I got my first one from Waltons, a dept store in the main street of the town I was born in, it was a .22.mag, plain jane.
I ended up putting a bushmaster scope onto.
Still have the scope, traded the Marlin in on a brno.22, still have that.
Best guess, 1979.
John

 

Does Australia have firearm manufacturers for military weapons and the shooting sports?

Since Marlin lever guns were well known as a saddle rifle and for general ranch duty, maybe they were imported to Australia for the same purposes.

 

I'm interested as well. Perhaps our brothers from Down Under can fill us in. I do recall a post or Australian ad showing much older Marlins in hyphenated calibers. AC

 

Interesting questions.... And time for us Antipodeans to do some research I reckon.

I own an old octagonal barrel 1894 Marlin in 25-20 that by my estimates has a YOM of 1901 which coincidentally is the year of our nationhood. It may have come to Australia new through a store or even by mail order and suggests that Marlins have been coming to our shores for a long time. I don't know and would be interested to find out when and why Lever Guns made the trip to Oz. There are certainly many Winchesters from the first half of the 1900's popping up on our gun sale sites so I suspect swampdude is on the right track with the usefulness in rural settings.

Australia only has one manufacturer currently of military small arms, Lithgow Arms which is only now after 40 years venturing back into the civilian market with the bolt action Lithgow Crossover in and soon in 223 and 308. I would argue that the greatest bulk of personal rifles in Australia originally were post World Wars, with the Martini falling block actions in .310 and Lee-Enfield and similar bolt repeaters in 303 being very common. As I understand it, many thousands of these 303 Military rifles were sporterised and rebarrelled on a commercial scale by local manufacturers like Sportco into 303-25 and other calibres.

Post war increases in affluence and the Hollywood cowboy movies no doubt saw a surge in lever guns, just as the baby boomers now reliving their childhoods spent on Saturday afternoons in cinemas across Australia is increasing the popularity of lever gun ownership and the participation in sports like Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette.

I look forward to this discussion...

PS my searching just now shows up that Dick Eussen wrote a story in the SSAA's Shooter magazine in December last year (page 56) on Marlin history, will dig it out...

 

I don't live there, but my guess... Cattle and Cowboys/Stockmen with the need for good saddle rifles at the time?

 

Our firearm culture for stockmen was very different than for the cowboy, the absolute need of a rifle or sidearm for personal protection was not there, the boss or leading hand may have had a rifle in a scabbard, the general hands carried a whip(that took care of snakes) confrontation from cattle rustlers was rare, though not unheard of & most stockmen wouldn't put their lives on the line for someone elses cattle they'd just let the police sort it out, most stockmen couldn't afford one anyway, they travelled to where the work was & wandering around a town with a gun over your shoulder was a sure way to draw the crabs(police) After you guys slapped the pommies about & got independance the poms sure weren't gunna let us do the same! :biggrin:

 

Yeah the Lithgow Small Arms Factory reworked old 303 milsurp rifles after WW2 in an attempt to keep the factory going.
The SMLE 303 was re barreled to
22 Hornet, in the MOD 24
22/303
25/303
270/303
Then there was a shortend case 303 that was done by Cutting 2 threads of a standard 303 and screwing it back in,
this was done in an attempt to legalise the 303 in NSW which was banned after the 2nd WW
There is also the new AIA 308 based on the 303 action
Lithgow produced weapons and ammo for the army untill the end of the Vietnam War.

I believe there is a good museum at the old factory now, must make an effort and get there.

GUS

 

Do you have an organization like our National Rifle Association that might have facts about the history of Marlins in Australia? Or is there a museum of history that might provide background on firearms that were prominent in the country's development, including Marlin?

Since you guys are active here at MO, it would be quite interesting to have a sticky thread that outlines Marlin's history in your part of the world.

 

Hi Swampdude,

We have the SSAA in Australia, which I believe is our closest likeness to your NRA, but I do not believe there has been anything done to document lever gun history. But I don't think the SSAA is really that old in comparison, and there is probably a lot of areas that do not have the histories recorded, particularly pre WW2. When I was going to school, there was more effort on us learning the general history of "Mother England" and Europe than there was on Australian history unless it was in a world conflict where we were assisting the Commonwealth. That started changing in the schools in the '70s.

The Australian War Memorial has a very good collection of militaria, and the Lithgow Small Arms Museum is very very good for the rifles that Gus mentioned, and others rifles (particulary military), but once again there was not much on lever guns when I was there about 12 years ago. That may have changed, but I doubt it.

I think lever guns may have been a bit scarce down under in years gone by (unless you count single shot Martinis), with plenty of war surplus firearms coming in via the commonwealth, reducing the need for anything else. But we also have to remember a bit about the isolation and situation of our country. We are not that heavily populated for our size. There were more people in your state of Illinois in 1950 than there were in the whole of Australia. And we are really spread out. Kazakhstan has twice the population density of Australia (strange but true - have a look at the last 6 countries on this list - Population Density per Square Mile of Countries | Infoplease.com ). And lever guns are still a bit scarce, evidenced by our national lever gun silhouette titles where any old scrubber (like me) can enter and we still get well under a hundred entrants. But that's fine....I don't mind being part of a select group!

Anyway, if we are going to get any info together on the history of Marlin lever rifles in Australia (or lever rifles in general), this will be as good a place to collect it as any. Simply because the membership of this ANZMO forum is over 100, we probably have as many Marlin lever action shooters on here from Australia as any group is ever going to get. And our Kiwi mates will have a history, too, but I don't know how well documented theirs is either.

So if it seems we don't have much info, I hope this helps to explain why...........

cheers, curan

 

In NZ they do have a National Rifle Association which is affliated withthe NRA in the USA. When I was a memeber I was given paperwork from The USA NRA. The other association in NZ would be the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association which is an iconic organisation which I was a member when starting out. These two organisations would be the best for history. There are a great number of books on the deer culling in the early days. These ones are a good read. I have a few first editions of the early hunting days and D. Bruce Banwell series that make up the basis for my library.

 

Would like to own an antique Marlin. I know its neat to get the 107 year old Winchester octagon barrel 1892 from the GS and use it. Antique Marlins are hard to find. The industry people I have spoken to believe at the turn of the century Winchester had a reasonable volume of 1892's being imported. From a lever gun perspective I have struggled to find out how many Marlin model 1881, 1888, 1889, 1894 reached our shores prior to 1940. There seems to be a few local rimfires from the 1940's to 1950's but I have not seen a lot of examples of marlins predating this period.

 

I've got a 1901 (Australian federation year) year-of-manufacture octagonal barrel Marlin 1894 in 25-20, without a skerrick of blue left but a nice even patina. No idea of its history such as when it came to Australia or why.

It was obviously a black powder rifle, as the first four inches of the bore are like a moonscape, but she still spins up a projectile enough to shoot.

Someone had used loctite on most of the screws and burred what was there. I got replacements from Numrich in the states and kept all the originals. The action is a bit clunky, I think due to the old style hammer spring. And the hammer has been worked on fairly badly so the sear/hammer interface is far from smooth. But none of that matters much when you run your hands over the almost khaki patina of the barrel.

It'd be nice to have an idea of where she came from.

 

Nice rifle Wags! That first photo shows it up very nicely.

.........(snip).......... But none of that matters much when you run your hands over the almost khaki patina of the barrel........(snip)............

Yep, I know that feeling. I get the same way when I handle that smallframe colt I picked up.

Old rifles are great things. They feel like a real bit of history in your hands.

And you just know there's a story to these old rifles somewhere, how they came to be here, where they've been, who owned them, but you and I might not ever get to know that story......:hmmmm:

cheers, curan

 

Ok I know this is a thread hijack, but you got me started now. Better photos were called for.

 

Ok I know this is a thread hijack, but you got me started now. Better photos were called for.......

Hell, if that's what happens when you hijack a thread, you just feel free to hijack away, okay? :biggrin:

 

Hi Wags

A fantastic example of workmanship - did you import it or has it been in Australia for a while? The long octagon barrel, button mag configuration is the same as my Winchester 1892. Mine was carried a lot and it shows.

 

Hey Aust,
No I picked it up locally a 18 months or so ago. The vendor wasn't able to enlighten me as to its history.
I think he was just a dealer who maybe had come across it in a deceased estate or similar.

 

Yeah Scott too bad he couldnt tell ya where he got it, you might have been able to chase it up.
History's something badly lacking in this country.
up untill our generation it was in our Grandparents heads,
so nobody bothered getting it out of them,
now their gone and we are here asking ourselves questions,
but our grands. had better memories. :hmmmm:

Bloody hell there I go gettin all nostalgic over someone elses old gun. :biggrin:
GUS

 

Just went back through my emails and have sent off one to the vendor who was from Sydney, but said he'd picked it up in a gunshop 'down south' just out of interest as he'd never seen one like it. I have emailed him to see if he recalls where it came from, maybe I can chase it up. Stranger things have happened.

 

Gees Scotty now ya talkin,
You never know, it might have belonged to Ben Hall or Thundrebolt or even Ned:biggrin:.
at least it will leave ya thinkin ya tried.

GUS

 

Wags,great find & nice pics, you might want to go dry off that rifle as I drooled all this puter looking at the pics, it may have leaked through!! :beerglass:

 

Just got this info from Gunrunner over on the Marlin Collectors site:


Re: My new 1894 25-20
Postby Regnier (gunrunner) » Tue Dec 02, 2014 10:38 am

Wags;

Your Marlin Model 1894, serial number 21xxxx is listed in the factory records as follows:

1894 .25-20 caliber 24 inch octagon barrel short magazine Shipped: mid-1901

That is all that is listed for that number. It is an unusual gun having a short magazine tube. Short magazine tubes are not seen all that often, so this makes your gun quite unusual.

Regnier (gunrunner)
Distinguished Expert

 

Brophy mentions an Aussie link dating back to 1888!
Marlin Firearms won an award at an International Expo in Melbourne, 13 years before we formally grew from a collection of British colonies to a nation.

 

Very nice. Keep on digging and you might get lucky. I am sure there is an interesting story just waiting to be found.

 

You could always make one up,
i was reading on here somewhere,
that a bloke had a marlin with a red bulls eye in it
that was a VERY rare commenretive model or something.:hmmmm::biggrin:

GUS

 

Ok, some research being done while I watch the Cricket......

The earliest promotional advertisements that I can find for Marlin Firearms in Australia date from 1896. They have been placed in numerous newspapers by Marlin, rather than by individual dealers.

This particular one is from the Sydney Mail.

 

In 1903, Australia's biggest retailer, Anthony Horden's has Marlins available for 70 shillings. The Winchesters are 57shillings and 6 pence.

This ad was from the Albury-Wodonga paper, but there are identical ads placed in papers as far away as Western Australia.

 

And in the Goulburn Evening Penny Post, both Winchesters and Marlins are 57/6 and the advertiser Charles Rogers and Co state this is well below the current Sydney price as they bought in bulk before the introduction of a duty.

View attachment 128963

View attachment 128964

 

And in 1924 a 26yo man bought a new Marlin 1894 and shot dead five people in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens.

BOTANIC GARDENS OUTRAGE.
IDENTITY OF MURDERER.
STATEMENT BY DETECTIVES.
RIFLE AND BULLETS FOUND.
EARLY ARREST EXPECTED.

Detectives and police worked assiduously yesterday in endeavouring to find the man who shot five people in the Botanic Gardens on Wednesday. As the result of their inquiries, they believe that they know the man.

The repeating rifle which the murderer used, and a number of cartridges were found hidden in a shrubbery in the Botanic Gardens. A gunsmith iden- tified the gun as one which he had sold to a young man, who gave his right name, but a fictitious address.

As the result of the investigations of the detectives, late last night it was pos- sible for them to arrive at a definite con- clusion concerning the perpetrator of the crime of Wednesday evening, and Senior
detective Piggott issued the followingstatement:—

"Senior detectives Davey, McKerral, and myself have obtained certain in- formation regarding the man who shot five persons in the Botanic Gardens. We are anxious to interview Norman Albert List, a labourer, aged 26 years."

Continuing, Senior-detective Piggott said that List was formerly working on a farm at Laverton, but for some time has been living in Richmond. He was of studious habits, and the police believe that, as the result of overstudy, his mind became unbalanced.
Searching for Clues.

Groups of detectives under Senior- detective Piggott worked all day yesterday and last night in an endeavour to trace the maniac who indiscriminately shot five persons, three of whom died almost instantaneously, in the Botanic Gardens on Wednesday evening..

The first development occurred shortly after daylight yes- terday morning, when Detective McGuffie, who had been searching in the gardens all night, found a Marlin repeating rifle and a box containing about 10 .44 calibre Winchester bullets hidden in the thick vegetation around the fence of the reser- voir a few yards away from where Mr. John Moxham, the last victim of the shooting, was found wounded. There were four bullets in the rifle, which was manufactured in the United States. The box originally contained about 50 bullets.

About 20 other bullets were found scat- tered about the bushes. The gun, which was a 1894 model, was sighted to 900 yards. Mr. C. Duckett, a rifle expert, who was asked to examine the weapon, expressed the opinion that it was practically new. The rifle was numbered 3022 19. The de- tectives think that the weapon was probably bought on Wednesday, and they are making efforts to get into com munication with the man who sold it. The bullets were flat-nosed and enclosed in a long brass shell, and were practically of the "dum dum" type. They were par ticularly heavy, such as are used for shoot ing kangaroos or wallabies. If fired at a short range they would cause a terrible wound. The flat nose causes the bullet to flatten on impact, thus inflicting a deep, wide wou

Around a corner, behind a plantation, they also found a large new sheet of brown paper. The creases in the paper indicated that it had been wrapped around a gun. There were also several grease-marks on the paper resembling gun-oil.


RIFLE USED IN BOTANIC GARDENS SHOOTING.

This large bore sporting rifle is the weapon which was found in a shrubbery of the Botanic Gardens after the lunatic had killed or wounded five persons on Wednesday evening. It is practically new, and firing "soft-nosed" bullets such as shown in the cartridge depicted, did terrible damage at short range.

PLAN OF GARDENS TRAGEDIES.

This is a plan of the eastern lawn in that corner of the Botanic Gardens bounded by Anderson street on the bottom and the South Yarra drive (Domain) on the left. The figures show the approximate positions of the victims of the shooting and escaped over fences to Anderson street.