Marlin 1897

[Retired W4]

I recently acquired this old lever action 22 and of course I field stripped it for cleaning. Turned the bolt upside down to shake out the firing pin and it dropped out...in two pieces. Well, I found a repo on ebay and it showed up today. Put it back together and loaded some rounds to check for function. It not only functioned well but it's pretty darn accurate. The gun came to me with a factory letter showing a ship date of May 24, 1903. The letter states Barrel: 24" Round. The odd thing is it has an octagon barrel. I don't know if the letter is wrong or the gun was sent back to Marlin for a barrel swap. I'm leaning towards a barrel replacement but I just don't know. The barrel has the old New Haven address. It's a great plinker/squirrel gun with straight stock and Marble's tang sight.

 

[desi2358]

My 1897 Marlin has a one piece firing pin, As far as I know the two piece pin was only used on center fire Marlin lever actions. Mine still shoots decently despite a rather worn bore. Barrel has a good crown so that probably compensates a bit for the worn rifling.

 

[Retired W4]

It is a one piece firing pin. Mine was broken in two.

 

[Retired W4]

BTW, the Marlin 1891 and 1892 in 32 caliber will fire 32 RF and 32 CF. All you have to do is remove the side plate and swap out the firing pin. Top-1891 RF, bottom-1892 CF. They both handle the short and long 32 Colt RF/CF. Unfortunately it's all very expensive ammo. 1897 shown.