Jeff,
My review gun statement was directed at Quietman's comment about review samples sent to magazines "usually" being handpicked. Not so in my experience.
ALL four of my Marlin leverguns were made at the old plant, I didn't say otherwise. The .410 that showed a bit of slippage was made at the old plant. The .357 that was returned unfired was built at the old plant. Among eight Marlin leverguns I've either owned or worked with during the past 10 years, I can trace that decline to slightly over two years ago. I've owned & used enough of 'em, and I've checked out several each year at SHOT.
The notable decline in QC at Marlin began about a year to 18 months before the closing of that old factory.
I've talked to people inside Remington about it not long after the acquisition of Marlin, they were very much aware of it, and at the meeting where the announcment was made to the employees that the plant would be shut down, one employee was overheard saying "Maybe we brought it on ourselves."
The closing of the old plant, with worn out equipment, and the opening of the production facilities at Ilion with new equipment were expected to cure the situation.
I didn't say the entire problem was centered around the new plant, far from it. Problems were expected though, anytime you start up a new factory with new equipment and totally new employees, you'd be a fool to expect perfection in product output from Day One. It just appears the transition may be a little rougher than many anticipated.
John Taffin tells me he got a report on the current plant shutdown to regroup on the QC issue, I have no reason to doubt him.
You have the Remington email listed here on the issue.
If you're on many Internet forums, you should have seen several posts about new Marlin leverguns that weren't even functional, some refusing to chamber a round.
I don't recall saying or seeing anybody else say that ALL new Marlin leverguns are total junk. In the very recent past I've advised to inspect one carefully before laying out money, I've never said "Don't buy one!"
If you've seen some that were well done, that's great. I wouldn't make disparaging comments to you when you relate your experiences, I'd appreciate the same courtesy from you.
Speaking of hand-picked samples, if those that Marlin had on display at the SHOT Show (THE industry sales convention in the US) to draw orders & generate publicity were the best Marlin was producing at the beginning of this year, the rest must be pretty sad.
Put very simply, there has been a notable decline in Marlin levergun quality, any of them made within the past two years (old plant or new) may be a gamble, it's advisable check a prospective new purchase over thoroughly in person before buying, and those of us who say this are not bashing Marlin just for fun, nor are we giving up on the company.
And, I'm not saying they're ALL junk.
If you've seen some good ones, I've seen some bad ones.
Fair enough?
Denis
