Marlin 1893 saddle ring carbine

[KAS]

I recently aquired a Marlin 1893 Carbine , it has a ring on the reciever and near the forstock ( end of reciever ? ) a ser # D8250 the Barrel has three dates 1887,1889,1893 also "Marlin firearms Co." as well as " special smokless steel"
the lever has H 74 on the side of it, there are 2 screws on the top of reciever and Marlin safety engraved . behind the trigger guard it has Model and 1893 under that.
Could some one please tell me the year of manufacture ? I am not so interested in the value of this gun as it to me is an instant Heirloom and is VERY pleaseing to look at and to hold . also wondering if it is safe to fire with modern ammunition .
Obviously no one can assume it is safe other than a qualified gunsmith with a Hands on assesment However in general is the ammo made today a little to strong for the vintage rifles ( have heard about older damascus shotguns)
just would like to know some facts about these older Rifles.

Thanks in advance

[Parley Baer]

There are no factory records available for the time period that your carbine was made. However I would say your carbine was made in the post WW1 ear and before 1921. Seeing as yours is in the high "D" serial number range maybe 1920?

[KAS]

Thanks for the information and its nice to know a time frame on the manufacture, Would the ammo available today be to much for this rifle to take ( as far as pressure )??

[Spiritmaker]

As you say it should be checked out by a gunsmith. They make some cowboy loads for it and they should be ok. 38-55 and 30-30. If not sure it would be worth having a professional check it.

Spiritmaker

[marlin 1893]

Kas: You made no mention of a Bulls-Eye in the stock I was just wondering if your carbine
had one,also if by chance you were to remove the stock the serial number should be marked
on the left upper tang.I was wondering if the letter D is stamped there also.

[KAS]

http://s768.photobucket.com/albums/xx32 ... in%201893/ A Link to this rifle on photo bucket

[KAS]

I did not see a bullseye on the stock and at present I am away from this rifle for the next few days, However when I get back I will remove it and see what is there,
The photos on my photo bucket account were a slapdash effort due to time, they will I hope give the viewer some idea of the over all condition and patina.
I realy love these old rifles and wish they could talk

[KAS]

So what is the H74 on the lever for ?

[KAS]

So no one here has any idea as to the H74 on the lever ? IE:what it stands for / Part # or ? relevance to this rifle model or time of manufacture ?
surely some one among all of the experts here would know the answer !!

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

KAS:

There can only be speculation as to the H74 stamping on your Marlin Model 1893 saddle ring carbine, when in reality, the only way to know for sure is to track the gun back to the first owners of the gun to get a clue from that. It may have been a rack number for a mining company or prison, it could be an express company inventory number or whatever. It certainly has nothing to do with a Marlin part number or anything Marlin. Those numbers are hand stamped and in an odd location when compared to other guns observed with non-factory stamped numbers. Often times, late addition stamped numbers will be stamped into the wood or on the side of the receiver. Unless someone has a similiar stamped gun and actually knows where it came from, anything else is pure speculation.