Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk Marlin 1894 CL, 32-20 Question

There is one coming up for auction down here in nice condition but only one photo available at present. S/N is CL323093 can someone help with date of manufacture? Only other information I have is walnut, not checkered, 22" barrel

Thanks
Johno

Not much help, but those CLs can be kind of tricky to date. They were made very intermittently from 1988-2008. The bulk of them were made between 1988-1993, but they occasionally cataloged them after that. The last couple runs during the end of the JM years were all chambered in 32-20.

I had a couple, a Bee and a 25-20. The Bee was a fantastic shooter after a WWT; the triggers on both rifles were absolutely lousy off the rack.

ZCM82 is correct

Ok, thanks for the help ive tried google and came up with very similar replies

Johno

If the price is right it would definitely be a worthwhile purchase. With higher velocity loads, it's a deceptively punchy little cartridge, and they're really fun to shoot. New brass is still available from Starline once in a while.

I don't regret getting rid the Bee, but in hindsight I wish I had hung onto the 25-20.

Same here. I had the CL in 25-20 and let it go. Have missed it ever since

There are two rifles its this auction down here I was interested in a Marlin 62 30 carbine now ive never seen another and i'm 74 when I saw the estimate of $600-$700 I near wet my britches, well a week to go on auction and its $2,400.00 AUD so moving right along ive focused on the 32-20 bidding at $600 AUD at the moment that's around $350.00 USD, it is not going to stay there

Johno

Those model 62s are a pretty rare find. I wanted one in 256 Mag back when I was younger, but the prices on those were crazy even then.

Good luck on the CL. Even $600USD is a pretty good deal on that in today's market... basically a steal if it's in nice shape. They're a fun little rifle, and I bet one is pretty slick in 32-20. The Bee I had was a little hiccupy both loading and feeding, but the 25-20 was very smooth.


I didn't shoot the 25-20 that much, and didn't keep it all that long. I happened to pick it up right about the same time FN .257 bullets dried up (mid/late 2000s). I fiddled around with casting some of my own for it, but that was not my cup of tea at all. Bullets are easier to find from commercial cast and boutique jacketed manufacturers with the internet the way it is these days, so I may try hunt down another 25-20 rifle eventually.

I ended up picking up another Bee in a bolt pretty cheap a few years ago. It's not nearly as sexy as the CL was, but it is a good shooter.

Same here. I couldn't find ammo and didn't reload at the time so I never got to shoot it much. And that's why it went down the road. That was in the mid 90's