Marlin Firearms, Current Affairs

[Armed012002]

I completely agree with buckhorn_cortez.

Too many people here are stuck in the romantic view of a skilled gunsmith making each and every part by hand.

Many people seem to favor forged parts and long for the day when things were made that way. Forged parts are actually a cost cutting measure. You get a rough shape that takes less time to machine manually.

Thanks to CNC, Larue Tactical and Ed Brown can machine whole receivers and parts, without forgings, from solid aluminum and steel billet or barstock very quickly.

Those two companies I mentioned make very high quality products with CNC.

To repeat what buckhorn_cortez said: "the problem isn't the manufacturing process, it's the corporate culture of the company making the product."

Very true.

Remington, Bushmaster, DPMS, and Marlin are all owned by the same "investment group", and every one of them have quality control problems.

 

[wingman]

The problem isn't the manufacturing process, it's the corporate culture of the company making the product.

Can't argue with that but either way the consumer will lose,poor quality workers or company managers pushing for more product per hour. In the end we're all talking about same subject poor quality, does not matter how you arrive at that point.

I believe todays generation of consumers accept/tolerate more throw away products then before perhaps more disposable income,less time to complain.

 

[JohnBT]

"Thanks to CNC, Larue Tactical and Ed Brown can machine whole receivers and parts, without forgings, from solid aluminum and steel billet or barstock very quickly.

Those two companies I mentioned make very high quality products with CNC."


They don't sell many guns either. And they're not cheap. It's a boutique cottage industry. You can look at the production figures in the ATF yearly reports.

Old Marlins worked.
New Rem-Marlins don't work.

I don't know why the discussion got sidetracked by the CNC thing. Everybody knows CNC can be useful in manufacturing. The issue was Rem-Marlin using CNC technology to try to build cheap guns. They've failed so far.

They threw out the old before they found out they understand the new.

 

[eye5600]

Metal-working isn't my field, but it seems to me that when you change the building process, you want need to change the design. Different production methods have different characteristics. The bit(s) used by a skilled machinist are different from the ones used by a 5-axis machine. A cast part may want to be a slightly different shape than a forged or stamped part.

 

[lowerunit411]

the whole dang thing makes me sick....remington has got to crap and now they are draggin marlin into the dumpster.....buy em now boys...the lever action equivilant to the pre 64 model 70...i think the pre remlington will command much higher prices in the future

 

[T.R.]

Rossi Rio Grande has the finest appearance of quality when compared to current Marlin 336. They're selling these Brazil-built rifles quite well, I'm told.

TR

 

[KDS]

I really wanted a stainless rifle in 357 Mag. To hear that they have temporarily halted production is dissapointing, but what is more dissapointing is to read that even if they start making them again, I may not want one.

 

[bergmen]

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnIvhlKT7SY

Conventional machining methods cannot compete with this capability (and it may not even be possible to do so).

In today's engineering world (I am a Senior Mechanical Engineer), designs are almost universally generated using high-end 3d CAD (Computer Aided Design)systems. The capabilities of these systems results in perfectly defined, geometrically accurate representations of the part (or assembly) given the comensurate engineering perspective and capabilities of the engineer/designer.

The 3d CAD file is then translated (using sophisticated tool pathing CAM, or Computer Aided Manufacturing applications) to a file used to program the CNC machining center including a roster of necessary machine tools loaded into the tool magazine.

Properly managed by the machinist/operator, parts are generated with exceptional repeatability, close tolerance control and in the most efficient time possible.

Today's modern CNC machining centers are sophisticated enough to sense tool condition as a load factor on the spindle. Worn, dull or damaged tools are identified and brought to the attention of the machinist/operator.

I have been involved in this methodology since the early 1990's. The result is a revolutionary increase in quality, precision, time efficient, consistent part fabrication with little or no scrap.

For the past ten years or so I have insisted on selecting fabrication providers that will only accept 3d CAD files as the geometric definition of a part to be machined/folded/molded. The potential for translational errors using conventional, dimensioned 2d drawings by the designer to drafter, drafter to machinist greatly increases the risk of errors that would require outgoing and/or incoming inspection to catch and remediate. CNC fabrication capabilities renders these functions obsolete.

Dan

 

[JohnBT]

But all that mechanical wizardry is wasted if there isn't somebody at the end of the line that knows what a gun is supposed to look like, how it is supposed to work and how it's supposed to feel. Tolerances stack, raw materials are defective, stuff happens, programmers screw up and that's why improvement programs are ongoing. Right?

There's a thread in the Rant forum on the Marlinowners site. It's about an article in a rifle magazine. If you read three or four pages into it there are former Marlin employees posting some interesting details of the disaster. Read the rebuttal letter, too.

John

 

[JohnBT]

From a letter: "There were 265 employees at the time of the announced closing, and if there were 20 retirements, there were 245 employees of which only three chose to continue employment with Remington/FGI (two in Ilion NY for production control/management and one in Mayfield KY for Maintenance). None of the remaining employees were secured for re-location."

- <signed> "You have my permission to reprint this correspondence but DO NOT PRINT MY FULL NAME OR PERSONAL INFORMATION."

I'm not posting a link, it's easy enough to find for interested readers.