Marlin Question

[Fla John]

In a previous post, I stated that I owned only one levergun; However, upon reflection, I remembered a rifle that a friend of mine asked me to clean up and/or fix. Sadly, he passed on almost immediately thereafter and I wound up with it. Dug it out and now have some questions...

Basically, it's a Marlin tube loading, side ejecting, 24" bbl. Barrel reads--Marlin Fire Arms Co. New Haven Ct. U.S.A.....Patd'd Nov 19. 1878. April 2. 1889. March 1.1892. There is no cal. stamp but the business end measures +/- .303. Top of receiver reads Marlin Safety. Ser. #922xx. According to the records, it was either made or shipped 1893-records are somewhat sketchy. Interestingly the only other stamp I found was a circled "JM" on the bottom of the bbl--under the foregrip (John Marlin?). It' in rough shape--not that bad though--lotsa surface stuff--action works nicely although a little gummy.

So--is this something special and is better left alone or redo it? Leaving for airport now and will post pics later tonite or tomorrow.

Thanks, John

[jdad]

You have a 2nd Model 1891 chambered in 32 short/long rimfire/centerfire. The top tang has no model rollstamp. The 32 cal 1891/1892 were the most common caliber. The 22rf version was much less common, but the deluxe 32cal version was a whole lot more rare than the 22rf deluxe version. If it doesn't have the centerfire pin you can get one from wisners. http://wisnersinc.com/rifles/marlin/rflever.htm

You can still get 32 short Colt or buy some reloads, from this guy. It uses a heeled bullet, so it's easier to just send your brass back and have him reload it. http://gadcustomcartridges.com/#obsolete

[6pt-sika]

I never owned a Marlin Model 1891 in 32 cal but I did have a Marlin Model 1892 and a Marlin Model 92 both in 32 cal . I had both rimfire and centerfire pins for mine . Got a set of 32 Short Colt dies from CH4D as well as a 90 grain heel mold from a fellow in Vermont . And finally I found 200 pieces of brand new 32 Long Colt brass in the Scranton PA area .

Got the 92 set up first and it did very nicely with the 90 grain bullet and 2.5 grains of Unique .

I had it at John Kort's Sliver Jubilee Lever Action shoot in Ridgeway PA about 7 years ago and we were actually hitting the chickens at 200 meters with the little gun . Didn't knock them over but did hit them . I think that gun was going in the 850-950 FPS range .

They make a very nice and quite nostalgic squirrel rifle !

[6pt-sika]

I got a couple of the pins from Wisner's !

They take a bit of fitting but if you have any mechanical inclanation you should be able to make them fit with a fine tooth flat file in about 20-30 minutes .

Just take your time .

[otteray]

A sized round ball (top lubed after seating with your thumb) over a little bit of Bullseye powder in the short cartridge, sure is fun for easily made plinkers.