hunters_life

Okay, just how insane is this going to get??? $1800-$2000 for a damn lever gun??? I can see MAYBE paying that for a classic from the 50's or 60's or maybe a classic 1893 from the early periods but a new Ruger made Marlin??? Really??? And the company is wondering why sales are falling? Who in their proper mind would pay that for a lever gun? I love them, actually next to front stuffers, they are my favorite. Plenty accurate, fast cycle rate with a little practice, handy and highly maneuverable in heavily wooded areas (hence the term brush gun) just an all around good rifle. And one of the best things about them, well USED to be the best thing about them, was affordability. The old man started all of us on a little .243 that he built including the stock that had removable spacers in the stock for length of pull but after we reached the proper size, we all got the one and ONLY gun he bought for us. A Marlin 336 in .30/30. I killed a ton of animals with that old rifle. Still have it. Was going to have to buy a new one and flip a coin to figure out which one of the twins gets the old one and which the new one hence why I was looking at prices today. After shipping, ffl fee and tax out the door cost for a new 336 classic would be right at $1800. That's just pure insanity.

Bocajnala

The two local shops I frequent can't keep them on the shelf.

Someone is buying them.

hunters_life

People just starting out and don't know any better or people that don't know the value. of a dollar. I am far from being without but one thing the old man pounded into all of us was the value of a dollar. It's the reason I have money. Jake, you strike me as a person of the same mindset when it comes to money, would you pay more for a lever gun than a upper quality, well built bolt action? I can get several Tikka models, stainless and laminate, for several hundred LESS than a marlin 336!! I can even find Browning X-bolts for several hundred less! And Brownings have always been over priced in my opinion. I'm just astounded to say the least.

Bocajnala

I'm hoping the new Marlins drive the price of the old ones back down lol. When they first brought the rugers out all they had was one model with that rail on the top. I hated it.

The new 336s look good though. And seem to have nice wood.

I've got a .30-30, a .45-70 and a .44 mag (that's Dad's actually). So I don't need any more Marlins.

But I liked buying them for $350 not so long ago.

-Jake
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hunters_life

Doesn't look like it's driving down. Average 336 used is going for $1000+ on gunbroker. I guess something is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay. Sad day when lever guns are going for 2-3 times the price of a good quality bolt action. Sure aren't worth it to me. Guess I'll break tradition and get the boys a pair of 7mm.08. But I'm certainly not paying that high for a lever gun. Just not worth it.

Nomercy448

Leverguns are less popular and are more expensive to manufacture than bolt guns - and the niche market of levergun buyers are willing to pay what it costs for Ruger to re-introduce Marlins.

hunters_life

Hate to disagree with you Nomercy but lever guns are very popular and have been for many years. And if they have been more expensive to produce, then why have they always been much cheaper than bolt guns in the past? Anyway, I found a much better option than a new Ruger made Marlin. Rossi r95 30/30. Got a pair of them for right at $1600 all said and done. Rossi just came out with them this year. Found all kinds of good reviews on them so I took a swing. Picked them up Thursday. Shot them yesterday. Have to say, I'd definitely recommend so far. Action is comparable to my old Marlin if not a bit smoother. Accuracy is very good. The recoil pad on it is great. Fit and finish on them is good. Not great but definitely good. Loading gate is a bit wider than my Marlin but it's still got a fairly stiff spring and loading the last 2 can be a bit difficult like always but the twins are stout enough to handle it. I do have to say that when I got them the bore, while good, just wasn't to my polish standards. To be fair, my standards are pretty high. I did put a hundred strokes of JB through and that shined them right up. One of the boys wants a scope, the other wants a red dot. Neither likes buckhorn and I have to agree with them on this one. The sites are not that great. Bead front and buckhorn rear and pretty wide split on the rear.

To sum up, I ended up with 2 very good rifles for the price of ONE new Marlin.
By the way. did try the loads I had made up for my old 30/30 and neither rifle really liked them. Bought a box of the Leverevolution and they both tightened up with them. Guess I'll have to figure out making up those evo cartridges.

Nomercy448

It doesn't make sense to disagree with proven market statistics. The two major levergun manufacturers didn't go bankrupt without cause - the levergun market fell apart because they lost popularity, and now Winchester and Marlin are both no more, being manufactured by some other company which bought their ashes. Those market stats aren't my opinion, so to argue against those facts is like arguing that gravity doesn't exist... Go jump off of the house and prove gravity wrong... Market data is out there, and leverguns are floundering in market popularity and have been now for 2 generations, hence these bankruptcies and complete upset of the levergun market...

I say all of that as a levergun fan, I still own a handful of leverguns, and I'll be buying a new 1894SS in 44mag to convert to 357/44 B&D when they return to market (I'm told middle to end of 2024), but we can't pretend the market is anything more than it is. Just like expecting high prices on new production to reduce used market prices - pricing mechanics just don't work like that. High prices on new production Ruglins will only boost prices on used leverguns. We already witnessed the EXACT same result when Winchester went out of business and was resurrected with higher MSRP's - the price on all leverguns increased over the previous standard. The Taurus step-child Rossi's do what they're supposed to do, in general, and nobody should really be surprised that a Marlin 1895 clone runs well, even when built under lower cost Brazilian labor. But there remains a market of levergun buyers - a very different demographic than were buying them 20yrs ago, although, most of them are the same individuals. Folks aren't buying leverguns en masse as a first rifle for hunting deer any more - it's the folks with disposable income which have nostalgic motivations who buy leverguns. Iron sights on bolt guns, blued and walnut sporter rifles, leverguns, service revolvers... these are all lagging markets which have collapsed from "most popular" into "most expensive," simply because the same folks are the same individuals still buying them, just at a later phase in life where disposable income buys nostalgia rather than a lean paycheck feeding a newborn... That's just market econ 101...

Oldtimr

After seeing these crazy Marlin rifle prices in this thread I find that I darn near stole my Marlin 45-70, a real one with the marlin stamp. I saw an ad for a 45-70 Marlin on the Hunting PA website. The ad said it was a 45-70 with scope and a box and a half of shells for $500.00. I contacted the guy and met him at my sportsman's club to look at the rifle. The gun did not have a scratch on it and it was the blued Guide Gun with the short ported barrel. The guy said he had only shot less than a half a box of round through it when he crept up on the scope and when he fired the scope cut his eybrow open pretty bad and he didn't want anything to do with the gun any more. I always wanted a 45-70 and I the rifle but I made a lowball offer of $350, figuring he would counter offer, but low and behold he accepted my offer. I have taken a lot of deer and wild hogs with that gun and in June my son-in-law killed his first two hogs with it taking two hogs with one shot. I guess even a blind hog does find an acorn once in a while

Nomercy448

I'm not old enough to tell stories which start with "back in my day," but I bought and sold a BUNCH, as in dozens, of Marlin and Winchester leverguns over about 15yrs of my life, whether I was flipping them for profit or playing with the myself for a while just to test drive different models, or even competing in cowboy action shooting matches, but I DID buy MOST of the rifles and carbines I ever bought for under $300 on the new or used market. I recall buying a few Marlin/Glenfield's for under $200 even. My first 1895 Cowboy was $410 AFTER TAX. But those days are long gone - I paid $900 8-10yrs ago now for a JM stamped1894SS 44mag, even acknowledging its bolt didn't fit the receiver worth spit (runs right, but aesthetically frustrating)... If I would have known those rifles would have appreciated so much over the years, I would have kept more of them, but hindsight is always 20/20. So unfortunately, my next Marlin will likely be my last - I'll pick up another 1894SS in 44mag to have the operating guts to add a barrel in 35cal for 357/44, just for kicks, and then I'll be sated... I'll have all of the leverguns I need to use for my life, and enough for my son's life, plenty to pass down and distribute even if he has several kids, and that'll just be the end of the line some day. When a levergun was the same price as a Savage bolt gun and less expensive than a Win 70, they made sense for a lot of folks which didn't want or need scopes for hunting, but in 2023 and beyond, most rifle owners will never even consider hunting as a hobby, and optics are the rule of the market. So our few generations get to remember them fondly for a few more years, and once we're gone, our progeny won't remember $200-300 leverguns, just like they won't remember $75 Yugo SKS's or $100 Swedish Mausers... They won't remember as we do the days when Mausers ruled benchrest matches, and won't remember when the 222 rem was a dominating force in short range benchrest... their history is newer than ours, and the impressions theirs will have of leverguns is that they're overpriced and underperforming... It ain't great, but it is...