I got a 1895SBL last year. Accuracy is fantastic. I put a Wild West trigger, ejector, and follower on it. Out of the box, it fed fine and ejected flawlessly. Only problem was the edges on the loading gate and ramp were very sharp with burrs. Took it apart and cleaned those up a bit with emery cloth, and it was good to go.
My dad bought a 1895GBL just a month or so after that. He left all the factory parts in his. But, on his, the magazine tube was screwed up from the factory. The follower would get stuck if you loaded more than 2 rounds in the mag, and that in turn would jam the action. Marlin had no problem replacing the part, but it took over 2 months to get it, so that gun didn't see the woods for hunting season. Best we could tell is the tube had a thick spot in the wall, which made the internal ID too tight. There was no bend in the magazine tube. The replacement tube works perfectly.
Both guns seem well built and put together, it was just the small QC errors they had with final checking and testing.
I have heard they invested in some very nice machinery, so now that they have good people running it, they should be producing quality items.
Last edited by KenMi; 09/13/15.
