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1894 44 Rem Gold Trigger and Brass Saddle Ring

7K views 29 replies 20 participants last post by  cub308 
#1 ·
Hello,
I'm brand new here. I inherited 3 Marlins from my uncle. Planning on keeping them at this point, but was hoping to get more info on this particular one. I was told this is the best place! From what I can tell, it is a 1971 manufacture date. I wanted to know if the gold trigger or brass saddle ring are associated with a certain time period or version? Also, any idea what the value might be?

Thanks in advance!
Scott

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#3 ·
Very nice Texan in 44 mag you inherited! Be proud of any Marlins you received! As for value in your hands it's worth more because it came from family. To sell depends on your location, but I will put a price of $800-900 on it.
Both of my 1894 44 mags or early 70's with straight stock, no saddle ring on side, gold triggers on both.
Welcome from the marshes of south Louisiana.

ca'jun56
 
#4 ·
I have a 1957 336, a 1967 .444, and a 1980 1894 all with gold triggers, so it doesn't tell you much. They did make some rifles with saddle rings but I'm not sure of the years. What are the first 2 digits of your serial number?
 
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#9 ·
Wow! Thank you for all the replies. What a great community! Yes, I feel lucky to have these. The 1894 in 44 mag has a serial number starting with 71. He also gave me an 1895G which is ported and has a serial starting in 0101 and a 1894 in 357 with a serial starting in 1918. I'm pretty excited about these....they are my first levers.
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#20 · (Edited)
Model 1894 production was resumed in 1969 at North Haven after a 30+ year lull. Early in the Depression, Marlin quit making the 1894 as demand for pistol caliber carbines had dropped off. The saddle ring models were only made for a few years. The OP's 1971 production rifle is a rare gem.

The story I read said that the Engineers wanted to make the 1894 a round bolt like the 336, but Frank Kenna nixed that idea. He wanted the new re-issued 1894's to have the old fashioned flat bolt look. .357 Magnum chambering was first introduced 1979 model year.
 
#21 ·
Nice inheritance! There aren’t many saddle ring 1894s out there. Keep it and enjoy it. Actual value was in the $800-900 range before the latest inflation craze, so I would guess it to be in the $1200-1400 range now. But in all reality, as someone already stated, there really is no monetary value that can be placed on these rifles that truly represents what they are worth.

FWIW: my dad recently passed his 1970 44mag 1894 SRC down to me earlier this year. I can tell you from personal experience it kills deer quite well.
 
#23 ·
Welcome from Pennsylvania!! All three carbines are NICE keepers!!!
 
#25 ·
Thanks again everyone! I've read through a few posts and also gone through these replies a couple times. All the information and welcomes are really appreciated. I'm definitely keeping these and will end up passing them to my son. That being said, I'm a believer in using the guns (coupled with regular cleaning) vs storing in the safe. Any recommendations on caring for the stocks and parts overall? Looking for specific products like walnut oil or cleaners for the action/barrel. Also, with the wealth of experience here, is there a brand/type of ammo that has been found to work best? I saw Hornady makes LeveRevolution, but wasn't sure if that's legit or just marketing.

I'll be combing through the other posts on specific models for some of these answers, but figured I'd pose the question here as well.
 
#26 ·
Sanstey,

I may be misunderstanding your experience level with firearms in general but if you are somewhat new to owning & shooting rifles, then I would suggest leaving your inherited Marlins in a safe for a year or two and instead purchase a rifle that has no collector value...maybe a current Henry model.

Make your mistakes on it and not any of those Marlins.
 
#27 ·
Thank you Juliet Mike,
I'm reasonably experienced with firearms. However, you are correct in that I have no experience with lever action guns. I might have misunderstood the previous posts. My takeaway was that they are very well made rifles which are valuable due to them being made prior to Remington's takeover of Marlin, they are in good condition, somewhat rare and also because they were inherited from family. I have no intention of being rough on these at all. I probably could have posed the question a little better.

Do these lever action rifles require anything outside of some Hoppes, Rem Oil and some Walnut oil for the stocks? Also, is there an overwhelming favorite regarding ammo for levers.
 
#28 ·
There are fellas on here that know alot more about Marlins than myself but I learned from my Dad about 60 years ago caring for his Marlins.

I still use Hoppes #9 Gun Bore Cleaner on them and never required anything else for solvent. For oil rags, I buy a few yards of 100% cotton flannel (chamois) from a fabric store, cut the edges with pinking shears and saturating them with 100% food grade mineral oil. I have a few of those needle tipped oil dispensers with Hoppes Oil and another with Kroil (for detail lubrication).
I disassemble all firearms with a dedicated selection of USA made Grace screwdrivers so I don’t gnarl screwslots and I very lightly wipe down inside & out with my homemade oil rags. Very light coat or it drips down into the wood of the stock and darkens and softens the wood while stored vertically. I also use a very thin layer of gun grease on friction parts (still using 40-year old tubes of Revelation gun grease which is thick, handles pressure and has a dark appearance like it has some Moly).

I do not use CLP type “All-In-One” products because I think its lazy and inferior and saturates the wood (unless it is carefully sprayed into the breech while pointing the muzzle downward) but why when some Hoppes Solvent on a cotton patch does a better job?

The only change in all those years is I often get by with a bore brush out of nylon material rather than Phosphor Bronze.

Thats what Marlins were weaned on since the world was created in 1870.

But I am sure there are some really knowledgable gentlemen on here who we can both learn from.

Best Regards
 
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