Believe it was an early - like 1889 (the year Marlin's first side-ejection model was introduced) - advertising slogan trumpeting Marlin's enclosed receiver. No top ejection nonsense here!

 

"Marlin Safety" had to do with the new two-piece firing pin that first appeared in the Model 1893. The locking bolt pushed the rear section of the firing pin in alignment with the front section as it locked up the bolt. The bolt had to be completely in battery and locked before the firing pin could strike the primer and fire the gun. The Model 1889 had the older one-piece pin and was definitely not "Marlin Safety".

 

"Marlin Safety" had to do with the new two-piece firing pin that first appeared in the Model 1893. The locking bolt pushed the rear section of the firing pin in alignment with the front section as it locked up the bolt. The bolt had to be completely in battery and locked before the firing pin could strike the primer and fire the gun. The Model 1889 had the older one-piece pin and was definitely not "Marlin Safety".

With all due respect, you are quite wrong Sir. I have 3 1889's & each one clearly says "Marlin -saftey" on the top. It denotes side eject and the way a ruptured case would vent to the right away from the shooters face thru the two small gas relief vents that they only recently stopped useing in the modern 1894's. Theres one on the top & bottom of the old square bolts near the bolt face. No biggie, its a common misconception but the fact is it predates the two piece pin and originated on the 1889.

 

Leverdude,
You are right! I stand corrected. I always thought it had to do with the firing pin, but not any more. Thank you.

 

Leverdude,
You are right! I stand corrected. I always thought it had to do with the firing pin, but not any more. Thank you.

No biggie, I did too for awhile. There is literature praising the two piece pin among other saftey features that can lead to that assumption.

 

Leverdude,
You are right! I stand corrected. I always thought it had to do with the firing pin, but not any more. Thank you.

No biggie, I did too for awhile. There is literature praising the two piece pin among other saftey features that can lead to that assumption.

I really enjoy reading the responses to questions like this as everyone's got an interesting take on it. In fact, I'm (now) embarrassed to say that I originally thought the "Marlin Safety" came from the razor blades that Marlin used to make. In fact, I thought that perhaps Marlin had originally started as a "safety razor" company and then migrated into firearms manufacturing. I was completely wrong! While Marlin did make razors, they didn't enter this business until either the 1930's or 1940's.

Thanks to this thread, I won't be spreading the razor blade story around

 

It means you won't shoot your eye out, kid!

 

A bit late here with this thread but it interested me. I enjoyed Stirling's comment about the 'safety' razor blades !! My 1889's also have Marlin Safety rollstamped on top of the receiver. What Ken said may be true about the side-eject feature but the words 'Marlin Safety' at least in the Model of 1889 is far more likely to be the association of the small lockout bar, alongside the trigger, which has a small stud which projects downwards through the trigger plate just behind the trigger and which is depressed into the receiver but only when the lever is fully closed. Until this stud is depressed the trigger will not move backwards to release the sear. Stops the rifle firing unless the lever is completely closed,
Sandy.

 

A bit late here with this thread but it interested me. I enjoyed Stirling's comment about the 'safety' razor blades !! My 1889's also have Marlin Safety rollstamped on top of the receiver. What Ken said may be true about the side-eject feature but the words 'Marlin Safety' at least in the Model of 1889 is far more likely to be the association of the small lockout bar, alongside the trigger, which has a small stud which projects downwards through the trigger plate just behind the trigger and which is depressed into the receiver but only when the lever is fully closed. Until this stud is depressed the trigger will not move backwards to release the sear. Stops the rifle firing unless the lever is completely closed,
Sandy.

This is actually what I thought it meant. I wonder if there is actually anything in the literature to clarify this point?

 

Got a 1947 model 36 with Marlin Safety on top and two 1949 336s and no trigger blocks on them, I've not seen any made earlier with that feature.

 

I think beyond 1889 the two piece firing pin probably accounted for the 'Marlin Safety' designation. The lockout bar seen in the 1889 (which had a one piece firing pin) was dropped from the 1893's, 1894's and 1895's. Everything made after these times was and still is based on these models but made by a new company as it was sold and resold again. Who knows, ultimately it was probably because of the cross bolt safety seen on newer models.

 

A bit late here with this thread but it interested me. I enjoyed Stirling's comment about the 'safety' razor blades !! My 1889's also have Marlin Safety rollstamped on top of the receiver. What Ken said may be true about the side-eject feature but the words 'Marlin Safety' at least in the Model of 1889 is far more likely to be the association of the small lockout bar, alongside the trigger, which has a small stud which projects downwards through the trigger plate just behind the trigger and which is depressed into the receiver but only when the lever is fully closed. Until this stud is depressed the trigger will not move backwards to release the sear. Stops the rifle firing unless the lever is completely closed,
Sandy.

That lockout is the same as todays trigger block saftey. I'm not certain but I think the earlier 1888 had the same arrangement. The later 1893, 1894 ect did not have them. While I never found anything definitive as to why they dropped it, its always been my opinion that they did so because the two piece pin prevents the guns from fireing out of battery, even though that was not the reason for its development. Anyway they ressurected the trigger block, as well as the two piece trigger, with the 336. I find it very interesting how things sometimes come full circle along with much confusion. Many people dislike the 2 piece trigger thinking it a new development brought on by lawyers, but the truth is its as old as the modern Marlin design. The two piece pin is a similar thing. Folks thing its to prevent fireing out of battery and redundant because of the trigger block. But its not, it was developed because a Marlin with a one piece pin, like the old 1889, can be fired without any locking lug intact. That comes directly from Brophys book. I believe the book also says that the "Marlin Saftey" logo was reffering to the side ejection of the model 1889. All Marlins earlier lever actions were top eject.

 

I think beyond 1889 the two piece firing pin probably accounted for the 'Marlin Safety' designation. The lockout bar seen in the 1889 (which had a one piece firing pin) was dropped from the 1893's, 1894's and 1895's. Everything made after these times was and still is based on these models but made by a new company as it was sold and resold again. Who knows, ultimately it was probably because of the cross bolt safety seen on newer models.

I'm not sure I understand. No Marlin that has a saftey (other than the CBC model) has ever said "Marlin saftey" on top. I stand by my opinion that it refered to side ejection, I'll look in Brophy's book in a bit & see if I can locate anything.

 

Got a 1947 model 36 with Marlin Safety on top and two 1949 336s and no trigger blocks on them, I've not seen any made earlier with that feature.

The 1889's had two piece triggers & trigger blocks. By 1951 the 336's had it. I think the 1950's did but dont really remember. The Marlin saftey moniker went away with the model 36. As far as I know no 336's had it except for the recent untapped CBC's.

 

Ok, I looked quickly & while I found nothing concrete it says on page 169, as we already know, that the 1889 was Marked Marlin Saftey on top of the reciever. On page 171 it goes on to explain all the saftey features such as side eject, the trigger block and a notch in the locking lug that keeps the fireing pin from moving forward until the lug is fully in battery. But, on page 176 they talk about the model 1891 rimfire and call it the "Marlin Saftey Repeating Rifle Model 1891" and it has none of the saftey features of the 1889 except side ejection. It seems a minor thing to us but I imagine that in the late 1800s when self contained cartriges were still fairly new ruptured cases were a much more common occurrence and a gun venting the gases away from the shooters face was a big deal. I'll dig around more but dont think theres alot more devoted to it. Oh, the 1888 did not have the trigger block from what I can see. I think thats why the 1889 needed the lever latch, because the trigger block was pushing the lever down out of battery so they needed a way to snap it shut. With the 1893 they reconfigured the lever/locking lug relationship & put the latch where it still is today. The 1893 of course did not have a trigger block but it does have the two piece pin which puts spring pressure on the locking lug trying to push it down and therefore needs a latch.

 

Just picked up a 2002 1894 45Colt. It has Marlin Safety stamped on top of the receiver. Was this a special model or something someone did later? It's the same font as the old guns stamped Marlin Safety.

Thanks

 

Sounds like the Marlin 1894 Cowboy Competition. It was cataloged from 2003-2005, in 45LC.
Yours would be a pre production model.
Made for the upcoming year.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

Yep, that must be what it is. Nice gun. Ordered a Skinner sight for it before I got the gun and then realized it wasn't tapped, won't do that to it if it's not set up anyway

 

Yep, I looked in Brophy's too and didn't come across an explanation as to what the thinking was behind the slogan. There are lot's references to the wording but it is in the context of where it appears on a particular model. I think LeverDude is spot on. I also think it was a typical marketing ploy.

T.S.

 

Not hardly. It most certainly was a real safety feature, and not a marketing ploy!! It was used to market the guns better once the "Marlin Safety" feature was invented by L.L. Hepburn. But it was real, and not a ploy.
The Marlin Safety started out being the side eject feature, but it evolved later to include the two piece firing pin that dropped the rear part out of alignment with the front part of the firing pin. Marlin repeaters had several safety features incorporated, but it first started with the side eject 1889 Marlin.

 

As Levergun had quoted......

 

Solid top Receiver, excluding all dirt or moisture from the lock.
Loading and ejecting, from the side away from the face of the shooter

gotta love the old ads...

 

Thanks Darin, that's better. The two piece firing pin reason wasn't setting well with my 22, single piece pin, that's marked Marlin Safety on top of receiver.