Howdy
I bought this old Marlin way back in the 1970s sometime. It was made the second year of production, 1895. I happened into a local shop and came across it and bought it pretty much as a lark. It is chambered for 44-40, which I had never even heard of at the time. The shop had one box of Remington 44-40 ammo, I still have a few rounds left in that box. Many years later I took it to the first CAS match I ever attended. Fired one shot and it jammed up tight. I had to have help unloading it and used a borrowed rifle for the rest of the match. I took it to a smith and he discovered that the hook on the lever that pulls the block down was completely worn out. He welded a bit more metal on and got it functioning again. However by that time I had bought a Winchester Model 1892 so the old Marlin pretty much gathered dust. I did have Happy Trails do a little bit of work to it, lightening the hammer spring among other things. I took it to a few matches, shooting my Black Powder loads out of it, but it doesn't get shot a whole lot these days.
I should probably bring it to a few matches this year.
Here is a view of the hook that needed a bit of metal added.
The front sight is interesting. I seem to recall it is a Lyman sight, and it has a tiny ivoroid bead set in it.
Somewhere I thought I had a photo of the caliber call out, but I don't seem to be able to find it. It says 44W. Not 44 WCF and not 44-40., just 44W. Anyway, here is a shot of the patent dates. You can see how much wear there is on this old rifle.
Here is the tang with the model number.
Question to the moderators:
My photos of the rifle are bigger than they are showing up here. How do I get them to show up bigger?
