Marlin 57 levermatic

[ramis]

I stopped by the local gun shop and noticed a marlin lever action rifle on the shelf. I asked to see it and worked the action and my jaw about hit the floor!

What a sweet little rifle! The wood stock was in good shape with just a little bit of rust on the barrel. It looked like there should have been a hood over the front sight that was gone. The price was $325. Can someone give me some more info or tell me if the price is right?

ramis

 

[ArmedBear]

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/malloy.htm

I have no idea what it's worth.

http://www.marlin-collectors.com/forum/index.php?sid=9bba6d05ec8c698f5affc1c2c0063f3f

Sounds a tad steep for a gun with rust, unless they have serious collector value, which I don't know, but someone at the above forum certainly will!

 

[ECVMatt]

I have a levermatic in .256 Win....

It is a hoot to shoot. I love the action, it is very slick..

What caliber is the one you were looking at? 30 Carbine or .256. The Carbine is much easier to feed, I have to make my own brass from .357 Mag cases.

All in all it is a very fun gun. I am not sure on the value, but that sounds about right from what I have seen in the past.

Matt

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have no idea what a Levermatic is worth today, but
I wish I had kept mine.
Levermatics were made in .22 Magnum, .256 Win ( a necked-down .357),
and .30 Carbine. I had one in .30 carbine but the model number was 62
if my memory is functioning well. Model 57 I believe is the .22 magnum
version. The Levermatics had a one piece stock, the bolt locked up like
the Savage 99 but the lever linkage was on a patent by Kessler, and gave
a great mechanical advantage: the levermatic was a fast action.

 

[ArmedBear]

I did get the impression that the 57 was a rimfire. However, I may have read that wrong.

 

[ECVMatt]

Armed Bear, you are right...

I was refering to my 62 Levermatic. I think it is built on the same principal.

Sorry for the mix up.

Matt

 

[ramis]

It is chambered in 22LR. with a tubular magazine. It will shoot longs and shorts too.

I thought the price seemed a little steep but I'm still tempted just because it is so unique. The first page that ArmedBear linked to said that only 34,628 were made...

 

[CB900F]

Ramis;

I owned, note the past tense, a Marlin 57 Levermatic in .22. I do not regret it's passing from my ownership, at all.

The 57 was an attempt by Marlin to capitolize upon their reputation for excellent lever action guns, but offer the public a gun at less than the premium price for the model 39. Notice the short production run for the model 57, I don't think it made 6 full years. The action was fragile on mine. No gunsmith I took it to could make it function properly for any great length of time.

This was the first gun I ever bought on my own. Ordered it from an outfit called "FinneySports". It worked fine for a couple of years, but eventually began jamming when trying to feed a new round into the chamber. Never did get it corrected. Wish I'd of sucked it up & bought the much more expensive model 39 at the time. I think I paid $39.95 + S&H for the 57 & the model 39 was about $20.00 more 1962 dollars!

My advice, they are asking way too much. Way, way, too much.

900F