Glad to hear it's finally resolved. From what everyone's been saying on here it sounds like a Henry might be the way to go if you still want a lever? I think you definitely deserve to buy a nice rifle after all this!!
Glad to hear it's finally resolved. From what everyone's been saying on here it sounds like a Henry might be the way to go if you still want a lever? I think you definitely deserve to buy a nice rifle after all this!!
Shot a brand new Marlin GBL 45-70 over the weekend. First thing I did after being sure it was unloaded was to look at the crown. It had rifling. It was a nice gun too. Not a fan of how they laser the ser. # though.
You can miss fast & you can miss a lot, but only hits count.
I shot the 330 gr. Gould boolit and it shot great. Some touched each other. Just wanted to let you all know at least the gun shoots ok. Glad i didnt have to send it back.
Endeavor to persevere
I was going to get a Marlin .45-70 as well, then I saw the last one in the store, not even a Walmart special, but a regular gun store. The wood to metal gap was awful, I could stick a nickel between the buttstock and the gun. The action felt very rough, not tight like a new gun, but very gritty. I've had a few older Marlins, but the last .45-70 was right after the Remington takeover. It was a full length version, not a guide gun and I took it out and the gun consistently shot to the left, no matter what. I adjusted the sights as far as I could, the gun never got closer than two inches to the left at 25 yards. I put a Skinner sight on it, still didn't get it there. I called Marlin, and the attitude I got was "Well, that gun does take a scope". Not one of, let's fix it. That swore me off the new Marlins. I think if these days I want a lever action .45-70, it will be either a Henry or I will hunt down a used Marlin from before the crossbolt safety era.
Whatever cannot be remedied, must be endured.
Just picked up a GBL and am quite happy with the outside fit and finish. Lots of sharp burrs left from machining on the inside. Also found some rust in the barrel. Still keeping it.
After reading these Horror stories I'm ****ed glad I bought my 45-70 1895 (a 1972 JM example)
used more than 30years ago.
I bought it at S. Meltzers & sons in Garfield, NJ. If anyone here has the sad disability of living in NJ Meltzer's is one of the places to look for used firearms at "reasonable" prices, but you won't bump into me there....
I moved to Pennsylvania 20-odd years ago, and Honestly The used rack Meltzer's Is one of the very few things I miss.
A local dealer here had two half-smooth-barreled 1895's.
Seeing those delayed my last Marlin purchase by years,finally got an SBL this year. No complaints,it is a good rifle and takes recoil better than my previous ones.
There is a funny little detail though:
Attachment 231503
I knew a guy that purchased a well known brand 44 mag revolver. It came with a test target that showed a very good group. Only problem is you could not chamber a factory 44 mag round in none of the 6 cylinder chambers. They forgot to ream the chambers. He notified the company, they wanted it back. He said he wanted to hang on to it as it might be worth some money down the line to a collector. He finally sent the revolver back to them after they agreed to replace it and give him another revolver of his choice and caliber. He got two guns out of that deal. This happen in the late 70's.
I haven' bought any of the new Marlins. All mine are JM stamped, just the way I prefer it! Hopefully the newer ones have all the bugs worked out though.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |