Remington marlin lever rifle
- Thread starter mrt949
- Start date
stagpanther
New member
I bought a remlin 336 30-30 made right as they were going belly-up. It shoots well. It hits the target. That's about it.
Most of the complaints were when Remington first moved Marlin. The had old tired machinery, they lost most of their employees, and started in right away with laminated stocks. Like any new production lines, Remington was having problems getting up and running, and their quality suffered. And like any new production line, they eventually got it right and started shipping well-made guns.
I have a friend who bought a new "remlin" a couple of years ago, a M336 30-30. He said it shot quite good, but he said the fit and finish on metal and wood was truly awful, and he got rid of it. I never saw it, and would've liked to, just to see what the "remlin" deal/business was/is all about.
I guess I have to ask, mtr949, do you like the rifle? No function problems? maybe you got a keeper there. I'd say if you like it, stay with it (at least 'till you might not). To me a firearm is like a good vehicle. If it ain't a lemon, I keep it. My old Durango is 22 years old this year, and I still have my 10/22 I got back in the later 60's... both keepers. I have 3 JMs, and they're all keepers, too.
I guess I have to ask, mtr949, do you like the rifle? No function problems? maybe you got a keeper there. I'd say if you like it, stay with it (at least 'till you might not). To me a firearm is like a good vehicle. If it ain't a lemon, I keep it. My old Durango is 22 years old this year, and I still have my 10/22 I got back in the later 60's... both keepers. I have 3 JMs, and they're all keepers, too.
I saw some of the early Remlin 336s and your friend was right. The checkering looked like it was done by a three year old with a fork. I've heard it got better after the first couple of years. How good the Ruglins are going to be remains to be seen.
I went through 3 new 444's back in the 90's before I found one that did not have a crack in the buttstock between the top and bottom tang. For some reason I removed the buttstock from the first one otherwise I would maybe never seen this. Number 4 was perfect, still miss that gun.
I think every manufacturer has runs of QC problems, Remlins were probably a perfect storm of smaller problems that helped create a bigger problem.
It does seem that they eventually figured it out.
I think every manufacturer has runs of QC problems, Remlins were probably a perfect storm of smaller problems that helped create a bigger problem.
It does seem that they eventually figured it out.
stagpanther
New member
That's about the same time I bought mine. It was at Wally World--they were getting rid of all their firearms at the time and it was priced too low for me to pass up. I must have gotten lucky--finish all around is very good, stock irons also very good even though I elected to go with a scope and the triggerpull surprisingly light and smooth.
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The Happy kaboomer
New member
Scorch
They FIRED ALL of the Marlin employees!..None made the move to Rem........Then they moved the machinery and thought ANYONE could build a Marlin.........The machinery wasn't old and tired..........Problem was NOBODY at REM could make a quality rifle on it..........Where as the original Marlin employees has been making great rifles on it for years.
They FIRED ALL of the Marlin employees!..None made the move to Rem........Then they moved the machinery and thought ANYONE could build a Marlin.........The machinery wasn't old and tired..........Problem was NOBODY at REM could make a quality rifle on it..........Where as the original Marlin employees has been making great rifles on it for years.
FrankenMauser
New member
Remington didn't move any machinery that mattered. They moved some sanders, buffers, and a few pieces of smaller CNC equipment. But they liquidated (mostly scrapped) all of the pantograph equipment, all of the manual equipment, and anything that wasn't tight, shiny, and new.
Remington wanted to make Marlins with CNC, not with mechanical apparatus.
They didn't care about the equipment, they wanted the brand and reputation; and Dunning Krugered it. "How hard can it be. Everything is easy with CNC."
After having so many issues trying to get a CNC'd Marlin out the door, Remington did rehire several of the previous engineers as consultants in Ilion. But they were only there for a couple months, at the most, before being sent back out the door.
That was partly the engineers' faults, though. Two of them could never come up with suggestions for how to improve the parts with CNC processes. Instead, one of them, in particular, earned a reputation for always defaulting to, "It wasn't designed to be made this way."
(You can find more details about this, and stories of particular situations, on the Marlinowners forums. But it takes a lot of digging. The information is spread throughout hundreds of threads and thousands of posts.)
----
I have had many Remlin parts in my hands, as well as at least a dozen rifles.
The very late Marlin production was bad, except for 444s, because the employees didn't give a crap. They were all losing their jobs and had had no offers from Remington to move to Ilion. But it was mostly sloppy assembly problems and shortcuts on fit and finish.
The first few years of Remington production were bad for *all* of the reasons they could be. Heat treat was bad. Dimensions were bad. Materials were wrong. Fit and finish were terrible. Processes were being pushed too quickly. Jigs and fixtures were not designed for perfect part locating and holding *every* time, and operators were cutting parts out of spec - particularly receivers, barrels, and breech bolts. Quality control did not exist, because there was no quality.
They were bad parts, being used to assemble worse rifles -- with over-clocked barrels, dropping barrels, hammered in magazine tubes, crooked sights, and on, and on.
But, by about 2017/2018, they were made fairly well. The remaining issues were finish problems - like sharp edges on the levers, rough checkering, and screws having strange shades of bluing.
By the time it was obvious that Remington was closing down for good, there were only two products still being made. The two products that had the best QC, because they couldn't be cheapened any further without negatively impacting them the way the other 'bread and butter' had been (the Rem 700, in particular).
Those products were:
Marlin 336
Remington 870
The last firearm assembled by Remington was a Marlin 336.
That sentence has a very ironic and spicy bite to it, especially after Remington screwed up Marlins so badly after the buyout. But it is part of the historical record, now.
The 870 assembly cells were shut down about 3 hours before the end of what they did not know at the time was the last shift in the Ilion plant. Marlins were made until the end of the day. Employees were notified later that their presence would not be required the next day.
One of my primary sources in Ilion during the closure was a supervisor in one of the Marlin cells. He got a phone call a little after 3 am, the morning after that final shift, informing him that he was no longer employed. It wasn't much of a surprise, but the timing was filthy.
Remington wanted to make Marlins with CNC, not with mechanical apparatus.
They didn't care about the equipment, they wanted the brand and reputation; and Dunning Krugered it. "How hard can it be. Everything is easy with CNC."
After having so many issues trying to get a CNC'd Marlin out the door, Remington did rehire several of the previous engineers as consultants in Ilion. But they were only there for a couple months, at the most, before being sent back out the door.
That was partly the engineers' faults, though. Two of them could never come up with suggestions for how to improve the parts with CNC processes. Instead, one of them, in particular, earned a reputation for always defaulting to, "It wasn't designed to be made this way."
(You can find more details about this, and stories of particular situations, on the Marlinowners forums. But it takes a lot of digging. The information is spread throughout hundreds of threads and thousands of posts.)
----
I have had many Remlin parts in my hands, as well as at least a dozen rifles.
The very late Marlin production was bad, except for 444s, because the employees didn't give a crap. They were all losing their jobs and had had no offers from Remington to move to Ilion. But it was mostly sloppy assembly problems and shortcuts on fit and finish.
The first few years of Remington production were bad for *all* of the reasons they could be. Heat treat was bad. Dimensions were bad. Materials were wrong. Fit and finish were terrible. Processes were being pushed too quickly. Jigs and fixtures were not designed for perfect part locating and holding *every* time, and operators were cutting parts out of spec - particularly receivers, barrels, and breech bolts. Quality control did not exist, because there was no quality.
They were bad parts, being used to assemble worse rifles -- with over-clocked barrels, dropping barrels, hammered in magazine tubes, crooked sights, and on, and on.
But, by about 2017/2018, they were made fairly well. The remaining issues were finish problems - like sharp edges on the levers, rough checkering, and screws having strange shades of bluing.
By the time it was obvious that Remington was closing down for good, there were only two products still being made. The two products that had the best QC, because they couldn't be cheapened any further without negatively impacting them the way the other 'bread and butter' had been (the Rem 700, in particular).
Those products were:
Marlin 336
Remington 870
The last firearm assembled by Remington was a Marlin 336.
That sentence has a very ironic and spicy bite to it, especially after Remington screwed up Marlins so badly after the buyout. But it is part of the historical record, now.
The 870 assembly cells were shut down about 3 hours before the end of what they did not know at the time was the last shift in the Ilion plant. Marlins were made until the end of the day. Employees were notified later that their presence would not be required the next day.
One of my primary sources in Ilion during the closure was a supervisor in one of the Marlin cells. He got a phone call a little after 3 am, the morning after that final shift, informing him that he was no longer employed. It wasn't much of a surprise, but the timing was filthy.
"I saw some of the early Remlin 336s and your friend was right. The checkering looked like it was done by a three year old with a fork. I've heard it got better after the first couple of years."
FrankenMauser, thanks for your post.
mrt949, there is not a "biggest" complaint IMHO. It is varied depending on when it was made, one's fondness of Marlin as an entity, collector value, and a little snobbery for seasoning.
If you have a later, well made Rem Marlin that you enjoy, then the rest does not matter. If you have a desire to complete a "set" of a JM, Rem and RM (Ruger Made) Marlin of the same model, then yeah, you might be really picky about that Rem one. That is not me, I shoot all of my guns and the ones I don't get sold for something I will shoot.
I have some Henrys and a JM 336, never had, but would not pass up a Rem Marlin in good shape in a caliber I want. I am hoping that the Rems drop in price when the RMs become more available and might grab one to shoot or for a project. Won't bother me in the least. I hope to get a RM Marlin at some point, again, if they make it in a caliber I want.
Last edited:
stagpanther
New member
It looks good, cycles and fires well. I can't complain.
