Marlin 44 mag vs Winchester vs ?

T

thealex

New member
Soo.. I was cruising the local gun store today and they had just got in a Marlin 1894 in a 44 mag that they had ordered 13 months ago(Apparently they are hard to get?) I have been thinking about a lever gun in that caliber but I am not very well versed in the different makes and models.
Any thoughts to help control my impulsiveness?
 
My marlin 1894 is my favorite rifle. I got the wild west guns trigger happy kit and sights and it is a pleasure to shoot!.
 
Reason that it took so long to get an 1894 in the shop, is that Remington has ceased production till they get their QC act together...And then, who knows...They may never start again...

If it is a true Marlin (JM proof mark), I'd say take another look at it...

If it is a Remlin, take 4-5 good long looks before buying...
 
I had one. It couldn't even find paper at 25 yards and jammed constantly. This with three trips back to the factory for, supposedly, repairs.
Did you say Marlin no longer manufactures and it is done by Remington?
 
Way less than 50% of the article, and fair-use July/2011:

In 2007, Marlin and Remington were both bought by The Freedom Group, a firearms conglomerate owned by the Cerberus group. (Yep, the same Cerberus group who ran Chrysler into the ground.) To reduce costs, Cerberus/Freedom Group shut down Marlin’s 140 year-old factory in North Haven, Connecticut earlier this year and dismissed 73 members of its skilled workforce. Some production was transferred to an expanded Remington plant in Ilion, New York (lured by nearly $2.5 million in government incentives). Most of the work was moved to a new factory in North Carolina.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...arlinremington-the-new-1970s-harley-davidson/

And then this:

Marlin’s rep left a list of SKU’s (all lever actions, full list after the jump) that will “not be manufactured for the remainder of year.”

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/08/robert-farago/marlin-stops-shipping-lever-rifles/

List of SKU's is at the 2nd link, and as of today 'Marlin' has not started shipping lever guns...
 
Reason that it took so long to get an 1894 in the shop, is that Remington has ceased production till they get their QC act together...And then, who knows...They may never start again...

If it is a true Marlin (JM proof mark), I'd say take another look at it...

If it is a Remlin, take 4-5 good long looks before buying...
Click to expand...

I'll second that...check for improper barrel indexing...curve in barrel, and basically treat it like an Unknown Gun from a Shady Guy at a Gun Show...
which means, if you ain't familiar with lever's, bring someone who IS.

Pre-2005 Marlins are the better quality...the post 2005-2011 are suspect as heck...disgruntled worker syndrome...
The 2012 Remlins are also suspect, but more for Manufacturing Defects...
this is why they shut the line down until QC could be resolved...
they are working hard on the issues...as the Marlin Faithful came down upon them like Jules from Pulp Fiction :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IVQ-UP8yyY
 
Thanks for the tips. I almost bought it today but didn't. I am going to put out the feelers for a good used Marlin 44 mag. Thanks everyone. Alex
 
Wow I didn't know that about the new marlins. I have had great luck with mine maybe I have been extremely lucky. Unless the problem parts were the parts i replaced with Wild West Guns parts lol. I guess the only complaint i have had with mine is it is hard to cycle 300 grain bullets. But since The barrel twist is better for 240 i just stick with that.
 
Does anyone know if Marlin was profitable before purchase by the Freedom Group? Because it seems to me that if Marlin was turning a profit, any at all, which I suspect was the case, then all FG has done is completely screw the pooch on this. I imagine that zero production is a lot less profitable. :rolleyes:
 
I'd hold out until you can find a pre-safety model used, the older the better. Much less chance of getting a lemon that way.
 
Two old and honored historic marques, run into the ground by corporate greed. R.I.P.
If it's not a pre-2005 Marlin, I wouldn't touch it, personally.
 
Well, I've had some convo's with one of the managers working for Remlin, he says that he is a hardcore Marlin fan and wants the rifles that
come from his lines to be as good as the originals...but he also knows that working with a new crew & new line means it'll take awhile...

I can't envy him, he's got a hard road ahead to get things up to snuff for Marlin fans.
But at least they've Stopped the production until they can get things right.

Mind you, some of the Marlin Fans are out of line, as I think some of 'em overestimate the old quality...
I've got a 1952 Marlin 336 with a 6-degree off barrel index...they were goofing back in the old days too...
But even with that, it still puts the bullets precisely where I aim.

And we who love Marlins know that we've had to do our fair share of work to 'em to get them worked-in so they are ultra-reliable...
there is a specific proceedure for making those levers into ultra-reliable tanks :D

Expectations are high all around...at least Remlin is trying hard to meet those expectations.
I'll give 'em credit for that, and a bit of leeway too.

Right now, I'll treat a newer Marlin (2005+) like any pawn-shop or gun show find...
inspect the heck out of it, and be very thorough going over every aspect.
There are things to watch out for, and they're fairly well known...and fixable.
With a New one, I'd send it to Marlin to be fixed until they got it right...I've had to do that often enough to Ruger products, so its a known process.
 
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