Help dating a Marlin 27-S Octagon .32-20

[tjr42]

Hi all,

New Marlin owner, new to the forum. Lots of great information on these forums.

I'm trying to determine the year that my Marlin 27-S was produced. It was my wife's grandfather's he used on his ranch, and he used it quite a bit so it has some good history to it. It's also a *fantastic* shooter, just trying to determine when it was made. I spent a good amount of time last Sunday searching and searching and didnt find anything definitive, so I thought I'd just ask the experts instead

Here is the pertinent information:

1. Chambered in .32-20
2. Octagon barrel (no Ivory beaded front sight)
3. Three digit serial number 9XX, marked on the bottom of the tang
4. Roll stamped with "Marlin Firearms Co."
5. Bullseye on the bottom of the buttstock
6. No holes drilled at all on the top of the receiver

From what I read earlier, I would've placed this between 1913-1916, however it doesn't have holes drilled for a Hepburn sight (pre-1916), and it has a bullseye in the stock (post-1922) which has the same SN as the receiver. It has the old "Marlin Firearms Co." stamp on it, but has a three digit serial number.

So it seems like it has a low serial number on it (on the lower side of 57 to 61,412), with all the characteristics of the late 20's/early 30's model (no tapped receiver, no custom mods, bullseye in the stock). Perhaps it was made by Kenna's company with all the old tooling? Were there not many 27-S 32-20's made prior to him acquiring the company?

So I'm a little stumped. Thanks for any help you guys can give me. I can post pics if needed.

Jason

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Jason;

The Marlin Model 27-S was made from1913 to 1932. It was made by the early Marlin Firearms Company prior to WW I, then by the Marlin Firearms Corporation from 1921 to 1924, then by the Marlin Firearms Company (Kenna owned company) up to 1932. So, with the bullseye, it does make your gun post 1922, and with a Company marked barrel and the low, 3 digit serial number, it would be merely a guess to say that this gun could have been made after the Kenna family took over the business in 1924, maybe early 1925. There are no factory records, so we can only examine the clues given and make an estimate from the information given.
I hope this helps.

[tjr42]

Hey Regnier,

Okay, that's kind of what I was thinking as well, the lack of Hepburn site pre-drilled hoes and the bullseye definitely puts it in the 20's. I guess the only weird thing about it is the 3 digit serial number. Would they re-use serial numbers? Or is it possible that that had not quite made 1000 27-S's yet by the time Kenna too over?

Thanks for thr reply

Jason