Old Marlin in New Zealand

[kiwi6]

Hi from New Zealand, a gun collector friend of mine as a Marlin model 1889 Serial number 100247, this gun is in very good condition, appears to be all nickel plated, or polished steel.
The gun has been in New Zealand since the 1930s, it has engraved in very old engraving with the words,.......... FM Canton, ARK , Fort Smith.
Does any one know any other history or who owned this gun prior to it making its way to New Zealand.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Kiwi6;

The old Marlin records show that the Model 1889 you mention was a carbine in .44-40 caliber with a 20 inch round barrel. It was shipped from the factory in early 1894. There is no mention of the nickel plating, but it could be original. There are quite a few Model 1894 Marlin carbines that were shipped from the factory, and mention full nickel plate in the records. Someone with experience would have to examine this gun to know if it is factory original plating.
Have you tried to GOOGLE "FM Canton ARK, Fort Smith" ? You may be surprised what you might find. Sometimes you get results, but sometimes not. With just initials and no date to relate to, some searches are not fruitful. I have had good luck with GOOGLE searches, but never get your hopes up.
Good luck.......

[kiwi6]

Thank you for your reply,
Yes, I have done quite a bit of research on a mister Frank Manly Canton, who worked for the Judge Parker at Fort Smith , I have read a number of books on Canton to see if I can pick up any connection between the gun and Canton.
I am aware that the US army removed all guns of Canton and his followers during the Johnson County wars , date 1892.
I am wondering if Canton bought this gun, or was given to him as a gift,...............if it was ever Cantons.
This gun has only had two owners since about 1930s in New Zealand and Australia,..................we believe.
If there is any one in the USA who reads this and has ever heard of this gun and can help with any sort of help or information.
Please make comment.

Barry

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Barry;

Well, we do know one thing about the Marlin, it was not one of the guns taken by the U.S. Army in 1892 since this Marlin was not shipped from the factory until 1894, 2 years after the Army had taken the guns during the Johnson County wars. So if were Canton's, then it was either given to him or purchased by him after the 1892 incident.
What was Frank M. Canton's job for Judge Parker, and when was that? Maybe you need to be looking into Judge Parker's association with Canton. There is lots of information regarding Judge Parker and that may give you a new lead.

[kiwi6]

Thanks for the reply,
Canton joined Judge Isaac Parker in 1895-1896 as a deputy Marshall, yes I agree with what you have said regarding the date that this gun left the factory.
I have found a list of the guns removed and listed by US army, there were no Marlins.
I will try and get some one to help load photos on this web site,................if it is possible.
Barry

[kiwi6]

is it possible to put photos on this site, and how do we.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Kiwi6;

Yes, it is possible to poist pictures here. I do know that you have to upload the pictures to another site like Photobucket first, but after that, you need someone else to tell you what to do. Maybe Road King will help you with the instructions on posting pictures.

[Road King]

I will try and explain the process that I use.

Getting them onto the net

Alrighty, to get your photo's on the net you need a host. I'm going to use Photobucket as an example because that's the site I use
Login to your photobucket account.( http://photobucket.com/) If you don't have one you'll need to click the "Join now" link and make an account.

Once you have an account you will see a green upload click on that and then simply click on the browse buttons, (It will bring up another one of those "Browse for folder" type windows) go to your my documents where you have your photos stored and select your pictures one at a time.

When you have browsed to all your pictures, click the "UPLOAD" button. All of your pictures will the be uploaded onto photobucket and, when completed, they will all appear on your screen, click save .

Next you need the [img] code for the picture to post it here on Marlin Collectors site.

When you move your mouse over the photo there will be a drop down folder appear under the photo, right click on the bottom link [img] text will be highlighted. Right click on it and hit copy.

Now when you come back into the Marlin site window you can right click and hit "Paste". what it will paste is a line of text that looks like something like this:

[ img ]http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u--- ... C0----.jpg [ /img ]

That's It!

Now when you submit your post there will be a photo in it!

If I've missed anything or if you have any problems that can't be solved with google drop me a PM and I'll help ya out.

[kiwi6]

Thank you Road King, as I am an older person that struggles around the computer I will talk to my daughter, might even take some better photos.I would like people to see the old engraving and see if anyone recognizes who the engraver was.
I feel this gun is original, just in good condition.

[Road King]

Hi kiwi6, if you would like to send me the photos to my e-mail address (bwatson0568@rogers.com) I will post them for you.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Brian (Road King);

Thank you for the excellent directions. There have been several posts inquiring about posting pictures, so somehow, we need to make note of this thread so when someone asks about posting pictures, they will have the directions they need.

[Road King]

Here are the photos from kiwi6.
A very interesting gun for sure