Marlin 1897 Deluxe??

[Hunter1]

I just bought an 1897 Marlin .22. I've don't know a thing about them but I'd like to find out a little about what I have here.

It has a 24" half round/half octagon barrel. It has three sights...a tang peep, rear elevator sight in the dovetail, and a flip-up front sight in a round hood. It has a pistol grip stock that is not capped but rather has a "wavy" contour on the grip. The stock and forend are both checkered in a simple pattern and the buttplate is curved, smooth steel much like a saddle ring carbine style. It's not like a crescent buttplate. The serial number appears to be in the 3899xx range but the numbers are a bit hard to read. Maybe a good cleaning will help.

I'd sure appreciate some idea of what this gun is. I think it's something above the regular, off-the-shelf Model 1897 but.....!

Hunter1

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Hunter1;

You definetly have a deluxe version of either a Model 1897 or Model '97. You will have to remove the tang sight to know for sure, but I will guess right now that it is marked Mariln Model '97. With a serial number in the 389,000 range, this gun could have been made sometime around 1908/1909 or so. The old Marlin records end at 355,500 in December of 1906, so we can only estimate the date it would have been made. A gun with the features listed would have sold for about $21.00, then add about another $4.00 for the tang sight and the #5 Combination Lyman front sight. A standard Model '97 would have sold for about $17.00 at that time.
I hope this helps.

[Hunter1]

Thank you very much. I'll try to get the sight off. The seller told me it was an 1897 but he may not have known the difference. In any case I'm thrilled to get the rifle and to try getting it up and firing...with standard velocity ammo or sometimes 22 Shorts which I love.

[Hunter1]

I took the sight off and it is in fact a Model 97 as you said. I will be taking to it a gunsmith to check it out for function and safety. Do you have a idea of the rarity of this configuration?
Thank you