has marlins quality improved as of jan 22 2015 ???

[Guest tangojuliet]

so has their quality come back up to snuff or are they still junk ????

[maroonandwhite]

I have two of the newer .22lr models (one bolt and one semi auto) and have had no issues with them but they were built a few years ago. My 336 is older though so I can't comment on those.

[bersaguy]

Gosh!! I'm late to this party. I have always thought Marlin arms were always top notched. Have they been having problems with their quality of their guns?................................. :ugh: :ugh:

[Greg_Mid_TN]

I have handled a few of the new 'Remlins' (bersaguy, since Remington acquired Marlin, they closed the plant and moved operations to Remington plants, fired most of the Marlin craftsmen and tried to build lever actions with people who only knew how to assemble bolts. Their quality went through the floor).

 

The fit and finish is getting better, but still nowhere near the older leverguns. The actions also feel like they poured sand into them before shipping. Some of the .45/70 and CA caliber actions have been usable, but the stocks still look like a kid did the checkering or the wood itself looks like it was made of compressed newspapers.

 

Yes, I own quite a few of the 'JM' Marlins and am a little bit of a snob. I only have one with a CBS (1989 30TK), which I promptly removed and replaced with a Beartooth 'Safety Delete'.

 

G.

[res308]

I have a 336 Texan, fantastic rifle. It's a JM stamp. Never understood why the educated idiots at Remington thought they could get rid of master craftsmen and then set about to build the same lever actions and expect them to be as good as what came from the company that has always done lever actions the best (personal opinion). What they did was come in and destroy a legendary company and a legendary product.
To hear Jeff Quinn (Gunblast) tell it, Marlin quality is back. I'll have to handle one to form my own opinion, but I still feel like the damage is done.

[94user]

 

 

 

 

I bought this 30-30 new last summer. Manufactured in November 2013.  Wood to metal fit is good, finish is matte, not blued and is even. Screws are not marred up like I've heard about in the past. The pressed checkering is shallow and looks cheap. The action is pretty smooth, no sand in this one. Accuracy is really darn good.

[dawgdoc]

I'm not sure about their customer service.  I have a 70HC .22 from the nineties, and I have been trying to find either the manual specific to the model or someone who can tell me if it ever had a last-round bolt hold open feature, and no one at Marlin can help me.  Most of the time, I didn't get any response to calls or emails.  The one response I did get was not specific enough to answer my question.

[res308]

 

 

 
 
I bought this 30-30 new last summer. Manufactured in November 2013.  Wood to metal fit is good, finish is matte, not blued and is even. Screws are not marred up like I've heard about in the past. The pressed checkering is shallow and looks cheap. The action is pretty smooth, no sand in this one. Accuracy is really darn good.

Glad you were able to find a good one. That is a nice looking rifle.

[Runningriot13]

My dad also had a marlin lever action 30-30 and it was a fun gun he sadly traded for a .308 but my girlfriend has the model 60C .22 and in four years we've only had one failure to eject and that was today after she hadn't cleaned it in forever

[Patrick Henry]

Dawgdoc & Tangojuliet, check marlinowners.com for the info you are looking for.  

[dawgdoc]

I talked with a Marlin rep at the NRA meeting; he gave me his number so he could look up about the 70 HC.  He confirmed that it does not have an auto last-round hold open feature.  He also told me it was manufactured in 1988, and it was most similar to a Model 995.  He seemed real nice at the show; he was very helpful about finding information about an apparently no longer manufactured gun.

[stumpy]

I was at the NRA Conference and made it a point to get by the Remington booth just to see the Marlin line-up.  The usual assortment of 336, 1895, etc were on display.  I asked the rep if they were going to produce any of the smaller caliber 1894s this year, and suggested 32 H&R, 218 Bee etc.  His canned answer was "I don't know" which is industry speak for "no".  (Quick note - when a rep says anything other than "yes"  the real answer is "no" regardless of how it is phrased.)  After a short discussion I looked at a few Marlin lever guns.  The metal finish color is a dark, shiny blue.  There was so much shine that they almost had the appearance of the older "black chrome" finish.   The receiver sides of the lever rifles appeared to have been finish sanded with a coarse grade of sandpaper immediate before the color was applied.  Multiple scars and tracks from the "polishing" process made the flats appear to be a poorly done re-finish.  I was greatly saddened by the overall appearance of this work.  This made me return the rifles to their racks - did not take the time to evaluate the wood-to-metal union or check the actions to be rough or smooth.  This poor finishing was on the great majority of their lever rifles.  Sad, hate to see what used to be an industry standard become the industry joke, but there it is.  Hope they can correct this at some time, the sooner the better.

[graycrait]

Although I work part-time as a military retiree in a little known quasi "big box" store that sells firearms, the Marlins I have come across are 50%.  The 336s are rough but the .45-70s look and work pretty well.  The .22s, 60's and 795s, seem to work as well as always.  I am steering clear of anything that smacks of Remington -well, until they re-release a reliable R51 9mm - which may be never.

 

If Remington can fix the R51 fiasco they might be able to get on track:     http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/01/22/remington-r51-pistol-return-production/

Edited April 21, 2015 by graycrait