Lever action marlins vs remington

[Knobgoblin]

^^^^^^ I would have just kept them both, unless the carbine had a safety.

 

[DirectDrive]

The very real problems with the early Remlins were unrelated to any "internet lore" until well after the fact had been established and documented repeatedly. Remington's frantic advertised response is the very proof that the problems were manifest. The firm had serious issues of a similar nature with their introduction of the R51 handgun, and during the same time period. Bankruptcy followed shortly.

As others have related here by personal experience, later production Remlins (as a direct result of Remington's acknowledgement of the problems) were relatively devoid of the glaring defects (but not the finish work deficits).

The inordinate rise of prices on original Marlins is certainly to a degree related to brand loyalty, but the lion's share of such price increases is driven by the quality of the guns; appearance AND function. The customer base for them is putting these guns to use. They want a gun devoid of recent shabby (true) history and one that shows signs of some human effort toward appearance.

Unfortunately, Remington's horrible stumble is one more high hurdle for Ruger to surmount in their effort to revive the Marlin reputation. I am cheering for them.

Once the stain sets in on the Internet, it simply never goes away.
I'm glad I got in at the end and scored a fine example.

 

[WAYNO]

I have JM, early Remlin and late Remlin lever guns. All indistinguishable in quality and performance. Glad they never read the blogs.

 

[osprey]

I am sure many Remlins made it out the door that were acceptable, but there were very real problems with some of Remington made Marlins. Remington handled there business affairs very poorly from the top down and this affected the product adversely. QC should have caught many of these substandard guns and learning should have occurred, but sadly that is not how it played out. What learning did occur was too little too late.
I have high hopes for Ruger and their attempt to resurrect the iconic Marlin lever action guns. I even have a 1895 Trapper on order at my LGS, so we shall see.

 

[MilGoo]

I have a safety equiped marlin in 38/357 that I love. I love, did shorten, thread and install a "JM" barrel which made it much more enjoyable

 

[drstrangelove]

I am sure many Remlins made it out the door that were acceptable, but there were very real problems with some of Remington made Marlins. Remington handled there business affairs very poorly from the top down and this affected the product adversely. QC should have caught many of these substandard guns and learning should have occurred, but sadly that is not how it played out. What learning did occur was too little too late.
I have high hopes for Ruger and their attempt to resurrect the iconic Marlin lever action guns. I even have a 1895 Trapper on order at my LGS, so we shall see.

From what one well respected gunsmith here told me, the 1895 Ruglins in 45-70 are very smooth with no appreciable internal machining marks. Akin to custom work. I read accuracy reviews on them… meh, but I'm kinda PRS spoiled. Now if they can bring out the stainless threaded 357 they've promised at a quantity that won't relegate them to GB scalpage, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Koda]

Somebody has a crossbolt safety on a levergun problem. Goes for Winchesters, too.

That would be me. And mines a JM.
Ive had it for 36yrs and the safety never stays put from day one. Since I was 16yrs old Ive had to duct tape the safety off to hunt with, or it will be -on- when you pull up on a deer.
The Marlins were designed to be carried half cocked.

Maybe the new ones today work, and provide some sense of additional safety lowering the hammer. But I can tell ya that its not needed.

 

[osprey]

I believe the crossbolt safety can easily be dealt with by fixing it in the off position. I think there is even a set screw in place to do this.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Custom safety delete

 

[Knobgoblin]

Wild west guns Alaska offers safety delete. I'm sure other shops do as well .

 

[sikhed]

Was in the market for a "Y" model 336, but Marlin had already been taken over.
A bunch of the Remingtons had just arrived at a local Big R store, including 3 of the youth models.
The clerk unboxed them in my presence and handed them to me to examine.
The first ones lever wouldn't close; it seemed to have pulled out the ejector, jamming the rifle solid.
The second rifle was stiff and the finish seemed to be a dark parkerizing rather than blued, (all 3 were that way)
The third rifle's front post was about 20 degrees canted, didn't even have to shoulder it to see how far off it was.
I ended up buying the rifle that was stiff, and with the mis-matched bluing.
A whole day of filing, sanding and deburring fixed it, and eventually it turned into a decent shooter.
Now I buy used Marlin JMs pre-safety. All that's needed is a basic cleaning & re-oiling.

 

[titsonritz]

I believe the crossbolt safety can easily be dealt with by fixing it in the off position. I think there is even a set screw in place to do this.

Just like a "Hillary hole" can be plugged on a current S&W wheelgun, doesn't mean I'll ever have one of those either. It is not just about the safety or lock, it is about the end of an era, and changes I that are unwelcome to me. Lever guns and revolvers are time period pieces to me, and something I don't want nor need to be splooged upon by lawyers nor cheapened up with MIM part and assembled/built by people who are no longer craftsmen. You either get it or you don't but that is where I stand.

 

[osprey]

Just like a "Hillary hole" can be plugged on a current S&W wheelgun, doesn't mean I'll ever have one of those either. It is not just about the safety or lock, it is about the end of an era, and changes I that are unwelcome to me. Lever guns and revolvers are time period pieces to me, and something I don't want nor need to be splooged upon by lawyers nor cheapened up with MIM part and assembled/built by people who are no longer craftsmen. You either get it or you don't but that is where I stand.

One thing that made me acquiesce the crossbolt safety on my 1895, is the fact that it has ballard rifling vs microgroove. There was a window between 2002 and when Marlin went TU that the 1895 models were all ballard rifled. In the non crossbolt years they were mostly microgroove.

 

[sikhed]

Microgroove is fine for jacketed bullets.
But not lead. Especially the dead-soft type intended for muzzleloading.
But you certainly already know that.

 

[MilGoo]

Microgroove is fine for jacketed bullets.
But not lead. Especially the dead-soft type intended for muzzleloading.
But you certainly already know that.

I shoot cast lead powder coat bullets in my micrgroove jm gun and they do great

 

[Tlock]

I would rather have a late Remington than a late Marlin. Marlins were getting buggy, and Remington finally figured out how to make good ones.

Haven't seen a Ruger version yet.

Bruce

I have the rem/Marlin and the new ruger . Both good

 

[osprey]

I am a heavy cast bullet shooter. No microgroove thank you!

 

[Knobgoblin]

Wait, you guys are shooting your Marlins?

 

[MilGoo]

I am a heavy cast bullet shooter. No microgroove thank you!

I have run many 125gn to 180gn soft lead with no issues. The 125's will hit a 12" steel almost every shot at 100 yards with open sights. The misses are my fault not the gun the180's are very quiet and very accurate also. With a jm microgrove barrel cut down to 16.25". But I power coat all of my cast bullets.

 

[slickshot223]

We ( local gunsmith) had an early Remlin, had wrong lifter, we put a spacer in the lifter so it would feed the correct round that it was chambered for! Then sent to Remington for correcting!! They took the spacer out, sent it back said it worked fine!!WTS