By Chris Dumm
Joe Grine and I spent a few leisurely hours pacing the aisles at Oregon’s biggest pre-Christmas gun show this morning. We’re not into ‘gun show reports’ much here, so suffice to say that guns and ammo were everywhere, Nazi fetish gear was nowhere to be found, and that I’ve never seen so many NFA dealers at a single show before. SBRs and suppressors are starting to go mainstream, but that’s another story for another day.
After learning that I couldn’t buy a stripped AR lower (because some enema-nozzle at the ATF has decided that a stripped rifle lower is actually a pistol until some rifle bits are attached to it) I made a point of examining every new Marlin lever-action I could find.
TTAG has been a vocal critic of The Freedom Group, ever since it started gobbling up historic American gun marks and puree-ing them together into a Borg collective that seems to have forgotten everything its ‘members’ once knew about making firearms. The results of my anything-but-scientific survey were anything-but-pretty. Sadly, they confirmed everything bad we’ve been hearing about the lever-action arm of The Freedom Group, formerly known as Marlin.
Every one of the half-dozen new Marlins I examined showed the same appallingly poor wood-to-metal fit that plagues my recent 1894C .357 Magnum. From .22 Model 39s to several stainless .45-70 1895 Guide Guns, the gaps between wood and steel were measured in millimeters.
Remember this picture from the Marlin review in June? My rifle was assembled like a Lamborghini compared to the Yugos I saw today. Woodwork like this is a disgrace, but at least wood-t0-metal fit is mostly a cosmetic complaint.
Metal-to-metal fit, though, is crucial to the reliability, accuracy, and even the safety of a firearm. So I was shocked to handle a brand-new $575 Takedown Model 39 with such poor machining that I could fit my thumbnail between the receiver halves. The round barrel was roughly burnished, as though the metal had been prepped and polished with a wire-wheel Dremel tool. The Dremel guy had also ground off most of the roll-stamping on the barrel, and the remainder was carelessly smudged with gold lettering paint that sadly marked the gun as a ‘Golden’ Model 39A Takedown.
The Model 39 has been in continuous production longer than any other firearm in history, and Farago has sent me a time-worn but still beautiful example from the 1920s or 1930s. I haven’t gotten to do all my research on it yet, but it still shows impeccable metalwork.
That was then, and sadly, this is now. These brand-new Marlins hardly even look like Marlins. They look more like Norincos.
I own a Marlin 1895ABL that was made during the great change over.
The recoil pad was not properly installed and the foregrip cap was poorly fit. Internally the channel for the firing pin was gritty and internal metal finish was not as smooth as I would like. On the upside it is an extremely accurate rifle and can dump all six rounds with great speed. I have put hundreds of rounds through it with no cycling issues. It does absolutely show a lack of finish work but that problem started before Freedom group. My father recently picked up the forementioned Henry frontier, nice little rifle but not any better in finish quality. Thats the thing, its nice for what you pay. I only wish Marlin would offer a higher line that was fully finished. I would have gladly payed $700 or $800 dollars for my ABL to be finished better. Honestly though if you can buy a gun retail for $550 what do you think the manufacturer is selling it for to the distributer, who then sells it to the retailer? Our unwillingness to pay more than Mossberg prices without crying is why we have so much cheap junk out there. As for the Japanese Brownings I have a flawless BL-22 and sold off a useless .358. It would not cycle right, Browning declared it perfect but it would shoot two and eat one. My Marlin is a pig, but a reliable pig!
When will the government learn that we don’t want or need to be protected from ourselves.
Unfortunately, those of us from other states cannot really help the good folks from Colorado, so they need to help themselves. They need to really get on their representatives. Colorado has already lost Magpul and the Outdoor Channel. Business owners, including outfitters and guides, must bring pressure to bear on their legislators. If they can be recalled…do it. Fire them all if that’s what it takes, including your dimwit governor. We’re pulling for you and out here and hoping for something more than a scream for help. Organize and make your legislators fear for their jobs. They’re supposed to be representing you not taking away your rights because they think they know what’s good for you. I live in MN and I’m on the phone almost daily and I send a lot of e-mails. We are also being pushed but we’re pushing back harder than they push us and we’ve been winning so far. Don’t give up and don’t get tired of fighting. That is exactly what they want. Stand and Fight. Good luck!
I just bought an ’87 Marlin 30AS. It proudly bares the JM stamp. Its still scope less(and will remain that way) and shoots as tight of group at 200yds as anything else I’ve shot. The fit and finish is beautifully done. Its hard to believe these guns were considered their “low end line” and their like Sakos compared to the new models. I wouldn’t trade it for anything! My advice, don’t purchase a Marlin without having the John Marlin (JM) stamp on the barrel. Just one gun owner to another.