If it was something like a bent barrel, or broken action, then yeah, I would have sent it back. The key to its innovation and performance is the patented elastomer Flex Tip technology of the FTX and MonoFlex bullets. Plans call for rifles that were suspended to make their way back into the line as the manufacturing process works outs its kinks. But if Remington does get its act together, I wouldnt hesitate to grab another 1894. Hopefully, similar powder technology can be applied to the development of the .338 Marlin Express. Your integrity would be better served by mentioning Gun Tests (http://www.gun-tests.com/), which goes back a ways, and whose honesty in serving gun owners is beyond reproach. I stopped subscribing to other gun mags because none of the others are impartial exactly because of their advertising. The barrel has some Marlin markings on it and the MarlinNorth Haven CT. stamp on the left side of the barrel just below the rear sight. I just have to say it is now 2016 and I bought not one but 2 Marlin Model 60s that are excellent. It very nearly duplicates the arc and payload of a 210-grain Nosler Partition from the .338 Federal but at significantly lower pressure. If you cannot find what you are looking for, try using the search link at the top of the page and enter the model number or UPC code of the item you are looking for. I have probably around 3000 rounds through it with no malfunctions and fit and finish are great. Just four hours away, in Ilion, Remingtons factory had some open floor space where it could move Marlin, keep it autonomous fromRemington [! On the contrary, if you have good dimensioning and tolerancing, and good drawings, all the parts will swap. Used. Remember the line in the movie Schindlers List, where he says (paraphrased ". This isn't your grandpa's muzzleloading system. They include the Standard rifle with a checkered walnut stock and 22-inch barrel; the Trapper with a synthetic stock, 16.5-inch barrel, and Skinner aperture sight; the Cowboy with an 18.5- or a 26-inch tapered octagon barrel; the 1895G with a walnut stock and an 18.5-inch barrel; the same gun with a laminated wood stock and a big-loop finger lever called the Model 1895GBL; the Model 1895GS with a straight-grip walnut stock and an 18.5-inch barrel; and the 1895SBL in stainless steel and laminated wood with an 18.5-inch barrel and a Picatinny rail with a Skinner aperture sight. | It has long been one of my favorites, and several of my friends used it for all of their deer, black bear, and hog hunting. Purpose: general use truck gun/hunting rifle when some future politician gets a wild hair up his/her ass, and .308 Winchester to feed my two .308 bolt guns and my SCAR 17S gets hard to find again. But when we did that, the fore-end wood would no longer easily reattach. You can see from that picture that the magazine tube stud was severely misaligned with the barrel, sticking way out on one side. The stock wood didnt even match the the fore-end wood. This year, we will also be in the same position on the 1894 line. I have hopes that clearer thinking will prevail on the part of all concerned. It is important to note that large loads are recommended for this gun and not Winchesters. Seller: AJGUNSNSTUFF ( FFL) $999.99. The rifle is accurate and I could not be happier. At 100 yards the velocity is 1996 fps and the energy is 1770 ft. lbs. Future plans call for a new introduction to the series each year, with changes in engraving patterns, model, and overall configuration. I know that, over the years, the stock is going to get dinged up and the bluing will lose its depth or come off entirely in spots. With Mitch Mittelstaedt and other colleagues, Dave narrowed his choice of bullet diameters. JavaScript is disabled. He had new Remlin he got from Dicks (good name for them). The fools running that board were so blind to the defects of the latest marlin rifles that they wouldnt believe their own eyes per my video. The biggest problem with the new Marlins is the horrible wood with badly pressed in checkering. I am happy with the rifles I have and would recommend the Marlin ones from at least 2019 when I got mine. I dont know if they were a closeout deal or what, but they were discounted reasonably (by Cabelas standards). .338 MARLIN EXPRESS .35 REM .357 MAG . Itll make ragged holes @ 50 yards off a bench using 158gr JSPs. Its not like theyre trying to model a Boeing 787 or something from scratch. I bought an 1894 .45 Colt with a round barrel from the Dundee, MI Cabelas (the round barrel .45 Colt Marlins were a limited offering sold exclusively through Cabelas) whose serial number indicates 2010 manufacture, and it also has the REP proof mark on the barrel. Too late I made the mistake of getting one and I havent even fired it yet as there were some issues and I sent it back form part replacement. The softer tip eliminates the hazards of stacking pointed rounds end to end in a tubular magazine. That's all the muscle your tender clavicle will want from a rifle with an alloy receiver and weighing 63/4 pounds with a 22-inch barrel. First the ejector retaining rivet fell out of the receiver, a call to the factory and I received a replacement that was functional if not confidence inspiring (the rivet was loosely retained by a bit of staked over material) then the lever action screw sheared off so I purchased a replacement and a spare to fix this, Next was the hardest fix, the extractor would leave a fired case stuck in the chamber and it took, first some effort to remove the new, live cartridge and then a cleaning rod to remove the case. BUGHUNTER, youre so right!! Maybe. Hope Marlin/Remington/Whatever gets their act together. Bad time to do that right now, I know, but wanted to look anyway. Beretta released its PX4 Storm line in the 1990s without much fanfare, but it since has developed something of a cult-like following. Im an old man too. bought one marlin model 62 30 carbine levermatic from gunbrokers and it is perfect and shoots great came with 4 power scope.. Another rifle, the front sight was off center to the right, not just a little, about a 1/4 inch. The sight shroud also rattled and felt like I could have just popped it off if I had wanted to. Initially offered in .30-30, .35 Remington, .444 Marlin, .450 Marlin and .45-70 ammunition, the bullets are now available in several other Hornady LEVERevolution loads. Description: Marlin 338 MX, Lever action rifle, 338 Marlin Express caliber, 22 inch barrel. Henry has earned a lifetime costumer and remlin has lost one. But as it left the factory, it was a gun that left a LOT to be desired, and I can only assume that their QC guy had had a large liquid lunch before checking the batch of rifles that included mine, and he was too drunk to give a crap. So is the fit, finish and action as good as a well loved vintage Marlin? Thanks. It may not display this or other websites correctly. I want a lever gun, too, in .38spl/.357mag; but Ive been conflicted over the choices out there. Used to be a dozen would be in any gun store for right around $300. Getting the drawings and IP is a standard part of any business negotiation. Compared to the 1894 rifle that I had bought years ago this was quite frustrating, but I did persevere and now have a fine .22 lever action rifle. Im pretty sure Henry of today has no connection to Henry of yore, other than making rifles that are cosmetically similar. You get tolerance stack up on the multiple parts and the gun jams. A relatively unknown brand, with a whole new platform, at an incredibly enticing price point thats GForce Arms with the LVR410. In the old days, it was not uncommon to see a Model 336 in a saddle scabbard out West, but more were carried by easterners for woods hunting, and they were quite happy with the .30-30 and other close-range cartridges. Heres my original board posting with video: Depend on MUNITIONS EXPRESS to bring you a multitude of money-saving rebates on ammo everyday. What I got back was A rifle that still bulged cases and after 25 shots the front sight fell off , the loading tube is sloppy in the dove tail( it;s held in place by the forearm) and a screw fell out of the receiver. Thats why you can go to a gunshow and build a functioning AR-15 from Mil-Spec parts on 10 different tables. Its trajectory is similar to the .30-06 Springfield.[3]. Clearly no one had ever worked this action at the factory or anywhere else until this poor guy got it to the range. Repairs/replacements actually did get made on those products, but not before the CS rep tried to palm the problem back onto me. However, simply pointing its bullet can't give it the ballistic coefficient of longer bullets smaller in diameter. Everything on the Remlin from the cheap blackened UNCHROMED bolt to the cheap ugly blackened unblued steel, to the poorly fitted screws that protruded where they were recessed on the real Marlin to the crude chunky birch stock just screamed POS. While the craftsmen at Marlin were first-rate, the manufacturing facilities in North Haven were less than great. Anyway . They were also mechanically defectiveno case, no case rim, no extractor, therefore no way to get a dud rocket-ball out of the chamber except a stick. Finally, at 300 yards the velocity has dropped to 1368 fps and the energy is down to 831 fps, about the minimum recommended for deer hunting. View Data View Sold Topped with a good-quality riflescope, these are both legitimate 300-yard rifles. For 2014, Marlin is reintroducing four suspended offerings, including two .338 Marlin Express rifles, the 1895 Cowboy, and the .444 Marlin. We were training a new workforce to build these rifles, says Fink. Unfortunately, longtime Marlin employees were not included in the move, and the quality of the Model 336 hit rock bottom. If Hornady's LEVERevolution ammo hasn't compelled you to give John Mahlon Marlin's classic big-game rifles another look, maybe the new .338 Marlin Express will. Dont buy a new Marlin, I just received a model 1895 at my FFL dealers, and I refused delivery of it, it is a POS. What made the Volcanic action design finally successful was when Winchester bought full control of the company, brought in B. Tyler Henry to convert the things to fire a real rimfire .44 cartridge, and THEN they became Henrys. Once the machines are set up, and you know the dimensions of your cutters/tooling and you replace your tooling when it is worn, you get the dimensions you need out of the far end of the line, regardless of whether or not you have a drawing. This really is a nice piece of hardware and easy to strip down as well. This may be a special case and not necessarily apply to lower tolerance designs. With a scope adjusted to land bullets three inches high at 100 yards, the 160-grain .308 ME and 200-grain .338 ME stay within a half-inch of each other to 200 yards, where they strike about 1 1/2 inches low. They would make no commitments nor agreed to stand behind the product flaws. I own two 336's in 30-30 and 35 Rem. During the last such .308 famine, I saw lots and lots of .30/30 ammunition sitting on store shelves all by its lonesome. Marlin tried again in the early 2000s with the .308 and .338 Marlin Express. Many will call a certain gun a POS even if theyve never owned or shot one. The furniture isnt heirloom grade, but has nice grain, decent checkering and a good matt finish (if thats your thing), The blueing is even and dark. For the guy asking about the 38/357s, I have a Winchester model 94 thats a good shooter, though Im not sure they are still in production? I know you took the point about there being no way Marlin was doing that . Give the Model 336C a stainless-steel barreled action and it becomes the Model 336SS (MSRP: $779). Probably much better in the hands of a real marksman. Front sight was canted to the right, checkering on butt stock looked like someone sanded it down to nothing ( nearly nonexistent ), chip in the forearm, dent in the pistol grip cap, weak rifling, should be Ballard type rifling as advertised, it actually looks like microgroove rifling, Metal finish was subpar, and wood to metal finish was also bad. Marlin rifles chambered for the fine .444 were named the Model 444. Read them for yourself to judge. The Marlin Model 1893, which was introduced in 1893, was essentially the companys previous side-ejecting Model 1889 with improvements and a longer action. Now you need to make sure that you did so in a manner that results in parts that are compatible with your installed base. I wanted the 18 barrel because I wanted to keep the rifle handy, without too much loss of muzzle velocity and a consequent losss of terminal ballistics. The new Freedom Group Marlin managers are not only goofballs but liars, who are disparaging the old Marlin employees and the old factory to cover up their incompetence at the new plant, and in ruining the name of a good brand. Hornady engineers then looked to the projectile for the new cartridge. That said, Ive ordered a Henry Big Boy Steel rifle in .45 Colt. The .338 Marlin Express is a cartridge developed by Marlin Firearms and Hornady. Obviously, most contemporary Americans have forgotten that .30/30 is a great cartridge that falls ballisticaly somewhere between .308 and 7.6239, and it is a viable choice for either general purpose/hunting use, or even as a something arises cartridge. Eother way they are great rifles and worth the price for a non-FG Marlin. I purchased a used Winchester 94, it just works. Im aware that there has been a negative gap in Marlin workmanship in recent years but I believe Marlin is coming back & I hope the brand survives because of it. The Lewis Hepburn-designed Model 1893 breech-locking system has remained the same to this day, and while its quite simple, not all current Model 336 owners understand its operation. . This cartridge is conceptually very similar to the .338 O'Connor but, like Winchester, Federal could not resist the temptation to load to maximum pressure to achieve maximum velocity, thus repeating the mistake made with the .358 Win. I'm glad all my Marlin levers are older models. Winchester Model 94 .22 WMR: Famous Silhouette Rifle. The .338 Marlin Express is Hornady's newest cartridge in a dizzying flurry of new cartridges, but it is not the most powerful one ever chambered in a lever-action rifle. the average deer hunter could take advantage of its benefits. For more than a century, bullets for straight-tube magazines were stuck with blunt, ballistically inefficient noses. Why didnt the gun magazine dorks interview some of the old Marlin employees to find out what really happened? It hails from a day, more than a century ago, when riflemen carried their hardware in scabbards and kept their shots short. I paid 900 bucks last year. You are really stepping it up, and I would have to say And what better vehicle for such a cartridge than the fast handling Marlin 336XLR lever action rifle? But the .348's tube magazine shackled it to blunt bullets that quickly fell behind .30-06 spitzers. B. You can now honestly say that you have a one of a kind, hand crafted firearm in you possession. Even though Im an engineer and not an MBA, even I know that. It has taken black/brown bear, elk, and almost any size game you care to mention less fearsome than an Alaskan Brown or Polar Bear. We show you how. . my Ruger M77 .30-06 for deer this fall. I'm particularly interested in the 338 Marlin Express which has great carry characteristics as well as mid range capabilities. It had a problem with the half-cock safety. This is simply crappy attention to detail. I own two other Marlins. went into production, the .307 Win. With the magazine tube properly aligned to the barrel, the screw holes in the tenon were no longer at right angles to their corresponding holes in the fore-end tip. All bullets fired at that distance were inside 6.0 inches. But millennials arent as brand faithful as their predecessors, and time is running out. Hornady's LEVERevolution ammo has killed cleanly for me to distances that define my normal limit. Taurus has redesigned this sporting pistol for performance. Machines were held together with what amounted to little more than Band-Aids, creating inefficient and costly production processes . The Truth About Guns has done its best to honor, continue and build upon the forums tradition of no-holds-barred product reviews.. Functioning with the new round was smooth and fault-free. I want a new one that the woods match damn it! If it has a New York address on it we will not put it on our shelves, but we will order them if so asked. The North Haven craftsmen were first-rate The existing bullet was remade with a thinner jacket in order to promote expansion and upset at longer ranges. Theres a narrow path back to respectability, but without some new blood running the show, the chances of the current jagoffs making the right choices seems very, very slim. i have a 1970 336 that shoots 3 rounds for one hole at 100 yards all factory.. rsvp. A solid hit for that round drops deer with authority. January 2015 edited January 2015. OK, you decide how to resolve the above issue. Custom Mossberg 500 at the Range and Live Turkey!. The Marlin Model 338 Marlin Express Long Rifle is a lever-action hunting rifle chambered in .338 Marlin Express. There is also lots of information on-line on how to replace/repair this wear part, and of course gunsmiths all know how to replace the worn part. Only Marlin I still have is a .22 mag bolt action rifle that I cant shoot because theres no ammo available. They said I was insulting people. I mean, at first I was worried about the value of my Marlin levers since they would be picking production back up But then i realized their dimentional drawings will never be the same as that which was handed down from generation to generation. As for the 1894, its not quite as nicely fitted (some very small gaps in the wood around the tang) as my beloved 39A, but its still very good, with the finish perfectly acceptable, the checkering (Marlin hadnt yet been checkering the stocks on their 39A when mine was made) looks terrific, and reliability is where it should be. A 19 year-old mechanical or industrial technician in his first year or an Associates Degree program knows this after taking his first engineering drawing class. Fact is, I loved that Marlin rifle and hated to part with it but it was defective. Its hard to want to buy a new Marlin knowing that it basically boils down to FG turning a profit by destroying skilled labor and gun manufacturing knowledge. O'Connor had done a series of brush penetration tests and discovered that the .348 Winchester performed well, but kicked pretty hard for a deer cartridge. Good products can help. of recoil with a 200 grain bullet would defeat the primary purpose of the cartridge. Inches from point of aim(warped barrel). Not so. I cant get used to a crappy rifle. "And to get the sectional density we want, the bullet would have to be quite heavy.". Personally, I would only buy an older used Marlin gun that can be checked out in person, at least until there are reports of significant changes at Freedom Group. By the same note, why did it take them so long to make CAD of the parts? with a few imperfections to the fore-end too.What can I do? Seems they have always had problems with fit and finish, though the older ones are better. Sales increased in 1953 with the addition of the .35 Remington. The 338MXLR differs from the 338MX in that it has a longer barrel and an American black and grey laminated hardwood stock. Moving up another notch in price is the Model 336XLR (MSRP: $996) with a laminated wood stock, a stainless-steel barreled action, and a 24-inch barrel in .30-30. Glad I ran across this site. Is a fun, sweet shooter Id rely on if my life depended on it? He similarly dismissed the .30. A screwdriver for removing the threaded pivot pin of the finger lever is the only tool required. And theres no getting around it: Marlin should have shut down manufacturing completely during thistransition. The company has done major damage to the brand by selling thousands of crap guns. It merely pushed the hammer down part way and then the hammer would get caught in the bolt notch and freeze the action. Either way, its a great gun. Of henry off his web site the next morning he sent two emails, and had one of his distributor s call my gun guys shop. We hoped to do that in late 2012, however we were not as far along as we would have liked to have been, says Fink. A practical medium bore caliber that kicks no more than a popular small bore! I dont HAVE to deal with them. I avoid the Marlins because of the quality reputation these days, avoid the Henrys because of the high price, and avoid the Rossis because they just seem so hit or miss.
