Ruger to acquire Marlin

[sigstroker]

If this comes to fruition, it'd be interesting to see if PSA scraps their semi-proprietary 308 AR's and switch to fully DPMS compatible AR308's.

Why would they? At this point PSA has probably sold more AR style .308's than DPMS.

[golfish]

Investment casting? Ewww.

lol, I know, right

This part of Az needs the jobs. The people are there and ready to work. Hec!! I might come out of retirement for a factory job making guns, as long as they do things my way

This is going to be very interesting..

[rromeo]

My guess is Mayodan, NC. That plant has been 60-75% full since it opened.

[Imageview]

Shoot lefty, have no problem with side eject. Would love a left handed safety, but I can always install a safety delete if I want. Side eject is core to Marlin brand, I don't expect that to change.

[bergmen]

Shoot lefty, have no problem with side eject. Would love a left handed safety, but I can always install a safety delete if I want. Side eject is core to Marlin brand, I don't expect that to change.

I agree. My Dad was a Marlin fan since the late 30's specifically for two reasons. Marlin had a pistol grip stock on their lever actions and they were side eject. He never mounted a scope on his 1936 (which I have in my safe) but he did not like top eject lever actions.

Dan

[Mr. Blue]

[bergmen]

Investment casting? Ewww.

What is wrong with investment casting? Ruger has been one of the leaders in perfecting this process to a great degree. The receiver on my Springfield M1A is investment cast and when done properly with the correct metal alloy is a great way to achieve the basic shape before final machining (they have a lifetime warranty on this rifle).

Dan

[lastinline]

What is wrong with investment casting? Ruger has been one of the leaders in perfecting this process to a great degree. The receiver on my Springfield M1A is investment cast and when done properly with the correct metal alloy is a great way to achieve the basic shape before final machining (they have a lifetime warranty on this rifle).

Dan

Good point.
I would bet that if one took two basic M1A receivers, one made from investment casting, the other forged, and then built identical rifles around them, ran many thousands of rounds through, they would have no difference in wear, etc.
Ditto for 1911 frames, and most any other modern firearm.
People who are ignorant of modern manufacturing methods most often make statements like the referenced quote.

[bergmen]

Good point.
I would bet that if one took two basic M1A receivers, one made from investment casting, the other forged, and then built identical rifles around them, ran many thousands of rounds through, they would have no difference in wear, etc.
Ditto for 1911 frames, and most any other modern firearm.
People who are ignorant of modern manufacturing methods most often make statements like the referenced quote.

That is correct. I am a Mechanical Engineer by profession and modern investment casting is a highly refined and very capable fabrication method, especially with modern 3d printing capable of making high precision patterns.

Dan

[k1dude]

Why would they? At this point PSA has probably sold more AR style .308's than DPMS.

Because the DPMS pattern is an industry standard. The PSA is not.

[golfish]

People who are ignorant of modern manufacturing methods most often make statements like the referenced quote.

Like myself, I think sigstroker was being sarcastic..

[DueceMcGurk]

I have the Marlin 989 M1 (circa 1971). Tack driver and a hoot to shoot.

[More Artillery]

When Amazon first started selling things other than books, some of my friends said "Book shops can't sell appliances, it will never work." Okay, we see where that went. By the same token, if Ruger/Marlin starts selling both side and top ejection lever actions, coupled with Ruger's talent for interesting designs, I think it would at least be interesting to see.

I own numerous Ruger Rifles and handguns, was only unhappy with one (Mk III 22LR, unfriendly breakdown). All other five or six Rugers of various types I own, I've been very satisfied with and had no technical problems. Worst case scenario was after-purchase upgrades of some features due to matters of preference. I'll be looking forward to any improvements after the dog of a firearm I got out of the Marlin factory a few years ago (2017, discussed in another post).

[darkwater]

Remington had huge problems moving the old Marlin machinery and getting it fired up. I read some of the employees didn't give a 100% during these times, before and after it was moved. I'm not sure if they were using the old machinery when Ruger bought it.

This buy out is really going to be interesting. I wonder if Ruger will make some new guns or stick with the Marlin lineup..

Good read, thanks for sharing.

If you've spent any time over on the Marlinowners Forum like I have, there have been stories from former Marlin employees that have gone over this topic. In a nutshell, Remington ran the Marlin company at its old factory site in New Haven for a little over 2 years, and in that time they changed the method of production into individual cells. Where before a Marlin employee had the ability to take a gun from start to finish and fine tune some fitting onsite, such as the stocks, Remington's cells meant that each employee tackled only one part of the manufacturing process and passed the gun on to the next cell. Remington also moved the stock production offsite, which meant that the employees had no way of custom fitting the stocks onsite, they had to just slap together what they were given. So yes, at this point, moral was low, and when Remington closed the New Haven plant and moved the production to Ilion, many of the old employees did not make the move with them. In the move, some of the equipment was damaged in the process, and yes, some of the equipment was probably needing replacement anyway, but that combination did not help the new production line in Ilion. That combined with a host of new employees to train from scratch led to the quality issues that we've all seen and read about in the first few years after the move to Ilion.

[CWL]

Ruger does have a great rep for customer service, of which I have personally experienced, hope it transitions to all the new Marlins they make.

Plan on getting a Marlin 1894 lever in .357 mag when this spate of panic buying dies down.