Marlin

This page updated 19th August 2023

YOU ARE PROBABLY AWARE THAT MARLIN WAS TAKEN OVER RECENTLY BY STURM RUGER  WHO ARE HIGHLY REGARDED IN THE FIREARMS INDUSTRY. THIS RESULTED IN THE TRANSFER OF THE MACHINERY INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF MARLIN RIFLES AND HAS LED TO A DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY AS TO THE FUTURE OF  THESE ICONIC LEVER ACTION RIFLES. AS OF NOW THE FUTURE IS STILL UNCERTAIN BUT THE INDICATIONS ARE THAT WE ARE HIGHLY UNLIKELY TO SEE ANY MARLIN LEVER ACTION RIFLES ARRIVING HERE IN THE UK UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF NEXT YEAR AT THE EARLIEST. OUR VIEW IS THAT WE MAY BE LOOKING AT LATE 2024 BEFORE WE CAN OFFER ANY NEW RIFLES FOR SALE. HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE PROVED WRONG ON THIS (WE CERTAINLY HOPE SO!) AND WE WILL OF COURSE UPDATE THIS PAGE WHEN WE DO HAVE ANYTHING POSITIVE TO ADD.

A FEW DAYS AGO WE NOTICED A RECENT YOUTUBE VIDEO WHICH WOULD SUGGEST THAT RUGER HAVE ALREASDY COMMENCED PRODUICTION OF THE MODEL 1894 IN .44 MAGNUM CALIBRE ONLY AT THIS TIME. WE ARE ALSO AWARE THAT A SMALL SHIPMENT OF 16″ BARREL “TRAPPER” MARLINS IN .45-70 HAVE ARRIVED IN THE UK! sO POSSIBLY EVENTS ARE HAPPENING EARLIER THAN WE EXPECTED.  KEEP WATCHING THIS PAGE FOR UPDATES!

Whilst there are several other manufacturers of good quality lever action rifles whose products are available in the UK including Winchester, Rossi, Henry and Chiappa to name a few we have always had a special affinity for the Marlin. The main reasons for our preferred choice is largely based on the requirements of competition shooters and certain features of the Marlin brand are particularly relevant to the more action orientated disciplines. Firstly the receivers used for the 1894 models feature a solid top and  side loading and ejection. This also allows for the easy fitting of a scope or red dot sight which is more difficult to fit to most of the other brands of lever action rifles.

We are particularly pleased to offer all our new centrefire pistol calibre Marlins with our complete tuning package. This is done by stripping the rifle after checking for correct function, and polishing some internal parts.  The hammer is reshaped to help reduce the jerky movement found as the bolt rides over the hammer as the lever is raised to close the action.  Most importantly the trigger pull is lightened to an average of around 2.5 lbs or frequently lighter. This is achieved by stoning the sear on a special jig to alter the engagement angle and cut a small relief angle before it is rehardened. During reassembly the factory hammer spring is replaced by a custom spring made in England for us. The factory uses a three  piece firing pin assembly comprising a front firing pin, a rear firing pin, and a small leaf type firing pin spring. This system works well but here in the UK we tend to give our lever action Marlins a bit of a hard time, often cycling them rapidly for many shots. This leads to failure of the factory parts in particular the front firing pin which has a small slot cut in it to receive one end of the firing pin spring. This slot acts as a weak spot and breakage of the front firing pin is not uncommon. So we replace the three parts with a one piece stainless steel firing pin manufactured for us in the UK.

Other parts and accessories are available from us to fit both to the rifles we supply and for you to use with your own rifle if you already have one. This includes our reshaped sear, one piece stainless steel firing pin, modern style extractor, reduced power hammer spring, picatinny scope base, aperture sights etc.  Details and prices are shown below.

A DIFFERENT LOOK FOR YOUR MARLIN RIFLE?

Why should AR-15 and bolt action rifle owners have all the “tactical” looks? At last this modern format may be applied to model 1894  Marlin lever action rifles too! The example shown here is an older .357 1894 rifle which has been through our tuning service together with a shortened barrel with muzzle brake, a Midwest Industries handguard and Accurate Mag’s Evo butt stock. It is also fitted with one of our 1894 Marlin scope bases. Please note, Roger fitted the muzzle brake to this rifle many years ago just to see if he could do it! Clearly the answer was “yes” but we don’t offer the muzzle brake as an added item nowadays as the work involved took rather a long time and involved cutting down the mag tube and spring plus of course removing the barrel for threading and subsequently refitting it. At the time it wasn’t easy to find brakes with the appropriate bore dimensions to ensure they worked correctly.

TUNING SERVICE FOR MARLIN PISTOL CALIBRE RIFLES

Our tuned Marlin rifles have proved very successful and we have been asked on many occasions if we are prepared to tune a Marlin which is already owned by a customer. The answer to this question is “yes” and you are welcome to call in with your rifle and leave it with us for tuning or alternatively you may send it to us for attention. We will carry out exactly the same tuning service that we offer on the new Marlins we sell here but reserve the right to refuse to carry out any work if we feel the rifle has already been modified and may be rendered unsafe if we carry out further work on it. The cost for our tuning service is  £150 but a surcharge MAY be applied if the rifle is in a particularly dirty internal condition and requires extra time spent cleaning it before the work may be carried out. The charge includes the supply and fitting of our modified sear, springs and one piece stainless steel firing pin. Return carriage of £30 will apply where necessary.

MARLIN LEVER ACTION RIFLES FOR SALE

Unearthed from the depths of our workshop are these NEW Marlins but these are all we currently have in stock so act quickly if they are of interest!

SY19156/SY19158  Marlin .357 cal Model CSBL stainless steel rifles with 16.5″ barrel, XS sight rail and ghost ring sites, grey laminate stock etc. As expected these have both been fully tuned by Roger and immediately available ….. £1,800 each

Errors & omissions excepted