Marlin firearms

Reading an earlier post on marlin/deere hunting...I
remember reading somewhere that Marlin had closed
it's doors/out of business.Is this true?Why?

Believe Marlin is somehow a part of H&R and New England Firearms, or vice versa.
H&R

Marlin firearms are manufactured by Remington now, quality is reputed to have suffered since the takeover.

SWMBO just gave me my CHristmas present last night, which I installed on my 336. Does this mean I should get rid of it already?

They are owned by Freedom group, they also own Remington, H&R, Marlin, DPMS, Bushmaster and Barnes bullets. Quality has suffered on all products.

Marlin owned H&R when it was sold. Some indication was the George Soros was behind Marlin closing, other sources claim that Marlin products are still in production at various Remington Plants as both are part of the Freedom Group of Companies which is currently held by Cerberus Capital Management (owners of Chrysler when it went Bankrupt). It's one of those gun deals where anything that happens gets blamed on the left. Claims have been made that Soros owns Freedom Group and is buying up arms and ammunition manufacturers so they can close down or stop selling guns to private individuals. Other sources maintain that 90% + of Freedom Group stock is owned by Cerberus, Cerberus is a publicly traded stock and George Soros isn't involved in the management of it. I find no credible source that claims he holds significant stock in Cerberus or influences any control of Cerberus.

It really isn't much more than consolidation of like businesses trying to form a new business that's large enough to be successful in the changing market. One of the business concepts in mature markets is that in durable goods there will usually be no more than 3-6 manufacturers of any size holding a significant portion of the market. With globalization that will become 3-6 manufacturers world wide many of the businesses we have lost are due to consolidation due to globalization of the markets. Unfortunately with tax laws and other factors currently occurring it means many of our businesses are being bought by overseas concerns to become their "American" operations with a large portion of the intellectual property development and manufacturing occurring outside the US.

All this global consolidation may be true.
And the evil Mr Soros may be behind the demise of american gun companirs.
Still, a downgraded Marlin is still better than a rock, stick or pitchfork so buy accordingly.

I didn't know the history of H&R and New England Firearms, but have noticed the very close similarities of the receivers. They look almost identicle on some of the ones I have. H&R Model 176 10 guage, and New England Firearms 20 and 410 guage single shots. The machining and metal of the recievers look the same to me. I do have a real old scrapper 12 guage single shot H&R that I picked up from Cabela's a couple of months ago for about $100 that is like none of the rest, and that's one I'm going to try and refinish to see if I can. Other than the bore and the stock, its in rough shape, and looking forward to it.

Thanks for pointing that out about H&R and NEFA, and thanks for the link. I'm trying to identify the old 12 GA, but all have on it is the matching serial numbers on the barrel and reciever, and Google doesn't hit on it. Maybe H&R's library can help me. Thanks again. I sincerely appreciate it.

Mark

I have an older 336 great gun but the Lever style rifles that was Marlin's meat and potatos kinda went out of style.Years ago almost everyone had a lever action 30-30 around here to hunt deer but rarely see anyone hunting with one now.So many better rifles and calibers to choose from these days.

Don"t know who owns Remington, I am sure that if there is a rumor about a Left plot to stop gun sales it"s at least half true, but I do know this: Father went on a tour of Remington Facility in Illion, NY including the Museum...Marlin production is happening there, not at a pace where they can keep up, but it is happening.

I had a pre-1965 Marlin 336C Lever-Action Saddle Carbine in 30-30 cal. , & found out by using stock Winchester ammunition that the 170 grain Silvertip would shoot flatter than the 150 grain Soft-Nose. Great for deer & small black bear, but any larger animal & you didn't have enough firepower. Unfortunately I had to sell it to take care of my Mothers funeral. Sure do wish I still had it.

What "rufus80" said below with one exception: don't be too quick to buy into the current nonsense that Marlins made by Remington are not any good. Yes, you can get a not-so-good one but that can happen if you are buying a Ford F-250, A Chevy Silverado or a Dodge Ram. I suspect some of that is coming from older, hard-line Marlin loyalists. I've looked at quite a few Marlin levers that are coming out of Ilion and they seem fine.

And, if they are so bad, why am I having so much trouble finding a Marlin 94 C in 38/357?

The Marlin 336 is a great rifle and its lever action bretheren are great rifles.

And, a little OT here but I have a Marlin 795 .22 semi-automatic. $99.00 at Dicks after the rebate and it will shoot as well as if not better than a Ruger 10/22.

Marlin's XT series of .22 bolts and tubulars with the adjustable trigger are made in the Remigton plant in Mayfield Kentucky--and I'm not hearing anything bad about this line of .22's.

Marlin is owned by Freedom Arms who is in turn owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus is not owned or controlled by Soros.


NRA statement issued that rejects that rumor:

From the NRA ILA:
Recently, an old rumor regarding Cerberus–the private equity firm that owns Freedom group, a holding company that in turn owns a number of firearms manufacturers, including Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster, and DPMS–was in some way tied to George Soros.

This rumor is completely false and baseless.

NRA has had contact with officials from Cerberus and Freedom Group for some time. The owners and investors involved are strong supporters of the Second Amendment and are avid hunters and shooters. In reality, at no time has George Soros ever been a part of the ownership group of Freedom Group or Cerberus, and as a privately-traded corporation, there is no possibility that he will be in the future.

This unsubstantiated rumor has caused a great deal of unnecessary concern for gun owners. NRA-ILA urges our members to take great care before repeating baseless rumors[.]


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As for Marlin, I have two of their XL7 rifles - great shooting guns for a very nice price (basically Savage 110s with the accutrigger at 2/3s the price).

In my latest issue of Field & Stream (Dec 2012, Jan 2013) they have a comparison and shooting test of affordable bolt action rifles including the Howa Hogue 1500, Marlin X-7, Ruger American Rifle, Savage model 11 Trophy Hunter XP,Thompson/Center Venture Compact and the Weatherby Vanguard Series 2. The lowest priced gun in the test was the Marlin and it won the test! It shot a .2 group!

Like many things , the old Marlins were much better than the new ones. Wealth of info available on www.thefiringline.com