In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options
1881 Marlin
Mike D.
Member Posts: 25 ✭✭
Being primarily a Winchester guy, I must admit that my knowledge of these guns is sadly lacking. I just examined an 1881 that seriously "talked" to me. It is extremely clean, with a sort of mottled finish, but absolutely no pits or marks of any kind on the metal, and the bore is very shiny, with pronounced rifling. All markings are sharp and the octagon barrel has clean edges. The serial number is 845X and the 23 3/4" barrel is marked .40 Cal. The barrel appears to be original length, with no evidence of being cut down that I could see. Is that barrel a special length? I really have no idea, that's why the questions.
Comments
Like you, I am primarily a WINCHESTER guy[^]. Thay said, I have been exposed to a fair number of Marlins (I have a good friend that has a fetish for them).
I do not know what the standard length barrel was for the Model 1881 (but will look it up later today). What I can tell, is that the .40 Cal. marking most likely means that it is a chambered for the 40-60 W.C.F. cartridge. Marlin did eventually make their own version of the 40-60 W.C.F. which they named the "40-60 Marlin" (and marked it as such on the barrel), but I believe that it came along after the Model 1881 you are looking at was made. I will do some digging on this later today as well.
Standard barrel length was 28", 24" next most common. What's a quarter inch amongst 19th century shop workers?
As to barrel length, the 1881 was available in several different lengths with 28-inch being the most common accounting for about 75% of the production. The second most common barrel was 24-inch at about 17% of production. It would not be terribly unusual to find a factory original barrel length of 23 3/4 as yours is. That said, as you probably know, it was not unusual in the 19th century to cut off 1/4 to 1/2 inch of barrel in an attempt to improve accuracy of a barrel with a worn bore at the muzzle acaused by front end cleaning.
When introduced, the 1881 was available in .45-70 and .40-60 calibers with only a 28-inch barrel being available. The receiver was rather massive and the 24-inch barrel was intended to lessen weight somewhat. In 1885 a lighter receiver model was introduced weighing almost two pounds less. There was also a thinner and smaller version receiver in .32-40 and .38-55 calibers. All had a bad reputation for jamming, the problem being getting cartridges from the magazine tube onto the carrier. Several different mechanisms were tried but none worked all that well and contributed significantly to the low production numbers.
Your SN probably correlates roughly to early 1887 manufacture but the records are not to be trusted with your life.
The 40-60 Marlin Cartrdige is pictured below: (It is not interchangeable with the 40-60 Winchester.)
No, kimi, I don't. I only examined the gun this AM, but didn't buy it, mostly due to not knowing enough about them to be sure. My original mission was to buy another 1886 .33 WCF with full magazine, but the gun was overpriced for the rather hard used condition.
If you see it again, and would like more information about it, be very particulary in copying the barrel markings, abbreviations, location, etc., and post it so that we might give you more information. Also make note as to whether the barrel address is in one line or two lines as well.
Marlin 1881s are becoming very collectible. The 1881 was Marlins first lever action repeater and less than 16,500 were produced. It is a top ejection gun as is the 1888. The 1881 was replaced by the 1889 which was the first side ejection model and solved the feeding problems of the 1881.
As to barrel length, the 1881 was available in several different lengths with 28-inch being the most common accounting for about 75% of the production. The second most common barrel was 24-inch at about 17% of production. It would not be terribly unusual to find a factory original barrel length of 23 3/4 as yours is. That said, as you probably know, it was not unusual in the 19th century to cut off 1/4 to 1/2 inch of barrel in an attempt to improve accuracy of a barrel with a worn bore at the muzzle acaused by front end cleaning.
When introduced, the 1881 was available in .45-70 and .40-60 calibers with only a 28-inch barrel being available. The receiver was rather massive and the 24-inch barrel was intended to lessen weight somewhat. In 1885 a lighter receiver model was introduced weighing almost two pounds less. There was also a thinner and smaller version receiver in .32-40 and .38-55 calibers. All had a bad reputation for jamming, the problem being getting cartridges from the magazine tube onto the carrier. Several different mechanisms were tried but none worked all that well and contributed significantly to the low production numbers.
Your SN probably correlates roughly to early 1887 manufacture but the records are not to be trusted with your life.
Once again, you are full of horse manure. The Model 1881 was not replaced by the Model 1889... instead, it was replaced by the Model 1895.
The Model 1889 was the next iteration of the Model 1888, both of which were chambered for the same cartridges as the Winchester Model 1873 and 1892... e.g. the 32 W.C.F., 38 W.C.F., and the 44 W.C.F. (pistol sized cartridges).
I was incorrect (full of horse poop) in stating that the Model 1881 was chambered for the 40-60 W.C.F. The "40 Cal" marking apparently always referred to the 40-60 Marlin, which as Hawk Carse and Kimi pointed out, is a near clone of the 40-65 W.C.F. versus the 40-60 W.C.F.
Just to clarify barrel lengths. When the 1881 was initially introduced the standard barrel lengths were 28" and 30". These were massive, heavy, rifles. Marlin changed to lighter 24" barrel when they offered a lighter receiver that also chambered in the big calibers. Marlin also offered a lighter, small, receiver that was chambered in 32-40 and 38-55.
You are correct about the 28 and 30 inch barrel length as being standard when the Marlin 1881 was first introduced. And, the 1881 was a massive, heavy rifle at this time as you note. It took some of its looks from the 1878 Burgess and Whitney-Kennedy rifles, since Andrew Burgess played a big part in its design. Here are some more notes that might be useful to Marlin fans:
In terms of the massive, heavy receivers, Brophy notes that "...in due course, to make a lighter rifle, shorter (24-in) barrels were made available and the receivers were lightened." The key words here are "in due course" since one might get the wrong idea when trying to determine what year th 24 inch barrel was introduced. For example, Brophy notes under Weight and Number of Cartridges by Barrel Length that the 24 inch barrels were used on the Heavy (1882-1889) framed 1881. This would indicate to me that the 24 inch barrel was not only in production and on the shelf, but in the hands of the public as well, about two years before the light-framed guns, (Light Frame 1885 to 88/89), with the 24 inch or 28 inch barrel would be in production.
So as to clarify the terminology that one will find in different publications about the 1881 Marlin, here is a good observation according to Maxwell: "They are generally described as early, standard, and Light Models. There are however two Standard Models as well. Marlin collectors seem to prefer 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Variations." And, here is one by Brophy: Heavy Receiver (first variation), Heavy Receiver (second variation), Light Receiver, and Small Receiver.