Help me with some Marlin price confusion

[DeepSouth]

In the winter of 2001 I bought a new Marlin 1895M chambered in .450 Marlin.
Obviously it’s been a while but I think the price of the gun was about 400ish dollars. I’m certain it was under 500 bucks out the door with a box or 2 of shells and taxes.

FF 18 years...

The other day I happened to notice one identical to mine on Gun Broker, it was selling for quite a pretty penny. I got looking at some others and they’re frequently SELLING for 900+ dollars.

I understand how inflation works, but that’s more than double the price, am I missing something.

I mean, for one it doesn’t really matter because I’m not selling the gun I do hunt with it occasionally, but if anything I’d have thought it would have went down, being .450 Marlin. As you know it didn’t really take off.

Does anyone know why they’ve gone up so much?

 

[Llama Bob]

Ones made before the Remington takeover command a premium.

 

[jmr40]

I've found that MOST guns sell used for somewhere between 50%-75% of what a SIMILAR new gun sells for. Really cheap budget guns don't apply. At first your used gun will be worth less than you paid. But over time as the cost of new guns goes up the used ones do too. It could be selling for 75% of new, and still be more than you paid. I have a Rem 700 that I paid $175 for. New ones in a similar configuration are closer to $900 today. I could easily get $400 for mine used.

In your case there aren't really any similar guns to compare it to. Marlin is now owned by Remington, the 450 is no longer made and people will pay a premium for what you have.

 

[Riomouse911]

Yup. Call it JM inflation... folks want the pride and workmanship that went into Marlins before the dark days of corporate investment returns tossed it aside.

The .450 is a thumper on both ends for sure!

Stay safe!

 

[DeepSouth]

I knew the pre-Remington Marlins had a better reputation, but I wouldn’t have thought it was enough to drive prices to double in under 20 years.

Also I thought they still made the 1895M in .450 but I just went and checked their website and it’s not listed, still the .450 isn’t what most are looking for. I’d have thought that would have lowered the price.

 

[Llama Bob]

It is interesting, because there are other JM Marlins that are inexpensive. The .444 was out of production for a long time (still is for practical purposes), and I still bought a reasonable fast twist Ballard rifling one for <$500, although it did need about $50 in parts replaced.

 

[greyling22]

I was buying some parts from !Arlin last week and they said the 444 was back. But boy am I not interested in shooting that again......

 

[cowboy77]

I bought my Marlin 450 about the same time as you for a Canada Bear hunt. About 8 boxes of Cor Bon bullets. Priced about the same as what you gave for yours. Couldn’t buy the bullets now for what I paid for rifle then. That little 450 hits like the hammer of Thor on both ends. I really like mine but stays in a safe most of the time. I think it will only increase in price as years pass. I’ll hand mine down to a Grand child when they can handle it.

 

[DeepSouth]

I bought my Marlin 450 about the same time as you for a Canada Bear hunt. About 8 boxes of Cor Bon bullets. Priced about the same as what you gave for yours. Couldn’t buy the bullets now for what I paid for rifle then. That little 450 hits like the hammer of Thor on both ends. I really like mine but stays in a safe most of the time. I think it will only increase in price as years pass. I’ll hand mine down to a Grand child when they can handle it.

I bought mine when I used to hog hunt a little bit, but I love the gun so much much I occasionally use it for deer hunting when theirs no chance of a long shot, I’m not the best with open sights. Like yours mine spends most of its life in the safe, especially since I don’t hunt as much as I used to. Mine will one day go to kid, or grandkid, at least that’s the plan.

 

[cowboy77]

You bet. No hog is going to get back up from it for sure. I put a Leupold 1-4 on mine for Canada but it’s back to sights now. I’d just bought the 45-70 guide gun ported the year before but the 450 kicks it out of the woods in killing power. My thoughts anyway. Hurt me a lot more also.

 

[DeepSouth]

I once shot a hog with mine and after the bullet went through both shoulders it hit a hog behind him, the bullet entered in the neck and exited behind the rib cage. Shot another in the head and it blew both his eyeballs out. The .450 is definitely a hard hitter.

I knew it was overkill when I bought it, but I didn’t realize just how much. Not that you can overkill a hog.

Not to mention the balance on the gun is perfect, and that short barrel is so nice in the woods. Not getting hung up a limb or vine every three steeps, I really do enjoy the gun and wish I had another just like it in a little smaller caliber.

 

[cowboy77]

You just have to appreciate that much power in a carbine. Three hogs one shot is enough to tell me it’s worth every penny I spent on it. I had thought about casting and downloading it some to just shoot some a few years back but I’m just going to use it as it is. I think I still have 4 boxes of the Cor Bons left. Definitely not a bench fun gun but does what it was made to do and excels at it.

 

[troy fairweather]

my dad had a few marin 450s. good cartridge. i just don't like they went with there own case, would be nice to make the 450m from once fired 7rm brass. because of that i like the 45/70 better.

 

[cowboy77]

The belted case was some thicker than the 45-70. I think Hornady hype at the time was so it didn’t get rammed in a older trapdoor 45-70 that would blow up. Midway ran some good sales on this brass a few years back but I wasn’t interested in loading for it at the time. Sometimes always a day late. It sure does pack a few more FPS and a lot of energy for its intended use out to about 175 yards. I don’t think I’ve ever used mine over 75 or so with exception of zeroing it in.

 

[troy fairweather]

i believe the 45/70 has more punch then the 450m if both are in a strong action. the problem is not that the 450m has a belt it's the belt is longer then the 300H&H parent cases. the 459 american is what she 450m should have been.

 

[DeepSouth]

The belted case also allowed it to be chambered in a bolt action, which Ruger did, though I’m not sure anyone else did.

Not saying it couldn’t have been done in 45-70, But the thinking was it would be much easier with the belted case.

 

[troy fairweather]

45/70

 

[DeepSouth]

That a Mauser? I was thinking their was a such thing a Mauser 45-70 but I wasn’t sure.

 

[troy fairweather]

That a Mauser? I was thinking their was a such thing a Mauser 45-70 but I wasn’t sure.

ya it's a siamese mauser.

 

[wanderinwalker]

DeepSouth, what you're witnessing is JM-Marlin price inflation on a model that wasn't particularly common and has a bit of a cult-following these days. It's long since discontinued and who knows if Remington will bring them back. Some of the older 444 and 1895 (.45-70) models see the same thing. There were always fewer of them than the 336-series rifles. See also the Model 39s for a bit of a price shock on what people feel they're worth these days. (I have some not-nice things to say about what I've seen with JM-stamped Marlins, and DPris and other members would probably agree with me.)

As for the belt on the .450 Marlin, the reason for the longer belt is to prevent people from cramming a .450 cartridge into a 7mm, .300 or .338 Magnum chamber, with the predictable results if they manage to do it. That's why wildcats like the .458 American can exist; they have no corporate lawyers to placate.

I always thought the original idea was kind of cool. A factory loaded round that equaled my warm.45-70 reloads. However, I had a .45-70 Encore and didn't need to buy a .450 Marlin to get that performance. Which I guess makes me part of the reason the Marlin round is no longer in current production.