doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Help Identifying a Marlin

I am helping a friend value some rifles he inherited. I need help with a marlin.

It has not markings. It is a rifle with a long round barrel. It has a pistol grip stock and a bulbous for end. The magazine tube is shorter than the barrel. It is in a large caliber.

The action is the closed face type similar to a 1894, not like the current 336's.

Where do I look to figure out what this is?

Thanks In advance

jerry

Your description is somewhat generic. If you post some pics here, you'll more than likely get a pretty quick answer

Try Marlinowners.com I agree that is a very generic description of many Marlin rifles. I presume it is a lever rifle.

As far as I know, which admittedly is not all that far, all Marlin levergun actions were marked Marlin, usually on the tang. The guns Marlin made for others, were unmarked except for serial number.

It is possibly a store brand that has been rebarreled.

Or one of the early ones like the 1881.

The first Marlin 1891 side-loader that I ever owned was initially a mystery to everyone at that particular gun show because it had NO MARKINGS.

Caliber? Chambering? Long or short action? Photos?
Regards, Joe

Yeah, sounds like an early '81 to me. Can be very neat old cannons, although the early ones tend to have the ergonomics of a steel fence post....but you might forget that when there's a bear or an Apache in the sights.

Thanks I will pursue some pics. I should have thought of that.
Jerry

Pistol grip, flat bolt, rifle barrel, bulbous forend...sounds like an 1893 in .410, or possibly a 36/1936, which had a larger forend than a '93 rifle. Unmarked is strange - never seen one without something stamped on the tang!

Maybe a Stevens Model 425 High Power.
They weren't marked on the tang.
Don't know if they were ever made w/a PG stock or not.

Biggest caliber was 35Rem I think. But they looked a lot like a Marlin with the side ejection port.
Actually worth a fair amount if in decent condition just due to their rarity.

Marlin 410 lever actions were made on the Model 93 action w/the loading port elongated a little. Definetly had a 'bulbous' forend! Finger grooves on the sides of the field grade forend. Checkering on the rare deluxe grade.
Tangs were marked 'Marlin/410' but most anything can happen in a factory setting.

Either of these should have barrel markings noting the manufacturer. But those and tang markings if they were ever there can disappear under a refinishers file and wheel.

FWIW,,
Marlin even played with a lever action shotgun on the Model 57 Levermatic action. It never got to production but several pre-production guns were built.
The barrel was from the Marlin Model 55 bolt action shotgun (the Savage 'Roper' designed gun)

I doubt they would have bothered to mark these in any way most likely as they were just made for testing purposes. Maybe one of those escaped the factory R&D vault.


Just my thoughts..