Jeezuzz - WTF Happened to Marlin?

sobo4303 said:
I was out shopping for a 30-30 lever rifle.

Looked at the Winchesters, but they were double in price and for the most part, the quality was on par with the rest, in terms of cycling, finish, etc.

Also looked at the Mossberg, Henry and Marlins. The Henry's seemed to be the best of the bunch, but what the hell happened to Marlin?

I bought a 1894 Cowboy a couple of years ago, and it is nice and smooth...no issues (except for a minor issue, which I repaired). I looked at about eight or so Marlin 336's in different stores. Each one had rough finishes, plenty of sharp edges, wood not matching nicely into receiver and clunky to operate. The most surprising was that ALL of them had the rear sight (relative to the scope mount screws centre on the receiver) out of index. Unbelievable.

Every one of them was out by 2 to 3 mm. EVERY one of them! :(

What the hell happened? Did Marlin (Remington) get bought out by Norinco's poor cousin? Mossberg was no screaming hell either with the loose fitting action, but at least the sight alignment was correctly indexed, as verified by my eyeballs. The Remingtons in the stores were tight and all had good finishes, but Marlin....wow, totally unbelievable.

What have you folks found?
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The days of spending 500 bucks for a quality lever gun is over ,it is [2012 ]

As far as I am concerned ,you need to spend at least 1000-1200 retail to expect any type of a well made quality lever firearm. Browning and winchester make quality guns today and they are accurate so I disagree somewhat I believe the browning and new Winchesters seem to be much better than the Mossberg or Henrys, ,,Marlin has had some very poor quality for the last 3 years,,Apparently they have slowly starting to use proper screwdrivers and eyewear.lol

To try in this country to build a firearms company with all the taxes Laws and quality personnel and sell it for 500 bucks and make a profit ,,,,, good luck to you,,,, by the way I spent $ 98 bucks to fill my pick-up tonight coming from work
 
Sobo4303.........If you haven't purchased one yet, may I suggest that unless your heart is set on a NEW rifle, head over to EE or Epps and buy a pre64 Win, most in good shape run 400-600 bucks.
I'm surprised by your assessment of the new Miroku/Win 94, I bought one in the 92 in 44 and it is one of the nicest fitted and finished levers I've ever owned and rivals or betters the 6 or 7 originals I have for smoothness. I have not personally handled the 94 but assumed it would be of equal quality. The design of the 94 is not near as smooth a functioning design as the 92 and new 94s tend to be a little jerky till they wear in a bit, maybe thats what you meant. And yes, then there is the 1000-1200 buck price tag.
 
I have bee so disappointed so many times by Remington that I refuse to buy any more of their stuff. I prefer European guns and ammo almost exclusively because the Euro shooters will not tolerate the shoddy workmanship typical of most American products.
 
Perhaps I need to clarify the "quality" comment I originally placed. I was in the store, so never fired any of the rifles.

The Winchesters, I took a look at them. The stock was not exactly fitted to the receiver...much better than the Mossberg and certainly the Marlin. The Henry was the best in that regard.

I cycled 3 brand new Winchesters. EACH of them were binding as the lever was opened about 3/4 of the throw. My father in law has a late 70's vintage Winchester, and that thing, even today, is way smoother and yes, tighter, than each of those three rifles. No, he is not interested in selling.

I have to be honest, I was most impressed by the Henry, but even then, I was not ready to shell out money because it too had it's drawbacks.

As for the Browning Lever, I owned one (it is still in my safe as my son now owns it). The rifle was flawless, but I was not too keen on the geared lever system nor was I too happy with the magazine design.

My rant though, primarily focuses on just how much the Brand name of Marlin has fallen into mediocrity. The stock fits remind me of the poor fits on the handi-rifles. Folks, I own an example of a mass produced Lee Enfield battle rifle. The wood fits precisely as it should. How hard it is it? I mean really?

Those Marlin stocks (each) were consistently 1mm to 2 mm (compared to the receiver) grossly oversized. Notwithstanding the sloppy and loose actions.
 
:needPics:
I would like to see the problems mentioned by the OP.
Then again, it has been posted here on CGN in various threads at how poor they are.
I just yet have to see the proverbial photographic evidence of said problems.
Then again I aint in need or in want of a lever gun now or any time soon.
Rob
 
gtrussell said:
Iam fifty years old,and have never seen a marlin that functioned, or shot worth s**t yet!My experience ,this is not a new thing at all.Blame it on Remington,who was at fault before?
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So in your fifty years, what has worked for you.
 
I have 2 2007 and one 2008 Marlins I had to buy 7 and ended up with two but I knew what I was getting into ,, I was aware of the problems , If there is a better lever rifle than a 338 marlin I dont know what the hell it is,,,,, for the record no money would get my 2 Marlins from me. My guns are awesome ,as I said before will shoot with any bolt guns .The new Marlin will get traction ,many of the 2012 guns have much better wood and many of the new guns according to many posts on Marlinowners say just that they finally have begun to turn the page ,and many of the Americans are feeling better [These boys are passionate about their Marlins] So time will tell, let us see what happens
 
Buster95 said:
How are the 700's ? Because I'm interested in a brand new one.
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I purchased a new [bone collector edition in 30-06 ]everyone was thrashing Remington for Marlins demise ,true or not this Bone Collector edition is a great gun .60 @ 100 yards with factory 180 grain Norma oryx ammo ,my go to load. the gun is a delight to carry it shoots great ,it did all I asked of it .So bashing remington based on my experience would be totally unfair

I probably would stay away from package rifles from Remington and various others ,,again only my opinion I have not had experience with these package guns ,but I sold guns for a few western companies and many of all makes and models were coming back ,with various issues
 
gtrussell said:
Browning,Winchester,Savage,Benelli and even a few Remingtons.How about you?[/QUOT

Brownings have been good to me, Winchester not so much. Had a couple of model 70's that sucked, my brother inlaws is great. Had a couple of Remingtons I traded off, that I still regret. My lever experience is a little different from yours, the marlins I have had, all out shot my 94 winnie. The winnie was nicer to pack though. Lost count of shotguns.
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I was sold on the Winchester 92 and 94's.
My eyes don't care much for irons any more.
I bought a Marlin 336 in the wuzzy terdy turdy and with
the old Redfield scope perched on top, bullseye at a 100.
Sold the 94 in the same ammo shortly there after.
What's not to like on the old Marlins?
Smooth action, side eject, nice trigger and if most resemble
this one, darn accurate to boast about.
 
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