I normally buy my guns online, mostly Buds.  I would like to pick up a Marlin 45-70 guide gun is stainless steel, but I'm worried about the quality reports I've been hearing.

How is the current quality of Marlins?  Have they got the kinks worked out yet or are they still full of chatter marks and ill-fitting wood?

They seem to be getting better but not enough for me to buy one yet.They still have problems with canted sights.



For more info go to http://www.marlinowners.com/





Edit- found this http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marlin-rant-forum/136556-your-viewing-pleasure-quality-manufacturing.html



This guy got a good one http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/45-70-govt/139119-new-remlin-1895g.html





 

I think quality is still too hit or miss to take the chance to order one, unless you're fine with taking the chance of having to send it back to Remington for them to make it right. If it was me I'd start hitting the gun shows and shops and try to find a JM marked gun(although it might be hard to find a stainless model) or start watching gun broker. I see you're in IA also, there will be fewer used models to choose from at gunshows but the ones you find usually are priced ok and shot very little. I picked up two blued guide guns last year(a .45-70 and .450)and paid $525 for each. Both had less than a box through them. I passed on another .450 guide gun this year for $675 that included an XS scout rail, XS ghost rings, and a half box of ammo.

Picked up a Guide Gun blued for $450.  It's a JM marked on though   Shoots great with the 3 types of ammo I put through it.  I don't think it was even fired.  The guy was too afraid of the size of the cartridge.

I still wouldn't buy one with out getting your hands on it.  I bought a 1895 remlin used and it shoots great, sights not canted and bolt flush to receiver.  Original owner traded it for a .35 rem remlin, as he thought the 45-70 was a little to stout.   Buttstock a little tall at receiver fit on one side.  I compared it to new remlins on the rack at same store and some of the others had all or a few of the aforementioned issues.  Don't know date of manufacture of ones on the shelf.  Mine was made in August of 2013.

good luck in your search

I also have a 336 in .35 and I think the recoil is pretty close to the same as the .45-70.

Right now most of what I'm seeing are minor cosmetic stock issues like fit and checkering.  The checkering really bothers some people though.  It ranges from pretty good to a complete joke...as in it looks like scratches in the wood.  The guns themselves seem to be really good now for the most part.

Also, I'd like to remind people that original Marlin (JM) quality problems are a big part of why the company got bought out.  For example, in the famous "Death of the Marlin Levergun" youtube video, the guy's original JM Marlin had an oversized chamber, and nothing he got after that from Remlin was as bad as that, not even the "joke gun."

I picked up a new Guide Gun a couple of weeks ago. It is a good looking and shooting rifle. Good even satin blue on metal. The stock checkering isn't as deeply cut as on my 444P Outfitter but the overall fit and finish is as good. No problem with the sights as reported by others. Knocked down 8 out of 10 steel pigs at 100 yards from the bench. I paid $550 out the door, I am very happy with this one,

OP, there's a show at the fairgrounds in DM on the 14-16 this month.  You should go there and see if you can find something you like.

I too am looking at "Remlins" in 336 (30-30) for our sons (x2) first rifle.

We've owned several Marlins including:  1894; 336CS (30-30); 1895 Guide Gun (45-70) new in 1998; 1895 XLR new in 2006.  
We still have the XLR.

Out of the four above, the 45-70 Guide Gun had the hardest action to work.  Even after hundreds of rounds through, the action never slicked up.  A letter to Marlin resulted in numerous letters from the Company wanting more input about what we were experiencing and offer for them to rework the action on my dime.  I never took them up on the offer (stationed in Alaska) and sold it to another military member with full disclosure.  

That said, I have looked at several 336W now prior to purchase, and the "Remlins" (336W) have had ill-fitting stocks and canted rear sites.  It seems to get better on the 336CS spied at a local Cabelas and so the price has increased.  Us too have been looking locally at private sales for used (JM) 336s, but heck, those prices are really crazy!

Much Luck!

Since good examples of Marlin manufactured guide guns are still available at reasonable prices, there's no reason to take a risk with a Remlin.

Went looking the other day.  No local 45-70s, but a lot of Remlin 30-30s.  

The stocks weren't great, but they weren't bad.  The actions were a two hand operation, very stiff.

I'll check out the gun show in the coming week...hopefully I will find something.

Looked at a new 1895GS last week and the front sight was perfect dead center, but the rear sight was canted to the right 5 degrees or so.

Would be ok if just adding a peep sight, but no was to use a scout mount.

Not with my handloads. 405gr at 1800 fps.  Damn rifle will almost come out of my hands.

Can you say Hematoma?

I also have a 336 in .35 Remington; no comparison in recoil to my .45-70 1895 Guide Gun or my 444P Outfitter.

Pics of my Remington made 1895G.  It has very good fit and finish, it is as well made as my Outfitter.  I have seen others that were absolutely terrible, so in answer to the OP's original question, I would not buy a new Marlin sight unseen.



with my .375 Winchester Big Bore XTR

I took a look at a few 336's and Guide Guns in my LGS yesterday.  They were total shit.  Crappy bluing, bad wood, bad fit, gritty actions, obvious machining, and canted sites.  FWIW, I bought a nice post-64 94 for the same price as a new Marlin.  It had none of the same issues and shoots 2" at 100 yards.

No point in buying Marlin until they clean up their act.

Yeah, that will put a rattle into your giblets.

The 1895 SBL is he nicest of the guns I have seen in this style.  That being said my buddy bought one online at Grab a Gun and he head to send the stock back THREE times because the stock was mismatched BADLY and the checkering looked like a failed high school wood shop project.

there are still a lot of JM guide guns for sale on Gun Broker that can be had for decent prices if you're patient, but prices are starting to creep up. Funny thing is I've been seeing more .450 guide guns at the local gunshows and I didn't think those sold as well as the .45-70 versions. In the last ear I've seen three .450's(one resides in my safe now) and only one .45-70(that is also in my safe) for sale locally. Prices on three of them were in the $500-535 range, and the fourth one was $675 but it had XS sights and a XS scout rail.

Purchased one (stainless guide gun) about a year ago...
Overall good gun. Sights are fine, checkering fine, wood isn't flush though.

Only thing i really did was break it down and polished virtually all the internal parts so it cycled a bit smoother. Quite rough edges/finish internally.


But the absolute worst part of my gun is the price of the ammo!!

You do reload and cast right?  You kind of have to for this caliber.

I do reload.. never been into casting much, but will probably get into it more because of another thing I got into...

I had to buy a few boxes to get shootin' right away though!

Lee molds are cheap, get a double cavity.  You can start with a hot plate and a small dedicated pot and ladle.  The real test is to see if you have a cheap source for lead.  Wheel weights are out there but are getting scarce.  As for the ladle, I have an extra you can have for free, got some rust on it but it is a bottom pour and should clean up nice if you are interested.

Speaking of reloads, another inexpensive bullet alternative is X-Treme's 150grn plated 30-30 bullet.  I've found them to be inexpensive and decently accurate in my Mossberg 464, however, I load them somewhat reduced power (2,100fps) for plinking and range time.  Best of all, as they are plated bullets, when X-Treme has a sale like it did just last week, these qualify.

I have a marlin 45-70 stainless and its a great gun. I reload, so its not too bad to shoot. I has as much impact as my Beowulf.
Its great to shoot, but some of my buddies complain about the kick  when they shoot at the range. They are just acting like wimps.

I bought a 336BL last fall. It's an MR receiver but a New Haven barrel. Other than shallow checkering it's pretty good. It smoothed up nicely with some cleaning, new lube & working the action a few dozen times. Shoots fine also.  Replaced some internals with WWG parts & CS mag tube spring. Put a Weaver Classic V3 on it with QR rings.

It meets my needs.

My .02.

BTW- It seems that more 45/70's are showing up in the stores in my area now. Don't need one since I have a Browning 1886 SRC in that cartridge.

In my opinion (which is worth what you want to put into it) the original Malin JM's are the 'sleeper' guns of tomorrows collecting market. In short buy every high quality example you can now and in 10 or so years you'll have a very collectable rifle. Original Winchesters are out of reach for most of us but the original Marlins are still a relative bargain when compared against them. The move Remington made with Marlin was a disaster, only now being corrected. Fit, finish and function from what i've read are not even close to what they were before the move, they lost alot of talent from the old school employees when they relocated the manufactuing facility.
I've been lucky enough over the years to have purchased some pristine examples and have kept them that way, yes I do shoot them but do not abuse them.
For instance 20+ years ago I bought an 1894cl in .32-20, i believe I paid maybe $300 for it (can't remember) but now price it on GoneBroker and see what they are bringing. The 1894cb Classic in .45 Colt I bought from a pawn shop 6 years ago for $450 has about doubled in price and the 1895cb .45-70 is one I'll never part with. I installed a Marbles tang sight and Lyman globe site up front along with Wild West trigger and Bear proof ejector on it and it shoots and functions like a dream.
I had a SS 1895g which was a fine rifle but it kicked so bad with Leverreolution ammo I had to sell it, got tired of swollen jawbone.
The older Marlins represent an affordable firearm, quality built, that hasn't seen the market rocket off, YET, but it is coming. Get them in the best conditon you can, while you can. You will thank yourself later.
I've been collecting now for over 45 years and I'm saying this from experience. These will start rising in value sooner than you think.
RD

I bought a new guide gun from Davidson's about 3 weeks ago.  The fit and finish is excellent.  The accuracy is identical to my 2000 production 1895; however, the trigger feels heavier.  This was confirmed almost a full pound heavier with a trigger pull gauge.  Hopefully with time it will improve and feel less gritty.  Additionally, I noticed the action was partially open when unboxing the rifle.  Sure enough, the lever pops open with little effort or accidental contact but can easily be fixed.  Overall, I'm satisfied but there is plenty of room for improvement. All of the minor issues should have been caught by Remlin's quality control.