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Old Marlin Rifles

ECO-DAVE
Hello,

I am a fan of antique Marlin rifles and would like to know your opinion why these great old rifles don't command the prices of Winchester lever guns. I see 100+ year old Marlins selling for 1/3 the cost of a Winchester or less. I also like Winchester lever guns but I believe the Marlins are a very well built rifle. Just curious what others think about this topic.

Thanks
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Comments

4 comments

Date Votes
  • mark christian
    it is probably the same reason that old Colts command far more money than old Smith And Wesson's: There are more Winchester collectors out there than Marlin collectors and they are willing to pay more money. Old catalogs show that Winchester lever actions and Marlins seemed to be at about the same price point, so I wonder of the issue may involve actual numbers produced?

    Bert H. is our Winchester expert (and one of the leading Winchester experts in this country) so he will likely know the answer.
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  • Mort4570
    I suspect that ,in part at least,most of us were raised on Saturday morning Westerns,and John Wayne cowboy movies.They used Winchesters,and used the word 'Winchester' a LOT in those old flicks.
    Never did hear John use the word 'Marlin' in 'em,did you?

    I do know it's the reason I had always liked Winnys...until I got my 1st Marlin. lol
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  • Bert H.
    I believe that the real answer lies in the fact that Winchester was making lever-actions for almost 20-years before Marlin got in the game. By the time Marlin was established, Winchester had a very hard hold on the shooting public's attention. Additionally, Winchester sold firearms world-wide, whereas Marlin sold & exported very few firearms. There are Winchester collectors all over the globe.

    Another point of interest, is that Marlin chambered most of their lever-actoin rifles in Winchester cartridges (yes, there are some exceptions).

    Mort4570 also brought up a valid point.
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  • eastbank
    i bought a marlin 1894 rifle built in 1906 in 25-20 with tang sight in very good con. for 750.00, and a winchester 1892 rifle built in 1917 in 32-20 with a tang sight and in just about the same con.it cost me 1300.00. they both shoot ex and work like they should. i do prefer the winchester,but will not turn down a good old marlin. eastbank.
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