Marlin 27-S, newly-acquired

[Youngblood]

Greetings!

I am deee-lighted to be the new owner of a 27-S in .32-20. I hand-/re-load for my .32-20 Colts and S&W (100gr & 115gr lead, btw).

My 27-S was delivered today. A previous owner modded it for pinch-style scope rings. The result is rather ugly but I do not care as it helped keep bidders away AND exterior looks are not that important to me.

The chamber walls are smooth, the bore is mirror-bright and the muzzle is unmarred & tight ... the wood is in grand shape and all parts are, apparently, present.

My winning bid was $290.

The number 1685 is stamped on the bottom tang between the 2 tang sight screws. I have not yet removed the buttstock to check the left side of the upper tang for a Serial Number.

I have successfully figured out how to load & operate it.

I have been unable to find disassembly instructions. I wrote to Marlin and received a keeping-our-lawyers-happy Blow-Off response.

Prior to my initial testfiring, I feel that I must disassemble/clean/inspect/lube/reassemble as I do with all of my firearms acquisitions.

I gather from hints I read in various posts that the big thumbscrew on the left-rear and the lever on the right front are removed in order to take apart the 2 receiver halves.

I am VERY hesitant to do this blindly, fearing the freeing of errant springs that will launch across the room and parts that will spontaneously disassemble themselves before I can study their relationships to their neighbors.

Is there a 27-S disassembly guide somewhere in the Internet universe to which someone here can point me?

I thank you for any assistance/information that you can provide to me on the subject.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Youngblood;

As per the 1914 Marlin catalog instructions to takedown a Marlin Model 27-S:

"With the action closed, cock the hammer and unscrew the thumb lever screw on the right side of the frame and the thumbscrew on the left side of; move the buttstock portion to the right and the barrel portion to the left. The parts are all locked in place when the gun is taken down so that they can not drop out accidentally, but all the parts may e removed in an instant without tools."

"To Remove the action parts. While pressing in on the firing pin,(which releases the locking bolt) draw back the forearm as far as it will go; draw forward the magazine tube as in loading----this allows side play to the forearm; disconnect the forearm and handle slide from the locking bolt and draw them forward. The breech bolt and parts contained in the same can then be lifted out, giving access to everything. If desired, the locking bolt and firing pin may be removed from the breechbolt."

"To reassemble the action. Replace the carrier on its stud; replace the safety block on its stud; replace the firing pin and locking lot in the breechblock; lay breechbolt and contained parts in the frame at its rearmost position. Close the magazine. Draw back the forearm, using special care to see that the lower edge of the handle slide rides on top of the safety block; connect handle slide with its stud on the locking bolt. Then close and lock the action, pushing forward with the forearm with the left hand, pressing breecholt and handle slide against the frame with the thumb of right hand to guide breechbolt and insure that eh slide will ride on the cartridge cutoff."

"To put together the two portions of the frame. Have the action closed and the hammer cocked; bring them together so that the thumb lever screw in he front end of the right side enters its recess and beveled tennons at the rear engage properly; then screw down the thumb lever screw on the right side and the thumb nut on the left side until tight."

So now you know, nothing will go "flying" when you split the two halves of the action.

Good luck.......

[Youngblood]

Bless You!

[Youngblood]

I removed the Tang Screw ... a process that was made "interesting" by the fact that some prior owner (and/or the JackLeg that abused this poor rifle) had severely gnawed the head in a failed attempt to remove it. Just a case for penetrating oil, a correctly-sized hollow-ground driverhead, plenty of steady pressure & muscle and a large dose of Eeeeeeasy Does It. First, tighten it a little bit ... then loosen it a little bit ... repeat ...

There is no serial number on the upper right tang, just a 6-point star stamp. That did not surprise me since the last 3 digits (685) were also stamped inside the rear of the left receiver half. Oh, and I found 1685 stamped in the upper tang inlet of the buttstock.

So, is the info provided by Marlin in their Blow-Off email is correct (27-S mfd from 1920-1932) I think that it is a fair assumption that this 4-digit rifle was manufactured in 1920.

Nice.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Youngblood:

A little later than 1920. The Marlin trademark "bullseye" actually came along just after 1921. I would place your gun sometime after 1921. The "star" on the upper tang was also a later addition to Marlin production features, and the earliest notation we have of that is late 1925. It most likely started before that, but to find any reference prior to 1925 is not known at this time.

[Youngblood]

Youngblood:

A little later than 1920. The Marlin trademark "bullseye" actually came along just after 1921. ...

What "bullseye"?

... I would place your gun sometime after 1921. The "star" on the upper tang was also a later addition to Marlin production features, and the earliest notation we have of that is late 1925. It most likely started before that, but to find any reference prior to 1925 is not known at this time.

Aaaahhh ... so the date-range in the Blow-Off Email ("The Model 27S was made from 1920 to 1932,") was a bit mis-stated, unless Marlin's pattern for assigning serial numbers was really squirrelly.

Regnier, you are a wonderful fount of Marlin Lore. Thanks for sharing it so unselfishly with this 27-S n00b.

Do you have any information regarding the serial number range for the for the (.32-20) 27-S rifles? Did all 27-S calibers share the same SN Pool? Seems to me that 1685 had to have been mfd very early in the model (caliber?) run.

---------------------------

BTW, the location that I searched for the SN (and found only the star) was the left side of the upper tang. I could find no method to edit my post.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Youngblood;

I was thinking you had mentioned a bullseye in your post...but it was another I had read about the same time.
Generally speaking, the serial numbers for the 27-S will be of the same general line. There has not been a lot of research on the pump action rifles to know if all pump action rifles, regardless of model are in the same line, or if each model received it's own serial number line.
Actually, the 27-S started prior to 1915. The Model 27 was first, and started in 1909 to 1911 then changed to the 27-S with internal improvements.
To edit your post, look at the upper right hand corner of your post. On the end of the line of icons, there is one that looks like a pencil. That is the edit icon. Click on that and you can edit your posts.

[Youngblood]

... Generally speaking, the serial numbers for the 27-S will be of the same general line. There has not been a lot of research on the pump action rifles to know if all pump action rifles, regardless of model are in the same line, or if each model received it's own serial number line.
Actually, the 27-S started prior to 1915. The Model 27 was first, and started in 1909 to 1911 then changed to the 27-S with internal improvements.

So how a 4-digit 27-S was produced (from all indications) in the early '20s will remain a mystery. At least it is not boring.

... To edit your post, look at the upper right hand corner of your post. On the end of the line of icons, there is one that looks like a pencil. That is the edit icon. Click on that and you can edit your posts.

I only have 2 icons there, Report [!] & Quote ["] ... perhaps just a low-post-count thing.

Thanks!

[Youngblood]

With Post Count = 5, the pencil icon appeared.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Youngblood;

There were actually 4 different companies producing the 27-S. It started with the Marlin Firearms Company that sold out in 1916. There was the Marlin Arms Corporation that underwent a name change to become Marlin-Rockwell. After WW I, M-R sold out and it became the Marlin Firearms Corporation in 1921. The Corporation went bankrupt and the company was sold in 1924 to become the Marlin Firearms Company. So, serial numbers could have started over several different times producing low serial numbers again and again.

[Youngblood]

Thanks, Regnier, now it makes sense.

On top of my barrel it states, The Marlin Firearms Corporation, so, unless the Marlin Firearms Company used-up pre-stamped barrels, that seems to place it in the '21-'24 approximate timeframe ... as you suggested earlier.

Last week I sourced a used copy of Marlin Firearms: A History of the Guns and the Company That Made Them by Brophy. It is scheduled to be delivered here tomorrow. With all of the info that you have kindly provided, I can see that I am going to enjoy reading it even more than I originally expected.

BTW, the inside of the buttplate is also stamped with the serial number.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Youngblood;

Just do not believe everything you read there. The book was published in 1989, and a lot of new research and information has come to light since it was published.

[Youngblood]

Gotcha, thanks for the warning, good to know prior to wading into the tome.

[Youngblood]

I now know what the "bullseye" is. You explained it in a MGCA Forum post that I just read.

My rifle buttstock bears the bullseye, so, apparently, that trims a year off of the mfr date window leaving 1922-1924.

And here I was thinking that the mark looked like something added by an owner at a later date.