Old Marlin question

[Remiel]

My gunsmith buddy had this dropped off and he planed to resurrect it, question we have is its stamped .38-w, he thought it was a S&W, but no S, i wonder if its a 38 Winchester or similar?127894127895127896, and yes it looks like it was beat but the bore is good, and well this wouldn't be the first firearm he has resurrected.

[jrmartin1964]

.38-W = .38 Winchester, aka .38 W.C.F. - known these days as .38-40 Winchester.

[Remiel]

.38-W = .38 Winchester, aka .38 W.C.F. - known these days as .38-40 Winchester.

thats what i think too, how difficult would it br to get parts, brass, etc?

[Speedo66]

Not too difficult to find ammo, but you will be astounded by the price for a box of 50. Brass is available, whose ever it is better take up reloading if he wishes to shoot it. The .38-40 had the approx. performance of a .40 S&W, and use the same diameter bullets.

[Reg]

thats what i think too, how difficult would it br to get parts, brass, etc?

Any parts needed will be a problem. You might find them, you most likely will not but most of them should be easy to make by any good gunsmith. Stocks will have to be made most likely but then again, wood for this old rifle is very easy to make from scratch.

This is one of those projects that if you have to pay to have it done, it is going to cost a lot but then again if one has a bit of skill. can learn and has good reference material one who is is about half handy can pull it off.

[OverMax]

If your buddy is good at his trade. That will be one sweet little rifle when he's done. Looks like everything iron is there. Curious is it a carbine or rifle?

[yooper]

Your buddy's work bench looks like mine. Was anybody hurt when the tornado went through? ;)
yooper

[BrentD]

I have one of these. And it is a great caliber. Lots of fun. I bought my brass from Starline directly.

As for parts, they are very very easy to find. You will find used parts almost every where that gun parts are sold. Ebay, Gunbroker, Wisners, etc etc. I have a list of places. Almost all the parts that fit the very popular 1893 and 93 Marlins will also fit the 1894s. Because it is a shorter action than the 93, the parts that are not going to cross over will be things like the carrier, the FRONT firing pin, trigger plate. But hammer, trigger, springs, extractor, ejector, magazine tube, mag hanger, most screws and probably a host of others will fit. I definitely recommend the resurrection.

There is a guy on the marlincollectors.com forum that sells new made Marlin screws exactly like the old ones. He is listed in there somewhere, but a bit hard to find, so search around.

I'm going to have to recant just a little bit here. After looking more closely at your pictures, it appears you have an 1888 Marlin, not an 1894. That will make finding parts a bit more difficult, but certainly not impossible. What might concern me most is the bolt - it looks like the face of the bolt might be broken, or somehow it does no appear to be fully closed, at the front yet the position in the rear, relative to the receiver looks like it should be. If you need a bolt, that will be a bigger problem, so start with looking for that, if in fact you need one.

Still a great rifle and I bet you can find what you need if you look around the internet.

[Remiel]

Any parts needed will be a problem. You might find them, you most likely will not but most of them should be easy to make by any good gunsmith. Stocks will have to be made most likely but then again, wood for this old rifle is very easy to make from scratch.

This is one of those projects that if you have to pay to have it done, it is going to cost a lot but then again if one has a bit of skill. can learn and has good reference material one who is is about half handy can pull it off.

he has a guy that can fix the bolt and the rest either Numrich has or can be made, this is his special project and he is one hell of a gunsmith, I own at least 2 examples of his work, when he is not working on others he likes his projects

If your buddy is good at his trade. That will be one sweet little rifle when he's done. Looks like everything iron is there. Curious is it a carbine or rifle?
Max,yeah he is good, have an old model 9 Remington that was beat and abused, now it looks almost brand new

Your buddy's work bench looks like mine. Was anybody hurt when the tornado went through?
yooper

we were working on my other buddy's Brazilian Mauser and he had another Mauser in the blocks just outside the pic, but no injuries, i just happened to catch him when he was busy thats all

[Remiel]

I have one of these. And it is a great caliber. Lots of fun. I bought my brass from Starline directly.

As for parts, they are very very easy to find. You will find used parts almost every where that gun parts are sold. Ebay, Gunbroker, Wisners, etc etc. I have a list of places. Almost all the parts that fit the very popular 1893 and 93 Marlins will also fit the 1894s. Because it is a shorter action than the 93, the parts that are not going to cross over will be things like the carrier, the FRONT firing pin, trigger plate. But hammer, trigger, springs, extractor, ejector, magazine tube, mag hanger, most screws and probably a host of others will fit. I definitely recommend the resurrection.

There is a guy on the marlincollectors.com forum that sells new made Marlin screws exactly like the old ones. He is listed in there somewhere, but a bit hard to find, so search around.

I'm going to have to recant just a little bit here. After looking more closely at your pictures, it appears you have an 1888 Marlin, not an 1894. That will make finding parts a bit more difficult, but certainly not impossible. What might concern me most is the bolt - it looks like the face of the bolt might be broken, or somehow it does no appear to be fully closed, at the front yet the position in the rear, relative to the receiver looks like it should be. If you need a bolt, that will be a bigger problem, so start with looking for that, if in fact you need one.

Still a great rifle and I bet you can find what you need if you look around the internet.

thanks for the info i will see what he needs and look into it for him(he doesn't do computers) and go from there

[Jon K]

Looks to be an 1889...has side eject & lever lock.
1888 is a top eject & no lever lock.

Jon

[Remiel]

from what he was able to find poss build date around 1890-93 ish, not sure would have to ask him again

[woody1]

It's an '89, Marlin's first side eject. Only made from 1889-99. Regards, Woody