Marlin 1893 value?

combines44

combines44

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I just picked up this beautiful Marlin Safety 1893 30-30. Has the 22" octagon barrel, half mag tube and serial # dates it 1906. It is like a 9/10 in condition and I was wondering about what its worth? thanks!

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That is a nice-looking rifle in a good caliber. The metal has been buffed and re-blued (the receiver should be color case-hardened with, as it fades, turns to more of a nickel-patina, and sharp edges and hole edges are smoothed or slightly dished) and the wood has been nicely refinished. Unfortunately this significantly affects the collector's value. The value that remains is dependent upon it being a nice-looking rifle from 1906 that is in a caliber for which you can readily get ammo for and the pleasure of hunting and shooting with it. I would put its value at somewhere between $500 and $700, but my specialty is more in old Winchesters than Marlins, although I've owned a couple vintage Marlins as well. I would suggest enjoying the rifle as a vintage rifle that has been re-finished and a pleasure to shoot.
 
Perhaps a bit more than $500 as I believe the 22" barrel and half mag. were special order items adding a bit of value over just a straight out regular, refurbished variant. IIRC the regular lenght was 26". Too bad it wasn't re-case coloured to bring it back to how it left the factory. Still a great looking, classic hunting companion that I wouldn't mind owning at all!

Ian
 
In my experience even if a rifle has special order features that collectors want when the gun is totally refinished collector value is zero. Still a nice hunting rifle though. The 1893 Marlin is far superior to the 1894 Winchester in a mechanical sense, much better design.
 
Mike Webb said:
In my experience even if a rifle has special order features that collectors want when the gun is totally refinished collector value is zero. Still a nice hunting rifle though. The 1893 Marlin is far superior to the 1894 Winchester in a mechanical sense, much better design.
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Agree.
 
As you can see from trebor2880's response, value is something that differs from person to person. What matters to one person might not matter to another.
 
Well thanks guys! I might hold onto it for a bit. I figured it was redone but I cannot find too much info on it. If I were to post it for sale on here.... would it be under antiques or just sporting arms? could go in either? The only 1893 I saw on here was under antiques and was sold....
 
A 1906 Marlin is neither antique nor BP. Mind you, no lever action is considered to be an antique.
"with the exception of a repeating firearm fed by any type of cartridge magazine."
That had any work done to it? Metal look like it has a modern finish. Just curious.
 
Win 38-55 said:
As you can see from trebor2880's response, value is something that differs from person to person. What matters to one person might not matter to another.
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A very true statement in the gun collecting world. While I do appreciate the re furbished gun of this post, my own preference is for the old girls in their working clothes, even an old rifle in original immaculate condition doesn't hold my interest as much as a well worn, well used...even beat up, "as long as it's usable" rifle.

As 38-55 says one of the benefits of the O.P's rifle is the availability of store-bought ammo and others have mentioned it will make a good hunting comanion...It may or it may not. I've read many times (and my own experience has proven it true) that most of the early Marlins had very loosely monitored bore dimensions and require very large dia. bullets. Every early Marlin I have owned would not shoot store bought SAMMI spec ammo worth a damn. The pictured rifle may be the exception to the rule (I hope it is) but my expectation is that it will require oversized lead bullets to shoot accurately.

Accuracy, another very subjective topic in the collecting /old gun world. My own expectation standards go from (all at 100 yrds) thumb nail sized clover leafs for modern "store bought"... to 2" or better for anything made before 1920 is outstanding.... 2' to around 2.5 is adequate, and anything over 2.5' "requires work.

I agree with Mike & like the Marlin action better than all the old Winchesters (the 86's are a close second but still prefer an early Marlin 95's) however, that being said I've shot several early Winchesters that still shoot nominal sized bullets very well but only one Marlin that started out grouping less than 4" without considerable bullet size testing.

As for price of the OP's rifle, I just sold a Marlin 1893 in 38-55. It was also a special order short rifle but with an 18.5 " barrel ( verified in original configuration by a fellow that helped Brophy with his Marlin bible) , metal was all untouched & original (60% finish remaining on blued parts, receiver faded to 20% remaining) however it had new manufactured replacement wood at both ends. I let it go for $700.
 
combines44 said:
Well thanks guys! I might hold onto it for a bit. I figured it was redone but I cannot find too much info on it. If I were to post it for sale on here.... would it be under antiques or just sporting arms? could go in either? The only 1893 I saw on here was under antiques and was sold....
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I think it would get more exposure if it were just listed under sporting rifles, unless you want a big bucks for it. Then list it under antiques, which it is.;)
 
I see.....yeah I got it not really knowing exactly what it was because of the rarity and figured it was redone even before I found out it was made in 1906. She is a beauty and I'll probably be posting it soon since something else has caught my eye. There is always something better that you want! ha ha
 
Very nice rifle! Although it has been restored there is still a lot of value there! It is like Kounts Custom restoring an old car! I know myself I would rather something beautiful than something that looks like it will fall apart when you touch it! ha ha I'd value it at whatever someone wants to pay. $1000+ Regular marlins go for $500 so this is at least twice as nice! Good luck!
 
phyremed said:
Very nice rifle! Although it has been restored there is still a lot of value there! It is like Kounts Custom restoring an old car! I know myself I would rather something beautiful than something that looks like it will fall apart when you touch it! ha ha I'd value it at whatever someone wants to pay. $1000+ Regular marlins go for $500 so this is at least twice as nice! Good luck!
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I would place its value at $500-600 as with the other two estimates but you never know I suppose.
 
phyremed said:
Very nice rifle! Although it has been restored there is still a lot of value there! It is like Kounts Custom restoring an old car! I know myself I would rather something beautiful than something that looks like it will fall apart when you touch it! ha ha I'd value it at whatever someone wants to pay. $1000+ Regular marlins go for $500 so this is at least twice as nice! Good luck!
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Well, I guess we will see how fast it sells at its listed price.
 
Too rich for my wallet! I bought a really nice 1906 Marlin 1893 in really nice original condition with the half octagonal, half round barrel, half magazine, take down in .38-55 about a year ago for only $650 shipped. It is one of my favourites! The refinished ones look a bit odd to me compared to the nicely worn originals. I have a totally refurbed Remington Model 14 1/2 in .44-40 that, while nice, it doesn't look nearly as nice as my other one in very good original condition!

There are people out there that may like to have a nice new looking old gun, but the people that really appreciate these and all of their history won't pay nearly that much.

My 2 cents...

Ian
 
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