Just bought Marlin 1895SS

[theperfessor]

I just bought a (blued) like-new Marlin 1895SS .45-70 rifle from a former student of mine. It is of recent manufacture, has had three rounds put through it and has a pristine bore, with the only cosmetic defect being a very tiny scratch on the left side of the receiver. It came with a decent quality canvas case and 17 rounds of ammo.

I gave him $250 for it. If any of you guys that know more about this breed and current prices than me want to share your opinions, please chime in and tell me if I got a good deal or not.

Also, anything about shooting, loading, etc. you might wish to share please do so.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

[MT Gianni]

Did you wear a mask and point a gun at him? Around here used run $450 & up.

[waksupi]

You should give him a retroactive A+!

[PatMarlin]

That deal deserves an upper lever grade for sure.

Sounds like child abuse.. :mrgreen:

[theperfessor]

No child abuse at all. He is (was) a non-traditional student in his late forties and I'm in my early fifties. I gave him what he paid his brother for it, after his brother turned down a fair chance of buying it back. My friend and student wanted to buy some kind of recoilless .223 lead squirter and didn't like the recoil of the Marlin and couldn't get more than that in trade so he wanted the cash.

Guess we both got a good deal under the circumstances.

I never take gifts from any student when they are still in school, but many former students are still my friends. A couple years ago another graduate stopped by my house out of the blue and said he had a job in another state and didn't want to mess with taking an old rifle along with him. He gave me a Rem 700 in .243 with a stuck case in the chamber and a badly rusted bore. Wouldn't take anything for it, he said he knew I'd fix it and take care of it and he couldn't.

One of these days I'm going to buy a take-off factory barrel from somewhere and put it back in shape...

[PatMarlin]

Just jerkin ..:kidding:

What do you teach professor?

[kingstrider]

Good price on the new addition. I love my 1895GS but its been way too cold to take it out lately.

[WHITETAIL]

theprofessor, Yes you got a good deal!:coffeecom
I owned one of these and it shot great for me.
But I had a itch to own a Cowboy so I
traded it in for a new 1895 Cowboy.:holysheep

[theperfessor]

Pat Marlin-

I'm an instructor in the Engineering Department at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville IN (southwest corner of state). I teach primarily mechanical and manufacturing-related courses and use firearms related examples of design and manufacture when appropriate. My background is in machining and product design, and I do a little consulting to make some extra dough to indulge in my firearms/bullet casting addiction.

I also have a basic machine shop in my garage and have recently started tooling up to produce custom bullet molds, for my own use at this point but who knows.

Most of my students are male and a lot of them are hunters and shooters and are very pro-2nd amendment. I'm pretty well known around campus as the resident "gun crank" and thus have many good contacts that sometimes result in good deals on firearms and related stuff.

By the way, I've followed the threads on your gas check maker and am quite respectful of your efforts. It's not easy going from making one item that works to mass producing many similar items that work equally well, is it? My best to you for continued success.

[PatMarlin]

Wow very impressive credentials, and thank you for the kind words... :drinks:

Not many folks unfortunately realize how difficult it is to bring a product from the idea stage, to a prototype, then to a sellable producing product. I've done it many times and have produced equally as many successes as failures,.

You have to have it together on so many levels. Create an idea in your mind, have the skills to build a practical working model. Have the business sense to determine if it has a practical use and a market. Then be able to repeat and produce a quality product and have the business and marketing expertise to see the whole thing through to success, with all the numbers working in your favor.

Not easy, and definitely not done overnight with much patience and determination.

[theperfessor]

PatMarlin-

You're doing better than me! I have had far more failures than successes, but so far I only seem to make the same major mistakes once, and maybe if I live to 100 I might put ALL the dimensions I need on a drawing the first time and never grab the wrong bar of tool steel off the rack...:-D

Making two pieces fit together is a matter of craftsmanship and patience; making a million parts fit together is considerably more complicated. I totally agree with your assessment of the personal qualities required to be successful on a mass-production scale.

I hope your success continues. I get most of my satisfaction these days in seeing my students be successful in business and industry.:-D

[Bigjohn]

I just bought a (blued) like-new Marlin 1895SS .45-70 rifle from a former student of mine. It is of recent manufacture, has had three rounds put through it and has a pristine bore, with the only cosmetic defect being a very tiny scratch on the left side of the receiver. It came with a decent quality canvas case and 17 rounds of ammo.

I gave him $250 for it. If any of you guys that know more about this breed and current prices than me want to share your opinions, please chime in and tell me if I got a good deal or not.

Also, anything about shooting, loading, etc. you might wish to share please do so.

Thanks in advance for all responses.

You got a deal, even here downunder you would be hard pressed to find one of those in poor condition for that price.

I had one, sold it and now very sorry I did.

John.

[cajun shooter]

You paid about $250 less than that rifle would bring in Louisiana. $500 and up is the going price. I thought that my buying a pre-safety Puma 45 Colt with walnut stock for $450 was the buy of the week until reading your post. My Puma looks great with one tiny stock scratch.

[fordwannabe]

Professor you have done well. I have several(read a lot) of rifles and that 1895ss is hands down my favorite. In the last 2 years I have taken a wild boar in Ga with it and this past month I shot a whitetail doe with it(in the neck at 12 feet, it was ugly but the deer dropped where I shot her). I put a pachmeyer(?) decelerator on mine and I shoot it very often. Over 700 rounds last year from this gun. I will offer my load if you want it but it is a jacketed load using the sierra 300 grain hp. Good luck sir and if I may be of any help with this rifle( it is one I know fairly well) feel free to ask. Good luck Tom

[catboat]

Visit www.marlinowners.com. There is a forum for the 45-70 Marlin (among other forums). Good reading.

Nice snag.