Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Is Ruger making Marlins yet?

Any word on Ruger’s progress on making Marlin rifles?

Looks like still planning on shipping starting in the 4th quarter of the year. Starting with 1894, 1895, and 336

https://sgbonline.com/inside-the-ca...owth-price-increases-and-marlin-rollout/

If they would make some model 39's......

Thanks for the link. Here is the part on Marlin for those who want to read it:

The CEO also said it looked forward to returning Marlin lever-action rifles, shown lead photo, which it plans to ship in the fourth quarter. Sturm, Ruger & Co. acquired the Marlin assets from Remington Outdoor Company in a $30 million deal that closed in November 2020 and was approved through bankruptcy proceedings.

“It will be a limited offering,” Killoy shared. “Initially, we’ll start with the model 1895, 1894 and the 336. Certainly not every model and SKU that our customers are looking for. It will take us a while to bring all of Marlin back to its full glory, but we’re excited about it. And, again, the focus is on those centerfire lever action SKUs in the beginning. The team has been doing a great job on that.” He said the company has been “delighted with the overwhelming interest and support received from Marlin fans.”

Killoy said that it is looking at the Marlin business almost as a new products business due to the amount of work that went into re-starting production.

“They were around for a long time in their former lives, but they’re certainly brand new to Ruger, and the amount of effort going into that is, frankly, a little staggering,” Killoy said. “The team has been doing a fantastic job when you think about standing up the supply chain, going through part by part, making sure every machine is up to speed—lots of work needed to be done. On a previous call, you may have heard me; we talked about over 100 tractor-trailer loads of machinery equipment, work in process, and parts coming our way. It’s been a big task, and a big undertaking down in Mayodan.”

Killoy said the brand was starting from scratch. “We got some machinery, some work in process, some raw materials, some parts, but we needed to stand up that line down in our facility in Mayodan, NC,” he detailed. “We’re working through that process. The guns we will be making in shipping in the fourth quarter will be parts and materials that we’ve made in the line, not things that we inherited or picked up in the sale. We’re excited about it. It’s been going great. We’ve got a great team in Mayodan. And, frankly, what’s been exciting for me is watching the level of effort expended by our other factories in Newport and Prescott, AZ, helping with the launch in Mayodan. We’ve got teams of engineers in those facilities working on small parts, working on wood stocks, things like that, and all of that’s going to combine to a great relaunch of Marlin in the fourth quarter.”

glad they moved production to the gun friendly South

The plant is here in NC and I see they are actively hiring. I plan to buy an 1894 in 44 Mag just because I've always wanted one and I love Ruger guns. Guess it'll be a called a Ruglin lol. I'll bet anything they'll be MUCH better than any Remlin ever was!!

Sure hope Ruger ditches the micro-groove rifling BS

Yep. I’d buy one.

Wonder how much...

Wonder if they will keep the Marlin turtle twist rates

I really like Ruger's efforts and portfolio, I own 3 stainless laminate Hawkeye and love them. Although, I have to admit that the Ruger American is one of the crappiest feeling guns I've ever handled. I have a Ruger American Ranch in .300BO that takes the P-mags and has a threaded barrel. Great suppressed pig gun, but man it feels like crap.

I'm really excited to see what Ruger does with the Marlin line. I think there's a lot of potential. I regularly use a JM stamped 1894 stainless in .44mag for shooting hogs. One of the easiest carrying and fastest deploying guns I own, with 10 rounds in the tube mag. I highly recommend a Skinner peep site with the aperture removed and used as a ghost ring. (BTW, Skinner makes an aperture holder that slides into the original site dovetail, so you have every option on-board.)

Remington tried to make the old Marlin machinery work for them but ended up re-tooling. What Ruger picked up in the sale should be in pretty good shape. Hopefully, they won’t rush to market before they get it right.

Missed two beavers out beyond 60 yds the other day with the 12 gauge. I've no small game gun except for an sp101.

I'll be the first to get a ruger-marlin 357 mag carbine, when they come out......

I am happy that marlin is still a American owned company

I definitely believe that in time Ruger will bring the name back to what it was! May be some problems at first, but they'll get it right! I'd like to see a 336a type rifle, 24"Bbl, Half Mag, for sure in 35 Rem, or even a close relative, like 356 Win even better along with a few others. The Lever world could sure use some old time variety!

Get a Rossi instead. It’s cheaper and a far better and stronger action than the Marlin.

I dunno. I had 2 Rossi 92s (357 and 45 Colt) and they both had feed and extraction issues. I had a Rossi pump 22 that had extraction problems, as well. I'd be hard pressed to recommend one over an older JM Marlin.

Same with the Henry Big Boy. I have a BBS carbine in 327 Fed, and while very accurate, it is not the best feeding lever I've owned by a long shot. Overall, I like it, but would not call it worth the new sticker price.

The feeding and extraction issues on the Rossi’s are an easy fix. The ejector spring they use is too strong. It puts tension on the shell and raises the nose enough to cause feeding issues. Replace it with just about anything, I replaced mine with a spring from a ball point pen for awhile and it works like butter. I eventually ordered one made for a Winchester 92 and it works fine. Truth be known the one from the pen worked better. It dumped the empties right at my feet.

I got rid of all 3 of the Rossis years ago. Most of the time if I get something NIB and it doesn't perform how it's supposed to, I move onto something else.

I had an original Win 92 in 38-40 for a while and it wasn't the smoothest feeding thing in the world, either. Never any extractor problems with that one, though, just a bit hiccupy picking up off the elevator sometimes.

You’ll never get Marlin lock with a Rossi.

I've owned about a dozen Marlins and never jammed one to the point of it being stuck. I did have to clear a 336 for a friend last year, though. He had that thing jammed tight.

I've mostly moved on to Savage 99s for my levers now though, dumped all the Marlins I had left to make room.

It’s not a jam, it’s an unexplained locking of the lever than comes and goes inexplicably.

I thought you were referring to the habit they have of jamming up if you short stroke them.

Nope, I’m talking about the habit they have of randomly locking up with no explanation.

Oh, I've never encountered that issue.

It’s real.

Sounds like we can look forward to the new, cast, bulky and heavy as [bleep] 336

Now, what makes you say that?

DF

Im hearing the first SBL will hit in Dec, pistol caliber levers will follow in 1st quarter

The sale included millions of dollars in parts inventory. The only reason not to use at least the bulk of those parts, and instead do a re-design as the article talks about, is to "Rugerize" the gun with the drop in strength that goes with voids in cast parts and the associated increases in dimensions and weight to make up for it.

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt I am.

Pine Tree castings are as strong as milled steel, some say stronger. I doubt they have voids, etc. I wouldn’t presume to judge Ruger, not until they roll out their new Marlins.

DF

Well then you're welcome to buy them. There's a reason JM Marlins have doubled in the last couple years, but you do you

Yeah, they haven't made them in a long while....gonna become more valuable.

I have JMs, Remlins and will have Ruger Marlins asap.

It will be interesting to see if Ruger incorporates their investment casting technology for their version of the Marlin. Bet they do.

And, it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t address some of the quirks found in some Marlins. Ruger engineers are pretty good.

I look forward to the roll out.

DF

Doesn't matter how good their engineers are when their execution and quality control absolutely sucks. I've seen more non functional abortions come out of Ruger boxes than any other major American firearm manufacturer. If anybody can fugg up a Marlin, it's Ruger.

Well, not my experience.

But, like Leupold, they'll fix'em.

DF

We sent back more Rugers when I worked in the gun shop than any other brand. They'll fix them when they can. Sometimes they're fugged beyond easy/reasonable repair and in that case Ruger will choose to replace.

What are the "quirks" You speak of ? I only have sample of three with the youngest made in 1977 but there's no "quirks" with them.

My Marlins work great, no quirks.

Google the Dreaded Marlin Jam. That can be a quirk, especially if and when it happens to you.

I'm thinking Ruger engineers may address that. We'll see.

DF

The problems I’ve had or seen with Ruger:
The stock’s comb are to low for use with a scope. (Number 1 bitch!)
Accuracy isn’t all that great with all but one Ruger rifle I’ve owned. However a have a Ruger Super Black Hawk 44 Magnum that is the most accurate pistol I’ve ever owned. But I’ve owned over a dozen Ruger revolvers that have gone down the road.
My brother had a Ruger Super Red Hawk that had a barrel on it that would have been better on a 45 Colt, it was that much over bore.
The sights on the Ruger revolvers are crude, that is if you’re into shooting at steel targets one click will bring the POI from below the target to over the target.
My pet peeve with Ruger’s trigger is the cursed “accu-trigger” - of course they are not the only manufacturer that uses that damned trigger.

Mmm, I have a scope on my Ruger 77 .338 Win Mg and no complaints. Maybe a change in the scope mount would help. Or a slip on stock pad with soft comb?
It did need a trigger job and that was done.
It has also been Magnaported and the action glass bedded.
My son and I both shoot it and like it. It did well in RSA also and on a nice Colorado elk.

Good luck with yours.

I just heard a Gun Talk broadcast where Gresham interviewed Chris Killoy. He said the first Ruger/Marlins will be 1895's chambered in .45-70 and they'll be shipping the first ones out in December. Next will be 1894's chambered in .357 and .44 mag. He says they are not utilizing investment castings but sticking with forgings for the Marlins and they will have hammer forged barrels rather than button rifled. Thought some here might like to know.

Well that's excellent news, since the 336 design would become a charmless lump if scaled up for investment casting.

If they are in fact keeping dimensions the same by using forgings, one has to wonder why they claim not to be using the millions of dollars of parts they purchased...

He's not wrong. I've experienced it many times

If you're experiencing the "Marlin jam" your lifter needs adjustment. I've put many thousands of rounds through various Marlins with never a problem.

It’s not a “jam”. It’s a lock and it will do loaded or unloaded.

I'm wondering if Ruger engineers can fix that.

DF

Well then somethiong is wrong with your particular rifle. Figure out what it is and fix it. "Locking up" is not a normal function of a Marlin rifle. As I said, I've put many thousands of rounds through various 336's and 1894's over the past 40 years and have not had that problem.

Ruger fuucks up the execution of it's own designs often enough that I seriously doubt they could make any improvement in the Marlin design that they couldn't fuuck up just as well. I personally know of several well worn 40-60+ year old Marlins that have never given their owners any grief through much use. If there were an inherent design flaw, one would think somebody at Marlin would have identified and corrected it long ago or maybe someone at Mossberg, Henry or Rossi, since all four have used the same basic design. Marlin wouldn't have sold millions of copies over the past 128 years if they were known for "locking up" or otherwise malfunctioning as a common occurrance/problem. Folks tend to like/buy dependable, durable, rifles and undependable/frail ones tend to not sell millions of copies or last long on the market.

Of course there is something wrong with that rifle. And it’s a fairly common problem amongst Marlins. You can find YouTube videos of it.

Yup. I've had several Marlins do it. It's very infrequent

The most common cause is a loose loading gate screw.

I'll keep that in mind

Yeah, no.

Yes it is. In fact, the loose loading gate screw causing the lifter to bind against the gate and the "Marlin jam" are the two most common and widely known issues with them. You seem to know an awful lot for a guy who can't figure out what's wrong with his rifle and correct it.

I would think with all of the issues when the pencil neck run outfit took over Marlin the last time, that RUGER would want the production refined to a T before putting a gun out on the shelves of AMERICA.

Yup thats it. My 336Y will still do it and loading gate screw is tight

If you can't figure out what's binding up your rifle you need to take it to somebody who can.

A loose loading gate screw would cause the action to stick on the return stroke. In other words, you wouldn't be able to close the lever after the down stroke as the lifter would bind on the loading gate as it tried to rise. A properly functioning Marlin will not do what is shown in that video. My 1894C, purchased new in 1986 has never bound up like that after thousands of cycles. Neither has my current 336 which has also been cycled thousands of times since purchased in 1992. Neither did my previous 1894 .44 mag. or any of the half dozen 336's I've owned previously. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you cycle them or in what position. Upside down, tilted left or right or pointed straight up or down, they operate smoothly with no binding. I would not tolerate that.

Try letting the hammer down in uncocked position.

I don’t tolerate it. My Marlins are in the back of the closet and I use Winchesters these days for a lever fix.

But it is a problem that appears in some rifles that no one can diagnose with any consistency. Sometimes it is new rifles, sometimes it is old rifles that have worked for hundreds or even thousands of rounds. I”ve read it is mostly in well worn examples. I think it is something that is/was related to the 100 year old equipment Marlin was using to manufacture its rifles there at the end and something was producing parts that were out of tolerance or something. My rifle is slicker that cat schit but will do that about every fifth or sixth stroke.

It may well be something out of tolerance. It may also be as simple as burrs/roughness or a chip. I'd be checking the nose of the lever and the slot in the bolt it rides in for chips/burrs/irregularities. You can tell the lever is coming down far enough in that video that the locking lug is already disengaged and with the hammer already cocked it for sure isn't the hammer spring strut binding in the slot of the retention plate.

Last gun I took to a gunsmith I didn't see again for 6 months. I'll live with it. It only does it once in a blue moon and I can get it unstuck

Press release from this morning.



Marlin Firearms

Anyway, looks like Ruger is on it.

Am I reading Investment Cast receivers?

Has anybody heard or seen anything on how the pricing is going to be on these?

I'm anxiously awaiting I'm sure like a lot of other folks.

I can't help but think the current manic Marlin prices will play into Ruger's MSRP decision. I hope not though.

Best thing they could do is shock everyone with an outstanding value product below MSRP suggestions. Get back to making every-woodsmans rifle - one version under $400 others being fancier. Nobody is doing that now

I'd love to see them do away with the damn checkering. Checkering never did look right on a lever gun to me. I much prefer my older ones with smooth woodwork.

I've skipped many Posts in this Thread... With intent. A definite "Marlin" aficionado, but as myself "old stuff", my appreciation for the old stuff. I do understand both some new elements and also chamberings well beyond the Model 336 of yore, such as being "seductive". But for the folks enjoying the KISS principle of guns or hanging on by fingernails in 'life'... What about the virtues of the by now "senior" Marlins such as the 336 from intro in 1948 to about the time of the "safety" intro, about '82? To me those are the "pure" and unadulterated" Marlins. Folks here with baited breath (never quite understood how that term came about), as so many nice early specimens yet at decent prices - comparatively! I did my collecting in the true and quite long era as Marlin a sleeper on the used market. Now, some pretty nice specimens I couldn't affordably justify today.
Rambling concluded, with question. Why not more interest in the classic models compared to new equivalent and even with bells & whistles sight rails, super mag chamberings and whiz-bang chamberings?

Wood & blued steel, 30-30 Win or .35 Rem... Would think for many, more than sufficient!

Would appreciate the 'other' perspective where such guns are "inadequate" or...???

Best & Happy Holidays!
John

I talked with a friend of mine yesterday, a ruger engineer, and he said they were making a SS 1895 in 45-70 at the moment. I also like the older Marlins,square bolt models,along with winchester and savages.

I can't imagine them turning a profit at $400 for the price of materials, labor, and shipping these days. Levers are a lot more labor intensive to turn out than bolts. More parts, more fitment with both metal and wood, more complicated assembly.

The cheapest centerfire lever on the market that I know of is the Mossberg 464, and even those go over $400 now. They're an acceptably functional rifle, but they just feel very cheap in the hand compared to pretty much any other lever out there.

" Bated breath means you're breathless with anticipation. Unless you've devoured several cans of sardines in the hopes that your fishy breath will lure a nice big trout out of the river, baited breath is incorrect."

I saw an article yesterday that Marlins will be shipping in Dec depending on shipping availability.

Still have to wait and see. When a LGS starts taking orders, we will know for sure.
And their web site starts listing them under product line

It will be interesting to see what they offer. Some things from the old product line I'd buy, some I passed on before and I'd pass on again. I hope they offer the Cowboy guns and some stainless versions.

I'm mainly waiting in the wings for 444

As soon as dealers start putting them on Gunbrokers they will sell for double msrp for at about a year, maybe more.
Thats my prediction.

Come on Ruger, bring out the 39A

I'd say that's a fair prediction. Those Springfield SA-35's are still selling for 200-300 dollars over MSRP and when they first came out folks were paying up to $600 over the $699 MSRP, and that's for a pistol with a niche market demand.

Shame, that. I've sold off a lot of different caliber rifles recently along with the reloading dies and components but have kept my .30-30 dies and components even though I don't currently have one.

Would love to see a straight grip 336 or even better a Sporting Carbine style but that's going to be a while, if ever.

Never heard of that and currently own over 20 marlins from 1892s,1893s,1894s,1895s,1897`s,39`s ,1936`s,36s and , 336s
The only Marlin Jams I have seen are from dipsticks short stroking them.
Rossi`s are ok if you can`t afford a Marlin.Other than that they are crap.

I don’t know where I could fit a new rifle/cartridge into with levers. But a 348 Win might do nicely. Others that I’d like to see perhaps a 35 Win, 33 Win, or 303 Savage. Or how about a 348-358, that is a 348 necked up to 358?

Luckily I pretty much have the Marlins I need, except I’m looking at a…

I'd take a 25/35, but that will never happen. You need at least 4 different cartridges throwing 400grs of lead to kill a 125 pound deer.

25-35 or 7-30 would be sweet. I'm still kind of kicking myself for not buying a 94 Win in 25-35 when they made a run of them a few years back.

They're making hats now, so there's that............





and shirts!

They've posted a pic with their staff, all in masks, holding the first manufactured one a month or so ago. I think it was a laminate stainless 45/70.


Now is a good time to sell your old marlin, my lgs just got this one in, curious what it will end up at

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/918231061

Just because that's the biggest thing you hunt doesn't make it applicable to the rest of us. Plenty of us hunt big animals

Blackheart, I'm not sure what your issue is with Ruger, but if you don't like them, don't buy them. Simple as that. I've seen some real issues with every one of them at one time or another. They produce a hell of a lot of guns for no more issues than they've got. I don't know what your investment is in trying to talk someone else into whether or not they buy one. I've had a couple of hundred Rugers over the years and been very pleased with them.

I'm going by how many New Rugers we had brought back by unhappy customers at the gunshop and how many I've personally bought that needed to be sent back because they were non functional out of the box. I'll stand by my previous statement..

.
I'm very tempted to list mine. Same rifle, new in the box. I paid $900 for it roughly 2 years ago.

I'm thinking that a336 has a good bit more parts than a #1.
Does that mean $1000 336 rifles.

A lot of a assumptions there. Of course I wouldn't expect an idiot living in a liberal state to know much

Ha! This loser goes right to playing the "liberal state" card. It's good you're not black or you'd be playing the race card.

I'm guessing $1000+, given Henry steel models are in the $800-1200 range nowadays

Can you microgroove and CHF?
Ruger hammer forges barrels.

Sorry, but it's true. I'll bet you a $100 dollar bill (I know your mom might have to work the corner double time to cover) that I have more BIG animals killed than you