Marlin 1894 being returned!

[GARCIA]

Little history on this.

Been searching for a 1894 Marlin in 45 Colt for sometime. Found one at the Cabela's store in Gonzales LA. Had it shipped to my FFL dealer here in GA. Never did get a chance to inspect the weapon because it was purchased site unseen over the phone.

Well I finall had the chance to get it out of the box and started to clean it so that I could go to the range the following day. I looked inside of the muzzle and discovered that part of a land was missing and the grooves were messed up. Needless to say I was quite upset about this.

Called Marlin's customer service and explained the situation. They found it hard to believe, well long story short they sent me a return UPS label to ship it back for their "Inspection".

You can see who it looks in the attached photo.

Now, I wonder how long it's going to take to get it back and hopefully fixed correctly!!

Tom

[Ziptar]

I am truly sorry to hear and see what you've experience, It's truly makes me sad....

Unfortunately, that seems to be Par for the Course on the Ilion, NY produced Marlins, or "Remlins" as they call them now.

Lot's of similar reports similar reports over on the Marlin Owner's forum so I find it hard to believe that Marlin customer service "found it hard to believe".

In fact, I've seen many a report since the Ilion, NY production guns started hitting the market of horrible rifles being returned to Marlin directly for "inspection" and Marlin cutting customers refund checks directly. It seems that not only can they not produce a rifle but, they are unable to repair them as well. Selling rifles at wholesale only to have to send refund checks for full retail can't be working out to well for them.

Then there is the rumored production shut down in August due to "Quality Control" issues. Marlin didn't fess up to it for a while but, recently has confirmed instead that Lever Gun production was instead halted for the rest of the year with the exception of the 44 mag to deal with "Capacity Issues" so they can focus on more production of more "popular models". Smells like a big stinking pile of Bull Manure IMHO.

Maybe the customer service rep you spoke to was in their first day on the job, if you check out the Marlin owner's Forum "Marlin Rant" forum there are horror stories going back to 2009. http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/i...ard,179.0.html. Guns shipped with stripped screws, no sights, barrels with no rifling what so ever, and other inconceivable things.

There are many that feel and think that the Marlin brand is already just a memory and that Cerberus / Freedom Arms / Remington might as well be making horrible clones of what used to be great rifles. I gotta say I agree.

[Artful]

Political oversight of private business and Corporate management strikes again -
Viable business in same Connecticut location since 1870 - purchased by another company
then moved as the local rules and regulations were less then business friendly.
260+ skilled employee's let go and production equipment moved to unskilled labor force (in making Marlins).
Who should know better than to ship guns without sights, stripped screws and faulty rifling.

I quit buying Marlin's when they started coming with push button safety's sticking out. But now you couldn't give me one from the sounds of it.

[GARCIA]

I am very thankful that I own an original 1886 Winchester and still hunt with it.

Kind of wish that Remlin will return the gun corrected.

We shall see.

Tom

[Ed in North Texas]

Political oversight of private business and Corporate management strikes again -
Viable business in same Connecticut location since 1870 - purchased by another company
then moved as the local rules and regulations were less then business friendly.
260+ skilled employee's let go and production equipment moved to unskilled labor force (in making Marlins).
Who should know better than to ship guns without sights, stripped screws and faulty rifling.

I quit buying Marlin's when they started coming with push button safety's sticking out. But now you couldn't give me one from the sounds of it.

I sort of wonder how Remington employees would pass these types of problems. Although obviously these could be brand new employees making the parts, both the final assembly and inspection are unlikely to be unskilled and new employees. Inspection, even by employees new to the Marlin line, should never miss barrels with screwed up/totally missing rifling. Those types of problems tend to be deliberate acts. Are these employees who don't wish to work on the Marlin line? I can't imagine inspectors who have been given pink slips allowed to remain on the line. Is Remington having/about to have labor problems with their union contract negotiations? I can think of multiple reasons for these types of problems, but I can't understand simple sloppiness on the part of employees, not in the current job market (assuming they can simply be dismissed for incompetence, which may not be a reasonable assumption in a True Blue state like NY). I don't own any Marlins which have some sort of "safety" beyond the shooter.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Guys: there are plenty of used Marlins out there.

Until they get things sorted out maybe it's better to just buy them.

I always look for used ones anyway as I usually want to change them.

The last new one I got was my .45-70 CB but it was made before 2005, it was plain but still functional and all there. It really didn't require anything, but I chose to do an action job and refinish the stocks. Alll I really require is that the gun be put together correctly.

Had I gotten that response, that person who found it "hard to believe", He would have gotten his face ripped off and served to him. But really you need to start directing your comments to the GM not customer service who's only job is to placate you.

If that gun came back bad again, I would unleash a tirade, but I would wait until the SHOT Show so I could get at someone who mattered. Doing it front of a crowd of people gets the most attention.

Randy

[Jailer]

Man I must be lucky.

I just picked up a new 1895 SBL and it's great. Interior of the reciever and exterior of the bolt was sharp as razor blades but that didn't take long to smooth out. Did an action job, added wolff reduce power springs and a happy trigger and the thing is smooth as butter now shoots great and I'm loving it.

[Artful]

Jailer, excellent lets hope Garcia gets one as good as yours back.

[Crawdaddy]

Bummer. Sorry to hear about that. I have an 1895M and a 7000 and they are great rifles. They were purchase well before 2005.

I have to wonder about big companies these days. I work for one of the largest companies in America and they insist on double digit revenue growth every year.

In a good economy that might work out fine, in a poor one it doesn't. The first thing they do to try and get it is cut expenses. Sounds logical but if the fat is already trimmed you end up cutting vital resources.

The biggest expense in most companies is labor. That's where they start. They get rid of the highest paid front line employee as well as supervisor and manager. These are the people that ensure quality to customers. I assure you they do not cut director, vp, or any executive positions.

I watched over 400 people around me get laid off and at the same time saw a whole department created to " ensure cultural diversity".

[Ben]

The " New Marlins " that are being sold right now are hit and miss.

I'm glad I've got my 1992 mold, it is a " Real Gem ".

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=57730

Ben

[Jailer]

Jailer, excellent lets hope Garcia gets one as good as yours back.

Absolutely.

Hopefully during this down time they are scrambling to get skilled workers to fix the mistakes that made it out the door and Garcia gets his back BETTER than new.

[white eagle]

I must be another of the lucky ones
I just bought a gbl 45-70 and it has the be one of the better
rifles I have ever bought

[mrawatson]

Like Jailer I just got a 1895 SBL. Many sharp edges on the lever, receiver, bolt and loading port. After I took some crocus cloth to these, feels just fine. Alignment and screws good. Gets smoother with each use. Must be hit and miss given what I am seeing from others

[fecmech]

It's not just "Remlins", Marlin QC was pretty lame the last couple years before the switch. Two friends bought Marlins in that time frame an 1894 .357 and a 39A. Right out of the box the 94 would not feed a number of factory .357's and had to be returned for a fix. The 39A had an 8 lb. trigger and an action full of burrs which scored internal parts. I cleaned up the 39A and did the trigger but that gun should have never left the factory.

[ocelott]

I found one of recent manufacture - 1996 - that has proved Extremely accurate for me, I placed a skinner peep on it and it shoots my loads to poa at 100 yards with about 1.5" groups as long as I do my part right. I don't think that I'd buy one new from the new "Remlin" stock until they get their QC under control.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

The real problem is that Marlin was letting bad guns walk AND THEY KNEW IT. It is just impossible to believe that their management DID NOT know that junk was going out.

Shame on them. That shows a great distain of us, their American customers, who purchase most lever guns, and a lack of concern about quality of the product they were producing. Maybe it is time for them to fail .

BvT

[Ziptar]

Freedom Arms Management is aware and has been aware of Marlin quality issues, for a while.

Back in August I spent some time reading their financial reports. The 2010 10K and both Q1 and Q2 2011 quarterly reports detailed delays and cost over runs as well as production and quality control issues involving the relocation of Marlin production from North Haven to Ilion.

The concern was enough that each report expressly stated there was a possible forward risk of alienating the Marlin customer base as well as damaging the Marlin brand.

Safe to say that is no longer a "Forward Risk" but, a current reality.

The relocation of Marlin production was about more than labor or union issues. The main motivation was they sought to improve "production efficiencies" by integrating the production lines of all the fire arms brands that Cerberus / FA had acquired over the last several years. Somewhere on a spreadsheet some bean counter(s) had figured it all out.

It's the equivalent of trying to build Yugos, Fords, Freightliners, and John Deeres all on a single production line.

I made a detailed post about all of it over on Marlin Owners, I can repost it here if you all are interested. In addition the Q3 2011 report should be out soon if not already. That should have some new and interesting details.

[x101airborne]

I am sorry for your luck, but I also have never seen a barrel with that kind of damage. Sad to see what they are turning out. Guess I will have to stick with my 1960's marlins for sure.

I wonder what accuracy would have been had you grouped it with the barrel like that. I guess it would have been the same as a damaged crown. You know about curiosity and the cat!!

[Char-Gar]

It is my understanding that Marlin has suspended production for the rest of this year in order to get their quality control in place the way it should be. In light of this, a crappy barrel should not come as a surprise to their Customer Service people.

[RidgerunnerAk]

I'm not one bit surprised at this. I recently bought an 1895 SS guide gun. I pulled the sight hood off and the sight fell onto the bench. I had to peen the dovetail shut a tad to get it to stay in place. I sold it as fast as I could and will not buy another new one.