Marlin vs Winchester
A modern shooter with a modern marlin. Photo fieldandstream.com
Lubricate both colts properly
Winchester properly lubricate
And go on the road, because
Crazy got into your head...
“Was not…”
Y. Kim, music. G. Gladkov, "The Man from the Capuchin Boulevard"
Winchester properly lubricate
And go on the road, because
Crazy got into your head...
“Was not…”
Y. Kim, music. G. Gladkov, "The Man from the Capuchin Boulevard"
stories about weapons. Everyone knows Winchester. Vaughn even inserted the name of this rifle into the song. Which is not surprising if we remember the role played by the "Yellow Guy" in the development of the Wild West. Why "yellow"? Yes, because the Winchester rifle of the 1873 model of the year had a brass receiver, that is, yellow. On me in his time story made such a strong impression that I even wrote a novel about him "People and Weapons" (and they say that he "turned out"). However, later I learned that not every "Winchester", that is, a gun with a bracket at the bottom, is a "Winchester", even if these guns look like two drops of water, that there was another gun with a lever reloading system popular in the USA, and even more perfect than ... "the hard drive itself." This carbine was called "Marlin", also in honor of the founder of the company, and today our story will go about it ...
Goiko Mitich - "the main Indian of all times and peoples", is simply unthinkable without a hard drive in his hands ... Frame from the 1965 film "Sons of the Big Dipper"
Let's start by remembering that the first "Winchester" (namely, the Winchester of Oliver Winchester, and not the "Henry rifle") appeared in 1866. Caliber .44 (10,9 mm). Then came the famous model M1873, and a decade later - M1886, produced until 1933 and produced in the amount of approximately 160 copies. It was developed by John Moses Browning, and his design turned out to be cheaper and easier to produce than the M000 (or M1873).
"Marlin" M1881. View from the left. Photo littlegun.be
"Marlin" M1881. Right view. Photo littlegun.be
Meanwhile, John M. Marlin founded the Marlin Firearms & Co. in Connecticut in 1870 and, following the Winchester firm, also began manufacturing rifled and smooth-bore weapons, as well as ammunition for them. In the 1880s, it was Marlin that became the main competitor of Winchester in the production of lever carbines. Their desperate and fierce struggle for the market served as a good incentive to further improve the design of rifles with a lever-operated reloading mechanism.
"Marlin" M1887. Right view. Photo littlegun.be
"Marlin" M1887. View from the left. Photo littlegun.be
And at first, "Marlin" only copied the "Winchesters", paying main attention to quality, so the "Marlin" carbines differ from the "Winchester" ones only in small things. But over time, the company's designers have gained the necessary experience ...
"Marlin" M1889. Right view. Caliber .38-40 "Winchester" (10,2 mm). Photo littlegun.be
"Marlin" M1889. View from the left. Caliber .38. Photo littlegun.be
In addition, "Marlin" was very lucky in that the designer of the enterprise was Lewis L. Hepburn, who was not only a talented engineer, but also a champion-level target shooter.
Bolt box "Marlin" M1889. Right view. The shutter plate and the cover of the magazine charging socket are clearly visible. Photo littlegun.be
Butt "Marlin" M1889. It is a pleasure to cling to such a cheek. Photo littlegun.be
As a result, the company launched models of carbines 1881, 1888, 1889, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895 and 1897 on the market. However, the first models were a copy of the traditional "hard drive". Although the famous Annie Oakley most of all trusted the Marlin of 1891, believing that he was more reliable than others. So, for example, the 1881 model of the year was chambered in calibers .32-40 Winchester Center Fire (VTsB), .38-55 (VTsB), .40-60 Marlin, .45-70 Government or .45 -85 "Marlin", and also had an underbarrel tubular magazine and a standard octagonal barrel 28 inches (71 cm) long. But… even the Sun has spots. And all the same Lewis Hepburn decided to improve the "Winchester" and once again prove that there is no limit to perfection. And he proved it by inventing his own, somewhat different shutter mechanism!
The work of the shutter "Marlin" M1889. Caliber .38. Photo littlegun.be
In 1888, his first rifle appeared with a side-mounted bolt window, which almost completely eliminated the ingress of dirt into the receiver from above. Then came the 1889 and 1893 models. similar design.
"Marlin" M1889. Caliber .44 (10,9 × 32,5 R mm). Calibers .38, .25-20 (VTsB) (very rare), .32-20 (VTsB), .38-40 or .44-40 (VTsB). Octagonal barrel 609 or 700 mm long, side ejection with strong top frame, blued finish with hardened trigger, lever and butt plate. Received the nickname "The Whistleblower". Photo littlegun.be
"Marlin" M1889. Caliber .30-30 (7,62x51mm R). Photo littlegun.be
In 1894, the M1894 model appeared, patented on August 1, 1893. Well, a year later, the M1895 model, which became the classic rifle of the “Marlin system”.
"Winchester" M1886. View from the left. Photo littlegun.be
"Winchester" M1886. Right view. Photo littlegun.be
Receiver "Winchester" M1886. The differences with the Marlin box are clearly visible. Photo littlegun.be
In fact, it became the company's response to the M1886 "Winchester", which was produced under the caliber .45-70, which was popular in those years. The .1887-38 Winchester cartridge was then introduced in 56 and was immediately used in the 1886 and 1887 models. and in "marlin" 1895
Carbine "Winchester" M1895 chambered for .30-40 Krag-Jorgensen. Photo littlegun.be
Bolt box "Winchester" M1895 chambered for .30-40 Krag-Jorgensen. Loading with a clip, as you can see, has not yet been provided. Photo littlegun.be
View of the closed shutter of the Winchester M1895 chambered for .30-40 Krag-Jorgensen. The disadvantage of such a shutter is obvious - it is the impossibility of installing an optical sight on a rifle. Photo littlegun.be
It immediately became clear that the M1895 has a number of undeniable advantages over the "hard drive". Unlike the Model 1886, it ejected shells from the side rather than up. Its closed receiver was more durable, with separate openings for the shutter and loading, and therefore it turned out to be much more rigid and durable than the Winchester. In addition, the "marlin" mechanism was simpler, and it had a trigger that could be adjusted to the desired force. The original service life of the Model 1895 was 22 years, but relatively few new carbines were sold - only about 18 copies. It was only later that this model became history, and its price rose to sky-high heights.
The first model of the carbine "Marlin" 1895 Photo 1895gunner.com
The first Model 1895 Marlin rifles were made in 1896 and included in that year's company catalog. The lowest serial number of the 1895 model was 131 - and it is known that it was produced on November 180, 27. The first rifles were chambered in .1895-38, .56-40, .65-40, .82-45 and .70-45. In 90, the .1897-1895 (VTsB) cartridge was added to the list of calibers of the 40 model, and in 70, the .1912 (VTsB) cartridge. The rifle was available as a carbine, rifle with a round, semi-octagonal, or full octagonal barrel. Samples were produced with a straight stock neck and a pistol grip. Weight ranged from 33 to 2,8 kg. The magazine capacity was 3,7 rounds.
In response, the Winchester company developed the M1895 rifle with a middle magazine. This is Browning's latest lever-action weapon. The rifle was produced in many calibers: 7,62x54R, .303 British, .30-03, .30 Army, .30-06, .35 Winchester, .40-72 Winchester, .405 "Winchester". It was produced in fairly large volumes and even came into service with the Russian imperial army, but it still could not compare with the "marlin" M1895. Especially when Marlin also developed its own .444 cartridge, which was an elongated .44 Magnum, and, accordingly, released another carbine under it.
Cartridge .458 "Winchester magnum". Photo memo-randum.net
In 1912, Marlin introduced its first rifle chambered in high-capacity .33 caliber smokeless powder. All the barrels of these new rifles were so marked with a special stamp on the left side. They cost $18,5 or $22 depending on build. The last model M1895 was produced in 1917. After that, it was not produced until 1972, when the rifle began to be re-released under the name "New Model 1895". At the same time, the first models of 1972 were sold in the United States at a price of $185. In 1948, the company developed a carbine called the Model 336 (an adaptation of the 1892 Winchester model). It was a huge success, with more than 5 million copies known to have been sold to date.
Model 1936. Photo 1895gunner.com
Model 1895S was produced from 1981 to 1984, it included a pistol grip stock with a rounded lever. And the 1895SS, a further development, was available from 1984 to 1988.
Cartridge .45-70 (11,63 mm) "Government". Photo memo-randum.net
In 1972, another smart person in the company came up with the idea to resurrect the production of a large-caliber shotgun similar to the original M1895. It was only necessary to enlarge the action of the Model 336 to be chambered in .444 Marlin and .45-70 stamped Model 1895.
Cartridge .45-90-300 "Speed Winchester". Photo memo-randum.net
The company offered its "1895" in several versions, but the most popular among them was the "Patrol Gun" model of 1998. It had a 47 cm barrel, a walnut stock with a straight neck butt, and weighed just under 3,2 kg.
Model "Marlin" M336. Right view. Photo 1895gunner.com
In 2005, Hornady introduced the new Lever Evaluation ammunition, which allowed rifles with tubular underbarrel magazines to use plastic spitzer-tipped bullets, adding another 90 meters to the practical range of the .45-70 cartridge. Then companies such as Garrett and Buffalo Bo seriously improved the .45-70 caliber cartridges, began to complete them with high-quality powder charges and cast hard-alloy bullets that could “flatten” almost any target.
As a result, the 1895 model became fashionable. But in June 2011, the facility was closed, all 265 employees laid off, and the North Haven, Connecticut facility and equipment were sold to Remington, which was already on the brink of bankruptcy. The obsolete machines that made the marlins were moved to Ilion, New York, but all the people who knew how to work them were fired. For several years, the new owners tried to make World War I machines work instead of investing in modern CNC equipment, and the result was quite expected: Remington had to declare bankruptcy and sell off its assets in order to pay off debts on loans. .
As a result, what was left of Marlin was bought in 2020 by a company founded by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm back in 1949. And the first model that Ruger decided to bring back to the market was the 1895. Ruger called it the 1895 SBL. This is now an all-stainless steel rifle in .45-70 caliber with a gray laminated wood stock, oversized lever, Picatinny rail and perhaps the most top-notch scopes ever offered for a lever-action rifle.
"Marlin" M1895 GBL ("with a lever with a large loop") manufactured by Ruger. Photo 1895gunner.com
It is now manufactured at the company's facility in Mayodan, North Carolina, and is produced using the most modern technologies: the barrel is cold forged, the surface is treated so that it does not give glare. Models 1895G, 1895GBL and 1895SBL have a 47 cm blued barrel chambered in .45-70 Government.
"Marlin" M1895 - "dark rifle with an enlarged bracket." Right view. Photo 1895gunner.com
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