Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk A 1902 1893 38-55 on the way....

I caved. Been wanting an original Marlin 1893 for some years. I like the lines better than the Winchester 1894s.... Didn't jump on a dandy I really liked a while back but caved to my desires today! It's a 26" octagon full magazine and a bit less pretty than what gets costing well beyond my means, just good enough to hook me!


My only other Marlin centerfire is a '70s 336 30-30 that is splendidly accurate. For this one I'm planning on casting, or trying to talk a buddy into it! John - hey John! I'll slug it and go from there for bullets. I also ordered some RCBS Cowboy dies, the Lyman CB Handbook, and bent way over for 200 new pieces of the longer Starline brass - the only I could find - so I thought I better.


Have to check it out in detail when we meet up in a couple of weeks. For now, I just wanted to share my old Marlin joy. I love that "Special Smokeless Steel" marking. Perusing the threads here, I know I am not alone in that.


Cheers

A sister to mine...beauty. I think mine is a little rougher on the outside, but it may have been shot with a lot of greased and/or paper patched bullets and the bore is damn near pristine. Hope yours is as well. If you run into problems making accurate easy feeding cast lead ammo, check back, maybe I can give you some shortcuts.

Beautiful, congrats on a handsome 1893!

Sounds like you enjoy yours. Yes, I hope mine is okay all around. Noticed in a picture, after the fact, that the carrier screw is standing proud a bit on mine. Just loose, wrong screw, or potential problem? We'll see. Anyways, the more I read, the better I think I did actually. Like I indicated, I'm not in the top condition market, just glad to be able to join the 1893 crowd. Appreciate your offer for load assistance.

Thanks!

Very nice! I have its sister in .32-40, to replicate of my great-grandfathers rifle (albeit in better shape than his), complete with a Lyman tang sight.

Looks like you found a nice one....they are very hard to find and have been for quite some time. I think I finally found mine 20 some odd years ago. It's in 30-30 caliber. It's a deluxe takedown with a pistol grip and checkering. The outside is immaculate, but the bore is gray. It shoots accurate and I use it, but it's very tough to find one of these with a nice perfect bore. All the ammo was corrosive primed and back in those days you could still get black powder loaded ammo too. Now if I could just find an original 1895 in 45-70........actually in any caliber

Appreciated. Fingers crossed... Deluxe models of the vintage levers sure are something special, congrats - enjoy. Imagine how bygone such things will be in another few decades! And thanks for response here. I really never knew of Marlins before coming around the Campfire, only Winchesters (grandpa) and Remingtons (dad). I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to acquire this one.

I am a sucker for those old Marlins. I have one old 1893 30wcf from 1896 that I have used and still like it as a woods rifle. I used to take off sheep hunting with that gun and only that gun and climb up into the high valleys above our homestead. They are wonderful off hand shooting guns. I have two 1894s, and another 93 from the early 1930s in 32 special.

Nice! Been looking at others from the era as well.

I've gone pretty much all in so I can cast proper bullets for this rifle. (Theoretically) So now, with all the casting kit, it'd be foolish not to buy more rifles to make full use of it. 😁

Beautiful rifle - really like Marlins (a little more so than Winchesters - no real reason just do). Have a few 1893s now and still looking for the “right” one in .32-40 (the only one I don’t have currently). You might want to invest in Mike Venturino’s book on Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West - it has an excellent section on 1893s in .38-55 and the bore diameter variations one might encounter. Good luck with your rifle - might be addicting though👍!!

PennDog

When it comes time to disassemble your new '93 for a thorough cleaning...you will wonder why you ever found the '94 Winchester attractive. Brilliantly simple and well made. Pay close attention to cartridge OAL and it will function flawlessly. You may want to consider at some point in getting a Lee Factory Crimp die, although some fellows insist the taper crimp is the way to go...not sure why.