Marlin

This page updated 20th September 2021

WE DELAYED UPDATING THIS PAGE UNTIL AFTER A MEETING LAST WEEK WITH THE GENERAL MANAGER FROM RAYTRADE, THE UK MARLIN IMPORTER.  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 2022 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.

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.

Unfortunately, as many of you will be only too aware the quality and availability of Marlin pistol calibre lever action rifles has been a matter of great concern over the past few years and we  resorted to importing used rifles to satisfy the UK market. Hopefully this has all changed as the Marlin factory have at last released the 1894 Marlin in .44 and now .357 calibres. We have now handled quite a few of the latest imported Marlins and are delighted to say that the quality, fit and finish on them has proved to be excellent and as good, if not better than the earlier “JM” models which were produced before the Marlin brand name was taken over by Remington.

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 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.

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 mat 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  £130but 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

Sadly we have to advise that we have now almost completely sold out of our inventory of new Marlin lever action rifles. All we have left right now is the one shown below. However we have been constantly reviewing a number of US auction sites and are pleased to announce that we have been successful with a number of bids for the occasional new Marlin and a number of used examples. We are currently searching for others so the ones we have won will not be with us for approximately six to eight weeks. Before we can offer them for sale they will need to be thoroughly examined, tuned and then sent to the Proof House all of which will add to the timescale. Rest assured we will post them on this site as soon as we possibly can!

Model 1894  .44 Mag with 20″ round blued barrel, 10 shot magazine, fully tuned ….. £1,200

Errors & omissions excepted