[QUOTE= Is there a way to tell the year of mfg. from the serial number, or address on the barrel?[/QUOTE]

I learned over on the Marlin site that if you subtract the first two numbers of the serial number from 100, you get the year it was manufactured. For example, my Marlin has a serial number of 01024xxx. Subtracted 01 from 100 and my rifle was made in 1999.

Actually, there are several different dating systems used over the years.

Marlin Manufacture Dates

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I always take precautions

I have one of these, if you're a hand loader try 180 grain jacketed bullets. If you shoot factory ammo try the American Eagle 158 JSP load.

I love my 1894C. Flies to the shoulder, points like a finger, big enough to let you know you are shooting a center fire, small enough to shoot all day and ammo falls out of my SDB at 400 an hour.

I have two lever guns in .38/.357; TOP is a EMF (made by Rossi) model 92 carbine with color case hardened finish and 20 inch round barrel. BOTTOM is a last year of production Winchester 94 with 16 inch barrel.

My sons and I have take whitetail deer and hogs with both. I actually prefer the 92 action over the 94 because it was originally designed by John Browning to accept shorter cartridges. The lever action on the 92 is smooth as silk and handles .38/357 magnificantly. Rossi makes the model 92 for EMF to a finer fit and finish than their standard Rossi model, I am very pleased with mine.

The 94's action and receiver was designed for longer cartridges like the .30-30 and .32 Winchester Special. Mine handles the shorter .38/.357 rounds just fine as long as you provide a strong and consistent stroke of the lever down and up. Otherwise, you can end up with a misfeed.

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I bought the standard-lever Rossi 16" model a few weeks ago. Took it to the range with a friend who was not thrilled with shooting a rifle or shotgun. Emphasis on "was!" Once she figured out how much fun it was to roll gatorade bottles around, I couldn't get it out of her hands. If I'd brought more .38's, we'd have been there all day! It ate 150 .38's and 25 .357's without a hitch, and she wasn't very adept at working the lever, so for a NIB gun, it seems to work pretty well.

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Because of the metric system?

+1 on "stay away from the Remlins, buy a Rossi M92...". That's what I did. I got the 16" SS Rossi M92 and really like it. No problems whatsoever.

There are some levergun forums. Check them out. Apparently, when Remington moved the Marlin levergun factory, they fired E V E R Y B O D Y, took the designs and started over from scratch. According to the product reviews and internet experts it'll be several years before the new crowd figures out how to properly build a levergun. That leaves Winchesters, Henry's, Old Marlins, Rossi's and just a few others to choose from. The Rossi's come pre-drilled for scopes and optics while the Henry's do not. Everything else is pricey, used, and/or hard to find.

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But then, what do I know?

I was fortunate to find an older Navy Arms-imported (froufy wood, no safety) Rossi 92 Short Rifle in .357, and it's just terrific for the uses that you intend. I'm sure many guns will do well for you - this one easily keeps 3" at 100 yards and gives tremendous performance with tailored handloads.

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Henry for me hands down. Just had to load a different style lswc that would chamber in the lever actions as the revolver Keith style bullets aren't too compatible. No big deal there. As for Marlin , Remington and a few others who have gone to bed with big brother! I'll never spend another dime with these people. But you do what ever floats your boat. Just how I feel OK?

thx all for the replies everyone my question is ' is the rossi made by Taurus now and where are they manufactured I really wish ruger would make a scout type lever in stainless or good parkerized finish with a nice pistol grip stock in synthetic black mossberg did the 464 spx line wich I like the direction they went with having a collapsing stock why couldn't they have went with a few carbine calibers.

I believe that's the first time I've heard someone say he liked the collapsing stocks on those Mossie leverguns. There's a key for every lock . . .

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yeah ive heard the most derogatory comments on the interwebs over mossys decision to put that stock on those rifles would not be my prefered setup but I see the benefit to a wide range of shooters.

I recently picked up a Rossi PUMA Model 92 - imported by Interarms in the late 70's I think. I got it to go along with my Colt Python 4 inch.........nice pair.



Very accurate; 3 rounds touching dead center at 25 yards! I'm happy.

FOR THE ORIGINAL POSTER:

to this I will add that on the Marlins, you ONLY want one that has a "JM" stamped on the left side ( not the loading side) of the rifle.

The Remigton made JUNK is stamped "REP" on the loading side of the barrel. This stamping is where the barrel meets the receiver.

The ones made in NEW YORK still say MADE IN NORTH HAVEN as there were TONS of barrels left, and they got permission from BATFE to use the Nort Haven stamped barrels.

So.... No guns stamped "REP"

JUST "JM"

PS--------- Rossi makes a decent lever action, as does Henry.

The Marlins YOU want would bring 1000+ now. (NIB)

1894C is the round barrel
1894CB is the octaganol

Yes, the "JM" is hidden by scope, but is there if gun is 20 years old.

Here you can date it.

Marlin Manufacture Dates

Just bought a Marlin the other nite with a 3-9 Tasco scope. Has nice wood also. What kind of accuracy can I expect from this gun? Too cold to shoot it now. Larry

I love my Lever guns...Marlin 1895 GBL 45-70 and Rossi/Puma .454 casull

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I have the 1895 GBL and put a Wild West Trigger and a Bushnell Trphy Shotgun Scope on it and shoot 1 to 2 inch groups out at 100 yards. Very nice gun...45-70 My accuracy seems very nice to me.

Years ago I worked with my pre-safety 1894c (with a 4x scope) and found that it shot best with heavy loads of H110 under a 180 grain jacketed bullet, probably a Sierra but I am not sure.

Cowboy action shooters want the Marlin 357 with "Ballard" rifling because they will cast their own lead when reloading and the Ballard rifling does not become fouled as easily as the micro groove rifling. Some say micro groove is a bit more accurate. My Marlin is an '03 and is a hoot to shoot. No appreciable recoil, smooth and accurate. A perfect mate for a smith 686. Look for the JM stamp on the left side of the barrel as others have said. Also, Marlin put the serial number on the tang just behind the hammer, the Remington will have the serial number on the left side plate.
Had I not found the Marlin I would have gotten a Rossi. Reviews on the Rossi have been favorable for a 357 carbine.

About 1976 I picked up a Winchester Model 1892 SRC at a very good price. It was originally a .32 WCF (.32-20) however the bore was completely shot, badly pitted, and the magazine tube was damaged. A gunsmith in Colorado Springs took over, having it rebored and rechambered to .357 magnum, some small modifications to the extractor, and replaced the magazine tube. It functioned flawlessly and shot quite well out to 100 yards. I carried it for several years in the trunk of my patrol car as a back-up to my Model 19 revolver. Using .38 Specials it was great for small game and I took rabbits, snowshoe hares, and blue grouse with it on several hunting trips.

Unfortunately that Winchester was stolen in a burglary of my home and never recovered. I doubt that I would consider altering another original 1892 SRC again, but I wouldn't mind having that one back.

I've looked at the Puma 92's a couple of times, but they never really compared to the smoothness of the Winchester. The Marlin 1894 carbines are nice, but the Microgroove rifling isn't known to do real well with cast bullets (which is most of my shooting).

I ended up with another 1892 some years later, in pretty good condition and chambered for the .32 WCF again, an excellent small game round in its own right.

ok everyone I found a jm stamped marlin at my lgs for 550 its selling used but never even fired guy bought it for his kids and never took interest I have tried to search the serial # with no results it looks good as far as fit and finish but I'm a toatal rookies at leverguns so its a gamble and I want to secure it now if I can before someone else does pls help with serial # thank you.

That should be a 2007 model which is 2 or 3 years before Marlin was sold to Remington. If that is a .357 caliber it should be a outright steal. If it is a 30-30 it is an OK deal, but not a great deal.

[ QUOTE=finesse_r;137565510]That should be a 2007 model which is 2 or 3 years before Marlin was sold to Remington. If that is a .357 caliber it should be a outright steal. If it is a 30-30 it is an OK deal, but not a great deal.[/QUOTE]

thank you sooo much and yes it is a 357 .

Many Old West lawmen carried a Colt SAA (or two) and a Winchester levergun in the same caliber (38/40 , 44/40) for ammo interchangability.

Always thought a .357 levergun would have been the perfect companion to cops carrying .357 revolvers. Even with moderate training , a headshot at 50yds should be no problem. Certainly easier than with a 4in revolver. If one had been present in the hands of a trained officer at the infamous LA Bank heist , it woulda been over before it started.

A couple of years ago I decided to simplify my life and go with one caliber for re-loading. So I got a Henry .357 to go with my S&W double action and J.P. Sauer & Sohn single action. Had the retailer put a small scope to make it easier on my 67 year old eyes. Works great. The only problem I had was the original scope mount broke after about 10 rounds. Bad design, would not think the recoil in a rifle from a .357 would be a problem.
The Henry draws a lot of attention and works great. I don’t think the deer out to normal shooting distances in the East really notice the difference between the .357 and a 30/30.

I snapped this picture of the inside of a county sheriff's car from a neighboring county about 8 or 9 years ago. The sheriff carried a 4 inch S&W 686 on his belt and a Winchester 94 carbine in 38/357 mounted in his car and still does to this day.

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That's my kind of sheriff!

While we're talking about .357 rifles. Does the POI change dramatically at 50 yards when switching between .38SPL and .357Mag? I have never fired .357Mags through my Marlin.

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Freedom isn't free.

At 50 yards? Not in my experience. But, dude, it's going to depend on your loads and your gun - take some Magnums to the range and find out for sure!

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I have them in both 357 and 44mag. Guy at the gun club had one he wanted $160 for looked it over and handed him the money. Second one at a local fun show a 44mag I got for 240. They both had some slight surface rust and dings on the wood. Best one I like is the 44mag. Pretty accorate with plated bullets and H110. Nicknamed it thumper as it does thump you some when it goes off. Frank

Shooting .38 Specials through mine is like shooting a .22LR on steriods, mild recoil and low noise. Once you put a .357 magnum round in it changes considerably, more like shooting a .30-30.

I don't see a whole lot of difference at 50 yards, more than that I see a lot of difference

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You're so right, Faulkner: my 92 Short Rifle with .38 +P loadings recoils precisely like my Remington 597 .22 LR (a number of us have shot them side by side to confirm this). Wow, but a .357 levergun is a sleeper - you can throw mild loads like that for small game hunting, or you can turn it into a 10-shot .30-30 equivalent (but with fatter bullets) with handloaded Magnums.

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well I bought it so its in gun jail till the 22nd of Dec but hey I need some more time to pay the rest off any way just a couple days before Christmas merry Christmas to me.

Why so long? No state has a waiting period like that.

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well its a 10 day wait standard but it is wait to dross from the original seller who sold it to my lgs I guess this is standard for all guns being bought from private individuals doj paperwork I guess I don't know if that's just California or federal but that's what it is.

No, that's not normal at all. The gun store doesn't have to wait ten days before they can sell it to you. The DROS (Dealer's Record of Sale) is the CA paperwork you fill out and they use that info to do the background check. The 10 day wait is imposed by the CA DOJ.

Even if you had to wait 10 days for the dealer to buy it and then another 10 days for you to buy it, that's only 20 days. The 22 of Dec makes it 23 days if you bought it today. Something is definitely screwy here.

Oh well, as long as you're happy that's all that matters.

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Freedom isn't free.

Before this post fades into the past, I wanted to post a pic of my new gun. It was made in 1981. Did I mention nice wood. Larry

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I hear ya loud and clear I forget the exact reason for this I will ask them and report back but I do think all the ca gun laws are hogwash.

A Winchester '92, made in 1911, converted to .357 Magnum in the mid 60's.


Ned

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Devil's afraid I'll take over.

Like Erich, I have an older Navy Arms/Rossi short rifle. Mine is stainless with the 20 inch octagon barrel that I have added a tang sight. This has been my ATV , front door, truck rifle for years. Don't know how many thousands of rounds I have fired. Most are plinking 158 swc over 5 grains 231. My thumper load is 180 grain Remington semi jacked hollow point over 13 grains of 2400 in new 38 special cases. That bullet is too long in 357 cases . I know I am pushing the envelope with this load, but it works well in the 92 action. My rifle of opportunity during hunting season.

I think you got a very good deal on this one. Stock up on plenty of ammo you are gonna need it cause that gun is a lot of fun to shoot.

thank you I just want this to be my shtf defensive carbine and I sure hope its reliable without taking it to have work done on it to make it that way as for ammo I have been having a very hard time finding any 38/357 as of late. I think I have said before I'm married to 357. caliber all my guns are those except my 625 that I never shoot and thinking about selling in the latest run on ammo I could only find 40. I almost got a 226 just b/c ammo availability my problem is a $1200 gun that I can have 10 rounds in.

I was talking about the new Winchester 73. I doubt many have even seen one yet.

so i asked today about this and they said state law per pawn rules and regs they can not sell for 30 days that's what I was told.

These are fun little rifles. My buddy just picked up one a couple weeks ago and we took it shooting the other day.
Fun and accurate little sucker for sure.
38/357 is noticeable difference in feel for sure
But you cant beet the 357 in long gun for varmint control
After shooting his it is now on my "want list" for sure.

I guess Winchester is UN-informed.

Just a note about the accuracy of those older Marlins; Last summer I was shooting my match AR at a messured 230 yards. When I was through with the AR, just for gigles I tried my old Marlin .357, with American Eagle JSP. I was supprised that I was hitting the same targets at that range. I had never shot it beyond fifty yards before.
I know it had lost most of its "Knock Down" at that range, but still...

I'm guess I'm going to have to go against the grain here, let me give y'all the back story first, let first state right up front that I'm a bonafide Marlinholic.
Back in 2005 I purchased a Marlin 1894SS .44 mag as a gift to myself upon redeployment. I thought that it was the bee's knees, light compact with lots of thump. The original intent of this rifle was as a foul weather and woods bumming rifle. It shot really well with the Win White box 240gr JSP ammo, which I really liked because it was about $21 at the time. I used it that year during deer season and smacked a good sized doe at about 80 yards. At the shot she humped up in classic fashion and bolted for the wood line. When I got down to the patch of dead golden rods she was standing in I couldn't find any signs of a hit. I searched and searched but didn't find anything.

The next weekend I went back out and took a really nice spike horn at about 40 yards. I went to where he was standing to look for spoor so I could begin tracking and again found nothing. At this poitn I just picked up his tracks in the snow and followed. I went about 30-40 yards before I started seeing any blood, and then it was only pin head sized droplets. I finally found him about 100 yards in, he almost made it to a swamp. Had it not been for the snow I'm sure I wouldn't have found him due to the super thick brush he ran into. A few days later I helped a friend track a deer that he shot in the same area that I shot at the doe. As I was following the blood trail of his deer I came across the remains of what I firmly believe was the doe that I shot at. My heart immediatley sunk to my stomach, and I couldn't believe that she traveled 200 yards from where I shot her from.

From that point I swore off the Win JSP for deer hunting. I went out and got everything that I needed to reload for my .44 soon after. I came up with a good load using a Max charge of H110 and a Hornady 240gr XTP-HP. I used that load back in 2010 to take a nice 4 point at a whole 30 yards. Before I shot the deer I was certain that the .44 with the load I was using was going to pole axe that buck. I put the cross hairs behind his shoulder and dropped the hammer. To my amazment and disbelief I watched as he ran down a small gully then laid down about 120 away. I tried to move close to put the buck down for good, as soon as I moved though he got up and continued deeper into the thick woods. I had no choice but to sit their fuming mad and watch the whole thing play out to the end. I've never had that happen to me using my .30-30, sure deer will often run after being hit I know that. But the performance of that rifle on 3 different deer peeved me off to no end.

Every deer taken with my .30-30 traveled no more than 50 yards tops, and left a blood trail a blind man could follow. In light of current events with the price hike on all ammo and components I couldn't justify keeping the .44 anymore. So I sent it packing and don't regret it one bit. The last few years I've gotten back to my roots. I hunt very thick woods and swamps here in the north, I like to sneak into where they live. As such a rifle doesn't offer any benifits, however a shotgun and slug sure does. More often than not a deer hit with a shotgun slug will take a instant dirt nap and I mean right now. Another plus is unlike certain ammo shotgun ammo is readily available. I was priceing .357 ammo and .44 ammo at the various stores in my locale and I couldn't believe the prices I was finding, even components are outrageous.

Well I did a lot research before I figured out what was going to replace that .44 mag. I finally setteld on a H&R 20 gauge Pardner and it is a dandy. It is simple, rugged and locks up like a bank vault. At the distances that I most commonly encounter deer it is way more than enough, and easily capable of reaching out to 100 yards if needed. Which is really the the max distance anyone should be shooting deer with a pistol caliber rifle too. I ended up taking a nice sized doe with the 20GA at approximately 50 yards. The performance was way better than the .44 rifle it replaced, she covered maybe 20 yards before collapsing. For a survival scenario I can't think of anything better than a shotgun. Again ammo is everywhere and still affordable. Here in the eastern woodlands there is nothing that a properly stoked 20 gauge or 12 gauge can't handle. It can take anything from small game on up to the biggest baddies that we have to offer. If you add some chamber adaters it only becomes more versatile. You then have the ability to shoot .410, .44 mag, .38/.357, 9mm, and .22LR.

This is of course based off my experiences. I know lots folks like and use pistol caliber carbines. I don't know why I had such bad luck but I did and it wasn't due to bad shot placement. But when it comes down to it at the end of the day nothing beats a good shotgun. In a survival scenario it can keep you fed on various types of game, as well as defend hearth and home if need be. Just some food for thought is all.

Doe taken with the 20GA Parnder


7 point taken with Mossberg 500 12GA at 30 yards, instant dirt nap where he stood

@336a please clarify how you can shoot multiple calibers from a 20 ga shotgun I hope I'm not misunderstanding your post here if I am can you enlighten me on what it is your saying in this post.