Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Howdy Recently I had a chance to try out one of the new Marlin 1894 lever guns. A friend named Chris, who is not a Cowboy Shooter, bought one. He just wanted a lever gun to play with at the range. He brought it to my club and asked if I would like to see it. Of course I would. It is a Marlin 1894CB chambered for 45 Colt with a 20” octagon barrel. I was impressed. The wood to metal finish was very good. Not quite perfect, but still very good. The blue was nice and deep and the wood had a nice matte finish on it. This one was made very recently at the Remington factory in Ilion New York. It looks to me like they have managed to come to grips with the QC problems they were having earlier. The action was a little bit stiff but not too bad. It would need to be smoothed out a little bit and lightened for SASS, but out of the box it really was not too bad. Chris only had about 15 rounds of ammo left, I forget which brand off the top of my head. He offered to let me shoot it, so of course I jumped at the chance. I said I would only load 5, as I did not want to use up what little ammo he had left. The gun has a nice Marbles semi-buckhorn rear sight, with the white diamond that would have to be blacked over for SASS competition. I went into ‘cowboy’ mode and fired all five shots pretty quick at a target about 20 feet away. As I said, the action was a little bit stiff, but it worked fine and I was able to get a nice group. Chris bought his Marlin at a local Cabelas. List price was $1094. Cabelas’ regular catalog price was about $830. Chris got it on sale for $700. I think he did pretty good. I would not be ashamed to show up at a match with this Marlin. Of course I would dirty it up a whole lot running Black Powder ammo through it. Here are a few photos, courtesy of Chris. The curved surfaces of the frame appear to have a bead blasted finish which has been blued. The sides of the frame are polished with a deep blue the same as the barrel and magazine. Not sure what the REP means nor why it was stamped twice, but there it is. No JM, this one is stamped DL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Thanks for the information. Sure hope that Remmy has 'seen-the-light', and this will be the 'norm' from now on. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 I agree with Lumpy. The last 4 or 5 reports I heard on the latest issue of Marlin 1894's has been favorable. Of course, a couple of those reports were mine... Thanks for the update, Driftwood. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 REP in a circle is the long-running Remington Proof mark. It's there twice because the operator hand punching the mark botched his first stamp, hitting the punch only on the right side of the shank. Here's some background on Remington's stamps and dating info for Remington production: https://www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun Articles/remington_barrel_date_code.html That DL on the left side of barrel, at the root, is the date code. DL translates to Sept, 2014. Which is also covered in the linked page. The end flap on the factory box should also confirm the date of manufacture, if the owner retained the box. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Hard to believe that '94 is from 2014. That in the 'worst' of times for Remlin, QC. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widder, SASS #59054 Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 Lumpy, The story has been told that Remington repurchased some of the bad stuff back in 14, 15, etc..... that had been sold to the public and stopped shipping the rifles already produced. I was told the plan was to re-issue those rifles at a later date when they started producing a better product. I ain't saying this is the situation with this rifle, but I do know a girl who worked for Marlin (Remington) during those trying years and when their situation with the 1894 started becoming the Perfect Monster, they (Remlin) stopped shipping the 1894 and started working on how to fix their problems before shipping again. And supposedly, those bad rifles (or atleast the good parts) were reworked if possible and reissued to the public. This barrel could be one of those parts. True or not, I don't know. But it would make sense to me. Interesting. ..........Widder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 That would explain much-TNX OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 That's good news . I have been holding off on buying a new Remlin in (45/70 ) Cowboy . I want one really badly , But did not want one with issues . Rooster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 I've been thinking about one also in .357, I've been a little hesitant but now maybe no so much! I do love my 73 and 66 though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawman Mays Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 I also bought the Marlin 1894 Cowboy a few weeks ago. Mine is .357/.38. I have discussed some of the issues in a previous post. Mine was manufactured in late 2018. The action was pretty stiff out of the box, so I got the Marling Spring kit and put in a lighter hammer spring, lever plunger spring and I lightened the lever safety spring. I also installed the 1 piece firing pin. Now, it runs nice and smooth. I've shot it at the range a few times. Feels good. I'll be shooting it at a match on 3/12 in Fairfax, VA with the Virginia City Marshals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawman Mays Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 I haven't given up on my 66 and 73. Plan on shooting all. Will take turns or rotate in some manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 nothing like 500-1000 rounds through them to do a nice job of cleaning up the rough spots. I replaced the springs (JM stamp) and have run it for about 12 years--nice and smooth now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 so , this thread made me look and i did pick one up - im impressed with the fact it seems to function well , short of actually shootin - good weather coming , it seems scaled down compared to my 60 , 66 , 74 and 92 , i think the grandson may well be able to handle it when i get it smoothed out a bit , not the quality of my 39s but those are 50s vintage rifles and have seen some use - they are very smooth , ill not say for certain but i think ill keep it , its furniture is nice and fitted well , the finish is nice and seems to function fine - ill feed my reloads to it and then decide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 15 hours ago, watab kid said: so , this thread made me look and i did pick one up - im impressed with the fact it seems to function well , short of actually shootin - good weather coming , it seems scaled down compared to my 60 , 66 , 74 and 92 , i think the grandson may well be able to handle it when i get it smoothed out a bit , not the quality of my 39s but those are 50s vintage rifles and have seen some use - they are very smooth , ill not say for certain but i think ill keep it , its furniture is nice and fitted well , the finish is nice and seems to function fine - ill feed my reloads to it and then decide Would like to see a detailed range report-If you have the time. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashknife Cowboy Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 A while back I came upon a Marlin MODEL 1894 LE 45 COLT, it is a sweet shooter. It was done right; finish, fit, action, etc...Someone there was listening to complaints. I can't use it in CC but its a keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted March 13, 2019 Share Posted March 13, 2019 "Would like to see a detailed range report-If you have the time. OLG" ill provide what i can as soon as the range opens and my hands let me venture out , it appears to be fine without actually feeding a bullet yet , i have always wanted one and hope my choice was ok , i have nbeen looking for an early marlin made and not had the fortune to come across the vintage item i really wanted , if that happens i may part with this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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