Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions New marlin quality?

I’ve been looking through local pawn shops for an old Marlin in .35 but they’re not common at all in my parts. Have thought about buying a new one but had heard their quality fell off dramatically a few years back. How are the new ones? Should I just buy an older one with the cross bolt and put the screw kit in it? Thanks all.

Benbo

There have been a few good ones at reasonable prices lately on G.B.

Buy an older one & own a piece of Marlin history.....

Plenty to choose from on GB......usually $400-500......

My '71 came from there...all original...clean & real nice condition

Click link....this one ...1990 mfg..X/bolt.....easily deleted

Swivel on mag tube is a common mistake.....

2nd one...swivel stud in Bullseye is most common mistake

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/843185069

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/843655050

Used gun market, especially non military, steel and walnut older guns, is soft, a buyers market.

So, shop and don't pay too much. You don't have to.

DF

Thx for the info.

I think marlin has greatly improved quality. Look one over first. Then buy it if it looks good.

From what I can tell, the quality seems to have improved in general, but you still hear the occasional horror story. If you buy Remington Marlin (remlin), I would try to stick to one made in the last two or 3 years, and still inspect it carefully before taking it home. Otherwise, as other's have pointed out, the market is pretty soft at the moment and it's a good time to snatch up a nice JM Marlin at bargain prices. I'm in Texas and we have a website called Texas Gun Trader (like auto trader, lol) and I've picked up 3 killer deals on JM marlins in the past couple of months

My son just bought a 1895 yesterday. It is a very fine rifle, every bit the equal of my 1981 vintage .444s and his 1973 vintage 336. Wood to metal fit is very good, even outstanding. The metal finish is excellent. The wood in the stock is good, about the best I've seen on todays rifles (not that many have wood stocks). Its going to be a good rifle for many years to come. Can't wait to shoot it. He shot it yesterday, but not off a bench. It goes bang and functions flawlessly.

This is much the same thing as pre and post 64 winchesters.

The new Marlins just aren't the same as the old ones, but they function just fine. It is true there was an adjustment period where quality was highly questionable. They have pretty much settled in to what we are going to get. It's a functional lever gun at a competitive price, but just not the same as it used to be.

I think the BACO winchesters are better than any pre 64 model 70. you are right they are different. I think marlin is getting itself back together again. Remington vampired all the blood they could from marlin to pay themselves back, Now they actually need to do a good job or there will not be a company left. I would check to make sure the gun is made in the last couple years. I would also look over it very carefully. if you are buying a 336, I pesonally would still get a 70's are early 80's JM 336. They made so many you can get a good one for a great price. the JM 1894's are crazy prices, in which case I would get a new one like I did instead and save the money.

I have new and old Marlins. The new ones are 44 and 45-70. The old ones are 30-30 and 35 Rem (plus a 39 22rf). The old ones are JM. The only issue I have with any of these is the 45-70 is light and heavy loads make it buck.


As far as quality, I like the new ones (and the old). I'm pleased with the accuracy with the new ones too. I have Lyman aperture sights on all my Marlins, except the 39.

I have all old ones now but am going to check out a new 1894 colt 45 soon.

Remington did have their issues when they started up. But ask old time Marlin users that bought back before they closed up The last few years Marlin wasn't putting out the best rifles. Their equipment was old, the guys that had to hand fit were old, and when I was on the Marlin Rifle forum years ago there were plenty of complaints back then too. Don't let anyone fool you Marlin wasn't producing 100% rifles for a lot of years. People knew about it and when to other Marlin people to get ideas on how to fix things. Remington put a deal together and didn't understand how bad the equipment was. They bought it cheap, but not cheap enough. They had to start from scratch. But at least you have a gun company building guns. It took them a while to catch up, but they are producing good guns. Are they perfect? Probably not, but they are as better than the guns Marlin was producing at the end. No one is producing perfect guns now. People need to get over themselves. I understand people that want older guns, and some that want newer guns, they are both out there. Pick your poison and pay the price. Remington's prices are pretty good right now. Too many internet geniuses telling people they are junk, is still driving the price down.

In case you are wondering most of my are older, but I've had a couple of the new ones and they worked just fine. They are like any other gun on the market. Look them over before you buy if possible.

I might buy a brand new one in 35.

Are you a gambling man? That's what you are doing putting money down on a new Remington made "Marlin" Some are OK and some are junk.....The problem is that most don't know their new rifle is junk until they get it home and shoot it. Then it's like pulling teeth to get "Remlin" to make it right. I would rather pay more for a used , older Marlin. At least if it needs fixed it will be worn parts that you can replace and not a barrel that is crooked, off centered sights, screwed up metal parts , or bad rifling.

I AGREE X2,Pete53

I bought a REM Marlin in 2012 I believe, but I checked it out thoroughly before I paid for it. It's been a good rifle (1895 45/70) and I have no complaints.

I'll have to agree that I like JM models better, but I'd advise anyone to check them out as well. I bought a JM .444 with horrible barrel indexing. It's so bad that the front sight has to be drifted out of the dovetail to be sighted in. Previous owners solution was to bend the front sight over to get it sighted in. My solution was to scope it, but I'd rather have a peep on it.

This rifle was built in 1973, which should have been during some good years for Marlin.

I'm not slamming older Marlins, but even the experienced workers made mistakes from time to time. This was a horrid one.

Check them ALL out. I bought this one sight unseen during the Remlin bashing phase, simply because of the JM stamp. Lesson learned.

Bitching about the Remlin's, either you don't have one or you bought one that was when Remington first took it over.
The problem with Marlin's rifles were: The drawings didn't match what the machinery was producing. The old timers that made the Marlins work were old and they were retiring, leaving a mess behind. Remington had to make everything new again, drawings and machinery.

My new Marlins are good rifles and I suspect that if you buy one that is newly manufactured you'll find the same thing.

I’ve got a new 1894CBSL in 357 and it is a great rifle. The loading port had a few sharp edges that I smoothed out but the action is smooth and the trigger pull is good. It’s been very accurate too.

These guys in TX mfg aftermarket Marlin parts........just an FYI

https://www.rangerpointstore.com/categories/marlin-firearms-parts.html

I can understand getting something screwed up from an online deal.
And then having to jump thru burning hula hoops to make it right or exchange it in hopes the next one is right.


What I cant understand is buying one in person.
Inspecting it for fit, finish and function of very detectable issues or potential problems and then bitching about it after the fact.

Do people buy the 1st one they see a worker brings out.
Or do they ask if their are 2, 3 or 4 they can inspect and pick out the best one.

This kinda goes for any firearm purchase.
I know I'm leary as heck of buying the last one of anything.
Espeically a display gun, that everyone has played with.

I would find another place that has several to pick from.



Aside from that.

I dont dig crossbolt safety lever guns .
So buying a new marlin aint a factor to me.
And anything I buy I wanna check out in depth.

Everyone has heard the stories of game animals lives being saved by crossbolt safety guns.

Heck.... even heard em on here at times.

It's pretty darn simple to disable the crossbolt safety. Even a cave man could do it.

This. Exactly.

x/bolt safety is gone......

tikkanut, where did you buy that safety delete plug?

I could not find it at Brownells or Midway USA. Their was a company called Beartooth that had it but their web site is down.

The fore arm wood on the remlins I own do not wiggle around like the jm Marlins.

I think the new remlins r good but I don't own very many.

But I like waffle tops the best!

Beartooth Merc in WY is best source

There is another guy too that mfg's them.....just can't recall the name

https://beartoothmercantile.com/basic-safety-delete-for-marlin-rifle/

Thanks

My Marlin 30-30 (bought in early 90s)often shoots clovers at 25 yards. My stainless 30-30 Marlin comes pretty close to that at 25 yards. Apparently I got lucky with both. There was a period up until a couple of years ago when their quality control slipped. The aforementioned stainless is a replacement. The first barrel was crooked. Marlin stood by their mishap and made good. Granted, I was persistent with my dissatisfaction. One should be fine with a currently made one. Of course expectations with a 30-30 should be kept realistic. Although I got extremely lucky, most are not expected to shoot
as good. I wish I got as lucky with all my other factory rifles-lol. Careful inspection of a new purchase can help reduce the chance of buying a poor performer. Keep your expectations realistic and you should be fine buying a new one.
Marlin has stepped it up the last couple of years.

I used to feel the same way, but then I realized how many good rifles I would be passing over if I did that.
Harbor Freight O-Ring around the button has been purported to be a good fix. I can neither confirm nor deny that I use one. And it doesn't require any modification and can be applied or removed in the field.

Aside from that the last couple years of Marlin before the recent sale have been good in my opinion. Compare them to the golden age of machining when labor was cheaper, and one might be disappointed, but the recent 2016+ are certainly acceptable for use.

I can confirm it. A little o-ring on the hammer button {it even has a groove on it} keeps you from pushing the button in by accident.
So when us old timers want to shoot it won't be on safe because we forgot to push it in.
I keep my o-rings on all the time so it's like the old days, it can also be easily taken off with a little pick or your fingernail.

When hunting or shooting, I use half-cock. When unloading, I use the button. I think of the button as an unloading safety device. Never got mixed-up yet.

Bruce

Did you realize that you resurrected a dead thread? Usually it is better to start a new thread.

Who's the little prick mentioned above? Ha ha

Remington went bankrupt and the company has been split up and auctioned off. Ruger owns Marlin now and is supposed to start production of Marlin rifles sometime this fall.

Looking forward to what Ruger may have in store for Marlin. I think they will quickly try to put a 30-30 in production, but my hope is they do a stainless/Laminate version soon.

That's been my method for years. I've never had an issue either.

Any unwanted forearm wiggle is easily fixed with a little bedding compound.

All that's required to disable/lock the crossbolt safety in the off position is a screwdriver. No O rings needed.