Marlin 18 Pump 22

[Buickal]

Hi all....new member here so my apologies if I am not in total compliance with posting rules.

I have an old Marlin Model 18 I have been trying to research and learn about but confused on a few things. I am hoping this being a Marlin forum....someone might be able to clear up my confusion.

Are all Marlin 18 models the Baby Featherweight models or were those 2 different? Mine weighs less than 4lbs and is about 36" in length. Has a round barrel.

Barrel is stamped 22 short and CB Caps...but I have read some barrels are stamped 22L. Also read even if stamped 22L, it only shot 22 short as that was the carrier it came with. Seems crazy to me that a gun would ship with a stamp caliber marking that isn't what it could shoot....I can just imagine all the angry owners with jammed guns from putting a long in a short chambered gun. Is this info correct? Also, were these guns made in different 22 calibers? My gun book doesn't list 22 short and CB caps as an available caliber. I am familiar with CB caps but question whether those can be cycled in the tube magazine and pump action. Anyone able to confirm this? Did they all come this way?

This is a real oddball gun to me and there doesn't seem to be much info on it out there. Any info about it would be appreciated.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Buickal;

The Model 18 was the Baby Featherweight and so advertised. It was chmbered to handle the .22 Short and Long Rifle cartridges. The gun was shipped with a carrier that fit the .22 Short only, and the new owner had to contact a dealer or Marlin for a carrier that could use the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. The carriers were interchangable without the use of tools.
Your barrel marking is that of the Model 25. It would appear that sometime in the past, a barrel for a Model 25 was installed in your Model 18.

[Wishbone]

Rick,
You stated above that the Model 18 was shipped with a .22 LONG RIFLE carrier.
I thought it was shipped with a .22 LONG carrier ?
In my 35 years of scrounging boxes at gunshows, I have yet to run across one. I've always wanted one for mine.

WB

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Bob;

I was quoting what Brophy put in "the book" on page 437 where he quotes the Marlin catalog information at the top of the Model 18 description.
He also shows a photo of the carriers on page 438 that shows the short and long rifle cartridges placed on the two different carriers.

[Wishbone]

Rick,
I don't know why I had LONG in my head all these years.
In my 1911 original Marlin catalog, pg 113, it clearly states

MODEL 18 PARTS :
Carrier, Short or Long Rifle.....$2.00

Maybe that's why I haven't been able to find a LONG carrier for some 35 years.....

WB

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Bob;

It is funny, that no matter how much we think we know, we always learn something new along the way! I know I have been surprised a number to times.

[Buickal]

So I now have a model 25 and the 18 I posted about. I am now more perplexed and looking for input. One poster said my 18, which has a barrel marked 22 short and CB caps, had a 25 barrel installed on it. However, comparing the 18 barrel with the model 25 barrel, they are very different. So much so I can't see how someone could have put a 25 barrel on the 18. I am trying to figure out how to post pics of the differences, which include different length, different size/font markings, different locations of the markings, and different sights. I am still trying to determine why the 18 barrel is marked as 22 short and CB caps but doubting that its because it has a model 25 barrel on it. Any theories?

[GeneB]

You have not mentioned the lengths of the barrels, No 18's should have a 20" barrel, No 25's should have a 23" - according to all the catalogs I have, they may have offered different lengths at other times, but I doubt it. The No 18's did not have the caliber marked on the barrels, they did not have a cartridge stop so the carriers determined what length of 22 they could shoot so the cartridge size was only marked on them, I doubt a carrier was ever made for 22 CB's. The later models, including the No 25, had cartridge stops so they could shoot different length cartridges without changing the carrier.

The No 25 barrels should all be marked for 22 SHORT or CB and have a simple fixed rear sight.

[Buickal]

The 18 has a 20" barrel and the 25 has a 23" barrel.