Upon first inspection of the 1894c, I discovered that the stock had come away from the action slightly. I simply squeezed the stock back towards the action, in the same way you’d reinsert an errant snap-to-fit part on a kid’s toy. The action was so stiff that I looked to see if there was some kind of safety preventing it from moving. When I finally got up enough gumption to pull the lever HARD, she surrendered to my charms. Grudgingly.

When we got to the range, the Marlin was passed around. Eddie also had trouble cycling the action. He declared he wouldn’t shoot it. “I don’t shoot cheap guns.” Ouch. Charlie, one of JOE’s family members took possession of the 1894c and tried to work the lever. That’s when the stock broke.

I’ve put up some more photos of the damage on TTAG’s Facebook page. As you can clearly see this is a brand proposition of not good. Fortunately, the rifle disintegrated before it fired. Otherwise . . .

I reckon the Marlin may have been damaged in transit. My FFL dealer informs me that the Marlin arrived as a box within a box. He says there was no visible damage to the box that was over this one. (Pics later.)

The box containing the rifle shows no signs of injury. The interior packaging—one-size-fits-all featherlight styrofoam material that didn’t fit the shorter barreled gun—is also unmolested.

All that said, the message on the box is clear enough:

Remington’s PR person is on the case. She’s sending me a shipping label to return the firearm for inspection. She’s also checking with Marlin’s product managers to see if they want to respond to this post. I’ve also invited the gunmaker to use the comments’ section. Stay tuned.

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20 COMMENTS

  1. I had two boxes of ammo ready to test Marlin, and then it broke before we made it to the firing line. There is some sort of problem with the action because I’ve never seen a lever action rifle that was this difficult to cycle in my life. I have a 45-70 Marlin that packs quite a punch, and that baby can be cycled by a five year old. This rifle was most likely damaged in shipping because it had issues right out of the box. I had a great time last night and my nephew fell in love with the SCAR, and he wants me to buy him one for his birthday. I finally got to meet the Rabbi(he has some really cool guns), and I hope to take some classes with him in the near future.

  2. 1) When ya break it down to clean it-don’t take the term so literally!

    2) The new incorporated battery storage compartment somehow didn’t seem to have been well thought out.

    3) I really popped some wood at the range last night!

    4) Somehow, Marlin’s new folding stock didn’t work as well in practice.

    5) This is why lever actions weren’t made for bayonet drills.

    6) Aw hell, a little duct tape will fix that right up!

    7) Oil here

    8) wow! Wilson really takes rounding edges and bobbing seriously!

    9) And this is where I keep my stash, Dude…

    10) It’s a Jersey thing, ya wouldn’t understand . . .

    11) It’s the new childproof safety-what, did you not find the key in the shipping box?

    12) Robert’s first attempt to make his own Mare’s Leg did not go as planned…

    13) This is what happens when you hire a night shift air traffic controller to do your QC checks!

    I do parties, weddings and biker chicks…

  3. Hard to say from a photo but it doesn’t appear to be shipping damage. I think if we inspect the backside of the broken portion of the stock we may see what happened.

  4. Don’t know about the difficult action. but he stock looks like it may have delaminated somehow. Disappointing.

  5. I had a great time last night and it was great to meet all of you guys. Thanks again for letting me shoot all of your awesome weaponry! Hopefully I’ll have a carry piece to bring to the next meetup!

  7. I’m supposed to receive this rifle’s twin from Marlin any day now. I’ll unbox it at my gunsmith’s shop, and you’ll see it all here.

    This is a tough thing to see from a trusted brand like Marlin. I’ve owned two, and they were both outstanding; a Marlin was the first rifle I ever owned.

    • Its a freak thing I’m sure. I remember opening up a newly shipped LadySmith at my gunshop; it was rusted over. I rock with my Marlin .45-70. I’m just glad no one got hurt! We have a new mystery down here near Charleston, SC. A lone shooter at a gun club range was found dead with an as yet unidentified round in his chest. Check WCSC Charleston news.

  8. Somehow, the new Pakistani assault rifle didn’t win over the troops like Bin Laden did…

  9. Thank you for cleaning up my post, Robert, my North Korean laptop is not very capable! Don’t even ask why my number eight is a cool daddy smiley face-the computer does this on its own-really! Perhaps a penetration test on a certain computer is in order… Oh, I have a Panasonic 33mm video cam, lighting and tripod. Now to ensure being able to download and transfer to you tube-shooting at the swamp tomorrow.

  10. Speaking of the meetup, how did the Ruger SR1911 perform? I’m sure the report is coming, but for those who attended the meetup and tested it, what were your impressions?

  11. I saw something similar recently. Custom Gunmakers Paul and Sharon Dressel shipped a gun for display at the recent Brownells Gunsmith Career Fair. An absolutely gorgeous, little bolt action rifle based on a NZ Harre (spelling?) .222 action. One of 4 of these actions made. Engraved by one of the big names, fantastic wood with Paul’s mullered border checkering. Cracked at the wrist. Shipped in a hard side, foam padded Pelican case inside a cardboard box. No break in the case, or holes. Somehow dropped, or thrown hard enough to cause that kind of shock to transfer through all the padding. Grain was very straight through the wrist for strength. Stock is the least of the worries. Metal will get damaged in fitting new wood and require refinishing. Some engraving will likely get hurt too. $25,000 rifle ruined. Hopefully UPS will come through.

  12. miforest is probably correct. “Marlin” has become a brand name and not much more than that.

    If you can find out the date of manufacture on this rifle, that would cinch it.

  14. ceberus gets us government bailout money. ceberus buys most of U.S gun makers with government bail out money then quits making guns .

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