Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The Remington Marlins

I have been seeing/hearing some disturbing things about the Marlin's being produced by their new owners Remington. I have noticed rougher edges and fit of components.

Does anyone else feel the same way, are they sliping in manufacturing now?

That seems to be the consensus of the Marlin "experts" on this site. It does make sense, considering the decline in fit and finish of their Remington branded products.

I have heard that they are really trying to right the ship and produce better rifles, but the ones I have seen look awful. The fit and finish has been especially bad.

I've only looked at a couple 336s, but they were rough-finished, and wood-to-metal fit was horrible. The polish under the bluing left a lot to be desired, compared to older rifles, and the front sight wasn't straight.............. I wanted no part of it.

Picked up a couple of new ones over the last couple of years that had a loose forearm while still new on the rack. Most didn't, but still...

Was looking at a NIB 336 chambered in 35 last week that would have been $400, but the blue was already scratched on the loading gate and receiver immediately behind it.


So.. I'm definitely not impressed.

Go to Marlinowners site

I bought an XS7 243 and sold it 3 weeks later. They will never have my buisiness again.

Shod

No 'new' Marlins for me. Cerberus ie Remington's buyout and handling of what was the fine Marlin company makes me sick to my stomach. See my sig line.

Ten years from now, Pre-Remington Marlins will have the same mystique as Pre-64 Winchesters. Get 'em while you can while the prices are still decent.

Have you looked at any of the "Wal-Mart" 336 Marlins, lately? They have a God-awful matte finish and are a true disgrace to the "Marlin" name.

The sad thing is, Marlin was a profitable company when Cerberus/Remington bought them. They had just introduced the XL-7. Sales of the 336 might not have been what it used to be, but if you wanted a nice lever gun, you weren't going to find a new Winchester 94 or 94/22. All they had to do was let them keep producing as they were and things would have been fine. But, no. They had to shutter the plant and attempt to squeeze every penny they could out of them. There's nothing "Marlin" about what you're buying now. It's like Ford bought Ferrari and moved all production from Italy to a truck plant in Kansas City. No soul.No art. Just some third rate hacks copying a design to make something that resembles a Ferrari.

The first "Remlins" were indeed CRAP!, the recent production ones are better but they are a far cry from any of the Marlins, I'm not sure they'll ever reach the same level they once were??, even some of the true dyed n the wool Remington guys I know say they wouldn't take a new Remington if you gave it to them??
At last years sportsman's show there was a rep from Cerberus, the GF saw the 2012 Marlin catalog on the table and grabbed it for me, I didn't talk to the rep but by his reaction when I sad, "yep, to bad all they build is crap now" he'd heard it MANY times that weekend!?

Before the takeover everyone looked at the "CBS" Marlins and thought less of them!?, now they look pretty sweet! by today's standards.

Here in Vermont Marlin lever guns have been extremely popular forever it seems. I have shot many examples over the years. My nephew just bought a new 336 and I was no less than shocked by the low quality. The finish on the metal was rough to the touch and looked textured. After one wet weekend of bunting there was rust on the barrel which wiped off leaving orange stains on hands. The wood finish was uneven. It appeared the stock and forend were of different types of wood and finished with different stains. When I first saw the rifle I assumed it was a cheap copy of Marlin. I guess it is acheap copy, just made by the people who bought Marlin.

I picked up a couple real clean marlin 336's from the 1960's this summer.
Really glad I did....the more I look at em the more I appreciate the good old days. They cycle like butter and the one I put a scope on will put 5 nosler 3030 ballistic tips under an inch at 100yds!

I'm still feeling poorly about a 336A I missed a few years ago, a .35Remington 336A........... I was flat stony-broke at the time, but the price could have, maybe, been tolerable if I'd given up something unnecessary.

I look at the current stuff and wonder what the Hell happened to a fine old company.

With the awful descriptions of these new Marlins, I wonder if they are not made in some third world [bleep] hole and imported.

If someone is looking for a nice old marlin 336 in 35 rem I know where one is sitting at for sale on a shelf for a bit over 400$. Local shop that I frequent when looking for stuff. Shoot me a pm

I believe they're made in Kentucky now, but I could be wrong.

I'm certainly no union apologist, but Cerberus yanked the rug out from under the old Marlin employees and plant in Connecticut, just as they did with the old Remington plant in NY, IIRC. Then they started up production in the new efficient plant with new efficient employees. Without the old craftsmen and smiths, workmanship was sure to suffer. I'm guessing that eventually the new people will get better in producing their product, but it won't ever be the same.

Kind of an American Tragedy if you ask me.

That sucks. I haven't looked at a new one recently to see how they're put together, from what I'm hearing they've really gone downhill. Really too bad. I guess it was only a matter of time til the investment bankers got to our hobby and milked a few more vacation homes out of the industry.

Gotta say though, I bought an xl7 and an xs7 when they first came out, still have both. The 270 out of the box is an accurate and light rifle, smooth action, decent trigger for an accutrigger type.

The short action was rebarrelled to 250AI and is a heck of a shooter, but it's been reworked so might not be a fair comparison.

The bluing is not the best and you put it next to a Sako or the like and there's no comparison, but jeez I paid under 300 for each one.

Are the newer 39's as bad as the others?

I have heard them called Remlins but they are more like gremlins. My nib Marlin 22xt magnum is on its way back for repair for the 2nd time. A nice looking rifle but the front sight was mounted canted to the right so that the rifle shot 5" left and 5" high at 25 yds! Now I bought it for a tractor gun to use on coyotes or other varmints while mowing and bush hogging. I could have dealt with the high but not the left. The first repair consisted of drifting the rear sight all the way to the right and adjusting headspace???. It only shot 2.5" to the left and 5" high when it came back. I returned it asking for a new barrel with a 'square' mounted front sight or the existing barrel be cut back and a front sight properly mounted or my money refunded. Not expecting much this time-we shall see. Looks like it wouldn't be that difficult to keep milling stations clean and jigs set up properly. I won't buy a new Marlin or Remington again.

THe rimfires are made in Kentucky, the Levers are made in Ilion NY.

I visited the local Wally World to buy the 870 pump clone (Pardner Pump with the short barrel) as I wanted a beater shotty I could leave at a cabin or truck. While I was there enduring the 1.5hr process WalMart calls buying a gun, I looked over the 870 express and a Marlin 336. Interestingly, I felt the Norinco-made 870 wasn't too far off from the 870 express in terms of quality and the Norinco is by no means a refined gun.

Now, the 336 Marlin was a serious revelation. I had read many reports on the interwebs about the so-called build quality of the new Marlins. One word sums up the new Marlins: Tragic. Just plain tragic. A few things I noticed on my somewhat brief overview. Metal to wood fit is ridiculous. The stock looks like a boy scout troop was trying to earn their merit badge on stick whittling....and failed. The forearm was thicker on one side than the other and had never seen a piece of sand paper, nice 90� cuts on everything (insert sarcasm). The grip area of the stock looked like it still needed to be trimmed down as it was very thick and bulky. They must have run out of cotton balls to apply the stain and used Qtips instead. The butt pad finish wasn't the best but not the worst I've seen. The steel finish is horrible. I think the highest grit on the steel finish is somewhere around 80 grit (OK, I'll be nice and say closer to 100 grit). It has got to be the cheapest matte "bluing" I've ever seen on a gun. Strike that, I noticed the same finish on their 770 rifle...... I'm certainly not surprised of people reporting that these guns rust in record time if you get stuck in the rain. I didn't bother/try to cycle the gun. I had seen enough. Truly a tragic end to what was one of the best affordable leverguns ever. I'll be going Winchester on any future levergun purchase. Happy to pay extra for quality.

Apparently, the United Mine Workers of America Local 717 is the main union for Remington. If these guys are the ones making these Marlins they need to go renegotiate their contracts DOWN as they have the skills of a high school shop class.