Guns International #: 101340746
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Guns International #: 101340746
Category - Marlin Rifles - Antique
- Antique Rifles - Cartridge
Seller's Information
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Seller: Brent Wilburn
Company: Antique Arms, Inc. Member Since: 11/19/15
First Name: Brent
Last Name: Wilburn
State:
Georgia
Zip: 30052
Country: United States
Phone: (678) 471-1432
Phone2: (678) 471-1432
Premium Seller
Active Listings: 37
Total Listings: 576
Seller Type:Private Seller
Return Policy: 3 day inspection and return policy on used guns and accessories.
Payment Methods:
Money Order, Certified Check
Marlin Model 1894 Rifle in 44-40, Rare Antique Serial Number
Description: This is a wonderful and very early example of a Marlin Model 1894 Rifle in the highly desirable caliber 44-40. Serial number is in the 109,000 range which makes it a Pre-1898 antique. Most Antique Marlins are Model 1889's as not too many 1894's were built until after the turn of the 20th century. Finding one in the desirable 44-40 and a 24" octagon barrel is tough. The last one we had was almost 5 years ago. This one is in the standard sporting rifle configuration with a full tubualr magazine, and crescent rifle buttplate. Frame is color case hardened while the barrel and magazine tube are blued. Walnut stocks even have most of their original varnish present. The rifle is all original down to the smallest screw and the original finish is just that, original and has never been enhanced. Standard sights include the long Marlin Ballard rear sight with original elevator and Rocky Mountain front sight with German silver blade. Overall Condition grades to NRA Antique Fine Plus. Frame retains 25% original case colors with the balance either worn to a grey mottled appearance, Hammer and lever both exhibit some flashes of original case colors. Loading port still shows most of their original nitre blue. Barrel and magazine tube retain 80% original blue. Forend cap retains 75% original blue w/ balance light patina. Buttplate has remnants of mottled case colors. The wood is in Fine Plus condition retaining 98% original varnish with a few nicks and scratches. Excellent mechanics. Excellent bore is bright and shiny with strong rifling. An exceptionally untouched Marlin 1894 with a hard to find antique serial number (Marlin built far more Model 1889's in the 1890's than the 1894), a great configuration (.44 caliber w/ octagon barrel). History on the Marlin 1894: During the 1880's, Winchester Repeating Arms discovered a young inventor in Ogden, Utah named Jonathan Moses Browning. They bought almost every one of the designs he came up with from the 1880's up until the 20th century. Suddenly, Winchester had Browning's single shot design known as the Model 1885 Hiwall but he turned the lever action market on its head with the Model 1886 Winchester lever action rifle and its scaled down younger brother, the Model 1892. Other companies that competed with Winchester in the lever action market either closed shop or went in a different direction. The Whitneyville Armory, Spencer, Burgess, Bullard, and Evans all tried their hand at the lever action repeating rifle market and folded in the late 1870's thru the 80's. Colt gave up their short-lived attempt at marketing a lever action with the Burgess Rifle. By the end of the 1880's, one of the only companies left besides Winchester that was producing a lever action rifle was Marlin Firearms of New Haven, CT. Marlin only had one lever action repeater, the Model 1881, which was designed by John Marlin and Andrew Burgess in the late 1870's. The Marlin 1881 was a great gun and it was one of the first lever action designs which could handle the government's 45-70. The biggest repeater Winchester had then was the Model 1876 but it still worked on S&W/Volcanic Pistol toggle link action that dated back to the early 1850's. Winchester had improved it over the years, made it stronger, made it larger, but the design was now entering its fourth decade and was maxed out. As big as it was, the action of the Model 1876 simply didn't possess the stroke length to feed the 45-70. What's more, a lightweight version of the Model Marlin 1881 appeared that could handle longer bottleneck cartridges in smaller calibers like 32-40 and 38-55 which were popular with hunters and single shot enthusiasts. For five years, the Model 1881 had a great run until Browning sold Winchester the design for what was to become the Model 1886 Winchester. The 1886 could handle the 45-70, the 45-90, 50-110, it was stronger, and was downright handsome as well! It pretty much put everybody out of business and left Marlin staring at a very bleak future. How in the world could anybody compete against Winchester and the Browning brothers? Well, as it turned out, there was a man named Lewis L. Hepburn who could. Like Browning, he was a gun builder and inventor and had spent several years working for E. Remington & Sons in Ilion, NY. In the single shot world, Hepburn was the stuff of legend. He not only designed single shot rifles such as the Remington Hepburn rifle, he was also a great shot and played an important role in the 1874 International Shooting Match between the United States and Ireland. The only problem for Hepburn was that the original Remington Company which had been around for decades was in serious financial trouble by the mid-1880's and had fallen into receivership. Recognizing his talents, Marlin scooped up this Remington refugee and put him to work redesigning its line of lever actions. Hepburn's first design was the Model 1888 rifle which was a medium frame lever action rifle that would compete directly against the famous but still toggle-link driven Winchester Model 1873. The 1888 was a top eject rifle that was a good start for Marlin but Hepburn soon made more improvements resulting in the first side-eject Marlin known as the Model 1889. Once Hepburn came up with the Model 1889, the concept was scaled both up and down for various calibers resulting in the .22 Caliber Model 1891, 1892, and 1897, later, the Model 39, the 1893 later a.k.a. 336(offered in 25-36, 30-30, 32-40, and 38-55, the Model 1895 was offered in just about all of the big boys found in the Model 1886...(45-70, 40-82, 50-110, etc). The result was an avalanche of competition for Winchester and these models were built in one form or another for over 100 years. The Model 1894 was essentially Hepburn's revisit to the Model 1889 with various minor improvements made. The Model 1889 was still manufactured for another five years following the introduction of the Model 1894 and based on my experiences, I've found far more 1889's than 1894's under the roughly 175,000 serial range cutoff for all Marlin models. The 1889 was finally phased out around 1899 and so only the 1894 saw the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. That is quite a run for any mass-produced product! This rifle represents the Model 1894 in its earliest 19th century form and the quality and case colored frame are absolutely stunning! SOLD Antique: Yes Manufacturer: Marlin Model: 1894 Caliber Info: 44-40 Condition: NRA Antique Fine Plus |
Guns International #: 101340746
Guns International #: 101340746