Marlin 1894 CB Limited 45 Colt 24"

[glockster157]

I just picked up a Cowboy Limited 45 Colt with a 24" octagonal barrel. But, it has no checkering. Really nice rifle, I have had the 357 and 45-70 but both were checkered stocks. Just curious if someone knew more about this rifle, it is stamped JM on the barrel.

[my82cam]

I know it shoots to the right!

[RED333]

Cowboys dont need no sticking checkering :cool:

[glockster157]

BJ, that was just a loose screw on the trigger....It shot center for me! 

Edited August 21, 2013 by glockster157

[my82cam]

There is a reason why the target kept spinning to the right for you and for me! lol  It is a beautiful rifle, if it had winchester stamped on it, I would try to buy it, but since it says marlin, I will let you keep her!!   :rofl:

[xd shooter]

Me personally I will take the Marlin over the Winchester. :) The 1894's are great little rifles. I finally scored one in 357 mag a couple weeks ago.

[Cherokee Slim]

I have one with the checkering.  I shoot it at every cowboy match since it's my favorite, over the .357 I have.  At SASS match rifle distance targets it's kind of a cross between point shooting and actually aiming but the long barrel makes it easy.  I've matched it with two Ruger Birdshead Vaqueros in .45.  It's a fine low maintenance rifle even when shot hard.

Cherokee Slim

[Chris]

Marlin's were great rifles until Freedom Group got a hold of them. I own three older marlins but wouldn't trade plugged nickel for the newer ones. Fit and finish went straight to heck from everything I've seen. Have they fixed this? It was sad to see a great name go down the tubes in order to save a buck or two.

[xd shooter]

I got a Remlin in 45-70 a year or so ago. The fit & finish are great on mine & it shoots like a dream. I call her the tank!

 

I did have one problem with it from the factory. Out of the box it had no tang screw to hold on the stock!! :stunned:

[Chris]

That's really good to hear. I own several Marlins and the quality they were putting out for a bit was just... subpar. Every rifle I picked up had gaps where the wood furniture met the frame. Made me sad. Glad they've picked up their game.

[1madss]

I have a 1894C in .357and  looked long and hard to find a true JM gun. If it has JM on the barrel and the SN# is on the tang and not the side you have a pre-Remington gun. If the SN is on the tang subtract the first two digits of the SN from 2000 and it should give you the date of manufacture (ie first two digits of 22=1978 19=1981) After 2000 the numbering changed and I believe that was the year the SN moved to the left side of the receiver. If the barrel has the REM rollmark on the right side the barrel it is a Remlin.

 

Not to say that some good guns did not come out after the Remington buy-out, there just seems to be a higher rate of bad runs since. All of my Marlins are 82 or older.

Edited August 23, 2013 by 1madss

[jaysouth]

The old marlins were made on antique machinery whose skilled machinists kept running with patches and fixes. They were within months of completely wearing out a complete factory. The new owners set up a factory using state of the are CNC equipment. At time of transition, none of the old hands wanted to move to NY and most were leery of relearning their trade and making the transition from skilled machinist to computer operator and material handlers.

The new folks had a long difficult time 'getting it right'. The CNC programming required a lot of fixes to get it right. As has been observed above, there were lots of problems learning to fit wood to metal. Slowly they got it to the point that a decent product would be shipped, after shipping products for almost a year that were sub-par.

For a number of reasons, mostly subjective, I consider the older Marlings to be better rifles. However a 336Y that I just bought appears to be a strong, smooth, and well fitted rifle. If you are looking at a 'remlin' pay attention to wood to metal mating and smoothness of cycling the action. If it passes those two simple tests, you should have a good rifle.

[lshel]

I have had the Marlin 1894 in 357 mag and 45 LC both were marked JM. I used both in cowboy matches and they were accurate and reliable and easy to clean. I got out of cowboy matches and sold both. I wish I had them back. I'm currently looking for a 44 Mag to keep.

Edited August 29, 2013 by lshel

[xd shooter]

Another thing to look for on a Remlin is make sure the barrel is not canted to either side. It was one of the earlier problems that were found quite a bit.

 

:) Anyway funny how this has turned into a gripe session about a Remlin (though people should know what to look for).

I do have both, actually have 5 that are JM stamped & 1 Remlin. As far as fit & function I cant tell the difference.

 

Glockster157 maybe one day I will find the JB 45 Colt as you have. Good snag.