Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions Rossi Rio Grande Feedback

Anyone here have the 30-30 Rio Grande? Feedback?

Ordered up one to try it out. Initial impressions are good, not great. However, initial quality of the gun seems better than the Marlins I've seen recently. Metal to wood fit is very good. Again, not great. There is no doubt this gun has more hand labor than the Marlin. I believe the barrel and receiver are 100% hand finished. The wood on mine seems great but the dye/finish is lacking. Checkering would be nice but it appears Rossi does not checker any of their guns. The receiver is a bit thinner than the Marlin and the gun is lighter than a Marlin as a result. The internals are a bit rough in certain areas but it does not effect function and/or feel of cycling; just sharp burrs in non-critical areas.

After having this in hand I would tend to agree with the overall opinion that people should just search out a pre-Remington Marlin. This one cost ~$380 after shipping and transfer fee. If one is patient a good, used Marlin is not out of reach for that figure. But, if I wanted a lever in this price range and could not wait I would take this over a current Marlin. You may need to add some coats of oil to the stock and de-burr the internals a bit but the base rifle is just a bit better than the current crop Marlins. Hope this helps.