Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy Again
I suppose I should mention the Marlin Model 1894 while I am at it. I bought this antique Marlin Model 1894 back around 1975 or so. When I looked up the serial number it turns out it was manufactured in 1895 It was chambered for a cartridge I had never heard of before called 44-40.
Unlike Winchesters, one of Marlin's claim to fame is they eject to the side. Winchesters all eject from the top. Marlins first used side ejection with their model 1889.
The Marlin 1894 has a hook on the lever that pulls a Bolt Block block straight down, disengaging it from the bolt. The Bolt Block cannot be seen from the outside, it is an internal part. In this photo, the bottom of the Bolt Block is visible inside the action. The lever hook disengages from the bolt block when the block reaches the extent of its travel. The lever continues rotating, allowing the bolt to continue to move backwards, cocking the hammer for the next shot.
The Marlin uses a tilting carrier similar to the 1892 Winchester to raise and feed a round into the chamber. The 1894 Marlin is a strong action, much stronger than a Toggle Link Winchester. Perhaps not as strong as a '92 Winchester, but it is plenty strong, 44 Magnum is one of the standard chamberings.
Marlins have a two piece firing pin. One half tilts down out of alignment with the other half when the action is opened. When the action closes again, the two halves line up again. That is what the inscription 'Marlin Safety' means on my old Model 1894. Yes, it has gotten pretty beat up over the years.
A few years ago, Remington bought the Marlin company and moved all production from the North Haven, Connecticut factory to their Illion NY factory. It turned out that most of the equipment that Marlin was using to manufacture their rifles was old and worn. The employees were very good at getting the best possible precision out of the old equipment. When Remington bought out Marlin, they offered a package to the employees to relocate to Illion, but none of them took the company up on it. No comment on how good a package it was. Anyway, when the old equipment was shipped to Illion, quality took a nose dive. The guys who new how to milk the best performance out of the old equipment were not there. So for several years Marlin quality was in the dumper. Eventually, Remington replaced all the old worn equipment with brand new state of the art manufacturing equipment.
A friend bought a Marlin Model 1894 Cowboy chambered for 45 Colt last year and I asked if I could check it out.
I brought my old Antique Marlin along for a side by side test. The test was not exactly fair, my old Marlin had been slicked up a bit for CAS, the new one was a little bit stiffer out of the box than my old guy. Which is to be expected with any modern lever rifle, they tend to be a bit stiff. But I could find no fault with the new Marlin. Wood to metal fit was good, and everything worked as it should. We shot up a box of my friend's factory 45 Colt ammo and everything worked fine.
One other nice thing about Marlins. You remove one screw, the lever screw, and the lever comes out, the bolt block comes out, and the bolt slides out. This means you can clean it from the breech with a conventional cleaning rod. Just one screw to put it back together again. You cannot use a conventional cleaning rod to clean any Winchester, or any of their replicas from the breech. If you use a conventional cleaning rod, you have to clean them from the muzzle. If you want to clean them from the breech, you have to use a Bore Snake.
I suppose I should mention the Marlin Model 1894 while I am at it. I bought this antique Marlin Model 1894 back around 1975 or so. When I looked up the serial number it turns out it was manufactured in 1895 It was chambered for a cartridge I had never heard of before called 44-40.
Unlike Winchesters, one of Marlin's claim to fame is they eject to the side. Winchesters all eject from the top. Marlins first used side ejection with their model 1889.
The Marlin 1894 has a hook on the lever that pulls a Bolt Block block straight down, disengaging it from the bolt. The Bolt Block cannot be seen from the outside, it is an internal part. In this photo, the bottom of the Bolt Block is visible inside the action. The lever hook disengages from the bolt block when the block reaches the extent of its travel. The lever continues rotating, allowing the bolt to continue to move backwards, cocking the hammer for the next shot.
The Marlin uses a tilting carrier similar to the 1892 Winchester to raise and feed a round into the chamber. The 1894 Marlin is a strong action, much stronger than a Toggle Link Winchester. Perhaps not as strong as a '92 Winchester, but it is plenty strong, 44 Magnum is one of the standard chamberings.
Marlins have a two piece firing pin. One half tilts down out of alignment with the other half when the action is opened. When the action closes again, the two halves line up again. That is what the inscription 'Marlin Safety' means on my old Model 1894. Yes, it has gotten pretty beat up over the years.
A few years ago, Remington bought the Marlin company and moved all production from the North Haven, Connecticut factory to their Illion NY factory. It turned out that most of the equipment that Marlin was using to manufacture their rifles was old and worn. The employees were very good at getting the best possible precision out of the old equipment. When Remington bought out Marlin, they offered a package to the employees to relocate to Illion, but none of them took the company up on it. No comment on how good a package it was. Anyway, when the old equipment was shipped to Illion, quality took a nose dive. The guys who new how to milk the best performance out of the old equipment were not there. So for several years Marlin quality was in the dumper. Eventually, Remington replaced all the old worn equipment with brand new state of the art manufacturing equipment.
A friend bought a Marlin Model 1894 Cowboy chambered for 45 Colt last year and I asked if I could check it out.
I brought my old Antique Marlin along for a side by side test. The test was not exactly fair, my old Marlin had been slicked up a bit for CAS, the new one was a little bit stiffer out of the box than my old guy. Which is to be expected with any modern lever rifle, they tend to be a bit stiff. But I could find no fault with the new Marlin. Wood to metal fit was good, and everything worked as it should. We shot up a box of my friend's factory 45 Colt ammo and everything worked fine.
One other nice thing about Marlins. You remove one screw, the lever screw, and the lever comes out, the bolt block comes out, and the bolt slides out. This means you can clean it from the breech with a conventional cleaning rod. Just one screw to put it back together again. You cannot use a conventional cleaning rod to clean any Winchester, or any of their replicas from the breech. If you use a conventional cleaning rod, you have to clean them from the muzzle. If you want to clean them from the breech, you have to use a Bore Snake.
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