Marlin Firearms, You're breaking my heart!

[Deplorable Me]

Just browsed the 2017 Marlin firearms catalog. They've eliminated the .444 Marlin from their big bore lever action lineup. From the 1894C line , the .357 lever carbine; NONE LISTED. With the side gate for quick reloading the 1894C was probably the best non-shotgun NY friendly home defense firearm at a reasonable price. Great camp gun, trunk gun, camper gun....... A nice companion gun for revolver fans.

When Marlin was bought out and went south (in more than one way) I know they had quality control issues with their .30-30 line. Other forums reported that the problems had been resolved. I hope the .357 rifle shortage is just a temporary production delay. There were so many cool variants.

 

[S&W Fan]

I bought a marlin .444 back in the late 70's, man what a rifle that was! If I wasn't so young and foolish back then, I'd still own it today

 

[Deplorable Me]

I have a 444P which is the ported, shorter barrel guide gun edition. It's a noise maker on the firing line.

 

[Podmonkey]

I thought Marlin sucked since Craplington took over anyway?

 

[Jaywmustang]

I bought a new marlin 336 308 mx a couple years ago and had some problems with it. When I had ammo in the chamber the bolt/lever would just pop open. It would do it when perfectly still. It would also fire the first round 4" to the right, then the next 4 would be dead on. Did it every time with fully loaded up. They did fix the opening issue. If I were to buy another level action it would be a henry.

 

[Deplorable Me]

I thought Marlin sucked since Craplington took over anyway?

They went from a lot of hand finishing and fitting in Connecticut at the old homestead to CNC machine finishing down south. Lots of complaints from the first years production models but things slowly improved. My collection is from the Connecticut days. I do check out the new 336's and .44 1894's and have seen improvement.

 

[Podmonkey]

They went from a lot of hand finishing and fitting in Connecticut at the old homestead to CNC machine finishing down south. Lots of complaints from the first years production models but things slowly improved. My collection is from the Connecticut days. I do check out the new 336's and .44 1894's and have seen improvement.

So would a new Marlin .357 carbine be GTG? I hate the old style tube loading of the Henrys.

 

[GOYABEAN]

So would a new Marlin .357 carbine be GTG? I hate the old style tube loading of the Henrys.

Other than that I believe Henry's quality is A+

 

[Deplorable Me]

So would a new Marlin .357 carbine be GTG? I hate the old style tube loading of the Henrys.

I'm hoping if they produce them again that all the manufacturing bugs will be worked out. The .30-30 seem up to par, they'll never be 100% hand finished.

In like the side gate because you can reload on the fly from a half used magazine.

 

[S&W Fan]

The older JM stamped Marlin rifles are a much better made rifle than anything coming out of the plant after it was purchased along with Remington and one other by an investment group. Besides, I absolutely refuse to buy a lever gun with a frigging safety on it.

 

[Deplorable Me]

Other than that I believe Henry's quality is A+

I tried a friends Henry .44 Sunday, significantly heavier.

 

[GOYABEAN]

I tried a friends Henry .44 Sunday, significantly heavier.

I wish I hadn't gotten rid of my Marlin up in price now

 

[JaguarJaguarGolf]

I bought a new Marlin 336 30-30 less than a year ago. I believe marlin is making all new guns at their new facility down south. My 30-30 is well made, accurate. I like it a lot. I went over it very closely before I bought because Marlin has to earn our bussiness back. Store had .44 Mag lever actions ?1894?. I was told .357's would be out this coming year.
I have a bolt action Marlin MR-7 30-06 which was my deer gun for 15 years. It's still good-to-go. I have an older 336 .35 Rem which is very accurate and will cloverleaf any 200gr. bullets off a rest at 100yds.

 

[Snappo]

Just browsed the 2017 Marlin firearms catalog. They've eliminated the .444 Marlin from their big bore lever action lineup. From the 1894C line , the .357 lever carbine; NONE LISTED. With the side gate for quick reloading the 1894C was probably the best non-shotgun NY friendly home defense firearm at a reasonable price. Great camp gun, trunk gun, camper gun....... A nice companion gun for revolver fans.

When Marlin was bought out and went south (in more than one way) I know they had quality control issues with their .30-30 line. Other forums reported that the problems had been resolved. I hope the .357 rifle shortage is just a temporary production delay. There were so many cool variants.

Please keep in mind that Marlin (and many others) are owned by Freedom Group. Freedom Group has in-memory business intelligence software (SAP BW on HANA) and they look at all kinds of sales information, production line information, employee performance information etc. and make product decisions based on that OLAP data. Perhaps they thought there just wasn't enough profit in the 444 Marlin or 450 Marlin? Or the ballistics said the 444 and 450 were so ballistically close to 45-70 that they would make a lot more money by reducing to just that and the 45 long colt? I read that the 45-70 Buffalo Bore ammo was almost equal to 450 Marlin. On a personal note; I bought the 45-70 instead of the 444 Marlin because I kind of figured with so many more manufacturers making 45-70 that I would have an easier time getting ammo. Sadly I wish I thought that through when I bought the 336CS in 35 Remington instead of 30-30. I think my 35 Remington is pretty much a dead caliber.

 

[zzrguy]

I picked up 1953 production 336 in 3t Rem it is sweet to shoot and works flawlessly.

It if your looking for a 357 rifle look at a Rossi 92 the new ones are much better then the older Braziltech since they retooled the factory.. I changed the springs and stoned a few part and she's slick as greased hog.

 

[Deplorable Me]

I will miss the .357/1894C. That I believe would be a saleable caliber.

That aside I picked the .444 Marlin and my .35 Rem because in a pinch handgun bullets can be used in rifle loads (with the appropriate powder/primer.) My .357 and .44 rifles have big brothers. I reload so when projectiles are out of stock I have backups. The .444 is like a .45-70 light, but is very reloadable.

Two and three years ago there was no .35 Rem or .444 Marlin ammo on the shelves. It's been back in stock in NY for about 2 months now. Guys with those calibers have been scooping it up since the asshole in Albany won't let us mail order it. Marlin still manufacturer's the .35 Rem according to the 2017 catalog.

 

[carpediem]

From what I understand, Marlins are still being made in NY.
I have a nice model 1895G that I have yet to shoot. Maybe this summer. 45-70 is a little pricey to do too much shooting though.

 

[Podmonkey]

I'd like a 16" .357 carbine. Marlin used to do em. A '94 trapper is what would be really nice.

 

[zzrguy]

From what I understand, Marlins are still being made in NY.
I have a nice model 1895G that I have yet to shoot. Maybe this summer. 45-70 is a little pricey to do too much shooting though.

Time to start reloading you can load down the 45-70 and have a nice shooting gun you can shoot all day and some hot loads you'll only want to shoot once {then curse the gun the rest of the day}

 

[S&W Fan]

GB has 15 Marlin 1894 / 357's listed. Of those 15 , 10 are marked with the JM stamp. They range in starting price from $650 -$1100

 

[Snappo]

From what I understand, Marlins are still being made in NY.
I have a nice model 1895G that I have yet to shoot. Maybe this summer. 45-70 is a little pricey to do too much shooting though.

Yeah - that's my beef too. Ass raped at the gun shop for 45-70 Lever Revolution. A trillion dollars a box - like it was handed loaded by Jesus and Moses on the top of Mount Ararat or something. Keep your 45-70 but let it be a safe queen 99% of the time and just get a Henry in 357 mag or 44 mag. Then you have one that will just eat your cheap Winchester White Box revolver ammo. I went with 44 mag and I think the model I got was the H006? It is octagonal, has a nice shiny brass finish, and I added the big loop and non-invasive sling (no damage to the wood). I would say all-in she cost less than $800 including the addons. On the 45-70 I added picatinny and an Eotech. Here's my setup (before the big loop I added this week).

 

[S&W Fan]

An Eotech on a Lever Gun ? ??!!! That's just Wrong
Nice Henry rifle .

 

[Snappo]

An Eotech on a Lever Gun ? ??!!! That's just Wrong
Nice Henry rifle .

I did it for a weird reason. I had an extra EOTech and I had nothing to put it on. So I thought - hey this could be interesting! The cost of the picatinny mount was not expensive at all; and I already had the scope. It's got a nice field of view. No clue what I would need that for; but it's a safe queen anyway because 45-70 is pricy.

Love the Henry H006. So much that I should get an H001 too.

 

[S&W Fan]

I prefer a load gate on my Lever guns over the tube fed design but I'll admit I really like the Henry Silver Boy .

 

[Deplorable Me]

An Eotech on a Lever Gun ? ??!!! That's just Wrong
Nice Henry rifle .

You can shoot with both eyes open, pick off your target and go for the follow up shot quickly. Probably an excellent guide gun combination for Alaskan bear or Russian submarines with the .45-70.

 

[Snappo]

You can shoot with both eyes open, pick off your target and go for the follow up shot quickly. Probably an excellent guide gun combination for Alaskan bear or Russian submarines with the .45-70.

Don't joke about that - Palin saw Russian subs from her back yard! Those things are serious business.

 

[Deplorable Me]

Don't joke about that - Palin saw Russian subs from her back yard! Those things are serious business.

Nonsense.

Those were N.Korean subs with tactical bumper stickers.

 

[S&W Fan]

Don't joke about that - Palin saw Russian subs from her back yard! Those things are serious business.

Buwahaha Shirley , you jest

 

[Snappo]

Nonsense.

Those were N.Korean subs with tactical bumper stickers.

Now we all need stickers that say "If you see me floatin I'm motor boatin!"

 

[That_FNG]

I've got a Marlin 1895SBL in .45-70 that I really like. Had some minor fit and finish issues (post freedom group) but overall better then what I was seeing the last couple of years.