Originally Posted by
TurnipEaterDown
Honest question: What qualifies a Marlin as "antique" in your view?
No jab, but the Model 1894 44 Rem Mag micro groove I bought new ~ 1992, and sold ~ 1999 had two things going for it: Nice wood, and really great accuracy.
The negatives were: horribly tool marked bore that took 3-5 days to get copper fouling out of after 30 rounds (Hoppes 9 alternated w/ Sweets), hole machining for fore end cap screw so misplaced that the screw was obviously cocked from external visual inspection and was Very hard to reassemble, a trigger so gritty that it was the first that I ever stoned and then dry fired hundreds of times to get to be acceptable, and burrs on internal parts that would slice your hand open during handling when pulling the bolt for cleaning.
Last I looked at auctions (about 2016) for similar to what I sold in 1999, the prices were $800-900. Can't imagine they are more reasonable now.