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puma guy wrote: I recall the extensive post and photographs you did on your 336BL. I guess I wasn't paying attention when you mentioned the difficult loading due to the heavy gate spring. I have only encountered one Marlin that was difficult to load. A Model 1894 .357 probably at least 20 years old (I'd have to check the S/N to be sure) and made at the North Haven, Connecticut Marlin factory. It was given to me by a friend who moved to Ecuador and like twomillenium's sales I told him it would be returned should he ever move back to the US, though he said that wouldn't happen. Never say never as they say. He returned last year for deer season and said if they can sell their home they will be returning permanently due to deterioration of the political picture down there. But I digress. He uses the rifle as a backup to shoot any vermin that show up and he is not concerned about the stiff loading gate so I am leaving it alone. I am assuming he will be returning permanently, but If I were to keep it I would try one of these after market gates with reduced spring weight and slicker feed. Video also attached.
http://www.rangerpointstore.com/marlin- ... ding-gate/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M76pNO ... -07pu/view

Puma guy, thank you! I’m ordering one of those for myself. That’s exactly what I needed.....and I’m glad to know from watching the video that I’m not the only one with that complaint.

ml1209 wrote:

puma guy wrote:

ml1209 wrote:I didn't know Henry made rifles in 45-70. Interesting.

What became of the JM Marlin rifle in your OP? Henry's are fine firearms, but I like side loading gates on lever guns rather than having to unlock and extend the inner mag tube, then tilt the rifle upward to drop in shells into the loading port and push the inner tube back and relock it. Just my preference.

I put it on layaway. I have a thing for lever-actions.

How is the loading gate for stiffness? Is it anything like I described in my previous reply?

puma guy wrote:

ml1209 wrote:I didn't know Henry made rifles in 45-70. Interesting.

What became of the JM Marlin rifle in your OP? Henry's are fine firearms, but I like side loading gates on lever guns rather than having to unlock and extend the inner mag tube, then tilt the rifle upward to drop in shells into the loading port and push the inner tube back and relock it. Just my preference.

Yes, as a general thing, I’d agree. That’s why I initially bought a Marlin .30-30 instead of a Henry a year or two past. But it was so poorly assembled from the factory that I had to strip it and reassemble it to get it right, and the loading gate spring is SO stiff that it made it very difficult to load through the side gate. At the range, I just ended up loading single rounds through the ejection port. I’m told that the solution is to break the gun down and remove the loading gate, and take a stone to it - removing enough metal at the bend of the spring to make it more pliable. (A) I have no idea how much metal removed would be too much; and (B) wouldn’t that make the spring more likely to break under use? Why couldn’t Marlin simply put in a loading gate with a lighter spring, right from the factory? Given how stiff that gate was, I don’t think I could load that Marlin rifle any faster through the gate than I could load a Henry through the end of its magazine tube. It didn’t help that my hands are more arthritic than they used to be.

As a practical matter, and assuming that the side loading gate worked like butter, the only advantage I can see to it in application is the be able to more safely top off the magazine after having reloaded and then chambered a round. Since I’m not really thinking of the lever action in a tactical/something arises sense (although it could be used for that), I don’t know how valuable that ability to top off the magazine safely really is. I have AR15s in several different configurations for that purpose, and I can likely shoot a 30 round mag dry, reload, and empty a second 30 round mag in the time it would take me to feed another 6 rounds into that stiff-necked Marlin’s magazine.

That said, my particular Marlin is a Remlin and it came with warts. For all I know, the loading gate on a pre-Remlin .45-70 might be nice and easy to push a round through. I would surely like to see the rifle.

C-dub wrote:I think if I wanted a 45-70 I'd probably go with a Henry and a brass receiver with the 22" barrel and big loop lever.

https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/45-70-lever-action/

But then I like Henry and have a few already.

This one for me: https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/color-c ... d-edition/. A 22” ocatagonal barrel also. The thing is, I really prefer the 18.5” barrels of the Marlin Guide Guns for a lever action rifle. My Marlin .30-30 has an 18” barrel, and it seems about the perfect length for the platform.

I’d surely like to afford a $8,500 Grizzly Custom, but I’m going to have one of those Henry’s in my safe some time in the next year.

But if there were a pre-Remlin Marlin .45-70, I’d be interested.

mupepe wrote:

thelurker wrote:

Middle Age Russ wrote:If I had the money presently, I'd be very interested. When NRA convention was in Houston, I ran across one company -- I forget their name -- that turned these into very handy takedown guns and greatly improved the action. The quality of work on the example they had on hand was stunning and the price they had on it was more than I could spend at the time, but still quite attractive for the package offered.

Is this them?

https://www.wildwestguns.com/

https://www.rangerpointprecision.com

These are the guys I know and they’re based in Houston. They do great work.

https://grizzlycustom.com/product/the-k ... n-package/

ml1209 wrote:Is this something you’d want? It’s one of the older JM guns.

If it is pre-Remlin, I might be interested at the right price. I plan on buying a .45-70 some time.