Posted on 09/29/2008 5:28:31 PM PDT by sig226
Marlin Firearms, the very name conjures the image of a lean horseman, with a red bandana wrapped around his dusty neck and a work-worn felt hat jammed awkwardly onto his head, his chestnut mount braced at a sudden stop, and both of them are intently focused on something just out of the picture. The Marlin levergun is poised, almost at port-arms, ready to snap to the rider's bestubbled face and deal the unseen threat a leaden blow. It is a picture of a man, independent and free, taking care of himself. This image has captivated generations of American shooters, and undoubtedly has helped sell countless Marlin rifles over the years. After all, it is one of the central facets of how we Americans view ourselves -- independent, free, and capable.
Most American shooters know that Marlin has been around for quite a while, and that they have been making excellent leverguns for many years, but may not realize all the twists and turns in the trail that has made Marlin what it is today. It is a trail that has been rough and rocky in places, and at times, it didn't look like Marlin would survive, but survive it did, and today's shooters should count themselves as fortunate as Marlin came back strong to make some of the most popular leverguns of all time.
The story starts in 1836, when John Mahlon Marlin was born in Connecticut. He grew up in New England and entered the tool and die trade as a young man. During the Civil War, he started building guns, working at the Colt plant in Hartford. In 1870, he struck out on his own and founded Marlin Firearms Company in New Haven, Connecticut. He started off making single-shot brass framed derringers in .22 rimfire, and eventually added .32 and .38 caliber rimfire derringers to his product line. In 1875, Marlin added rifles to his product offerings, manufacturing the single-shot Ballard rifles (which had previously been made by others). A strategic business move was made in 1881, when Marlin introduced the Model 1881 lever-action repeating rifle. This was a well-built, accurate rifle, chambered for powerful hunting rounds like the .45-70 and .38-55. Now this was in the hey-day of the powerful Sharps single-shot rifles, but Marlin was making a big-bore high-powered rifle, and they were making it in a lever-actioned repeater (competing for the same market niche that Winchester had created with the Model 1876). The Marlin Model 1881 was well-received and firmly established Marlin in the levergun market.
My first rifle was a Marlin model 80 .22 rimfire manufactured before the days of serial numbers that my dad gave to me.
Last time I shot it I got 49 out of 50 on a 4” can lid at ~100 feet with iron sights.
Yup, that’s why I don’t really use anything but LER scopes on bolt/pump/lever guns.
Gas and recoil guns don’t seem to have the problem.
I still have a Marlin/Glenfield bolt .22 that I got as a teenager in the early ‘70’s...think it cost $32 new...the trigger is sloppy, the scope was junk from day one...but the dang thing is still accurate as a laser beam. Great tin can slayer and varmit gun when the Mossburg is too much, like when I went after a raccoon in the barn and almost murdered a window unit air conditioner.
What’s that? Not real computer literate over here.
To this day it is one of my most prized possessions.
L
I took a look at the size of the round, tucked that carbine in tight, sighted down range, pulled the trigger, and was surprised to discover that someone had managed to sneak in a mule to kick me in the shoulder when I wasn't looking! I had never felt a kick that hard from a weapon before!
I figured that somehow I must not have had the carbine tucked in tight enough or something, so I chambered another round and tried again. Nope, it wasn't me. Kicked the tar out of me. Again!
I decided I'd had enough of that, gave him his carbine back, and went off to hunt for my shoulder.
It occurs to me, looking back on it, that my buddy did have a bit of a smirk on his face throughout this ordeal. Imagine that? Of course, he up and moved south of the Red River, so I never got the chance to return the favor.
I do believe, though, that my next rifle acquisition will be a Marlin 1895 Cowboy, after I convince my wife that I need a suppressor for my M4...
I can relate to your story! I have a 375H&H and I can’t shoot it from a bench position for more than 20 rounds and my shoulder hurts for days. It is not too bad to shoot from a standing position though.
My late grandfather's diary had some references to his *lever-action .30 calibre Model 94* which I had always generally assumed was a Model 94 Winchester in the common .30-30 cartridge. You can imagine my surprise when I eventually learned it was a Model 94 Stevens, chambered for a sort of rimless variant of the .30-40 Krag cartridge that was a sort of forerunner of the .308 Winchester.
It was among the hardware Grandda had with him when he was caught up in Pancho Villa's March 9, 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, during which he expended all 80 rounds he had for his lever rifle, then switched to an M1903 Springfield and his shotgun. Though the raid occurred during the early morning hours of darkness, I have good reason to believe that he didn't miss very often.
Pity his lever rifle wasn't chambered for the military .30-06. His diary entry from back then reflects that he thought he *must as soon as possible replace my double-gun with a repeater.* And indeed, a few weeks later, an entry mentions his acquisition of a new Winchester Model 1897 pump gun in 12 gage.
We expect the guns to last 10 years at this rate and replace 2 guns each year. They are holding up very well. 1st time shooters are successful due to the guns accuracy (the peep sights help a lot). I am very happy with the performance of the Marlin products we have used.
HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. It’s a set of symbols you use to add images, bold text, italics, colors, and the like to your post. The HTML Sandbox was designed for beginners, so give it a read. Play with the symbols on that thread and if it doesn’t work the way you wanted, someone generally comes along to point out where you made a mistake.
You’ll also need to open an account with Photobucket.com, if you haven’t already got one. The account is free.
Ahhh. Thanks for the tip. I will give it a try.
Still kick myself once in awhile for not getting anything in .30-30. That's the only bargain priced ammo around here.
It’s a hyper-link. Click on it. Also, right-click on this page(or any other) and select View Page Source from the menu. You’ll see how HTML tells these stupid boxes what to display.
Nah, Alexander Arms .50 cal Beowulf. Late post.
The Beowulf to me is an expensive misuse of technology. I’d much rather have the Marlin rifle in 44mag or 45LC.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.