New Marlins or Rossi???

[vmathias]

Looking into getting a new Lever Action. Need some opinions on which one as far as quality goes. Heard the new Remington made Marlins are not the same quality as the older ones. Calibers I am looking for are 454, 44 mag and 45-70.

[joec]

I have a Rossi 45 Colt and a Rossi Rio Grande in 45-70 that I purchased after comparing it to a pair of Marlin 45-70 about 6 months ago. Now Rossi rifles are fine however with the 92 they need to be completely stripped which is not easy the first time to do since putting the bolt back in can be tough. The Rio Grande however strips just like the Marlin 336 so it is a piece of cake. With that said keep in mind both cases they are mass produced an very little if any hand finishing on the guns but them for the price compared to a Marlin they are inexpensive.

The 92 need some work in the buff and shine department but after about an hour it was really a smooth gun and I've shot thousands of rounds from black powder loads to full power 300+ gr hunting loads without a hitch. For this I highly recommend getting Steve Gunz DVD and tune kit as it gives you the break down and put back together instructions as well as taking the gun to a step above which I did. Cost of gun including Steve Gunz kit out the door was just under $480.

Now the Rio Grande and two small spots that need addressing, lighting the loading gate and some polishing on the front of the carrier. Took at total of 5 minutes. Other than that it was the best finish I've seen on any gun I've ever owned and that is a lot of them. It actually needed less than most Marlins do NIB which these where. Both rifles come loaded with grease and really need a complete cleaning before shooting them. This gun NIB with Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5x32 scope with rings was just under $500 out the door.

Both guns have worked out well for me but then I am willing to take the time to make them right. However many don't and then complain when they have feeding problems or light hammer strikes so it really comes down to checking the gun out before buying it and load some snap caps through it to test feeding problems.

[hanleyfan]

I guess it is how picky you are, I bought two Rossi 92s and both worked great right of the box, the action on one was a little siffer than the other one but they both were fuctional. Now I did buy a new Marlin 1894 that I had to spend 3 hours working on it just to get it to chamber a round, when I got it new it would jam every round from the get go. Now I have got it working ok but when you spend 600.00 on a gun you should not have that problem.

[Duce53]

Vmathias:
I would not buy new, you're in PA. The last time I was there it seemed as if there was a Mom & Pop gunshop in every town. The older Marlins are better. I really don't want any safe queens, while I don't want a rifle that is beat to death there is something about one that you wish it could talk. I own a 1895 Marlin in 45/70, 5 336's .35 Rem, 30/30, .44mag, 1894 .44 mag. and 2 39's one's a Mountie. You love to hunt, hunt down that rifle you want, they're out there. Don't over look a Savage 99, you're in or close to rifle hunting country, one in 30 Savage might just be the ticket. Check a manual I think ballastically it's close to .308 and can use spitzer bullets. Shoot I'm trying to fine a Savage 99 in 250/300 that I can afford. Here's a couple pictures..................<>< Duce

[HiVelocity]

I agree with Duce53, there's something about an older used rifle that just hollers, "take me home".

Hopefully, the previous owner fixed whatever didn't work. I have an older Rossi 16" SRC in 45 Colt (Interarms) that I love. It looks rustic, chambers my handloads like they were made for each other, and hits like a ton of bricks when I need it to. Personally, "ANY" levergun is worth having. The more the merrier. Just my thoughts,

HV

[blikseme300]

Reworking a new rifle to make it work properly is so wrong on many levels. I looked at a number of Rossi rifles and could not get to part with my money for such poorly finished products. I will bide my time and buy oldies that work the way they were intended to.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I don't think there is any real problems witht the new Marlins that a bit of elbow grease wouldn't fix.

I have both Marlins and Rossi 92s and they are equally good in the 'quality of the important stuff department.'

I haven't had any experience with the big Rossis and have only had one bad report about them and that was from the local gunshop that has a shelf full of new Marlins, so I took his criticism with a grain of salt. Before he retired, Ranch Dog had a few articles about the big Rossis and sang their praises, actually had a small forum site.

The main decider for me in a lever rifle would be do I want to use scope sights or open sights. The Rossi 92 does not lend itself to telescopic sights (apart from scout scope designs which may or may not please you) but the Marlins are easily scoped.

One thing about living in a free (ish) country, is that if it doesn't work out, you can buy another later on or trade it in. Wander along to the closest cowboy action range and introduce yourself. They will give you a shot of the various types. They will probably try and sell you on an 1873, which s a great rifle, but not really strong enough for a diet of heavy hunting loads, whereas the Rossi (also read Winchester 92 and 94) and Marlins will do so and outlast you with a minimum of care.

[vmathias]

I have looked into buying one of the older model Marlins, Seems they are still pretty steep in price ($500 plus) even though they are used. Not a big fan of buying used firearms though, Had some bad experiences. You never really know how many rounds were put through them or the abuse they may have taken.

[NVScouter]

I'm happy with my Rio Grande and feel it gives the new Marlins a run. But like Deuce said dollar for at an older rifle may be better.

My Rossi shoot good but the but pad is too stiff for a 45-70 in a 6# rifle from the bench. From the shoulder it's fine. I added a Mauser gring to fit for a test run fairly close fit. I'm also thinking g it may get a parkerizing job. For $500 it'll do what it's supposed to do as well as all the other 20" 45-70s.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
The Ranchdog Rossi Rifleman site is still out there and full of Rossi info.
Now here I am again in Peru and there are no Rossi's anywhere. I would gladly buy a caliber .357. But alas... seems that will not be for a few more years.
Mike in Peru

[knifemaker]

You have to be careful on buying a used Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. They are notorious for having oversized barrel groove dia. I bought one with a micro groove barrel that had a groove dia. of .431 at the breech end and the muzzle end was .432. Never could get that rifle to shoot any decent groups. Now I know why the original buyer sold it to me.
About a year before Remington took over Marlin, I sent that rifle to Marlin to have it rebarreled, on my dime, with a standard rifling barrel. got it back from them and the darn groove dia was .431 and had to use .432 or .433 cast bullets just to get any decent groups.
Now the other end for Marlin. At a gun show about 6 years ago I bought a NIB Marlin 1895 LTD-V in 45/70 that was a Davidson special made in 1999 I think. That rifle had a very smooth action from the get go and I have worked up three different loads of cast and Hornady jacket bullets that will print one inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards. That rifle was my main hunting rifle for several years for taking buffalo and wild boars and will never be sold. My oldest son has dibs on it when it does leave my gun safe.
So be careful on buying used, you may be getting someone else's lemon that he is getting rid of for one reason or another. Do a careful check, but I doubt any seller will stand for you slugging the bore to determine if it is oversize or has choke points in the bore, but again you could get that problem in a new rifle also.

[MBTcustom]

Look into Pedersoli. Quality is there.
New marlins? Lay down too much money and take it to a gunsmith first thing to clean up behind the factory. That's one of a gunsmiths jobs these days: wiping the a$$ of the American gun manufacturers. There is no such thing as American quality except in a few narrow slices of the industry. If you want true quality, it will be made in europe, or fifty years ago in America.

That being said, Marlin is now at the top of my list of overpriced junk you should avoid like the plague. Some of the stuff I have fixed for clients is such a complete faceplant, (12lb triggers, loose bolts, only functions when the screws are loose, wood/metal fit that makes an AK-47 look like a Shiloh sharps, barrels that look like they ran a tap down the bore, sights that are off center at 1:00) that its obvious that human eyes never even took a passing glance at it. Marlin is a thing of the past, so buy those that were made in the past, or don't even go there.

[Duce53]

Vmathias:
Marlins do seem to be at the top end as far as cost. The cut down 336 I posted the picture of was bought off Gun Broker for $165. Sounds good and was, it had been used by a conservation club for training. They had removed the firing pin and plugged the bolt with JB Weld. Replaced the pin, did some lathe work, and ended up with one of the handiest rifles I've ever owned. Watch Armlist, here in Indiana we have INGO {Indiana Gun Owners forum} they have in state firearm classifieds. Remember I've been looking for a 99 in .250/3000 for about 10 years. It's a little like hunting a trophy buck, seldom does it happen in one season.......<><Duce

[outdoorfan]

Looking into getting a new Lever Action. Need some opinions on which one as far as quality goes. Heard the new Remington made Marlins are not the same quality as the older ones. Calibers I am looking for are 454, 44 mag and 45-70.

Check out Rossi-Rifleman and look at Ranch Dog's posts on his Rossi .454. I think he's posted on this sight about that gun too.

I am in the process right now of getting my .357 Rossi all spiffed up. Quite a bit of work, but I should be happy with the results when I'm done. The only downside that I can see to Rossi is that there's no provision for a receiver-mounted scope, if that's what you want. You can mount a scout scope further down the barrel, though.

I should add, though, that you can get the Rossi set up with a good receiver sight, if you'd like to go that route. You'll have to get the receiver drilled and tapped (two screws), but that's no big deal.

[vmathias]

Look into Pedersoli. Quality is there.
New marlins? Lay down too much money and take it to a gunsmith first thing to clean up behind the factory. That's one of a gunsmiths jobs these days: wiping the a$$ of the American gun manufacturers. There is no such thing as American quality except in a few narrow slices of the industry. If you want true quality, it will be made in europe, or fifty years ago in America.

That being said, Marlin is now at the top of my list of overpriced junk you should avoid like the plague. Some of the stuff I have fixed for clients is such a complete faceplant, (12lb triggers, loose bolts, only functions when the screws are loose, wood/metal fit that makes an AK-47 look like a Shiloh sharps, barrels that look like they ran a tap down the bore, sights that are off center at 1:00) that its obvious that human eyes never even took a passing glance at it. Marlin is a thing of the past, so buy those that were made in the past, or don't even go there.

Goodsteel, that statement is right on the money. It is SAD where American quality (or lack of) has gone. I never thought I would think or say it but many other countries have us licked when it comes to building a great quality made firearm. The Japanese made Howas, Brownings etc put most of the American made products to shame. We need to quit worrying about mass producing **** and need to start getting back to quality over quantity. I have compared the Philippine made 1911's to many higher cost American 1911's Sad to say for the money they are damn close if not better than many productions made in the US. Very sad indeed. I will say this' Ruger still has their stuff together.

[WECSOG]

Some info I have run into making this comparison.

The Marlin Micro-Groove barrel is considered by some to be completely unsuitable for cast lead bullets. I am not completely sold on that though. I have an old Marlin 99M1 in 22LR its micro-grooved. The barrel still looks shiny and bright, no trace of leading even after years of heavy use. But thats only a .22. It does seem to me that attempting to also work up some black powder loads for a Marlin 45-70 might be problematic due to the reduced land height vs. powder fouling.

The Rossi 454 Casull can also fire 45 colt so the "average" diameter of the boolits are the same as say, .45acp. So you would'nt need a new batch of boolit molds. The rossi has a traditionally rifled barrel. Also 45 colt can be loaded with black powder. Anyways, just some useful information for you to ponder.

I am currently having a similar debate with myself, and I don't know who is winning yet.

[blikseme300]

Goodsteel, that statement is right on the money. It is SAD where American quality (or lack of) has gone. I never thought I would think or say it but many other countries have us licked when it comes to building a great quality made firearm. The Japanese made Howas, Brownings etc put most of the American made products to shame. We need to quit worrying about mass producing **** and need to start getting back to quality over quantity. I have compared the Philippine made 1911's to many higher cost American 1911's Sad to say for the money they are damn close if not better than many productions made in the US. Very sad indeed. I will say this' Ruger still has their stuff together.

Goodsteel put it into better words than I could have. It seems that the whole political correctness has rotted the fabric of American society so well that many people are now at the low level of apologizing and fixing the shortcomings of things that were supposed to have been right in the first place. No wonder there are such huge cost overruns with defence projects, civil engineering projects, any government projects, etc. "It's OK, we will fix them when done."

[Four Fingers of Death]

A lot of the problem is us as well, we now have internet and am able to access firearms from lots of different sources and at the best price. When the quality was up, we would go to the Mom and Pop gunstore in town and if they didn't have it, we would order it in and happily wait a few weeks for our new gun. When the price is the driving force, hand finishing is the first to suffer.

I look at it this way, I bought a Remington 700SPS (fondly referred to as the S**t Plastic Stock model in Australia, lol). It is a sound rifle, but the finish is pretty ordinary. Even with inflation, this rifle was cheaper than a Model 700, 15 - 20 years ago. I accept that I bought a cheap rifle and as such, I haven't paid for the final finishing and I am happy to do that myself.

I also bought it from the local gunstore and paid about $50 more than I would have by buying it interstate or in the Capital. To balance this off, if I have trouble, I know I will take it down town, 10 minutes away and as a regular customer, they will bend over backwards to get it right. I also did a pretty good deal buying ammo for the rifle(s) when I got them. Even though it was a bit dearer down the road, I didn't waste any time or have to battle any traffic while was in Sydney visiting my parents or diesel getting to the big gun mart and back.

I miss the old quality, but in reality, I couldn't afford Remingtons then.

[warboar_21]

Over the past few months I have bought a few Rossi lever actions. First Lever action was an 1892 in 45 Colt and the most recent purchase is the Rio Grande in 45-70. The 45 Colt was the floor model so people had worked the action over pretty well. I took it home and took it apart and cleaned it really well and oiled it up and worked the lever some more. I refinished the wood as I really don't care for the finish job on them. I simply removed old finish and stained it and added several coats of tru-oil. Now it looks much better.
The Rio Grande arrived almost two weeks ago and the only thing I have done so far is take it apart(easy) clean it, put it back together, mount a scope on it, and shoot it. Very accurate rifle with some of the hand loads I have loaded. I will agree with NVScouter that the recoil pad could be replaced but that is a minor deal.

Now when I was looking for a new 45-70 I found a nice Marlin GBL. I looked it over really well and the fit and finish were very nice. I left the shop to think about it and went back a week later and it was gone. They had another one behind the counter and when I started looking over it the fit and finish were sub par. He brought out the other one they had and it was just as bad. I couldn't see spending nearly $700.00 for that kind of quality. When I decided to buy another Rossi and was a bit worried about ordering it. When it arrived the guy at the gun store where I did the transfer asked me why I didn't buy a Marlin as they had two of them on the wall. I asked to see the standard and when he handed it to me and I shouldered it and looked down the sights, the front sight was canted to the left a little. I handed him back the rifle and told him that was the reason why I didn't. When we looked at the guide gun they had the action felt like it was full of sand and the wood to metal fit was pretty poor on the forearm to receiver.
I really wanted a Marlin but I just couldn't see myself spending top dollar for something that I was going to have to ship back to the factory to have repaired or have to work on it myself. And i'm sure as heck not going to spend what people are asking on sites like gunbroker for used rifles. If I want to spend $900.00 on a rifle I might as well buy myself a new BLR or other rifle.

[MBTcustom]

I don't think there is any real problems witht the new Marlins that a bit of elbow grease wouldn't fix.

Yes, and praise the Lord, because I'm a gunsmith and Marlins come through the shop all the time that need triggers to be less than 10-15 pounds, and people really want the wood to be closer to the metal than 1/8". Matter of fact, I think I'll send Marlin a thank you note, and encourage them to produce as many as they can before they close their doors, so I'll have plenty to work on in the future. LOL!

I haven't had any experience with the big Rossis and have only had one bad report about them and that was from the local gunshop that has a shelf full of new Marlins, so I took his criticism with a grain of salt. Before he retired, Ranch Dog had a few articles about the big Rossis and sang their praises, actually had a small forum site.

I have had only two Rossi's come through the shop since I opened. One needed a tang sight installed, the other has been beat to hell, and is in serious need of rebluing and a little oil. (personally, I think somebody has been shooting too much felix lube through it LOL!)

I look at it this way, I bought a Remington 700SPS (fondly referred to as the S**t Plastic Stock model in Australia, lol). It is a sound rifle, but the finish is pretty ordinary. Even with inflation, this rifle was cheaper than a Model 700, 15 - 20 years ago. I accept that I bought a cheap rifle and as such, I haven't paid for the final finishing and I am happy to do that myself.

It's not just Australia, I think that is a universal term applied to the plastic shipping material they pack the barreled action in LOL! I can also tell you horror stories about the barrel quality on those rifles. If you have a lathe, check that before you spend any time polishing that turd. I had a guy come to the shop who had an SPS that wouldn't shoot less than 1.5" at 100 yards. He asked me to crown the barrel, and thread it for a compensator. After getting it into the lathe, the barrel was drilled with so much skew (the outside was straight, but the bore was literally doing the hula inside by an enormous amount) that I refused to work on it. I don't know what he was planning on screwing onto the end of his barrel, but that was a lawsuit waiting to happen.