Questions for the Marlin Experts

powdergun

powdergun

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I am on the very low end of the learning curve about the Marlin lever action rifles. I know there is a big difference between the old and new ( Read remlin) guns but I have some questions about the older ones.

So far I've seen 336's, 30AS and glenfel ( please excuse if I've made any errors) models pictured. About the only difference I notice is around the wood furniture. Higher end checkered walnut vs less expensive hardwoods. And the length of the magazine tube seems different as well.

My question is about the basic quality of the action and mechanical components. Did marlin use the same quality of metal and workmanship on the mechanics on all models or did the lower end models have lower end mechanics and metal ?

Thank you in advance for your help.
 
I've seen some older Marlins with issues as well in all fairness.

The problem with the newly produced Marlins is the fitment, not quality of the parts as alot of barrels, receivers and parts came from the North Haven plant after they closed the doors.

For the Marlin action to function correctly timing is important. Inexperience and incompetence of the staff assembling the rifle are to blame for crooked sights, mis-timed cartridge elevators, poorly fit furniture etc.

Personally I am not afraid of most of the new production Marlins.
I have enough experience with the rifle to easily tackle the majority of their issues. I would not touch one with obvious crooked sights however.
 
Marlins

Have and still use my marlin 36/adl circa 1947,been a great rifle and going on another hunt next week. There is a Marlin site I use that has a raft of info on all marlins new and old,it's called Marlin Owners based out of I think Oklahoma
Hope everyone has a great and safe hunt this year. Jack
 
Cutblock said:
Have and still use my marlin 36/adl circa 1947,been a great rifle and going on another hunt next week. There is a Marlin site I use that has a raft of info on all marlins new and old,it's called Marlin Owners based out of I think Oklahoma
Hope everyone has a great and safe hunt this year. Jack
Click to expand...

well, I be...I also have a 1947 36 ADL....the guy I got it from said it was the only one in Canada...:D

Marlins are the best lever guns made period.

The newest one I've owned is 1978 so I'm not sure about the later ones, but I hear that Remington pumped some real junk out with the Marlin name on it...sad.
 
I think the "Remalin" tag is a little overblown. I bought a brand new Marlin 1884 Cowboy. I noted that the magazine wiggled and contacted Marlin. Yes, the guy on the other end of the line was a moron and told me that the magazine was moving by design.

I contacted a gunsmith and he instantly informed me that the Marlin Rep was shoving BS up the whazzoo. The bottom line was that with a little liquid steel, a half hour of my time and playing some tunes on the radio for that period, my rifle is one damn nice shooting rifle. With the factory iron sights, I can accurately hit 100 yards silhouettes accurately and consistently with my cowboy pistol loads.

Yeah, I had to do some work, but y'know what, it was NOT an earth shattering and catastrophically life changing thing. Besides, I got to explore some of the innards in that rifle and am pretty confident with working on it. It is a wonderfully simple design and a very competent shooter.

Buy one, and have fun. If it has a quirk like mine, deal with it and move on. It is worth every penny I paid for it in my mind, and I would do it again.

PS (Now looking for a 1895 Cowboy in 45-70) :D
 
powdergun said:
My question is about the basic quality of the action and mechanical components.Thank you in advance for your help.
Click to expand...

Not an expert but I'll tell my experience like it was.

336C (purchased sometime in 2008-09)
I used to shoot this levergun twice weekly (total rounds through her before retirement was around 5-6000)
Mainly fast rapid fire with minimal cooling down time.

The parts appeared to be manufactured out of alignment and press fitted by the company during manufacture. During severe heat cycles (excessive heating of parts and then cooling of parts) components would stress.

In the end there were countless failures of parts. Mainly the small parts (pins ,barrel band screws, barrel bands etc) which appeared to have not been heat treated correctly.
The quality of internal components and machining was poor, attention to detail was also lacking. In short, their QA of component parts by sub-suppliers (or whoever) was lacking.
I found it was an average rifle, most likely OK for light usage, but for heavy usage it was not up to the task.

It is currently sitting in the corner of my cabinet in pieces, I just got tired of fixing it.

There is the possibility that mine was simply a friday batch made by a chimp, but I just can't tell. I have yet to find a Marlington 336C owner who had the mileage and frequency of use that I had on mine to compare against.

In closing, I have 2 Winchester 1894's which were manufactured in Miroku Japan (which I am still getting around to firing) but the quality and attention to detail is beyond comparison.

Take my 2 cents for what it is, my 2 cents on 1 purchase.
Would I purchase another Marlin...no.
 
TACTICAL111 said:
Not an expert but I'll tell my experience like it was.

336C (purchased sometime in 2008-09)
I used to shoot this levergun twice weekly (total rounds through her before retirement was around 5-6000)
Mainly fast rapid fire with minimal cooling down time.

The parts appeared to be manufactured out of alignment and press fitted by the company during manufacture. During severe heat cycles (excessive heating of parts and then cooling of parts) components would stress.

In the end there were countless failures of parts. Mainly the small parts (pins ,barrel band screws, barrel bands etc) which appeared to have not been heat treated correctly.
The quality of internal components and machining was poor, attention to detail was also lacking. In short, their QA of component parts by sub-suppliers (or whoever) was lacking.
I found it was an average rifle, most likely OK for light usage, but for heavy usage it was not up to the task.

It is currently sitting in the corner of my cabinet in pieces, I just got tired of fixing it.

There is the possibility that mine was simply a friday batch made by a chimp, but I just can't tell. I have yet to find a Marlington 336C owner who had the mileage and frequency of use that I had on mine to compare against.

In closing, I have 2 Winchester 1894's which were manufactured in Miroku Japan (which I am still getting around to firing) but the quality and attention to detail is beyond comparison.

Take my 2 cents for what it is, my 2 cents on 1 purchase.
Would I purchase another Marlin...no.
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Sad to hear your woes, glad you still have the rifle.
Pics please and thanks! Specifically the failed "non-heat treated pins n screws"
Very interested to see this.
Care to share the first two digits of the serial number of the offending 336? If you purchased in '08
that rifle was almost surely assembled by the core-staff in North Haven using quality parts, most likely in 2007.
The take-over by Remington-Cerberus didn't happen until mid '08 IIRC, and initially the only changes that occured were in the marketing department, not production staff.
Maybe you just got a Lemon?
 
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TACTICAL111 said:
I have 2 Winchester 1894's which were manufactured in Miroku Japan (which I am still getting around to firing) but the quality and attention to detail is beyond comparison.
Click to expand...

The new Winchesters are also beyond comparison to a Marlin 336 in price as well. ;)

I agree the Miroku-manufactured '92 are the t!ts.
 
Sun_and_Steel_77 said:
Sad to hear your woes, glad you still have the rifle.
Pics please and thanks!
Click to expand...

Slapped it together, but can give you what I have.

Rifle as is now

nnnn4.jpg


the first two digits of the serial number
Click to expand...

92

Wish I still had the broken parts, but i have since tossed/lost them. You made me go through my annoying parts bag :p

The barrel band screw failed after 20 rounds of initial purchase ( no aftermarket stock at that point BTW) I had 2 friends with me to celebrate and it turned into a shotgun forearm after 1 box of ammo. Wasn't to impressed. At one point I had on order 12 barrel band screws from Marlin through Precision Arms, but with the wait for parts I cancelled the order.

A pic of the only barrel band screw I kept. Tried to line it up on the wood floor. You might be able to see the slight bow in the middle. This is where it would break. Typically after around 200 rounds. It was very common.

nnnn2.jpg


Another thing I did not mention was the ejector spring. Went through a few of those as well. They would snap off right in the middle of the angle.

nnnn3.jpg


The last breakage before I called uncle

nnnn1.jpg


I'm not angry, I had a great time with the rifle, and got quite good with a levergun in the process. It probably was not designed to take the thrashing that it received, but I feel it should have.

Very much looking forward to starting up again, all be it at a greatly reduced pace with the Winchesters;)

The new Winchesters are also beyond comparison to a Marlin 336 in price as well.
Click to expand...

They most certainly are.
 
TACTICAL111 said:
Slapped it together, but can give you what I have.

Rifle as is now

nnnn4.jpg




92

Wish I still had the broken parts, but i have since tossed/lost them. You made me go through my annoying parts bag :p

The barrel band screw failed after 20 rounds of initial purchase ( no aftermarket stock at that point BTW) I had 2 friends with me to celebrate and it turned into a shotgun forearm after 1 box of ammo. Wasn't to impressed. At one point I had on order 12 barrel band screws from Marlin through Precision Arms, but with the wait for parts I cancelled the order.

A pic of the only barrel band screw I kept. Tried to line it up on the wood floor. You might be able to see the slight bow in the middle. This is where it would break. Typically after around 200 rounds. It was very common.

nnnn2.jpg


Another thing I did not mention was the ejector spring. Went through a few of those as well. They would snap off right in the middle of the angle.

nnnn3.jpg


The last breakage before I called uncle

nnnn1.jpg


I'm not angry, I had a great time with the rifle, and got quite good with a levergun in the process. It probably was not designed to take the thrashing that it received, but I feel it should have.

Very much looking forward to starting up again, all be it at a greatly reduced pace with the Winchesters;)



They most certainly are.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing the pics. You have a legitimate gripe thats for sure. The slot in the magazine tube is mis-aligned with the barrel band causing stress.
I have seen the ejector springs fail just as you say and it is always a good idea to carry a spare.
Gonna keep it or sell it? ;)
 
I recently purchased a 1895 GBL Remlin from Ellwood Epps. It wouldn't eject brass so I returned it to Gravel. They informed me it would need replacing and sent me a new gun. This one had crocked sights so I returned it. They offered me a refund but I told them I would like to try another gun. They sent me a yet another new rifle. This one seemed to have no problems so I polished up the action, installed a Happy Trigger and took it to the range. Here are two three shot groups with the same bullet but different powder. My only beef with the rifle is that it has an extemely short throat and therefore will not accept heavier 350gr or 400gr bullets without shortening my brass so I can crimp. I have sent it to Corlane's to lengthen the throat, I just hope it doesn't screw up the existing accuracy.

2-1.jpg
 
For rifles with short throats, another alternative is to use bullets made for short throats, usually the problem is the length when feeding cartridges.
 
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