Marlin 1893 38-55

BMcK

BMcK

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Location
Orangeville, On
I've got a full length Marlin 1893 38-55, round barrel , full tube magazine.
Heavy patina, Stock repair, no rear buck sight, marble peep sight.
26" barrel, 44" OAL

This thing has one of the smoothest actions I've ever seen.

The bad news, the bore is pretty rough. I slugged it and it comes out to .379-.380


How much does the bore hurt the value? What is approximate value?


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Cheers
 
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As long as the rifling is still there, then .380 is still shootable with cast bullets. I have a 38/72 that slugs at .383 and I can still get it to shoot. Having said that I would say the bore would affect value but most guys don't buy those old rifles to shoot jacketed bullets with anyway. No expert but I would say in the neighbourhood of $ 1000, but could be way off. Cheers.
 
Your groove diameter is good. Clean the bore and take it out for a trial run. You might be surprised how well it shoots.
 
Try cleaning again after you fire a couple of shots and have a warm barrel. You might have more rifling than you think.
 
If the bore has a serious amount of pitting then jacketed bullets will usually shoot much better than cast. Sometimes these old barrels clean up better than we think they might. Use some serious elbow grease and SCRUB it - wear out a couple bronze brushes. There can be multiple layers of grunge, with copper and lead built up over the decades. You might be surprised.

The marlins don't enjoy the popularity that the old Winchesters do. Your rifle is not going to get much collector interest in that condition: The stock is cracked and the repair is rough. Most of the metal finish is gone. With a poor condition bore it will not be worth more than $200-$300 tops, IMO. If the bore cleans up and has minimal pitting the value could be $400. With better wood it would be worth more.
 
cody c said:
They might be, I've seen a few different claims on bore size, from .375 to .382 : http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammo/ammunition_rs_3855winchester_200811/

I was thinking about getting a rifle rebarreled to try it (have a couple shilen .375 blanks picked up for cheap) but I held off as I figured they might be too tight for the ammo.

Would be a neat conversion for an enfield or drilled & milled ross sporter, or maybe a 303 savage.
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Seems to me the older .38/55 run around .379 and the new production .38/55 ammunition is sized same as the bullets for the .375 Winchester and generally doesn't shoot worth beans in the older rifles.
 
Mike Webb said:
Seems to me the older .38/55 run around .379 and the new production .38/55 ammunition is sized same as the bullets for the .375 Winchester and generally doesn't shoot worth beans in the older rifles.
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Cool, once again this site proves to be a better resource then google.

I may take another look at that chambering for a future project.
 
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