Long Live the Lever Gun: Marlin Celebrates 150 Years

[BET7]

Thank you BET7 I’ve posted before my feelings on Remington however I’m sure the lever action rifle you have is terrific since wether it was made by Marlin or Remington it is based on the Marlin design. The reason I asked the question was while I worked for Marlin from 1995 to 2010 it was during that time when Marlin started making gun stocks using laminated wood. I believe if memory serves me around 2003. It started with the lever guns then eventually we started getting blanks for the model 60 semi 22’s and then our bolt action guns. I was running the CNC machining CTR’s machining the action cuts into the wood blanks and was instrumental in helping engineering develop tooling to cut laminate wood which is much different the solid wood blanks. The picture below shows stocks in line for machining the action. There is one “Truck” of solid wood birch blanks, two of black laminate and two of brown laminate. The other pictures are of the machining CTR’s I ran. View attachment 4310View attachment 4311View attachment 4312View attachment 4313

Great pics and history. Thanks for Sharing Keystone.

 

[Keystone19250]

Nice pictures of the factory, I really like seeing how firearms are manufactured, thanks for sharing.

Your welcome. I feel proud and privileged to have worked for two of the oldest
“family owned” firearm companies in the country.

 

[BET7]

Now I'll check my marlins!

I'm trying the same for my Model 336W with SN starting with MR, but can't find a barrel code. Searching the net to see if there's a way to finding production date without the box or barrel code (as I bought this used w/o the original box being available).

 

[Keystone19250]

Please let me know what you find and I’ll be glad to share all I know about your firearms.

 

[papa]

I have a Marlin 336C 30-30 made in 1970 and it has a medallion ,1870 to 1970 , in the stock. It has some scars but still shoots great.

 

[Bassbob]

Where's a pic? Of your 30-30.

I don't have one. Until very recently I was pretty uncomfortable putting pictures of ANY of my guns on-line. I still am. I have pictures of some of the really cool ones, but that's it.

It's just a run of the mill Marlin 30-30 with a 3x9 scope on it. One of the 94s is an NRA Centennial model though. There are a couple pinned holes on the side of the receiver though where someone at some point had a scope mounted on the side of it.

 

[jmcd]

Still have my supper accurate 39A I got a JC Pennys back in the day, as well as my more recent 1895GSBL and 333BL.

Yes, It certainly is very accurate. JC Penny, wow have times changed, I think My dad was a Sears & Roebuck fan. (back in the day). My Uncles have them as well. I think they all piled in the car on certain days to buy guns. Same with their Browning Sweet 16's.

 

[Troy Scott Fitch]

What country do the wood blanks come from?

 

[Troy Scott Fitch]

Yes, It certainly is very accurate. JC Penny, wow have times changed, I think My dad was a Sears & Roebuck fan. (back in the day). My Uncles have them as well. I think they all piled in the car on certain days to buy guns. Same with their Browning Sweet 16's.

And once again those were the good old days.Western Auto,you could buy snow tires,toys,and fire arms.

 

[Talyn]

My MR 1895GSBL and 336BL have been fine.

 

[Keystone19250]

What country do the wood blanks come from?

During my time with Marlin I was not to involved in purchasing however I did meet with two wood suppliers who eventually became very good friends and who I worked with while working for Mossberg. One was out of Maine and the other MidWest Walnut out of I believe Missouri.
A little history on wood. Most of the Grade 1A Fancy Walnut comes out of the
mid-west birch is from Maine and Canada there are not many companies that will import from Europe because the wood is impregnated with years and years of lead and chemicals from the wars and is known to produce hazardous waste during the machining process. Although sadly that is where the highest grade Fancy walnut is found.

 

[BET7]

Please let me know what you find and I’ll be glad to share all I know about your firearms.

It's a model 336W (Walmart deal?), which is the same as a model 336C. Closest I could find, is that the MR means it's a Remington Marlin. There's no barrel stamp but Barrel has New North Haven Ct. stamped on left barrel side with REP stamped on the right side of barrel. From what I found was when Remington bought/took over Marlin, they still used some of the Barrels Marlin had previously made in New North Haven, but stamped them with the REP to indicate the rifle was produced by them. This makes it difficult to come up with the date since I don't have the original box which would contain the production date (I bought it used). Forum posts told similar posters they needed to contact Remington. I'm guessing it had to be produced early on after Remington took over Marlin in 2010, since they were still using Marlin produced barrels. The stock also looks and feels laminated to me.
Edit: Inadvertantly wrote New Haven instead of North Haven Ct., which is stamped on the barrel. The wood on the 336W 30-30 looks and feels like real wood, my 45-70 marlin stock feels more like laminated.

 

[Keystone19250]

It's a model 336W (Walmart deal?), which is the same as a model 336C. Closest I could find, is that the MR means it's a Remington Marlin. There's no barrel stamp but Barrel has New Haven Ct. stamped on left barrel side with REP stamped on the right side of barrel. From what I found was when Remington bought/took over Marlin, they still used some of the Barrels Marlin had previously made in New Haven, but stamped them with the REP to indicate the rifle was produced by them. This makes it difficult to come up with the date since I don't have the original box which would contain the production date (I bought it used). Forum posts told similar posters they needed to contact Remington. I'm guessing it had to be produced early on after Remington took over Marlin in 2010, since they were still using Marlin produced barrels. The stock also looks and feels laminated to me.

Single color birch laminate stocks were made however very few. One way to check is to remove the Butt Pad, if it’s laminate you will see lines of the ply’s most laminate stocks are two or three colors because of the unique patterns created during the sanding and shaping process. A laminate stock will also be heavier then a solid wood stock.

 

[Keystone19250]

It's a model 336W (Walmart deal?), which is the same as a model 336C. Closest I could find, is that the MR means it's a Remington Marlin. There's no barrel stamp but Barrel has New Haven Ct. stamped on left barrel side with REP stamped on the right side of barrel. From what I found was when Remington bought/took over Marlin, they still used some of the Barrels Marlin had previously made in New Haven, but stamped them with the REP to indicate the rifle was produced by them. This makes it difficult to come up with the date since I don't have the original box which would contain the production date (I bought it used). Forum posts told similar posters they needed to contact Remington. I'm guessing it had to be produced early on after Remington took over Marlin in 2010, since they were still using Marlin produced barrels. The stock also looks and feels laminated to me.

Also Remington bought Marlin in late 2006 or early 2007, I don’t remember exactly when and continued to run Marlin in North Haven Connecticut. The plant was eventually shut down in late 2010 or early 2011. I started working for Mossberg in June of 2010

 

[10mmLife]

This is my only lever gun. It's a
30-30 Winchester 94 Ranger that I picked up from a guy at work for $400 last year. He only put 3 rounds through it 25 plus years ago and it sat in his safe until I bought it. He included 2 boxes of ammo one of the boxes was missing 3 rounds.

 

[TEXASforLIFE]

I don't have one. Until very recently I was pretty uncomfortable putting pictures of ANY of my guns on-line. I still am. I have pictures of some of the really cool ones, but that's it.

It's just a run of the mill Marlin 30-30 with a 3x9 scope on it. One of the 94s is an NRA Centennial model though. There are a couple pinned holes on the side of the receiver though where someone at some point had a scope mounted on the side of it.

Not a problem! What works for you?

 

[BET7]

Also Remington bought Marlin in late 2006 or early 2007, I don’t remember exactly when and continued to run Marlin in North Haven Connecticut. The plant was eventually shut down in late 2010 or early 2011. I started working for Mossberg in June of 2010

Hmm, perhaps this is the period at which my 336W was produced. Thanks for the info Keystone19250.

 

[Keystone19250]

This is my only lever gun. It's a
30-30 Winchester 94 Ranger that I picked up from a guy at work for $400 last year. He only put 3 rounds through it 25 plus years ago and it sat in his safe until I bought it. He included 2 boxes of ammo one of the boxes was missing 3 rounds.
View attachment 4318

Winchester, Marlin and Mossberg were the big 3 in Connecticut dating back to the late 1800’s Winchester started and remained in operation in New Haven Connecticut while Marlin started in New Haven and moved to North Haven Connecticut in the early 1900 less then 3 miles from the Mossberg’s home office and original manufacturing plant.

 

[Keystone19250]

Hmm, perhaps this is the period at which my 336W was produced. Thanks for the info Keystone19250.

A funny story on barrels. After the purchase of Marlin by Remington word spread quickly and many, many people vowed to not buy a Marlin with a Remington roll stamp on the barrel. That is the reason many say that Remington kept Marlin open in North Haven Connecticut for so long was to make barrels with a Marlin Roll stamp.

 

[BET7]

A funny story on barrels. After the purchase of Marlin by Remington word spread quickly and many, many people vowed to not buy a Marlin with a Remington roll stamp on the barrel. That is the reason many say that Remington kept Marlin open in North Haven Connecticut for so long was to make barrels with a Marlin Roll stamp.

Yes, I read a little about that during my search, I believe Marlins roll stamp was JM, and some Remington Made rifles used these barrels as you mention. Very Interesting