2015 Marlin rifle quality
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:27 am
So as we all know when Remington bought Marlin a few years ago they started producing rifles with some serious quality issues. For a while the conventional wisdom was to try to find an older JM marked Marlin if you wanted one. A few months ago another member of my club got an 1894 and so of course I decided I needed one of my own. I started looking for one in .44 magnum, since I'm planning to buy a S&W 629 anyway and the two would make a nice pair. After having some difficulty finding a JM marked one, I started to consider getting a new production one. I did my research and everything I read online said the new 2014 and 2015 produced ones were much better than previous remlin rifles.
In September I managed to find a new one for sale online in an RFD based in Wales, and after speaking to them on the phone I found the rifle was produced in January 2015. So out came the credit card and I had it sent to my local RFD here in Northern Ireland. Between being busy with with work and some other things it ended up being about a month later by the time I got down to my local RFD.
Taking the rifle out of the box the fit and finish seemed good and I was pretty happy with my new rifle. My RFD also has a range, so I went around back to put the first few rounds through it. I loaded up 5 rounds of S&B ammo and attempted to chamber a round, but at the bottom point of cycling the lever it locked up completely. I mean frozen solid, not a millimeter of play in it backwards or forwards. The round seemed to be stuck halfway out of the magazine tube. After some fiddling I managed to the round the rest of the way out of the magazine tube and got it to chamber and fire. When I attempted to cycle the action again the same thing happened. After more fiddling I managed to get this round free. I then tried to cycle it a third time, this time was even worse. The round was less than a quarter of the way out of the magazine tube and no amount of fiddling was going to get it out. I got my RFD over to have a look and we realised the only way to clear the rifle was to take it apart while it was still loaded.
I started to remove the lever screw and it was incredibly difficult to turn. After serious difficulty I managed to get the screw halfway out, but at that point, no matter how much I turned it, it wouldn't come out any further. We realised at this point there was quite a bit of lateral force being put on the screw that was twisting it to one side and preventing it from coming out further. What we ended up having to do was one person push the screw straight, while the other screwed it out. Eventually we managed to get the screw out, remove the bolt and clear the rifle. Not before myself and my RFD cut our hands up on the very sharp edges of the bolt though. I'm not entirely sure what was causing the issue, but at least part of the problem seemed to be that the magazine tube spring and follower weren't putting any pressure on the rounds in the tube. This spring and follower appeared to be stuck halfway down the tube as I could hear the rounds in there sliding around in there as we tried to remove the screw.
I left the rifle at my RFD, assuming it would need to be sent back for repairs. The next day I called the RFD back in Wales who were very helpful and said they'd call me back once they'd sorted out what needed to be done. A few hours later I got a phone call from them saying I needed to send it back to the importer for repairs, Sports Marketing (SMK), with a copy of my invoice for the rifle, my contact details, a written explanation of the issue and a request to be reimbursed for the cost of shipping the rifle back to them. The rifle was sent back to them about two weeks ago now. About a week after it was sent to them I called SMK to check the rifle had arrived with them and see if they had any idea when I'd have it back. I was told the person that dealt with that wasn't there and they took some details from me, saying they'd call me back, but so far this hasn't happened, so I don't know what exactly is happening with it at the moment.
I just thought I'd post this thread to let everyone know that there still seems to be quality issues with at least some of the 2015 production Marlin rifles. This is the first time I've ever had to send off a new rifle for repairs, so I'm pretty disappointed. I'll keep the thread updated with any progress I have in getting the rifle sorted and how it performs when I get it back.
In September I managed to find a new one for sale online in an RFD based in Wales, and after speaking to them on the phone I found the rifle was produced in January 2015. So out came the credit card and I had it sent to my local RFD here in Northern Ireland. Between being busy with with work and some other things it ended up being about a month later by the time I got down to my local RFD.
Taking the rifle out of the box the fit and finish seemed good and I was pretty happy with my new rifle. My RFD also has a range, so I went around back to put the first few rounds through it. I loaded up 5 rounds of S&B ammo and attempted to chamber a round, but at the bottom point of cycling the lever it locked up completely. I mean frozen solid, not a millimeter of play in it backwards or forwards. The round seemed to be stuck halfway out of the magazine tube. After some fiddling I managed to the round the rest of the way out of the magazine tube and got it to chamber and fire. When I attempted to cycle the action again the same thing happened. After more fiddling I managed to get this round free. I then tried to cycle it a third time, this time was even worse. The round was less than a quarter of the way out of the magazine tube and no amount of fiddling was going to get it out. I got my RFD over to have a look and we realised the only way to clear the rifle was to take it apart while it was still loaded.
I started to remove the lever screw and it was incredibly difficult to turn. After serious difficulty I managed to get the screw halfway out, but at that point, no matter how much I turned it, it wouldn't come out any further. We realised at this point there was quite a bit of lateral force being put on the screw that was twisting it to one side and preventing it from coming out further. What we ended up having to do was one person push the screw straight, while the other screwed it out. Eventually we managed to get the screw out, remove the bolt and clear the rifle. Not before myself and my RFD cut our hands up on the very sharp edges of the bolt though. I'm not entirely sure what was causing the issue, but at least part of the problem seemed to be that the magazine tube spring and follower weren't putting any pressure on the rounds in the tube. This spring and follower appeared to be stuck halfway down the tube as I could hear the rounds in there sliding around in there as we tried to remove the screw.
I left the rifle at my RFD, assuming it would need to be sent back for repairs. The next day I called the RFD back in Wales who were very helpful and said they'd call me back once they'd sorted out what needed to be done. A few hours later I got a phone call from them saying I needed to send it back to the importer for repairs, Sports Marketing (SMK), with a copy of my invoice for the rifle, my contact details, a written explanation of the issue and a request to be reimbursed for the cost of shipping the rifle back to them. The rifle was sent back to them about two weeks ago now. About a week after it was sent to them I called SMK to check the rifle had arrived with them and see if they had any idea when I'd have it back. I was told the person that dealt with that wasn't there and they took some details from me, saying they'd call me back, but so far this hasn't happened, so I don't know what exactly is happening with it at the moment.
I just thought I'd post this thread to let everyone know that there still seems to be quality issues with at least some of the 2015 production Marlin rifles. This is the first time I've ever had to send off a new rifle for repairs, so I'm pretty disappointed. I'll keep the thread updated with any progress I have in getting the rifle sorted and how it performs when I get it back.
