get’em for $300 back in the day I could get a Winchester for less…..
Saw a guy on the homegunsmith forum had made one, albeit it used a conventional cartridge (a modified .40 S&W).
Always wanted a Volcanic, would it be plausible to make them in 9mm? You would have to make an ejector and all but I don’t see how you are going to revive the caseless cartridge concept. Especially considering how it wasn’t that powerful.
Actually, that was ‘Volcanic,’ a company founded by Messrs. Smith and Wesson along with a stockholder named ‘Winchester,’ and the guns were an abject failure as they fired a ‘rocket ball’, an elongated bullet with a hollow space in the rear for a small powder charge and a pellet of mercury fulminate to set it off when the striker hit it–no cartridge case. The guns were fragile and the cartridge VERY weak, and they didn’t sell. They were also mechanically defective–no case, no case rim, no extractor, therefore no way to get a ‘dud’ rocket-ball out of the chamber except a stick. Their fore-runners were made by Jennings, and lever-action guns of very similar design were made by Smith & Wesson. What made the ‘Volcanic’ action design finally successful was when Winchester bought full control of the company, brought in B. Tyler Henry to convert the things to fire a real rimfire .44 cartridge, and THEN they became Henrys. The Henry didn’t last past 1866 with the change of name from Henry to Winchester and introduction of the 1866, a minimally-modified Henry with a wooden fore-end and a side loading-gate by King. The ‘volcanic’ toggle action actually lived on through the 1876 model, but finally went away with the Browning-designed 1886.
Any resemblance between an 1860~1865 Henry and a modern one is limited to them both having levers on the bottom to open and close the bolts and a tubular magazine; The internal bits are completely different, and that’s a VERY good thing–the operating pressure on a modern .22LR is much higher than that developed by a black-powder .44 Henry Flat. For 1860, the Henry was a mechanical marvel; For 2014, they would be disasters–dangerous, weak, heavy, and fragile.
As far as Volcanic being a ‘first,’ that’s not right–Jennings made some rocket-ball lever rifles before Volcanic came into being, and the first ‘Volcanics’ were actually made by and branded as Smith & Wessons, both rifles and pistols in .31 and .41 caliber, brass or iron frames.
The modern Henry company has NO connection to the old Henry.
It’s a modified action sir not the same 1860 action. But then again the 1860 design had ergonomic flaws the magazine loading instead of the loading gate. But God bless them for being made in the country
Well I will put up my Henry Big Boy 44 mag up against any thing out there. Where did you get the 2300 dollar figure ? I paid 900 bucks last year. So it is not an original design who GAF it is a beautiful and trouble free rifle. Marlin is dead , Kaput.
I got the $2300 figure from their website, and I specifically noted that I was talking about the 1860 Henry reproduction, not their modern lever actions.
And obviously I GAF that their modern design isn’t a reproduction of an historic piece. You don’t and you’re happy with it. Mazeltov.
I have 2 Marlin stainless Guide guns in 45-70 both were made in Gardner, Massachusetts before Freedom Group bought them.
Also have a brass Henry Big Boy. 100% made in the USA and a beautiful rifle that run about $700 NIB. They are a little heavier than the imports.
The $2300 one was a limited edition. I like the fore grips on my lever action.
Your comments about Henry are unfounded and ignorant. I’m the proud owner of a Henry 45-70, and the rifle is a gorgeous tack driver at 150yds with 325gr. rounds. Ergonomics and fit and finish are just about perfect. The loading tube is unconventional, yes, but fairly quick and efficient when you get the hang of it. And Henry’s customer service is most excellent. Keep your Marlin — I’m going with Henry for all my lever needs.
I agree with you, the quality of the Henry was very good, that POS Marlin I bought was a piece of junk.
TOTALLY AGREE WITH ANNOYED MAN – 8/23/18 – I purchased a Remlin Cowboy 1894 in .45 Colt mid-July. Seemed fine at the store. At the range it jammed on my first cartridge, so hard you could not move the lever. Long story short, emailed Remington, waited a day, then shipped it to North Carolina. They got back to me 2 weeks ago, saying my rifle could not be repaired and they would sent a new one. The gun was shipped uninspected from a warehouse in Memphis to my FFL dealer yesterday. They even got the address wrong (luckily I have friends at the UPS dock who corrected the problem). On close inspection, the new rifle misfed and failed to eject in a completely inconsistent manner. In addition, the fore and butt stocks are at least two tones different in color and light to dark! I did not accept the gun, and did not fill out any legal paperwork. Marlin is sending a pre-paid label to my FFL, who must go through the hassle of FedEx pickup, etc. So here I go again, after plunking down $thousand for a rifle I have not yet fired after 7 weeks! And I will wait another few weeks on another “luck of the draw.” I have owned two prior Marlins, one of them JL stamped, that were really not all that great. Rough actions, etc., etc. Seems they have always had problems with fit and finish, though the older ones are better. Decided that when this nightmare is resolved, I will sell the rifle they ship, unfired, likely at a loss. I will never again buy a Marlin, regardless of vintage. Same goes for Remington. Both are POS in my humble opinion. Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on me. That said, I’ve ordered a Henry Big Boy Steel rifle in .45 Colt. It will complement my Henry BBS .44 magnum carbine, which is the best shooting, finest action rifle I own. Plus, Henry service is friendly, fast and free for a lifetime. To hell with Remlin.
I have a Marlin 1881 45-70 made in 1885 full length tube and 2 1895S that were made in the early 1980’s and 1 1895 with full tube made around early 2000’s. I have cycled rounds through the older one without firing and it loads, feeds and cycles the rounds smoother than the ones made in the 80’s. Both of the ones made in the 80’s are harder feeding through the loading gate, but once loaded they cycle almost as smooth as the old one, but shells drag like the metal is rough. I am guessing that the one made in 1885 came out of the factory with more of the internal parts debured and polished. The one made in this century has the hardest action to cycle. I am not sure if I will ever fire the old one, my dad said he remembered my grandpa taking it out of the closet and cleaning and oiling it, but never shooting it and he never seen it after going into the service in 1943. I found it in the closet cleaning out my grand parents house in 1993
Reading this, it appears that the old employees had no dimensional plans as a type of job security. Freedom group didn’t want to pay their higher salaries, and in the transition to cheaper labor threw away the name and quality.
It’s hard to want to buy a new Marlin knowing that it basically boils down to FG turning a profit by destroying skilled labor and gun manufacturing knowledge.
sadly, i think the same. I had a marlin in .22lr a few years ago, but it didn’t function at all, i thought it was just a bad gun, i didn’t realize the company had undergone such a drastic reformation.
I’d be willing to give them a shot. As an engineer I can almost sympathize with the issue of not having drawings. You pretty much assume if you’re buying out a mass-producer of firearms that they have engineering drawings of their product. How in the world they mass produced a quality product without drawings before the move is mind boggling.
You don’t assume anything. Getting the drawings and IP is a standard part of any business negotiation. Even though I’m an engineer and not an MBA, even I know that. Epic fail.
By the same note, why did it take them so long to make CAD of the parts? They have physical samples they can measure for Pete’s sake. Hell, run them through a 3D scanner. Then you don’t even have to model it. All of Marlin’s models should have been put in CAD in under a year, easily.
Agreed. What is the holdup in getting the designs into CAD? It’s not like they’re trying to model a Boeing 787 or something from scratch. It’s a rifle, based on a design that’s more than a century old. How many parts does an 1894 have? Even counting screws and springs, it’s probably still less than a hundred individual pieces. So it’s a double fail: failure to verify drawings before they bought the company, and a big fail in taking 4+ years to produce drawings for what amounts to a handful of relatively simple machines.
It’ll be a long time before I buy a post-Freedom Group Marlin levergun. I mean, how bad do you have to fuck up to make a Rossi look like the better choice?
First of all, 3D scanners have some (0.002 or thereabouts) “fuzz” around most dimensions.
Second, which physical specimen do you choose as your master? When you lack a concrete set of dimensions, a whole bunch of things start failing for you – what are your allowances, tolerances, etc on parts that are to be fitted together?
OK, you decide how to resolve the above issue. Now you need to make sure that you did so in a manner that results in parts that are compatible with your installed base.
Making one gun is easy. Making the second to 100th gun gets easier and easier.
But supporting an installed base of 100’s of thousands of guns, where you need to be compatible for both parts replacement and putting older parts into new guns? That gets a bit tougher.
I’m a retired defense industry engineer and have to agree with you about supplying the drawings. However, just because you have the drawings doesn’t mean you can build the system to work. I’m not at liberty to identify the system, but we were under contract once to deliver a few systems (same items) to a foreign country along with the manufacturing drawings. Don’t ask me how this came about, but the foreign country didn’t have authorization to produce our design even though they had the manufacturing drawings. We suspected they would probably try to build the system but we weren’t too worried. Why? Because we knew the skilled workers with years of hands-on experience on our production lines knew how to take a file and take a “little off here” and a “little off there” to get the system to work. This skill is not something you can glean off drawings alone. This may be a special case and not necessarily apply to lower tolerance designs. But it did apply to the system we were delivering.
No, it isn’t mind-boggling. It is mind-boggling to youngsters today, most of whom equate manufacturing and dimensioned products with CAD/CAM systems.
In Ye Olde Days, the way guns were manufactured was the way lots of high-volume stuff was manufactured: by lining out a row of machines in a plant, one after another, with each machine doing one operation, holding specialized tooling, fixtures, jigs, etc. These machines are set up to do this operation, they’re going to do only that operation, which means that they’re not changed.
The workpieces go onto the first machines in the line and when the workpieces come off a machine, then get moved to the next one.
Once the machines are set up, and you know the dimensions of your cutters/tooling and you replace your tooling when it is worn, you get the dimensions you need out of the far end of the line, regardless of whether or not you have a drawing. The machine operators at each station have a limited set of instructions and moves they make on the machine.
It was a system that worked and worked well, for the time period before there was even NC, much less CNC, machining.
I’ve been involved in transferring manufacturing processes and equipment oversees (from Asia back to Texas in my case) and its never easy. With that being said, they had no business even starting the transfer without design and process verification between both facilities. We didn’t months doing this before the transfer started, what kind of company didn’t realize that the design/prints don’t exist after they’ve already moved.
The other side of this is the manufacturing ramp. I would personally not buy anything that hasn’t already undergone many manufacturing learning cycles. We often add layers of defect detection during this period and they’re usually added as the permanent corrective action for something that already went wrong (i.e. product with defect made it into customers hands)
Man, that’s a shame. I’ve been wanting a stainless 336 for years, but couldn’t because of precisely the damage we all know Remington has done.
Still waiting, hoping for the day we can trust the Marlin name again. See you in 2016, Marlin.
Never had any experience with Marlin lever-guns, so I can’t really comment on the recent QC debacles. I just hope they don’t go under. We need every gun company that can stay solvent to remain solvent.
I’m amazed at how much of corporate America really doesn’t seem to have a plan for anything. It’s as if managing the fallout is somehow easier than preventing the screwup in the first place.
Every person that got stuck with a substandard Marlin should get a replacement free of charge.
I checked one out last week and it wobbled in my hand, everything felt loose on it.
I have a Freedom Group Marlin, and maybe I am just lucky, but I am 100% satisfied with it in every way. I have probably around 3000 rounds through it with no malfunctions and fit and finish are great. I will admit the wood is not as nice as some of the older models, but it is still my favorite gun.
I’d like a lever action in 10mm, to go with a Glock 20.
Personally, I’d LOVE a SS .41mag levergun, perhaps to compliment a .41 4 5/8″ SS Blackhawk, or even a Vaquero…
I agree, Michael. I wish they would bring back the .41 Remington magnum in the model 1894. It would certainly sell.
I am waiting to hear from the custon shop about them making a 1894 in .41 mag. Not holding my breath, but hoping.
Fender and CBS. Harley and AMF. Marlin’s saving grace will most likely come only from independence.
I’d let about ten thousand optimists beta test the “new, new, NEW!” Marlin rifles before I would even think of buying one.
I don’t trust any Cerberus-owned company to make a decent product.
My Marlin 39A was purchased in late 2010 and was sadly an exercise in patience to get it operating at an acceptable level.
Fortunately for me, I had over 30 years of experience working with precision machinery so I was able to get the gun up without numerous trips back for service. First the ejector retaining rivet fell out of the receiver, a call to the factory and I received a replacement that was functional if not confidence inspiring (the rivet was loosely retained by a bit of staked over material) then the lever action screw sheared off so I purchased a replacement and a spare to fix this, Next was the hardest fix, the extractor would leave a fired case stuck in the chamber and it took, first some effort to remove the new, live cartridge and then a cleaning rod to remove the case. Several trips over a couple of months punctuated by very careful filing of the extractor and testing at the range before it was working 100% with all ammo types.
Compared to the 1894 rifle that I had bought years ago this was quite frustrating, but I did persevere and now have a fine .22 lever action rifle.
Not sure how many would go through that effort to own a piece of history…
As someone who doesn’t have 30+ years of machining experience but owns 2 guns that don’t extract exactly as you’ve described it, what did you do to fix it?
I kinda wish Freedom Group would just hurl itself against the wall.
TTAG says, “Back in the day, you had to read a gun review very carefully to pick-up any hint that a firearm was a POS.Thankfully, internet gun forums arrived to end the information blackout. The Truth About Guns has done its best to honor, continue and build upon the forums’ tradition of no-holds-barred product reviews.”
Your integrity would be better served by mentioning Gun Tests (http://www.gun-tests.com/), which goes back a ways, and whose honesty in serving gun owners is beyond reproach.
gun-tests.com you gotta pay to see what it says…… Isn’t this what Pelosi did with obummercare. No Thank You!
Kevin
Don’t rely on gun forums for your gun buying decisions. The opinions are all over the board. Many will call a certain gun a POS even if they’ve never owned or shot one. Too many couch commandos. But you’re right, I wouldn’t pay for an opinion
You have to pay for Gun Tests because it’s a subscription-based business model. They don’t take any advertising, so there’s no conflict of interest when they review products. They do some pretty rigorous and thorough testing, so you’re getting a little bit more than “paying for an opinion”.
I’ve been a Gun Tests subscriber for almost 20 years. I stopped subscribing to other gun mags because none of the others are impartial – exactly because of their advertising. I’m actually better informed by one magazine today, than I once was by 4 or 5 other magazines I no longer subscribe to.
There’s a 45-70 marlin for sale locally. Wants 550 for it. Says “JM” on the barrel. But I’m still cautious.
I don’t think it’s old enough.
If it has JM stamped on the barrel then it is a pre-FG Marlin. You can also check the serial number, if it has an “RM” prefix then it it a Remlin. Usually I just look for the JM on the barrel. Five hundred isn’t bad though, especially if it is one of the more expensive models (lam stock guide gun). Eother way they are great rifles and worth the price for a non-FG Marlin.
I’ve bought two used JM Marlin 1895’s from Keith’s Sporting Goods in the past year, both are very good guns. One is a 22″ barrel and I can easily shoot 1.5 inch groups with iron sights at 100 yards with LeveRevelution ammunition. Kicks good but man is it fun launching 300+ grain bullets.
I bought a post-buyout Guide Gun about year ago. I was nervous about it, and cosmetically, it is inferior to my pre-Remington 336 and 1895C. That said, it operates perfectly, and she SHOOTS. No sweat getting 3-3.5″ groups at 200yds.
For those of you who don’t think that is impressive, doing that with 45-70 is kinda like having a catapault that throws 78 Impalas to the same spot a half mile away.
I witnessed first hand the debacle that occurred when no less than IBM decided to consolidate manufacturing and moved the old RS6000 line from Austin to Rochester. Workers revolted and broke machines, failed to assemble equipment or inspect things. It became required to open boxes outside the presence of the customers for fear of what you would find. Eventually the situation was resolved.
I have hopes that clearer thinking will prevail on the part of all concerned. Today everyone wants things to happen by next week. Manufacturing is different.
Because of this, I own a Rossi 92. And I will be buying another Rossi 92 in the future. Cheaper, good fit and finish (not great or perfect). And smoothed out after a couple of hundred rounds. At this point I can fast fire 38 specials on target very easily.
I want a lever gun, too, in .38spl/.357mag; but I’ve been conflicted over the choices out there. I avoid the Marlins because of the quality reputation these days, avoid the Henry’s because of the high price, and avoid the Rossi’s because they just seem so hit or miss. I hear great feedback like Randall’s, but I hear miserable feedback elsewhere about failures to feed or eject. Without any reason to doubt the shooters themselves, I have to conclude the Rossi product’s quality just depends on which shift it was produced on.
You can always find one in a gun store. Hold it in your hands if you are worried. At least then you can inspect it. The fact of the matter is that I got a great 357 magnum/ 38 special rifle for $500. Pair it with Steve’s Guns bolt mounted peep sight (replaces wing nut safety) and steve’s ejector spring and metal follower. I can shoot 2 inch groups at 50 yards from a bench. It’s generally a 3-4 MOA rifle.
My first rifle was a 39A, then came a 336CS in 35 Remington. I no longer have my original 39A but have since bought a 39A that was built in 1954 and a Golden 39A from the early 70s and have added several other models to my Marlin collection. They are all beautiful, smooth, and very accurate. They beat Rossi, Henry, and Winchester lever guns hands down. My father bought a Winchester 94 in 30-30 when I was kid and after one range session with it he sold it and went back to his old Marlin 336.
America’s history goes hand in hand with lever action rifles and if Marlin gets its act back together they will regain their reputation. But the older guns will always be what I will seek when I add to my collection. They had no drawings, so if you think about it each gun was practically hand built hence the slickness of the older rifles actions. Each rifle was for all intents and purposes a custom build.
As for Winchester, I have shot a couple built before the turn of the last century and while they are excellent rifles neither was as smooth or as accurate as my old Marlins.
For those of you who want a good lever action, just log-on to GunBroker and you can find a lot of the older models looking for a new home. You see commercials on TV about adopting old dogs so why don’t you adopt an old rifle?
This. And this again.
Thinking about it. You can now honestly say that you have a one of a kind, hand crafted firearm in you possession. There will never be another gun built exactly like yours and even if the new ones are built to spec, They’re now assembly line dimentional drawings to be mass produced. It makes me smile to know the JM 39a I was able to aquire will be passed down to my son as a true heirloom.
I think you reward good products from a company and cut the legs off the rest.
Reminds me of several years ago, they had the CEO of Ford on a radio show. Someone asked him about the quality problems Ford was having and he said Yup, since we moved some more production (products) to China for more parts our quality has suffered but in a few years it will be great. And in the intervening time an idiot like me buying a Ford gets crappy parts. Never again a Ford.
Marlin and Remington is probably run by accountants. Henry is run by a gun guy. Big difference. For Marlin/Remington it’s just bad management. I have one Marlin, a 795, great little rifle, manufactured long before the move. Never again a Marlin or Remington.
Didn’t the Remington R51 have (has) a few quality problems also?
I was sad when I drove by the closed Marlin plant a few years ago. The Marlin sign is still there. I have a Marlin 795 that has run well in the 100 rounds I’ve fired. I wouldn’t mess with the other stuff. It was a huge mistake to move the Marlin manufacturing to NY. They obviously did not do their homework during the movement phase. Old machines well maintained are also not a problem. They many times can perform very high quality operations with a good operator.
I also worked 1 mile from Savage and was 30 minutes from S&W and they are still pumping out good guns but are of course not part of a mismanaged FG.
too bad Savage didn’t buy Marlin. It would be the best lever gun out there.
I had and still want one. But the old ones went from 250 to 500 after freedom grope dicked them up. I’m not able to drop the dough on a gun with that many issues. Looks like it’s another two years till I get one
I’ve recently bought a Marlin and two Henry’s. The Marlin can’t even come close in any way!
I’m still searching for a 1894c in 45colt and a 1895c in 45-70 that’s a pre remlins no avail so far
While millennials may not be as brand-faithful as previous generations, by the same token they may not be as brand-rejecting as previous generations. Good products can help.
BTW, I’ve bought three Marlin .22s in the past three years: each has been quite good and, for my money, a slightly better deal than the Ruger .22 rifle I also bought.
So the equipment was so bad they had to move to the Remington factory, but then they took the equipment How did moving benefit the the manufacturing process again?
The biggest problem with the new Marlins is the horrible wood with badly pressed in checkering. Seriously, what is this, the 1970s? And it done SO badly! Fix the stocks and I might give Marlin another chance.
BUGHUNTER, you’re so right!! My 2018 Marlin 1895 in 45/70 works fantastic! The stock is just plain cheap looking. I had a custom gun smith re-checker it, and add 1 inch to the butts length. With Leverlution ammo she’ll print a 2″ group at 100 yards from a rest. The gun is definitely a “thumper”, but it keeps the bears at bay!!
A friend bought a Henry. It’s accuracy was disappointing. He sent it back and they worked on it. Then they returned it to him. It was the same.
I’ll take my chances with Marlin.
“Compounding the difficulties, Remington discovered dimensioned drawings of Marlin’s iconic rifles did not exist. The plans at North Haven had simply been passed down through the generations.”
I couldn’t help but to giggle here… Because most of those people were laid off. And not happily, as I recall. I mean, that’s one of the most epic ways I’ve ever seen to screw a brand over. I mean, at first I was worried about the value of my Marlin levers since they would be picking production back up… But then i realized their dimentional drawings will never be the same as that which was handed down from generation to generation.
I’ve had a lot of lever guns, but none more loved than my Henry
My Henry .17 Golden Boy is one of the most fun of my 39 guns to shoot, and is deadly accurate. Bought it mostly for my kids, but it’s mine now. Now I have to check my Marlin 30.30 to see if it’s pre Freedom group. Can’t even recall when I bought it.
For the guy asking about the 38/357’s, I have a Winchester model 94 that’s a good shooter, though I’m not sure they are still in production?
They still make the Winchester 94’s (built by Miroku in Japan), but I think the new ones are only available in .30-30 and .38-55, not in any of the pistol calibers. The Model 1892 is available in .357, though.
Can Marlin come back? Maybe. Don’t forget the crap Winchester put out in the lat ’60’s and Early ’70’s. I’ll never forget the time we were out quail hunting. One of the guys I was with had a brand new Winchester Semi. His second shot, parts fell out of the bottom of the receiver. He was not a happy camper.
It is astonishing that we have to be concerned with fundamental quality issues from American made firearms and the blame is squarely on the management. How big a sh*thead do you have to be to f*ck up a decades old, proven design? This is a sincere question and NOT a flame. I wanted a Marlin but the truth had leaked so naturally I bought a SIG 716. The 21st century lever action.
My Marlin 1895 XLR in .45-70 can put 5 rounds through a single jagged hole at 50 yards with a 2-7 power Leupold scope using the 325 grain LeverEvolution ammo. It’s been great on three deer so far. A solid hit for that round drops deer with authority.
I’m not sure if mine is post FG or not. Either way, its a great gun. I’d love to see Marlin get their stuff together – and it would be even better if they could become independent.
I was at Cabela’s maybe a year or so ago, and they had two whole racks filled with Marlin 336’s, marked as “used”, but clearly unfired. I don’t know if they were a closeout deal or what, but they were discounted reasonably (by Cabela’s standards). While I was looking at them, two other guys also checked them out, and all three of us came to the same conclusion about the same time, and laughed about it: even at a discount, it’s not worth taking a chance on a Remlin. Marlin’s brand has been beat to hell over this debacle. They can maybe come back, but do you think a management team that was able to make such a colossal string of blunders has the ability to salvage the name and win back customer trust? There’s a narrow path back to respectability, but without some new blood running the show, the chances of the current jagoffs making the right choices seems very, very slim.
Dear Marlin,
Do us a favor, when you come back on line, make nothing but the Model 1894 for about two years.
I don’t get why I can buy a 336 in .30-30 at the Wal-Mart for $300 but have to search to find an 1894 in .357 which then costs me better than $900.
Are people really buying that many .30-30’s to hunt with? Ramp up production on the .357 and .44 mag carbines to bring them to the same price point as the .30-30’s and you will make a lot of people very happy.
What can Marlin do with the returned QA rejects? What Big-Green has been doing for the last 20 years. Export them in package deals for the overseas importers.
I’m often asked why nearly all of my rifles are either Mil-Surps or based on Mil-Surps. It is because I trust a receiver made 50-100 years ago more than I trust recent commercial production. SMLE (No1 MkIII) tolerances were so tight that parts from rifles made in several UK manufacturers, South Africa, Australia, and India are interchangeable (well, the Indian production was known for slightly looser tolerances but can the adjusted to fit). Only modern CNC machining has that level of interchangeability.
I’d have to agree – the older mil-surps I have are ALL interchangeable, with no deterioration in fit or function! Specifically, the one I’ve done the most to, I’ve replaced several parts on a 50’s model Ishapoor (just wanted an SMLE in .308) rifle, without a care in the world, just ordered what I craved from SARCO… I’ve replaced these parts not due to FTF issues, but because I’m not willing to have the rifle in-op while refinishing various bits for cosmetics.
Despite what I knew, I tried to get an 1895 SBL anyway. Even put half down at the LGS. Really wanted a big bore lever and this was the one. Waited 6 months. Nothing showed. So finally I ended up putting the money towards something else in the store . Looking back at it, I’m probably better off that they couldn’t even ship one damn lever rifle in 6 months. I’ve heard the nightmare stories. I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I’d have to ship it off to WildWest guns and pay a fortune just to try make it right. I still want a big bore lever, but it not in any hurry now… I guess time will tell how that goes…
What type lever are you looking for?
Did anyone logic check Teddy Novin’s, statement? The Freedom Group mouthpiece said:
A. The North Haven craftsmen were “first-rate”
B. The manufacturing equipment in North Haven was horrible
Therefore, FG moved the crap equipment and left most of the craftsmen behind.
And then they had manufacturing problems…
Who let this clown get away with making this kind of statement?!?! Clearly the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s reporter wasn’t paying attention. Maybe they wrote a puff piece for some disclosed reason, such as sponsorship dollars.
I purchased a new marlin 1895 SBL in the spring of 2014. I’m an excellent marksmen and avid gun enthusiast and I must say I’m very impressed with my gun,the fit,finish and accuracy is everything I would expect from a marlin. I now have over 600 rounds through it without a flaw. Looks like the hiccups are a thing of the past…blast on boys!!
Any experienced (or green) mechanical engineer or technician could see that this manufacturing move was a Freedom Group cluster XXXX from the start. But of course looking at some Remington 870 Express shotguns, you also get that same feeling.
For everyone’s information, as a mechanical engineer with 30 years of experience I can tell you that NO ONE makes production-line mechanical devices without properly dimensioned and toleranced drawings. It’s been that way since World War II, when draftsmen did the work on vellum (how I learned). Otherwise our weapons wouldn’t have worked then and we would have lost the War. You get “tolerance stack up” on the multiple parts and the gun jams. Duh…
A 19 year-old mechanical or industrial technician in his first year or an Associate’s Degree program knows this after taking his first engineering drawing class. I knew it in high school after taking a technical drawing unit in Introduction to Machine Shop.
I’m not buying the nonsense that Marlin “didn’t have any drawings.” I guess they didn’t have any calipers or micrometers either. Machinists haven’t made parts that way since about 1850. Why didn’t the gun magazine dorks interview some of the old Marlin employees to find out what really happened?
So how many people did they screw of out hundreds of thousands of dollars for the defective guns? All the crap rifles should be immediately recalled. Unless that happens, no honest person should buy anything from Remington or the Freedom Group dirtbags. Ever. Let them rot, and sell all their gun companies to someone who gives a crap.
By the way, did you see last year’s Remington catalog trying to get everyone to hunt with a camo-coated AR rifles?
I laugh, because as a seasoned Tool & Die maker, I have made hundreds, if not thousands of parts with no drawings…… But maybe the pissed off, soon to be jobless employees of Marlin, made the drawings disapear!
Now had I been the one to head the merger, then I would have kept production going at the current factory, while I tooled up and proofed the new one!
EasterBunny said>>>I have made hundreds, if not thousands of parts with no drawings
Yes, an experienced machinist can make ONE widget with no drawings, by writing his calculations and dimensions on an envelope. I know you took the point about there being no way Marlin was doing that .
For the others out there, let’s say we make 10 complicated mechanical widgets that that way (with +/- 0.005 required on the mating surfaces), then disassemble them, and put all the parts in a bin and mix them up. Re-assemble the widgets from the random parts and see if they ALL work – nope. That’s why early guns long ago had to be fit individually, and mechanism parts that were swapped sometimes didn’t work.
On the contrary, if you have good dimensioning and tolerancing, and good drawings, all the parts will swap. That’s why you can go to a gunshow and build a functioning AR-15 from Mil-Spec parts on 10 different tables. If there were Marlin parts available all over the gun shows from the old factory, you would be able to do the same thing and build your own lever action rifle, with maybe a little gunsmith attention to smooth things out on the rare gun (as they do at the end of the production assembly process).
The new Freedom Group Marlin managers are not only goofballs but liars, who are disparaging the old Marlin employees and the old factory to cover up their incompetence at the new plant, and in ruining the name of a good brand. This is one reason why we will always have annoying socialists around, because sometimes capitalists are still very stupid.
The biggest mistake was continuing to sell guns that they knew were bad. I’ve seen some Marlins that have horrendous fit and finish – and that’s just what I can see on the outside. There’s no way a Marlin employee didn’t notice what I noticed when I handled them. No way. And there’s no excuse for sticking that in a box and shipping it down the line to an end user.
Still, when I buy any gun anymore, I look it over like I’m buying a used gun. I try to find a reason to reject it. I look through two or three new ones at the gun counter and choose the best specimen I can find.
I would suggest anyone considering buying a new Marlin first check out several recent reports at marlinowners dot com of potential SAFETY problems as well as ongoing cosmetic/function problems with the new Freedom Group Remington/Marlins (“Remlins”). These are reports are from 2013 and 2014. One report of a gun blowing up with Remington factory ammo. Read them for yourself to judge.
The outer cosmetic problems seemed to have improved over the last year (2014), but people on the Marlinforum are still reporting function problems. And customer service at Reminton/Marlin is reportedly very slow. Once poster at Marlinowners said it took him eight months to get his defective/repaired gun back, and only after threatening legal action. The returned gun still had problems.
Personally, I would only buy an older used Marlin gun that can be checked out in person, at least until there are reports of significant changes at Freedom Group. There is lots of info on the Marlinowners forum and elsewhere on-line about how to distinguish the pre-Freedom Group Marlins from the newer “Remlins” by serial numbers and stampings. Be aware however that older guns may suffer from the “Marlin jam” that occurs over time due to one well-known wear point. There is also lots of information on-line on how to replace/repair this wear part, and of course gunsmiths all know how to replace the worn part.
Just my two cents, ive had two pre buy out guide guns one in 45/70 and one in 450 marlin. Our first season bear tags take eight years to get. Long story short traded 45/70, bought a 450 a year or two later still a pre rem. The quality on the 45/70 was awesome. The 450 was ok. Just went in last week to get one, wow what a pile of junk!!!! My gun guy just laughed and said hes been waiting for a henry 45/70 for a few months. I emailed Anthony emperado the pres./ceo. Of henry off his web site the next morning he sent two emails, and had one of his distributor s call my gun guys shop. Today im picking up my new thumper, and apparently the box says for Jason on it. Henry has earned a lifetime costumer and remlin has lost one.
I have a 338 Marlin with the well known barrel droop. I managed to get it sighted in eventually using Burris rings and still had to shim. I’ve been following this problem for about three years and was as unhappy as anyone. I didn’t use the rifle for two years. It shot okay, but the fact that “it just wasn’t right” kept nagging at me. Recently, I saw a couple of blogs that Remington might have started manufacturing some
quality parts and took a chance, and called their customer service. To my surprise my call was handled promptly and
precisely with no hesitation or run-around. I received return
instructions, UPS labeling, insurance paid, etc.. I sent it to Ilion
N.Y. two weeks ago and got it back today, fixed with a new receiver. Could this be a sign that they’re back on track and better things are on the way?
This is an interesting discussion. In 2011 I bought a Marlin 1894c in .357. It had a problem with the half-cock safety. The gun would appear to be on safety but would fire. I was stunned at the terrible manufacturing quality. I went on the Marlin Owners Forum and reported my problem. The forum admins there got angry at me for stating the facts like I was the bad guy insulting their wonderful Marlin company. I then posted a video showing the safety failing and the gun firing. They got even more angry. They sent me private emails and said I was the problem and was somehow trying to make the gun look bad. How could I possibly rig that? When I insisted the gun had a problem the forum admins sent me a private email saying I was kicked off the board. They said I was insulting people. This is no joke. The fools running that board were so blind to the defects of the latest marlin rifles that they wouldn’t believe their own eyes per my video. What a pack of idiots and brainless yes men. I returned the rifle to marlin again requesting they fix it. Their lawyers sent me a letter and a check for a full refund rather than fix it. You tell me who was right. Here’s my original board posting with video:
http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marlin-rant-forum/66972-1894c-half-cock-safety-failure-resolved.html
Fact is, I loved that Marlin rifle and hated to part with it but it was defective. I caution anyone who owns a Marlin lever gun to check the half-cock safety. This is a serious safety issue.
This weekend I had the displeasure of examining a couple Marlins in a shop — the quality is STILL not there. The wood to metal fit was wider than my thumbnail in thickness and the wood was splintered and not finished properly. The action was not smooth and the components seemed poorly fitted and crafted. I’d be concerned about safety. Frankly, my Daisy Red Ryder is better quality.
Glad I ran across this site. Saw a new .30-30 in a shop today. very close to taking it home but decided to check online first. I have always wanted one of these but had no need. Decided that I’d go ahead any but have avoided lots of problems to check here first. Sounds like you guys saved me a great deal of time.
Hope Marlin/Remington/Whatever gets their act together. If I find an old Marlin in the meantime, it’ll go home with me.
i have a 1970 336 that shoots 3 rounds for one hole at 100 yards all factory.. rsvp
Glad I looked here before buying one-which I almost did today.
Guess I’ll wait until an old one shows up in a pawn shop or something.
I just purchased my first Marlin 1895 GS 45/70, not realizing that Remington acquired Marlin. This is July 2015 and it is a beautiful rifle! Nothing I have read on blogs is true about my gun. The craftsmanship is beautiful and it handles big load like I’ve never experienced. Perhaps they are indeed back and really focusing on quality once again. It is important to note that large loads are recommended for this gun and not Winchesters. This really is a nice piece of hardware and easy to strip down as well.
Well I just bought the Marlin 336BL 30/30 and I inspected it but briefly at the gun store. Today in the light of day with further inspection…..the loading gate is already all scratched….but no info included if it was “test” fired???
several small nicks and scratches other areas of the gun. But okay being a woman we can be picky but I bought this puppy because of a few diff reasons but one was the esthetics of the wood for Stock and Fore–end…. which the stock is a beautiful almost reddish color laminated grains but the fore-end is totally off color and is no red at all and is more tan-brown???? with a few imperfections to the fore-end too….What can I do? Since I inspected it at gun shop will they not allow me to return it now? I want a new one that the woods match damn it!
Marlin Camp 9mm… when will it or something like it come back?
September 4, 2015 – I’ve been hearing and reading some nonsense lately about how Remington has worked the bugs out on the Marlin/Remington lever guns (Remlins). Today I went to the range to tune in a new Skinnner peep sight on my Real actual Marlin 30-30. At the fifty yard range I noticed another fella with a lever gun so I went over for a chat. He had new Remlin he got from Dick’s (good name for them). Now some of the decent and knowledgeable help at Dick’s will steer away from purchasing a Remlin, but this poor guy got hosed. He was very new to lever guns and asked me whether I thought his rifle was working properly. Specifically he wanted to know if working the lever should cock the hammer and chamber a round. Why of course I said why? Why was because this Remlin’s bolt would catch on the hammer on the return stroke. He was forced to cock the hammer manually and then work the lever to chamber a round. You see the lever was not throwing the bolt back far enough to cock and seat the hammer. It merely pushed the hammer down part way and then the hammer would get caught in the bolt notch and freeze the action. So BULLSHHTTTT to all those liars who making noise about Remington have cleaned up this mess. To answer Christine’s question NO! the Remlins are NOT test fired. Those stories you here about Remlins jamming right in the store are true! Remington does not even work the actions to see if they function and I’m here to tell you I just saw this. This action froze open when worked and the hammer had to be manually depressed to un-jamn the bolt every single time. Clearly no one had ever worked this action at the factory or anywhere else until this poor guy got it to the range. I had my Real Marlin with me and was able to get a side by side comparison with a Remlin. It was a brutal comparison. Everything on the Remlin from the cheap blackened UNCHROMED bolt to the cheap ugly blackened unblued steel, to the poorly fitted screws that protruded where they were recessed on the real Marlin to the crude chunky birch stock just screamed POS. All the steel on a real Marlin is high quality dropped forged steel. The receiver and its channels are an integral part of the action on the Marlin design, not just a shell as on the Henry design. That’s why the steel, especially on the receiver, had to be very, very good. Imagine if you will the nature of the steel employed by Remington and how long its likely to last. I felt so bad for this guy. SO PLEASE NEVER BUY ONE OF THESE THINGS.
Too late I made the mistake of getting one and I haven’t even fired it yet as there were some issues and I sent it back form part replacement. The stock wood didn’t even match the the fore-end wood. The receiver was all discolored and scratched and I never even loaded the rifle ever yet. Now they have my rifle in repair and won’t answer my questions or their phones. 🙁 I should have bought the Winchester instead
I bought two marlin 22 LR for the boy scouts. Had 21 kids over to shoot last night with my 5 22 (Three I had and the two new marlins). Within 20 shots, both the marlin model 06 had quit working. When I contacted them about the problems; their attitude was that I didn’t know what I was doing or that I had buyers remorse. I assured them neither and agreed to send them back the guns but didn’t want a part replaced and I would end up with the same problem. They would make no commitments nor agreed to stand behind the product flaws. Ill never buy a marlin again and I hope others don’t either.
Henry’s rifles will not function for SASS style shooting.
When you race them they fall apart.
They also don’t come in Stainless.
You can’t beat a 94 Marlin when compared stock to stock.
Marlin is dead and that is a tragedy. Went to three gun stores today looking for a used Marlin 30-30. Bad time to do that right now, I know, but wanted to look anyway. Used Marlins aren’t as common anymore. Used to be a dozen would be in any gun store for right around $300. Now people are either hanging on to them or they are being bought up. Only found one used one and it had a big dent and chunk taken out of the feed tube so I passed. Also saw several new Marlins including the factory scoped model. Took it off the wall to get a closer look because I had just run across this very article the other day. The stock had gaps that I was able to fit a penny into between reveiver and stock. The stock was also set higher than the receiver by about 1/8th in. so the tang at the bottom of the grip was not flush with the stock. The sight shroud also rattled and felt like I could have just popped it off if I had wanted to. Didn’t take down the serial number to see what year it was made but either there is still a ton of junk out there or Marlin still can’t consistently make a good gun. Doesn’t matter. I’ll never by a new one.
I just ordered the new ’95 Marlin LE, should arrive soon. I’m going to give it a damn good inspection before I pay the balance due upon receipt. I bought a new ’95 about 35 years ago and it was a dependable rifle. I’ve been around the block a few times gang and know what is and isn’t. I’ll let you all know how it goes.
Just bought a Remington version of the Marlin 1895 SBL 45-70 this is February 16, 2016. Did complete inspection before final purchase. The rifle looks great no noticeable or obvious problems or defects. I will put it to the test but it looks and feels improved. I will support the product until it disappoints! Only time will tell.
OK, so over the years I loved rifles made by Remington, Bushmaster, and marlin. Well until recently that is. At my shop we will no longer carry any new made rifle from any of these three. If it has a New York address on it we will not put it on our shelves, but we will order them if so asked. Only after we fully warn the customer that is, because it is now like winning 50$ off a scratch ticket, 1 in 50 is a winner. When produced in Maine Bushmaster was on of the best ar15 rifles that could be had, now they are sloppy. We even had a carbon 15 rifle with so many bubbles and lumps in the upper receiver it looked like it had chicken pocks, how the heck dose someone miss that. We have had Remington bolt guns with sand paper actions, bad finishes, sharp rough machine edges on the outside of the receiver, you name it. Marlin has faired just as bad, but the cheesy black spray can looking finish on some rifles take the cake, the blued ones were better though. It is just a shame what freedom group or whatever didto these brands, from top to bottom real fast. I have heard good things though about marlins new heavy barreled vvarmint bolt guns, and strangely marlins rim fire guns have stayed on the good side. I wonder if it has to do with the fact they are great copy of the savage rifles. Side by side you wonder if Savage makes them for marlin, the stock seems to be the only thing different between the two. Well the magazines too but they will swap between the two guns, just slight differences.
I have a “Remlin” 1894C I picked up in 2012 after looking a LONG time for an affordable example on the market. The bad:
The top of the bolt looks like it was milled with an angle grinder. but it is smooth on sliding surfaces
The right stock has a tiny gap where it butts up.
With the action closed, the rear of the bolt hangs out a hair proud from the receiver
Was on the stiff side brand new.
The Neutral:
A tiny bit of smoothing with emery on the hammer loosened it up.
Working the action while watching TV loosened it up.
Firing it loosened it up.
Feeding it loosened it up
The furniture isn’t heirloom grade, but has nice grain, decent checkering and a good matt finish (if that’s your thing)
The good:
The blueing is even and dark.
None of the screws are marred and nothing is mis-assembled.
The sights are decent for semi-buckhorns
it has never had a feed failure not caused by me (short shucked)
It has never jammed.
The trigger is a bit heavy, but has a clean break.
It’ll make ragged holes @ 50 yards off a bench using 158gr JSPs
Is the action as buttery as my Dad’s Marlin .35 Remington or Winchester ’92? No. But with about 250 rounds through it and a switch to Tetra grease on the bolt and hammer, it is significantly smoother than new. I have no complaints at all.
So is the fit, finish and action as good as a well loved vintage Marlin? No. Is a fun, sweet shooter I’d rely on if my life depended on it? Yes.
I’ve never been a Marlin fan, new or old. I tried 2 Marlin 60’s and every one was a jam-o-matic. Same with the 39A, which gave me nothing but feeding problems. Made in 1967. Supposed to be well-built, great design, but I think Henry and Browning both make better lever guns. Sold three 336’s due to problems of one sort or another.
Only Marlin I still have is a .22 mag bolt action rifle that I can’t shoot because there’s no ammo available. For quality firearms, I’d stick with S&W, Ruger, Savage and CZ, and a few Berettas.
Sir, I bought a Marlin ” Original Golden” model 39-A .22 rifle in 1977 when I returned home to the U.S.A from New Zealand and I still have it. It consistently performs flawlessly & is extremely accurate. I also have a Marlin model 336 in .35 Remington which I bought around the same time. It is just as good & I still have it. I just bought last month a Marlin Limited Edition model 1895 in 45/70 Govt. and I really like it. I’m aware that there has been a negative gap in Marlin workmanship in recent years but I believe Marlin is coming back & I hope the brand survives because of it. Cheers!
Interesting reading above. Maybe I can get some help. I am looking at an 1895G. Seller is on-line and there is a 3-day inspection. The serial number on the receiver indicates 2009 year of manufacture. The barrel has some Marlin markings on it and the “Marlin……North Haven CT.” stamp on the left side of the barrel just below the rear sight. The proof mark on the barrel is Remington(REP) on the of barrel near the receiver. Furniture is walnut, nice but not fancy. Given the time frames of the takeover and subsequent move of the plant, it appears this piece is composed of parts made in North Haven and assembled there under Remington supervision.
According to what I have read, it appears the problems began after the plant was moved.
It appears that my worse case is that this piece was assembled by a disgruntled worker who saw the writing on the wall. Best case is that the piece ahead of this one had a “JM” stamp on the barrel.
All opinions welcome. Thick skin. Thanks.
You have a similar rifle to what I have.
I bought an 1894 .45 Colt with a round barrel from the Dundee, MI Cabela’s (the round barrel .45 Colt Marlins were a limited offering sold exclusively through Cabela’s) whose serial number indicates 2010 manufacture, and it also has the “REP” proof mark on the barrel.
I also have a 39A that I’ve owned since 1984, its year of manufacture, for comparison.
The 39A was made at probably the height of Marlin’s quality, with nearly flawless fit, finish, and reliability.
The 39A is a true thing of beauty and my pride and joy.
As for the 1894, it’s not quite as nicely fitted (some very small gaps in the wood around the tang) as my beloved 39A, but it’s still very good, with the finish perfectly acceptable, the checkering (Marlin hadn’t yet been checkering the stocks on their 39A when mine was made) looks terrific, and reliability is where it should be.
I’ve successfully taken three deer with the 1894 using my reloads, one doe shot at 70 yards, one buck at 5 yards, and one doe at 50 yards.
It’s clear that the 39A is the better quality rifle, but not so much so that I’ll ever sell the 1894, even though I’ll be using (Indiana, my home state, legalized some conventional high powered rifles for the very first time for deer!) my Ruger M77 .30-06 for deer this fall.
Maybe I just lucked out, but I love my 1894, and I’ll probably sometimes still use it for deer, and it’s one incredible option as a home defense carbine.
I puchased a Marlin 336w that is flawless in finish and smooth in action.
I will test fire it at camp. I took it apart to clean it before first use expecting
to find burrs and rough milling. Not so. It is a very well made rifle. I hope it
functions properly.
Why would any fire arms company move to New York state with its very anti gun policies!
I just have to say it is now 2016 and I bought not one but 2 Marlin Model 60’s that are excellent. Fit and finish is solid, accuracy is very good, 500+ rounds through both rifles with NO malfunctions shooting everything from standard CCI, Remington Golden Bullet, Federal bulk,Winchester X, and CCI Mini-Mag. The bolt was smooth, trigger about 5lbs (a little heavy for a Marlin, but not bad at all.) My wife happens to like the slightly heavier pull and is not fond of my Savage Mark II with 3lb pull. I see that the quality is back and I am looking at an XT-22TR which I tried and loved.
Bought xt22. Front site crooked, tap hole drill in the wrong position. Called marlin on the phone, eta 3 to 4 weeks . Ask the customer service rep at Martin if this was a common problem with the rifle, he said no , very rare. But after walking into my gunsmith, and his first words out of his mouth when he saw I was holding that Martin xt was, “front sight ,can’t fix it got to be sent marlin for a new Barrel” . Google Marlin front sight issues you get 100’s of complaints.. .. I should have just bought the Ruger!!!
Don’t buy a new Marlin, I just received a model 1895 at my FFL dealers, and I refused delivery of it, it is a POS.
Front sight was canted to the right, checkering on butt stock looked like someone sanded it down to nothing ( nearly nonexistent ), chip in the forearm, dent in the pistol grip cap, weak rifling, should be Ballard type rifling as advertised, it actually looks like microgroove rifling, Metal finish was subpar, and wood to metal finish was also bad.
I will never purchase a new Marlin again!
bought one marlin model 62 30 carbine levermatic from gunbrokers and it is perfect and shoots great came with 4 power scope..
bought marlin model 57 22 magnum gator pawn shop in florida.
was as described and all numbers correct.
both of these marlins are great shooters and have no broblems with factory ammo, any kind. 30 carbine has a small problem with reloads that have been fired in an m 1 military carbine
I have a Early Marlin 45-70 Guide gun, with ported barrel and JM stamped barrel, I am in awe on how smooth the action works and how accurate it is, Flawless and I will never sell it.
Recently (2017), I was interested in a Marlin 30/30 model 336 for a truck/deer gun. WOW, I went to three different gun stores and handled the model 336. Total POS. One rifle I racked the lever and it locked up, could not close the lever. Another rifle, the front sight was off center to the right, not just a little, about a 1/4 inch. third rifle, the stock looked like a high school woodshop class project that failed. The stock didn’t even fit right. I purchased a used Winchester 94, it just works. Question to Marlin-WTF?
I’m late to this thread, but here’s my relatively recent history/impression with both Marlin and Henry…..
Almost exactly a year ago (on 12/15/16, to be exact), I took delivery of a brand new Marlin 336BL. This rifle has a laminate stock, an 18.5” barrel with a 6 round magazine tube, and a big loop lever. Purpose: general use truck gun/hunting rifle when some future politician gets a wild hair up his/her ass, and .308 Winchester to feed my two .308 bolt guns and my SCAR 17S gets hard to find again. (I have since rectified the problem my throwing dollars at bulk buys, and I have enough .308 to last me for a considerable while now.)
During the last such .308 famine, I saw lots and lots of .30/30 ammunition sitting on store shelves all by its lonesome. Obviously, most “contemporary” Americans have forgotten that .30/30 is a great cartridge that falls ballisticaly somewhere between .308 and 7.62×39, and it is a viable choice for either general purpose/hunting use, or even as a “something arises” cartridge. It has probably killed more white tails than either .30-‘06 or .308. It has taken black/brown bear, elk, and almost any size game you care to mention less fearsome than an Alaskan Brown or Polar Bear. Additionally (concerning “something arises”), although it is a myth that the .30-30 design started life as a black powder cartridge, it can be used with black powder if necessary, unlike most more modern bottleneck cased cartridges, while still retaining sufficient lethality. So I thought it would be good to pick me up a .30-30 lever action rifle.
I chose the BL model because I wanted the 18” barrel and the big loop. I wanted the big loop to make the rifle easier to use with gloves on. Yes, you can add a big loop yourself, but probably not as cheaply as the factory can. I wanted the 18” barrel because I wanted to keep the rifle ‘handy’, without too much loss of muzzle velocity and a consequent losss of terminal ballistics.
The wood is crap. It is basically just laminated plywood. The shape and the strength are OK, but the fit and finish are substandard. The edges of the wood where it joins the receiver are not fit well, the gaps are uneven and sometimes one stands a little proud of the other. It could probably be rectified with some elbow grease, but then I’d have to refinish the stock. This rifle was bought with “rough use” in mind. I know that, over the years, the stock is going to get dinged up and the bluing will lose its depth or come off entirely in spots. I don’t care, so it isn’t worth the effort to me to make it look like a presentation rifle….. which I would then worry about getting dinged up.
Other problems……. There is a tenon called the “magazine tube stud” (part #53 in the diagram image linked below) that rides in the dovetail under the barrel at the muzzle end, to which the magazine tube is screwed and held in place by tension against that stud, was not properly centered; and so the magazine tube was quite noticeably misaligned with the barrel. We (my gunsmith son and I) removed the fore-end wood, loosened the screw at the stud, aligned the tube with the barrel, and then retightened the screw to put proper tension on the stud, to keep the tube properly aligned. But when we did that, the fore-end wood would no longer easily reattach.
The problem there was that the fore-end wood is attached to the barrel by means of another tenon called the Fore-End Tip Tenon (part #26 on the attached image link) which rides in a second dovetail underneath the barrel. That tenon has drilled and tapped holes on either side of it, to which the fore-end tip (part #26 on the attached image link) is attached by means of a screw on either side. With the magazine tube properly aligned to the barrel, the screw holes in the tenon were no longer at right angles to their corresponding holes in the fore-end tip. So when those screws are threaded in all the way, they *look* cross-threaded, although they are not.
And to add insult to injury, the loading gate on the 336 is so stiff, that it is difficult for my 65 year old hands to stuff cartridges into it. At the range, I just gave up and started manually loading one at a time through the ejection port. There is a remedy for this, but it involves taking a stone to the loading gate spring and removing metal until the tension suits you – which of course will void the warranty and make the part more likely to break. How hard can it be to make a slightly more pliant spring? Older Marlin’s I’ve handled were not nearly so stiff at the loading gate.
http://marlinspares.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/18952.bmp
This is simply crappy attention to detail. When I contacted Remington directly by email with the serial number of my rifle to find out its date of manufacture – suspecting that it was an early “Remlin” – I was assured that my rifle was manufactured in late 2016…….. SIX YEARS AFTER Remington moved the Marlin plant to its new facility, and TWO YEARS after Remington announced that they had gotten their QC problems under control with the new dimensional drawings and had begun re-releasing other older models.
I own a Remington 700 VSF in .308 that was manufactured in 2007, just before FG took them over. It is a GREAT rifle, and an absolute tack driver….. a consistent sub-MOA performer. It came with a jeweled bolt, 26” heavy profile fluted and floated 1:10 barrel with target crown, bedded in a tan HS-Precision varmint profile stock. So far, using off the shelf Black Hills 175 grain SMKs, I’ve been able to hit clay pigeons on the berm at 800 yards with it. Like I said, it’s a tack driver, and a very well-made rifle. But ever since 2007, Remington has not only gone downhill on its own brand, but FG has ruined everything else they’ve touched.
Example: I also own an AAC suppressor. Their QC on muzzle devices to mount their own suppressor sucks…… one out of three of their flashhiders I purchased was so out of spec that you couldn’t get the suppressor onto the rifle. Their CS sucks even worse. When I contacted AAC about their 7.62 flashhider not fitting into one of their 7.62 cans, the guy basically didn’t believe me. He didn’t care that I had that flashhider on two other rifles and they fit just fine. I wanted to send the out-of-spec unit to them for an exchange, and he gave me some song and dance about how it was just going to sit on his desk for a week or two, until he had time to go down the street to the machinist they use to fabricate these things, and have him check it. And to add insult to injury, he told me that there was no way it was out of spec, because they “don’t ship out of spec products”, and so he was going to just end up returning the defective part to me. It was going to be a full-blown return authorization, and his tone of voice was like he was doing me a huge favor, and I was a pain in his ass……..all this ill-will generated over a $99 part.
This was not my first bad experience with AAC – the first being when the ratchet on that suppressor flew off while shooting it in a rural environment, which fortunately did not result in a baffle strike. I found the ratchet in the dirt, but the pin that it swivels on vanished into the ether. Rather than send me a 29¢ pin (which I even volunteered to pay for, even though the can was still under warranty), and letting me fix my suppressor on my own, I had to do the old Return Authorization, with a copy of my stamp, etc., and the turn around would be “2 weeks”. (Everything at AAC takes “2 weeks”. :/ ) When FG acquired AAC, they really dicked that company up……just like they did to Remington, and just like they did to Marlin. I wrote the president of FG a pretty angry letter, detailing his company’s screw ups, and told him that, QC issues aside, his CS people were killing his business. He phoned me back, but I never got the feeling that he really bought into anything that I said.
Long story short, I’m done with Remington, Marlin, and AAC. There are other fish in the sea, making products just as good or better, who at least don’t treat their customer base like they don’t know what they’re doing.
Alternatively, when I decided I wanted a really nice .22 LR, I bought a Henry lever action rifle in that caliber. The wood is drop-dead gorgeous. The fit of the wood to the receiver is flawless. The octagonal barrel is a classic. The action is butter smooth – UNLIKE the Marlin’s. The magazine capacity – 16 rounds of LR, or 21 rounds of Short – is ridiculously generous. The stock sights, while a bit “cobby” looking, are sharper and easier to pick up than the OEM sights on the Marlin (which I spent considerable money on to upgrade). Other than having to get used to loading it from the muzzle end of the tube instead of through a loading gate, there’s just nothing not to like about this Henry rifle.
Marlins USED to be like that. Not any longer. My next lever action will be in .45-70, and it will be a Henry. For the $100 or so difference in price, you get a MUCH better rifle. I can get used to how it loads. I can’t get used to a crappy rifle.
I bought a marlin 45 70 guide gun online six months ago, when I went to the gunsmith to pick it up I found that the front sight was canted to the right, the right side of the butt stock checkering looked like someone had taken a rough sandpaper block to it, there was a chip out of the wood next to the receiver, and the pistol grip was dented.
This was a brand new fire arm out of the box, I refused delivery and sent it back, no more Marlins, or Remington‘s for me, I bought a new Henry and it is a very nice rifle.
I sent my 1895cb .45 colt in because it bulged cases. What I got back was A rifle that still bulged cases and after 25 shots the front sight fell off , the loading tube is sloppy in the dove tail( it;s held in place by the forearm) and a screw fell out of the receiver. When I wasn’t looking someone stoled. the quality
May 22, 2018
As of today I can say the Marlin is BACK! I am an old man and gunsmith who has owned Marlins since the 1970’s and can say unequivocally and without any hesitation that the two Marlins I have purchased in the last 2 months, an 1894 in .44 mag and a 1895G in 45-70 are as good if not better than anything I owned 40 years ago. Remington definitely has Marlin on the right track and their rifles are a pleasure to own and shoot.
Congratulations Marlin! You have beaten the naysayers! Good job!
You’re just lucky
“Beaten the naysayers?” Really?
I’m an old man too. The problem is, the people you’re calling “naysayers” spent significant amounts of actual money out of their own pockets for the privilege of having Remlin sell them a POS and them tell them to BOHICA.
Your statement dismisses them — as if their getting shafted by Remlin is of no concern. Congratulating Remlin for having “beaten” the very people they screwed over doesn’t reflect well on your independence of thought. MY experience, with a Remlin built in 2016, was that I had to put significant time and money into it AFTER I bought it before it was fit to take to the range…….and I STILL have to replace a factory part on it so that it can be actually loaded through the loading gate. I paid something over $600 for a substandard rifle whose problems were not apparent until I got it home. Whose fault is that…..mine for having believed that 10 years was plenty of time for Remington to have gotten their shyte together and fixed their QC issues, or theirs for continuing to produce shitty rifles 10 years later?
The ONLY thing that rifle did right straight out of the box was to shoot fairly straight if fed the right ammo……but that doesn’t count as a distinguishing feature because ALL rifles should be expected to shoot straight right out of the box with the right ammo.
When I graduated from high school, some of my classmates got expensive gifts from their parents for graduating – expensive cameras, their first car, etc., etc. When I asked my parents why I didn’t get a graduation present, their answer was “because you’re SUPPOSED to graduate. You don’t get extra recognition from that!” Extra recognition for graduation from high school is like giving someone extra recognition fancy gift because they remembered to brush their teeth that morning, or because they remembered to wear their jockey shorts under their jeans instead of on their heads. You’re EXPECTED to brush your teeth every morning without being told to. You’re EXPECTED to wear your tighty-whities under your jeans instead of on your head.
Well, Remington was EXPECTED to produce a rifle that was true to the fit and finish and accuracy of pre-Remlin Marlins. Barring that, they were EXPECTED to ramp up their QC so that substandard rifles would not ship, thereby damaging both the Remington and Marlin brands. If they hadn’t had their heads buried in their own posteriors, they would have suspended production until they had proper engineering drawings and had ensured that the equipment they had moved to Ilion was now operating in spec. They didn’t do ANY of that. They made an intentional decision to continue screwing customers instead of admitting they had a problem and getting on top of it. Had they done the right thing, they could have had good quality Remlins coming off the production line by 2008/2009 at the latest. They intentional chose not to.
And you congratulate them for “beating the naysayers”.
Just wow.
Couldn’t have said it any better.
What, exactly, did you do AM to let the manufacturer make it right? Did you *actually* make a warranty claim, or are you just whining about the product on a forum?
Did they screw up? Yes. Should they make it right? Definitely!
But… did they get the chance?
Frankly, no. I never gave them the chance, and with good reason……
I’ve been burned more than once by Freedom Group owned companies. The last two times were with AAC products. I documented the entire exchange, and sent it with a letter to the president of FG, notifying him in courteously neutral language that his company had serious CS problems, and it was hurting their reputation. He phoned me in person, and we talked about the various issues. There were significant customer service problems with the way some repairs/replacements were handled……where the CS rep either implied that the breakage was my fault (shooting a few rounds of 5.56 NATO through a .308 rated suppressor should not generate so much pressure that parts fly off the suppressor, and they shipped a 51T flashhider that was out of spec too large to fit the 51T receptacle on the suppressor….I had other examples of the same flashhider that fit the suppressor just fine, so I KNOW this one was out of spec). Repairs/replacements actually did get made on those products, but not before the CS rep tried to palm the problem back onto me. It wasn’t just that he was wrong on the facts, which he was, it was also that he talked down to me about it and was incredibly dismissive. I’m not an idiot. I’m a college educated man with a fair amount of shooting experience, and I DO know what I’m talking about. When I don’t, which happens from time to time, I shut my mouth and listen and learn. The CS guy should have copied a page from that book.
So when this Marlin shipped, it was MY fault for taking delivery of it in the first place. My FFL handed me the box before I paid so that I could look at the gun, and I gave it a very cursory examination, checked the sights to make sure they were aligned (being already aware of past issues in this area), and I worked the action to make that sure it worked smoothly and without hangup – which it did. I put it back in the box, paid, and left. I should have paid more attention to the fit and finish. I didn’t notice the magazine tube misalignment problem until after I had gotten the rifle home, and really started going over the fit and finish. You can see a picture of it here: http://www.annoyedman.com/images/marlin336bl/Detail-FrontSite-03.png.
You can see from that picture that the magazine tube stud was severely misaligned with the barrel, sticking way out on one side. And once we got that straightened out, we had to fix a problem with the forend tip, forend tip tenon, and forend tip tenon screws – none of which lined up properly anymore once the magazine tube was properly aligned. That means that either the parts used were out of spec, OR the assembly jig was out of whack, or something. It wasn’t just loose, it was out of whack.
After my previous experiences with the Freedom Group, I did not care to submit myself to that kind of abuse again. And given the fact that Remington had had TEN YEARS by then to start getting Marlin manufacturing and assembly right, it was shamefully evident that NOBODY (or at least nobody who gives a crap) had inspected this rifle before it got out the door. It would have made no sense to send it back into that kind of QC trap again…..not when I have the resources to fix it myself.
I don’t HAVE to deal with them. My son and his family, and my wife and I, all live on one property, and my son is a trained gunsmith with a LOT of experience fixing Marlins. So I didn’t have to send it in to Marlin to get it fixed. If it was something like a bent barrel, or broken action, then yeah, I would have sent it back. But it wasn’t, so I didn’t have to. We made the repairs ourselves, and it took an hour or so of our time, instead of the “2 weeks” that everything at Freedom Group companies apparently takes (if you’re lucky). Plus, I didn’t have to take any insulting abuse from one of their CS people. I’m fortunate to be in that boat, but not everybody is; so THAT is why I warn people to carefully consider if they specifically want a Marlin, or do they just want a nice lever action rifle – because there ARE alternatives, like Henry, for instance.
So no, I didn’t give Freedom Group/Remington/Marlin (whatever you want to call them) another chance to abuse my better nature. You can dismiss that as “whining on an Internet forum” if you want. I don’t care. I call it informing other readers to be very VERY careful before the walk out the door of their FFL with any Marlin rifle. Hopefully, they’ll never have a problem, and I honestly wish them well. But I repeat….BE CAREFUL before you walk out the door with that Marlin, or you may not like what you see when you get home.
BTW, mine actually shoots just fine, and I’ve NEVER complained about that. It is comfortably inside of “minute of pie plate” with most loads, and VERY accurate with Hornady’s 160 grain LEVERevolution ammo. Good accuracy lends confidence, and that load generates a chronographed average of 2360 fps and 1979 ft-lbs out of my 18” barrel – more than enough to ensure the bullet’s terminal ballistics perform as advertised.
I knew the sights would be marginal going in, and had planned to upgrade them and add a 1.5-5x scout scope anyway, so I don’t really have any complaints about that. Whenever I get around to buying that Henry .45-70 I want, I’ll upgrade the sights on it as well. I’m not a fan of buckhorn rear/brass bead front sights. That’s just me. YMMV. I substituted a XS Sight Systems set, with a rear ghost ring on a rail, and a white front blade. They are much easier for my old eyes to pick up. Maybe the young folks won’t need them. I consider the XS sights to be a good investment for anyone looking for an upgrade.
Now that I have made the necessary repairs to the magazine and forend and improved the sights, I have a pretty darn good general purpose truck gun / deer rifle/ hog-slayer / whatever you want to call it. But as it left the factory, it was a gun that left a LOT to be desired, and I can only assume that their QC guy had had a large liquid lunch before checking the batch of rifles that included mine, and he was too drunk to give a crap. That kind of inattention is going to kill Marlin off if they don’t get a handle on it.
And believe it or not, I would RATHER that Marlin started producing fine rifles again like they used to, before they got bought out. I actually appreciate the brand’s reputation and would like to see it continue. It’s a real shame what Remington has done to them. I’d prefer that they got back to being a reputable make of some of the best lever rifles ever made. But if they don’t get their crap together, they’re going to fade ……and that would be a shame.
Unfortunately for Marlin, right now Henry occupies the spot that Marlin used to. Competition is always good for industry. Maybe Marlin will be motivated to unseat Henry …. forcing Henry to get even better. But just making excuses for one manufacturer’s crappy work isn’t going to get them to fix it.
I own two Marlins. The second one was purchased when Freedom Group/Remington
took over. Very disappointing for a $700 30-30.
Had to put a scope on it or it would shoot 8-10
Inches from point of aim(warped barrel). Can’t believe I didn’t notice warp till I got home. That’s because Bass Pro Shops in Dania Florida/Ft. Lauderdale wouldn’t let me inspect action with the trigger lock off. I got side tracked with that absurd policy and idiot Floridian workers(typical of Floridians by the way-LOL). They did not properly fix the issue. I give up on any company that puts a customer through such faulty quality and service- especially when they know it and willingly do it .
Marlin used to be a quality rifle, but the late ones seem to be somewhat under par to their predecessors. I have owned a few over the years though I never was a huge Marlin fan because it seemed the majority had pistol grips rather than straight stocks on the lever-guns. Picky, yes I am, a traditionalist to say the least.
Henry Repeating Arms is not the same company as the maker of the original Henry 1860. However, they make a hell of a good gun!!! I own several, including the H010 brass 45-70. They are all great rifles and the tubular magazine issue is only as big as one chooses to make it. Four good shots in the 45-70, five if you finagle it. If after four volleys from this cannon your target is not down, it is long gone by then, which gives you plenty of time to reload the bruiser. Also can be feed quickly directly through the chamber one at a time. It is a beautiful firearm and made well, in America or not made at all.
I came back to this article to add the following comment…. Since I posted the above comments, I had a chance to acquire a pre-Remington 1895G in .45-70, and so I never did buy a Henry in that caliber. When I compare the quality of the older 1895G to the Remlin 336BL I wrote about above, it really is night and day.
The older gun is a really nice firearm, with beautiful wood, nice checkering, good fit and finish, and nothing on it is loose. The trigger is better than on the newer gun, the action is smoother, and the loading gate doesn’t need to be replaced to be functional. It is all around just a way better rifle to the 336BL.
And, it’s not even that old. It’s a 2006, “JM” marked, and I bought it from the original owner. It only had 48 rounds through it when he sold it to me, so it’s not even that “used”. The only changes I’ve made to it is to add a Williams peep sight on the receiver, and a fiberoptic front sight of the right height to match the rear sight. The thing is a cannon.
Anyway, comparing the older rifle to the newer one further reinforces my belief that Remington really lost their way with the Marlin brand.
I purchased a new 336W just prior to the 2018/2019 deer season. Scoped it and went to the range. (Rem, Fed & Fusion ammo). Consistent 7″ groups is the best it will do at 100 yrds. And that is after 4 bx ammo over three trips. I would guess the trigger pull to be about 8 lbs. The rifle never came out for hunting. Plan to remove scope and just go iron sights at under 50 yrds. My 35 cal 336 (early 80’s age) was at least three times the shooter. Next step will be disposal.
Update! Marlin replaced my 336SS. I was flabbergasted! The rifle is accurate and I could not be happier. Thank you Marlin. When there was bad talk about you guys I wanted to give you a chance. I own two other Marlins. I have to say, in the end you guys did the right thing and I love the replacement rifle. You are really stepping it up, and I would have to say
“MARLIN IS BACK” !!!
I bought 3-Marlins in 2019. One entry level 30-30, more expensive Texas Deluxe 30-30 and a 45-70. All function well and shoot fine. I was not sure about getting the Marlins due to the negative feedback from the Remington acquisition. Anyway, I have friends that say you just got lucky but just got lucky on 3 different models…..lol Anyway, from what I have seen, maybe the kinks have been worked out for the most part? I am happy with the rifles I have and would recommend the Marlin ones from at least 2019 when I got mine.
Yes. Dufi.
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