Ruger buys Marlin

Was surfin the web thru a couple sites and just saw this announcement. Lots of speculation on product changes but over all most folks are glad that this has happened and Marlin has been free'd up from Remington's financial issues.


Me Myself & I all hope that Ruger will figure out how to fix my Marlin X7S's ejector problems before I'm too old to shoot my Stainless 270 as a repeater the way it was guess'd at.

Surfin the web told me there are LOTs of guys with the same Marlin ejector problem I have, and most all of 'em blame Remington.

FWIW I've owned more Rugers than any other brand and usually my trust in them was rewarded ....only because I could not afford as many SAKO's as I wanted
Ron

Hey, Wylie, I have a brand new Ruger/Marlin 336. I am very pleased with what the Ruger engineers have done to fix some the annoying issues that have plagued Marlin products since Remington acquired them (and did nothing to fix anything!). I've read a lot about the Ruger acquisition and thus far, it sounds like they're doing everything right!

My Marlin X7S stainless steel rifle was built in Kentucky by a contractor and everything in it's accuracy, fit and feel about it I am satisfied with. The extractor issue was a well known problem I found out after having my ejector breaking, as it sposedly was re designed to make it that much cheaper to build. If the rest of the rifle continues to be as well built as it appears to be I'll be satisfied...otherwise it'll become a stake in my wifes rose garden.

It's be interesting to see what Ruger does with this model rifle. Mine shoots poor quality & very old factory ammo almost as well as it does current mg'd ammo.
Ron

There's a very tiny percentage Ruger will even make an X7S and they likely don't care about the one you bought from Remington.

Also, It's been almost TWO YEARS since Ruger made the deal to buy Marlin. So far they have only produced an over-priced and very nontraditional 45-70. I don't want a .45-70 nor do I want stainless, rubber butt pad, laminate, fiber sights, scope rail, big loop, sling swivels, or a short barrel...but that's what it has.



Actually Marlin was making garbage by the time Remington bought them out. The initial Remlin guns were bad because they were built to Marlin spec on new machines. Marlin engineers kept correcting the drawings to make up for errors in machinery. A Remlin from 2018 is far superior to most Marlins for 2008.

Certainly Ruger bought Marlin with the belief they could turn a profit on the brand. Now they have to figure out what models are truly profitable vs those that were once profitable when Marlin was just Marlin. Those of us that grew up shooting and hunting with Marlin's are a smaller part of the market every day. There is a certain perfection in those old 336's (mine is a 1975). Yet when I go to the rifle range, 8 of 10 rifles seen are typically AR's (which I like as well).

So I think Ruger has a big task ahead to give Marlin the foothold they once had. Don't know if it's possible but I do believe that if Ruger can't do it, nobody can.

Well said and I agree 100%. I have Dad's 336, early 1960s. It still hits just fine.

I think very few people are going to the store to buy a $700+ dollar lever gun these days. Not sure I see where Ruger is going with this one.

Agreed. The ones that are out have that long list of "features" that don't belong on a lever gun and the price is jacked accordingly. What they did was genius. People will buy the first offering no matter what it is or at what price. They need to make a 20" barreled walnut and blued steel version in a normal caliber like .30-30 and sell it for what it's worth ... with inflation about $750. The one they have out right now is $1200.

I'm curious what will happen to the Marlin icons for which there is already a Ruger equivalent, namely the Model 60.

Welcome to 2 years ago.

Read the topic again. Doubtful Ruger will make a 60. Why would they?

Right. I tried to say so...

Just for the record...my Marlin X7S was built by a contractor in Mayfield Kentucky. I'm hoping another contractor, or Ruger it self will pick up the every day manufacturing or upgrade the extractor's design now that Ruger has the rights to change the design from the change in ownership. If the manufacturing quality stays the same as my rifle shows , based on the quality fit of everything on my rifle and excellent accuracy with NB ammo, I would expect it would be easy peasy to turn over all of the Marlin production to these guys in Kentucky, and not slow down the regular Ruger production line.

Back when I was running the road in Texas calling on gun shops and chain stores, I swapped for every used Ruger I could find and only a time or two needed to have someone tinker with those guns, going back as far as the early '70's ...and triggers were Ruger's problem back then too.

I bought my first Ruger 77 in a 25'06 in Dallas at Christmas in '72 when we'd driven home for the Holiday from Jacksonville Florida...when we got back home to Florida I found my usual shooting partner at the range not far from JAX NAS, he was a member of the Florida Hwy Patrol Pistol Team loved his custom built 25'06....and I could hang with him most days with a dead stock un tuned Ruger. We killed lots of crows out of his fathers 500 acre pecan grove at 50cents a bird too.

I took a new position the next year and moved to Chicago, and the range I used up there was in a quarry...and they'd never seen but hand full of Ruger 77's in anything except 270's & '06's.

FWIW WE CAME HOME to Dallas from Chicago 13 months later too...worst move I've ever made for a promotion....and flying into O'Hare has never ever gotten any better.....kinda like Newark .... only closer lot's bigger and not far from the Meadowlands and it's humongeous traffic jams, and have travelled most of the US selling consumer products for the last 40+ years
Ron

Ruger is in the business of making money. If they think they can make money selling a model 60 without hurting the sales of the 10-22.

I think the Marlin Model 60 was a direct competitor to the base model 10-22. An I really don't see Ruger making a Marlin model to directly compete with the 10-22.

Same thing with the Marlin bolt guns, Ruger already has the American series and the M77. Why make another line of guns that will only take sales away from the two good selling models you have already?

Ruger has never had a decent selling lever gun. I only see them picking up the lever guns from the Marlin pieces.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I had a 60 and it was a gem! Definitely a simpler model of rifle and IMHO, easier to maintain too. No aftermarket for it, though, like there is with the 10/22.

I have owned PLENTY of Marlin 60's...likely more than a dozen. I have owned 2 10/22's and still have my first one. That should tell you something. My only current 60 is a 123456XX serial number from 1988, one of the few years that has the 22" barrel (and longer magazine tube to match) AND the last shot bolt hold open. They were only made from 1985 to 1988. Mine is perfect. Got it from an estate sale for ... cough ... very little money. Here are some of the Marlin 60-based guns I've owned (Glenfield and odd configuration Marlins included).

Very nice, sir.

I believe the large loop lever gun that the Ruger owned Marlin will be making will be a resounding success despite the departures from what some may think that they should be.

And some people will buy an electric Mustang too.

There is nothing special about Marlins no matter who is selling them. And I own quite a few.

I agree, its just a good working gun, even the old ones there is fit and finish issues in my opinion.