The Marlin Collector

Pistol related discussion

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Wishbone
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Location: North Dakota

The Marlin Collector

Post by Wishbone »

Rick,
Great job with the contributing article on Marlin Pistols in the latest edition of THE MARLIN COLLECTOR. Very informative and impressive. I do have a question, though.
Besides my Marlin collecting, I also collect early S&W pistols. I have a nice collection of around 100 pre-1940 S&W's, some rare, some very common. I am very familiar with the different materials used by S&W for grips. Hard rubber, wood, ivory and mop. It appears by the cover photo that Marlin used the same materials, as I'm sure all of the other manufacturers of the period as well. However on that cover photo, a pistol near the left side of the square board (2nd row from left, 2nd pistol from bottom) appears to have a vivid blue colored grip. What is that made from ? I have never seen this color used on a grip before. Or is it just a defect in the printing on my copy, as the color matches pretty closely the blue background of the photo ?

Thanks,

Bob
MARLIN - THE GUN FOR THE MAN WHO KNOWS
Regnier (gunrunner)
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Re: The Marlin Collector

Post by Regnier (gunrunner) »

Bob;

Thank you for the comments on the article and display. The most common, standard grip on the Standard revolvers will be rosewood. That is what is on the pistol you describe on the display board. From what I can see, it appears that the printer airbrushed the background around the display, and may have accidently hit the airbrush as it passed over that pistol on the display. Some of the edges of the display show a little fuzziness from overspray, too. That particular gun is an engraved gun with very low grade engraving. Marlin offered engraving from 50 cents and up. This gun looks like it is the 50 cent engraving as it is quite sparse with no background stippling.
Besides the rosewood, mother of pearl, ivory, DeGress cast metal, and hard rubber grips, Marlin also had an imitation ivory or celluloid type of plastic grip. They look like ivory to a degree, but crack very easy if the grip screw is over tightened. There is a metal insert inside the grip for some strength. There is a picture of the inside of that style grip at the bottom of page 115 in Brophy's book. You cannot see it in the photo, but inside the wood cases on the table are several cased pistols and one of them has the imitation ivory grips. It is a No. 32 Standard (Long), engraved with full silver plating.
I hope this answers your question.
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