Another odd Marlin 97...post WWI?

[Ultona]

I posted on this forum a few months back about an odd 1897 deluxe rifle that had features from the 1920's, but was marked "1897" on the tang and even had the star marking on the tang, along with the uncheckered wood one would see normally on a 39, NOT an 1897 dlx. It was an A prefix gun, and I just ran into another A prefix 97 deluxe that is odd as well. It has the tang marked "97", but the barrel is marked with the CORPORATION address, AND the buttplate just says "Marlin" vertically and by the way is the rare version that has the little nubbin at the top of it that had to be fitted into the wood. The gun does have the low speed bolt as 97's should, but that particular type of buttplate was only used on very early 39's, NOT pre WWI 97's. They are rare on the 39, as they were a pain to fit and Marlin soon elimnated the nubbin at the top to speed up fitting. However, the stock is numbered to the gun and the buttplate is original to the stock and fits perfect, and they don't even make a repo of this buttplate with the little nubbin at the top of it, so I know it is original. Therefore, the corporation barrel makes sense since the gun must be from the early 1920's going by that buttplate (or about 1922 to be exact, I think that was the first year of the 39 and about the only year that freaky buttplate was used). If I recall Brophy mentions this buttplate briefly. Buttstock and foreend are checkered in the normal manner for a DlX. The mag tube is the latch type as seen on all 1897's and very early 39's. People always told me that Marlin never assembled 97's after WWI, but I am starting to think that is wrong. Some 97's were rebarreled by Marlin after WWI with Corporation barrels, so you have to be careful, but if the serial number has a letter prefix and the gun exhibits other post WWI features, than they must have assembled some guns later than people think. The gun is in great shape with lots of case and varnish and a minty bore. Anyone else have a letter serial number prefix 97 or 92 with a Corporation barrel on it? There must have been some '92's hanging around at the same time, so my guess is a few may have been put together with Corp. barrels too. Just a theory.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Ultona;

As the old saying goes, "never say never!" At the time, the new Marlin Firearms Corporation was trying to restart the sporting arms business. I am sure money was scarce and in an attempt to get the product out, any and all parts on hand were to be used to make up something to sell and raise money. Nothing from this era will surprise me. Many of the shotguns seen with letter prefixes to the serial number were probably assembled from parts on hand during this time too, no matter the model number. This is why you will see models that were long ago discontinued with letter prefixes.
I hope this helps.

[marlinman93]

I own a minty model 1892 marlin, chambered in .22 which has a "Corporation" marked barrel on it. I bought this gun from an 85 year old woman, who said her father bought it for her and her brother, when they were kids. It's been in the same family all it's life, and they are a local family. She told me her father reqiuired they take extreme care with the gun, and never shoot it, without having the "chauffeur" clean it when it was brought home.
I always assumed it was a rebarrel by the "Corporation", but it could have been assembled from leftovers. The lady said she never thought it was shot enough to have ever been sent back for any repairs.

[Ultona]

So maybe they do exist. What is your serial range on the gun and does it say "1892" or just "92" on the tang? Looks like a round top, which kinda worries me that it might have been rebarreled as late 92's were flat top. However, doesn't look like much wear at all, so maybe they dug out an old frame to go with the Corp barrel. Sure is possible. I am looking for a 92 with a minty bore, but was actually wanting a straight stock version. I have a couple really nice DLX 97's, and some super nice regular 97's and way too many 39's and prewar 39A's, but a 92 with a minty bore continues to elude me. Well kinda, I do have a 26" round barrel one with about 98% blue and varnish, BUT someone tapped 4 holes on the barrel for a side mount! Contacted a guy recommended by the Gunfancy guy, but he said if he fills them in with weld, he might have to reline the barrel as he might overheat and distort the rifleing. Bill Adair claims no such problems on filling holes, so the guy that he uses to weld them up must be pretty good, but I am still waiting for my last tapped barrel to come back from him, so hate to load him down with more work right now when he is so behind already.

[moodyholler]

Ultona, I bought one recently that is marked 1892, Has the rollover buttplate, and a complete 39A front end. it has a high speed bolt, and the spring guide installed and patina on whole gun matches. Serial number is tall 4 digit number on receiver in front of forearm. FWIW, moodyholler

[marlinman93]

The serial number shows it should fall in the 1896 era, but a check of Cody records shows this gun to have no information for this serial number. This lead me to believe that even though the receiver was made, and serialized, it wasn't assembled until it was "possibly" found in a corner much later. I can picture a pistol gripped receiver being set aside, and then eventually found by the later Coproration employees, trying to assemble guns from pre-war parts. Of course much of what we're talking here is guesswork, so no way to tell for sure.
As I said, it may be as simple as a rebarrel, but the info I got from the owner doesn't indicate this, and there's no signs of anything having been redone.
On the lines of filling holes. The bore should be fine, if the holes get threaded plugs first, and then the plugs TIG welded over. This will keep the heat from getting deep into the holes, as it would if the holes were simply filled with weld. I would make these plugs from bare metal round stock, and not use plug screws. Plug screws will be harder material than the old barrel, and wont blue the right color. Also be sure to have the barrel rust blued, as it's more forgiving of metal differences, and correct for that era.

[vrmntcllr]

I passed on a gorgeous 100% case colored Mod 92 because I thought it was a rebarrel because it was a Model 39 barrel.

I don't believe it was a rebarrel any more, I seen several examples of both pre 1898 serial number Marlins and post 1906 serial numbered Marlins to believe these guns were frequently put together from parts.

Since for all practical purposes each gun was put together by hand it's a very good possibility that Marlin would do production runs of parts and set the parts aside until needed. I only have to recall my uncle's farm to realize how easy it is in an evironment of questionable record keeping for parts to be set aside and overlooked for many years.

Marlinman,

That's a beautiful rifle and my guess is it's all original, just not pre 1898. I am no expert though, this is just a WAG from a CAG (crazy arizona guy).

Jeff,
Arizona - a relatively free state

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Gentlemen;

I do not want to be a spoil sport here, but I have seen to many early guns that were returned to the factory to be rebarreled, and have had extra work done to them while there. Many of the round top 1892's and 1897's can be found with a screw in the top of the receiver, drilled right through the "Marlin Safety" to install the top cartridge guide. This was done at the factory on a lot of good guns. I have a sideloading Model 1891 and a round top 1892 that have the new guide in the top of the reciever. I would tend to think, that if these guns are factory, they would have the new cartridge guide too as Marlin would have wanted these guns to work right like the other production guns would have. A gunsmith would not have had to worry about installing the cartridge guide if he was only changing out the barrel. Check the forearm cap. On Model 1892's, the newer Corporation barrel is smaller (as are the Model 1897's) and there will be a gap on the sides of the forearm cap if the barrel was changed at a later date. I hope this helps.

[marlinman93]

Gunrunner,
I agree, as I said before, this is all guesswork since we don't have any documentation to back it up.
There's no extra screw for the guide on my 1892, and also no gap where barrel and forearm cap meet. As I mentioned before, it could be a factory rebarrel, but no signs of forearm cap "gap", or gap between the barrel chanel in the forearm wood. It seems to just all fit. That sure doesn't mean it's factory, but I learned to never say never a long time ago.

[Ultona]

You never know for sure, but just have to look at the whole picture and see if it all fits. If it doesn't, then somebody's been messing with your gun! I won't buy "spooky" guns that seem obviously wrong, but like on this latest '97 DLX, I have more than one thing that "smells" like a late gun. The Corp barrel, the rare buttplate I have only seen before on very early 39's, and the "A" prefix serial number. So three things add up to a early '20's gun, and the finish on the wood, metal, ect are original too, so I am confident that this gun is correct. If you only have the Corporation barrel on a gun that otherwise looks like it was built around the turn of the century, then it gets questionable. However, I would still much rather own a rebarreled Marlin with a excellent bore than a relined one, as at least you are still shooting through an original bore. I don't consider rebarreled old guns as being "ruined" if they are factory. I have had many winchester 1892's that were factory rebarreled and they tended to have mint bores and bring about as much money are original barreled guns with nice bores.