disappointed in Marlin......

[rmcc]

Received a new Marlin 1895 45/70 for birthday, went to range and fired 2 shots, came home and put in safe. A few days later was going to the range again so got in safe, picked up rifle and opened action to check (habit), went to close action, would not close. Tried again, heard something hit the floor. Looked down, piece of metal, looked like wing off the ejector. Sure enough, took bolt out and rest of ejector came out. I had sent the warranty card in, so called Marlin in NC. The guy I got was rude and condescending in asking me questions about what was wrong with the rifle. By the time I was done, I was told rifle would have to be scheduled to be picked up by UPS at my house, could not take to UPS up the street even though would be packaged the same, had a work order from Marlin, and an address. And higher blood pressure!! Went to computer, got online and ordered a Bear Proof extractor from Brownells. Rifle was back in business in 2 days. I am going to send the ejector pieces, along with their work order to tell them what was wrong. We will see if I at least get a new ejector! I love the rifle, don't get me wrong, but their customer service needs some work, IMO.

rmcc

[dragon813gt]

Title should read "disappointed in Remington....". They aren't the same company since they were bought up.

[osteodoc08]

One of my first upgrades to all my Marlins. Justbout of habit is suppose.

[joatmon]

If you let them know you fixed it BY BY warranty for future repairs.
Aaron

[macomber]

Reading this and some of the other posts is making me sick! I ordered a 1895 Marlin Guide Gun recently. They had a nice rebate going, and the comments on the seller's site seemed to indicate that things were better.

When I got to my dealer's shop to pick it up, we opened the box and the forearm had a pretty obvious crack in it. We got the ok to send it back and hopefully the next one is ok.

[Mgderf]

Must be a hit and miss sort of deal.
Mine seems to be fine. Looks good, shoots straight, as far as I can tell.
I only have 8 rounds through it so far, but as of now, it is as advertised.

[MyFlatline]

Yep it a hit or miss..runnin 50-50 on 6 so far (that I help take care of). Still no where near the quality as the true JM Marlins.

[Brad Cayton]

I guess I was lucky. I bought a new Remlin 94 in 45 colt and liked it well enough to get a 95 CB in 45/70. The wood finish isn't as nice on the 94 as my older JMs but wood to metal fit is good. I've run 400+ rounds of my reloads through it and it's a very accurate carbine. I took a rasp to the fore end on the 95 and shaped it like it should have come from the factory, sanded,refinished it and the butt stock. I've put almost 200 rounds of cast through it and am very happy with it also. Shouldn't have to refinish a new gun but not a bad price with the $100 rebate on the 95 plus the $75 on the 94.

[Blackwater]

It increasingly looks like Rem. is run by accountants, and NOT by real gun-makers! (sigh) Is there nothing that liberalism and Harvard Business School can't destroy????

[TXGunNut]

I bought a used Remlin 1895 in 45-70 a year or so ago, no complaints other than the ugly wood. Fit, finish and function is excellent. It even shoots on a par with my JM Guide Gun and that's saying something. In the interests of full disclosure I'm a pretty hard-core Winchester collector and not a Marlin (or Remington) fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. I really hope Remington gets it's act together but the jury's still out on that, it seems. I dealt with their "service" center in the course of the 597 recall a little while back and I'll just call it unpleasant and leave it at that. I had a similar difficulty with the FN/Browning service center but eventually got things straightened out.
Quite honestly I found the early reports of Remlin barrels not being indexed correctly gun hard to believe and then I saw one on a used gun rack, then another. Still pretty hard to believe but there they were. I'm reading Brophy's Marlin book and I'm learning about the company/companies that used to be. Just like Winchester, that company is gone. Little other than the names and some darn good firearms remain.

[Gray Fox]

I recently did a trade for a NIB .45-70 stainless guide gun with the full length mag tube and the big lever. This is the one with the checkered grey laminated stock and XS sight rail and ghost ring aperture sight. The wood to metal finish is good and the metal finish itself is also good. I was working out of town away from my loading bench so I bought some Winchester 300 grain HP loads at Wally World. From a rest at 40 yards the first 3 rounds were a clover leaf at 1 o'clock. After tinkering with the fiddly little sight adjustment screws I had the same group right where I wanted it after 6 more rounds. The trigger was very good, and my only complaint is that the edges of the finger lever are so square and sharp that it drew blood on two fingers operating it. It's going to get wrapped with buckskin just like my SASS lever guns. I just cast up a nice batch of Lyman 457193 boolits in 1:20 alloy and I lubed them with Black Powder Gold and will work up a Trapdoor load to 1,350 or so to avoid beating myself to death. So, I guess I'm a satisfied customer, but I realize that it's the luck of the draw these days. GF

[jmort]

I will never understand how Remington can put out these steaming piles with CNC, modern facilities, dimensional computer generated plans etc, whereas the J Marlins were much closer to hand made/fitted and were worth buying.

[TXGunNut]

I will never understand how Remington can put out these steaming piles with CNC, modern facilities, dimensional computer generated plans etc, whereas the J Marlins were much closer to hand made/fitted and were worth buying.

I've wondered that myself. I don't know much about the machinery but I feel certain they have the capability to build some pretty awesome rifles. I know it takes more than that but it's a shame, all that equipment and nobody seems to care.

[rmcc]

It is a shame that with all the tech we have now and the ability to make precision products, we have all the examples of just plain poor quality workmanship!! Before it gets better, we are going to have to find people that give a damn and take pride in their work! I got mine as a gift but the other 2 bought a rifle like mine and one with a 22" barrel. I don't know whether to go ahead and order 2 more ejectors to have on hand or not. I put all the pieces in an envelope and sent them and a letter to Marlin. Hopefully they will at least send me a new ejector. Not holding my breath on that one! Thanks for the comments guys. Will keep you updated what I hear from Marlin.

rmcc

[runfiverun]

at least your phone number worked.
the one I had in the Remington owners manual for a Remington shotgun in the Remington case made in 2009 had been disconnected already.
finally tracked one [Ph.#] down and they had zero parts for my gun.

luckily I found the importer [after another 42 phone calls] and got a part from Italy.
you know your company is screwed up when you can't even get the Italians or Turks to make guns for you anymore.

[RustyReel]

Mine arrived without the hammer spur (that offset hammer thingy) in the box. A quick, and nice, email to Remlin resulted in one in my mailbox a week later. They asked for my SN but other than that, no problem....

[merlin101]

If you let them know you fixed it BY BY warranty for future repairs.
Aaron
Not so! They may say that your repair will void any warrenty but when push comes to shove they would have to show that your repair CAUSED damage to the gun or other parts. You do not have to put up with carp like that.

[Harter66]

I bought a 2nd hand 2010 MR prefix B suffix 1895G 45-70.
Its a 3" rifle , loads from angry 45 Colts all the way up to it's not fun any more Lever gun loads and assorted bullets from 225 on up to 417gr .

God's honest truth , the fit and finish and function is better on the 2013 and 80 something Rossi 92's .

[rmcc]

Sad part is that there are enough problems right here on this site that clearly shows there is a Q/C problem at Marlin!

[Shingle]

I ran across a new 30/30 in a pawn shop last week that had the same exact problem, the rifle appeared to be NEW wouldnt close when I opened action extractor piece fell out. Go figure.

[dragon813gt]

Sad part is that there are enough problems right here on this site that clearly shows there is a Q/C problem at Marlin!

Head on over to the Marlin Owners forum if you want a more complete picture. And then head over to one of the Ruger forums. You will see that QC is lacking from most of the large companies.

[gpidaho]

I won't get into my recent problems with Remington in this thread as I've already posted in the missing rifling thread but I'm DONE buying anything Remington. Friends and I have been jerked around by them enough for a good long time. Gp

[Eldon]

Complete mystery why ANYBODY buys a new gun when there are soooo many proven fine used ones around.

So go buy a junk 700 30-06 for a fortune.

I bought this for $525 ! (Yes Virginia, it's a no salt Browning FN Safari in 30-06!)

202571

They don't go off by themselves as so many 700s did !

[jmort]

^^^ good point

[dragon813gt]

I can't buy every gun I want if i was limited to old ones. No one made a 327 Federal lever action in the past. And CZ has a habit of putting out variants of their pistols that I "have to buy". Not every manufacturer is putting out garbage these days.

[MyFlatline]

I shifted from Marlin to Henry. Are the perfect, nope. Do they have a stellar customer service, Yep. I like my Lever guns.
Still own a butt load of Marlins but the last 2 new ones were Henry.

[Mgderf]

I shifted from Marlin to Henry. Are the perfect, nope. Do they have a stellar customer service, Yep. I like my Lever guns.
Still own a butt load of Marlins but the last 2 new ones were Henry.

Ive just purchased one of each in the last month.
I've had a Henry Big Boy steel in .327fed/mag on order since January.
It came in about a week and a half ago.
I also just purchased a brand new Marlin 1895 in .45/70gvt, because (after rebate) it was under $400!

I do love my levers, and both of these new ones are nice, but there is no comparison.
There's nothing wrong with my new Marlin, but it cant hold a candle to the Henry.
Quality sells itself.

[canuck4570]

buy a Browning
and see the difference in finish….

[DCP]

Received a new Marlin 1895 45/70 for birthday, went to range and fired 2 shots, came home and put in safe. A few days later was going to the range again so got in safe, picked up rifle and opened action to check (habit), went to close action, would not close. Tried again, heard something hit the floor. Looked down, piece of metal, looked like wing off the ejector. Sure enough, took bolt out and rest of ejector came out. I had sent the warranty card in, so called Marlin in NC. The guy I got was rude and condescending in asking me questions about what was wrong with the rifle. By the time I was done, I was told rifle would have to be scheduled to be picked up by UPS at my house, could not take to UPS up the street even though would be packaged the same, had a work order from Marlin, and an address. And higher blood pressure!! Went to computer, got online and ordered a Bear Proof extractor from Brownells. Rifle was back in business in 2 days. I am going to send the ejector pieces, along with their work order to tell them what was wrong. We will see if I at least get a new ejector! I love the rifle, don't get me wrong, but their customer service needs some work, IMO.

rmcc

To most folks the issuing of a CALL TAG would be a good thing

[rmcc]

Call tag means someone has to wait around for UPS. They give you a between such and such time. There is UPS store up the street, it all goes to the same hub, and they had me print off the authorization work order to put in the box. If they acknowledge that, then they can also authorize a return label to print off and place on the box so a person could take it or have it picked up, still has to be scanned either way.

[DCP]

Call tag means someone has to wait around for UPS. They give you a between such and such time. There is UPS store up the street, it all goes to the same hub, and they had me print off the authorization work order to put in the box. If they acknowledge that, then they can also authorize a return label to print off and place on the box so a person could take it or have it picked up, still has to be scanned either way.

You cant ship firearms through a UPS STORE only a UPS HUB! UPS rules not Marlin.

https://www.ups.com/us/en/help-center/packaging-and-supplies/special-care-shipments/firearms.page

Getting Your Firearm Shipment to UPS

Firearms (including handguns) may be shipped only through a UPS Scheduled Pickup Account (specifically, Daily Pickup, Daily On-Route Pickup, UPS Smart Pickup®, and Day-Specific Pickup), or through a UPS Customer Center (counters at UPS operational facilities). Note: Firearms (including handguns) are not accepted for shipment via UPS Drop Boxes or UPS On-Call Pickup®, and may not be tendered to or dropped off at locations of The UPS Store®, any third party retailer, or any UPS Access Point™ location.

[buckshotshoey]

You cant ship firearms through a UPS STORE only a UPS HUB! UPS rules not Marlin.

https://www.ups.com/us/en/help-center/packaging-and-supplies/special-care-shipments/firearms.page

Getting Your Firearm Shipment to UPS

Firearms (including handguns) may be shipped only through a UPS Scheduled Pickup Account (specifically, Daily Pickup, Daily On-Route Pickup, UPS Smart Pickup®, and Day-Specific Pickup), or through a UPS Customer Center (counters at UPS operational facilities). Note: Firearms (including handguns) are not accepted for shipment via UPS Drop Boxes or UPS On-Call Pickup®, and may not be tendered to or dropped off at locations of The UPS Store®, any third party retailer, or any UPS Access Point™ location.
I used a hub. No problems. Fortunately there is one close to me.

[W.R.Buchanan]

buy a Browning and see the difference in finish….

Canuck4570: You can't compare a $1500 Browning to a $500 Marlin. They ain't gonna be comparable. It's like comparing a Mercedes to a Ford.

Most of the more recent Marlins I have seen on gun racks have either been pretty good or the cheap ones have been pretty plain. Fit and finish have been more than acceptable for a new "Generic Quality" gun. Grades of wood not so much, but if you get one with a Laminated Stock you don't have to worry about it. It is what it is. I like those stocks on the cheap guns best.

I can assure everyone that from a machining standpoint the quality of present Marlin firearms are better than anything that JM ever produced,,, EVER!!!

The external metal finish may not be quite as high a polish as the older guns but the inside of the guns have far superior internal fit and finish/machining. They are all made on high end CNC equipment now, as opposed to the Broaching Machines and Manual Machines with Fixtures of old. These new methods produce much more accurate and consistent parts.

As far as wood is concerned they have what looks to be 3 different grades. Garbage non walnut on the cheapest guns that fits nice but is about as interesting as hemorrhoids. Regular grade walnut that may or may not have any decent grain that you can bring out with refinishing, and the nice stuff on the $1400 semi custom guns. The Real Custom Shop Guns assembled at Dakota Arms Custom Shop (owned by Remington). get really nice wood and you pay for it big time.

Those $1400 guns are directly comparable to Brownings in every way.

The laminated stocks look pretty nice on a gun with a Cerakote finish on the metal IMHO.

I have 4 Marlins a 336/30-30 made in 1958, a 1894CB in .44 mag made in 2005, a 1895CB 45-70 also made in 2005, and a 39AS made in 1991.

All of these guns required extensive internal work to get to run correctly. All of them had the wood refinished, and now look presentable. The .45-70 was the worst of the bunch and had to have every edge on the gun broken before I could fire it. The Lever was so sharp it cut me the first time I opened it. It runs perfectly now and is a joy to shoot, and is a 1.75 MOA rifle with iron sights.

It took me 2 hours each to clean up the actions of the Center Fire Guns, and nearly 6 hours to get the .22 to run smooth. It has got one of those stupid rebounding hammers which goes "Boing" everytime I fire it and drives me nuts. I will eventually fix that too, and Marlin would never do that for me. It has decent wood that should look real nice when refinished.

Marlin used some paint called "Marshield" on its wood and just removing it and refinishing with Tru-Oil works wonders, and brings out whatever grain there is. Some are definitely better than others.

Of the 4 I have the .45-70 had the least interesting wood which was very close to Strait grained Sap Wood.

I refinished it and it looks acceptable but I would dearly love to restock that gun with some nicer wood that is more commensurate with the way the gun shoots.

My 1894 CB had what appeared to be pretty bland wood until I scraped the Marshield off, and stained and refinished it with Tru-Oil. It has grain, fiddle back and all sorts of neat stuff going on and that gun is also a joy to shoot.

You can't compare highly finished guns that have received a lot of hand work to $350 to 500 guns that are built to a Generic Price point. Those guns are built as working guns and usually end up in back of the seat in a pick up truck. It would be a perfect waste to do that to a nicely finished gun and most people know that, but ******** about minor stuff being wrong on generic quality guns is a waste of time. You need to learn how to fix the easy stuff.

The OP fixed his gun in 10 minutes with a new ejector. He could have put the old one back together and staked the spring side in, and not even had to replace it. All of mine have the originals.

Point is,,, he fixed it himself and it is kind of an accepted fact that with the owners manual you should be able to disassemble your gun to clean it and put it back together when done. This is part of routine maintenance.

I recently installed a Free Spin Pawl in my Ruger SBH .44. The instructions clearly showed how to completely disassemble that gun and recommended you do so every 500 rounds for cleaning the internals. I also watched videos on youtube showing how to do it including ones from Ruger! It took me 2+ hours to get it back together the first time.

It took me 15 times apart and back together to get that Pawl to work as advertised, but now I can take that gun apart and reassemble it in 5 minutes.

Any Marlin is 10X easier to take completely apart and put back together... You just have to try a little harder.

The instructions to smooth out Marlin Leverguns are on www.leverguns.com and anyone who can work sand paper and a file can do it. It is pretty easy to do.

The Marlins of old are gone, unless you want to buy a used one which lots of people including myself do. But whining about the new ones that might have simple to fix problems or the wood isn't up to your standard is pointless. I am saying that if you are expecting perfection from a $350-500 Generic Gun you are bound to be disappointed. QC on those guns is done in batches and the reason why is because the more hand work you put into a gun, the more you have to charge for it. Simple as that.

Marlin has Leverguns in Grades and Finish Levels from Plain Jane working guns at $350, to full on customs "starting" at $3500.

The first pic below is my 1894, the second is the 1895 and the third is a side by side of the two. You can easily see the difference. These took 6-8 days each to refinish. :violin:

"Speed costs money,,, How fast do you want to go?"

Randy

202615

202616

202617

[bedbugbilly]

I picked up an old vintage Marlin 336 SC in 30-30 a while back - I love that rifle. I was considering getting a new Marlin not too long ago so I wouldn' feel so bad about shooting the old 336 SC so much. I found a new one in a LGS - looked it over and put it bacon the rack. I wasn't impressed. Like others, I can't figure out how they can turn out such poor quality/fit rifles with CNC, etc. But of course, I figure a lot of it is the "bean counters". When I was a kid, Remington had a good reputation for making quality guns - we had a number o them in the rack that we hunted with. Too bad that things have turned out as they have. Now I've changed my mind and am looking at a Henry - at least they seem to be good quality guns - I have several - and their customer service is fantastic. But I still love my old Marlin 336 SC . . . .

[big bore 99]

Speaking as a retired tool and die maker of 48 yrs, it takes more than fancy machines to build a quality item. I got into CNC and CAD-CAM for awhile. I even taught WEDM for a bit. A lot of management types hope to replace hand fitting and knowledge with green kids who push buttons. I've been looking at 1885 CB for awhile and can't seem to feel good about it. Maybe some day.

[rmcc]

big bore 99,

I LOVE the rifle I received!! It is great, yes, the finish could be better but an afternoon will take care of that. I shot it again this weekend, absolute joy to shoot. Something about rolling that big old slug out there is a kick!! In fact, am starting to load some more right now. I did not mean to put anyone off the rifle, I was just really disappointed in the customer non-service.

rmcc

[Drm50]

I have several Marlin levers from late 40s to 70. I also have several from turn of the Century. Four
of these guns have been shot extensively 22, 32/20, 30/30 and 45/70, all handloads except for
the 22. I have only had a mainspring break in the 1897 Marlin out of all them.

With the new Ohio deer season I have had several 1895 Remlins and 4 336s brought in to be "fixed". All the 30/30s had front sights past top dead center and felt like they were full of sand.
The 95s had all kinds of problems, what was the same was that the loading ports were so sharp
they would shave casings as loaded. I wouldn't buy anything Rem puts out. If people didn't put
up with this shoddy product they would be forced to shape up. It is nuts to pay good money for
a rifle and have to buy aftermarket parts and refinish wood to make it tolerable. Maybe they should market them as kits. Sad to say Rem is not only company dropping QC, the Bean Counters
have a bussiness plan. Put it on the market, only a certain percentage of the faulty guns will be
sent back, make customer service a PIA to deal with, and only look at bottom line.

[OverMax]

Only own one marlin center-fire carbine. Well used Model 36. Never have had a need to replaced its parts. {knock on wood}
Shame to hear those owning the new marlin lever models keep on incurring fit & mechanical disappointments.
[Good to hear you got your rifle back to operating as it should.]

[W.R.Buchanan]

Speaking as a retired tool and die maker of 48 yrs, it takes more than fancy machines to build a quality item. I got into CNC and CAD-CAM for awhile. I even taught WEDM for a bit. A lot of management types hope to replace hand fitting and knowledge with green kids who push buttons. I've been looking at 1885 CB for awhile and can't seem to feel good about it. Maybe some day.


I am one too. Engineers have been trying to eliminate the machinists for many years. That's what CNC is all about.

They view us as Ornery Stops standing in the way of the timely Execution of their Earth Shattering Ideas.

I'm sure you've seen or heard of 3D Printers. Well they have ones that print in metal and this is the engineers dream as they can built their prototypes in their offices and never have to deal with us dirty uneducated flunkies.

The Problem is,,, they are almost there. Right now when it comes to gun making, new models are all designed around CNC production and the "Machinist" only loads and unloads the parts from the machines and pushes the green button! Engineers do everything else.

In 20 more years a robot will load and unload those machines and push the green button too.
Luckily we'll all be gone, but the guns probably won't be and by then they'll have parts made in such close tolerances that robots will be assembling them,,, and then someday, using them on us.

Because as soon as a machine can think for itself (and they are right at that point right now) the first thing it is going to ask one of it's buddies, is "what to do we need those Arseholes for?"

At that point they will use the guns they made, on us!

This is the Terminator Syndrome, and it is as valid an argument against the propagation of artificial intelligence as there ever will be. Those machines are being designed to be our replacements, and as soon as those machines figure it out,,, They will be.

DARPA is currently testing Autonomous Armed Drones. And if you don't have a ID Friend or Foe chip in you on the battle field these things won't ask to shoot you. They will just shoot you!

I don't have a chip in me,,, Do you? What if they turn them loose on the population?

That's what the UN wants, because the planet can only sustain 5.5 Billion People and right now there is 8+ Billion so a thinning of the herd is necessary.

What better way than machines? No accountability problems with them.

Randy

[iomskp]

Ever since the large companies embarked on their pursuit of higher profits without doing anything to improve quality, the only ones to suffer are us, all local manufacturing here has shifted of shore to increase profit but not a cent is spent on quality control.

The last new rifle I bought was a rem 700 sps 300 blackout, complained and complained about all sorts of little things apparently an of center chamber is ok and within rem's specks, if that is the best they can do it will be the last new rem I will ever buy.

Regards Trevor

[popper]

Too many TV watchers here. It's adaptive Intelligence, not artificial. It's NOT in CNC machines but is in your car. It has a very good purpose and works very well. Without the CNC we wouldn't get good moulds from Accurate & NOE. QC occurs on the ASSEMBLY line where real workers chuck the bad parts and get a good one. Until you get fired by the line boss who will get fired if he has too many rejects. If the extractor is anything like the 30/30 one, it's a supplier problem. Bean counters that cheat get caught. Machinists that gripe about the 3D printers need to consider the projects that would NOT occur if not for the printers. If it costs $40K per try for a part vs $1k, you end up filling to fit.

[KenT7021]

There are CNC operators and there are CNC machinists.There is difference.Quality of the QC operation is important as well.

[rmcc]

Yes, technology is GREAT.....BUT, I personally would not trade one good machinist on his lathe and mill for 100 CNC driven machines. Yes they are capable of fantastic work, if the set up is right. Garbage in, garbage out just like in programming....oh wait, that WOULD be programming!! I like the old ways, yes, I am a dinosaur!!

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/47DD87E404FADAE/standard.jpg

............Odd. My 38-55 model 1893 Marlin made in 1908 hasn't given me any problems at all, and it's OLD. Works every time :-)

...........Buckshot

[Buckshot]

..............Speaking of CNC, a good friend used to run the night shift for a small plant just south of me. They had a big order for door latches for Aluet or Alluett (French helicopter outfit). Two well paid people are the programmer and the tool setter in CNC operations. My pal Bob was the night foreman but he was the one who got his rear end reamed as the entire shift's production was trash.

He didn't write the code, and he didn't set up the tools in the machines. Everything went swimmingly. No 1/4" end mills failing to retract and dragging 4" @ 3/8" deep though the blanks to another position, but they were junk regardless. Someone has to be blamed. He was convenient :-)

................Buckshot