Weldonjr2001 wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 7:09 pm
Those Henry’s are nice. My “Marlin Killer” is my new Mossberg 464 30-30 lever action. It was sitting next to a 336 in Academy’s gun rack.
I asked to see the 336, and as soon as I put it to my shoulder I could see the magazine tubed out of line with the the barrel. Deal killer right there. I have a 1949 made 336, and despite many “character” marks, it is is well made. This new 336 just looked a little crude by comparison to the older one, which I had examined before running down the street to Academy.
So I asked to see the Mossberg, and it looked great. Nice blueing, nice wood, no sharp edges, and I liked the no-pistol-grip stock. Looked up reviews on it there in the store and decided to take a chance.
I’ve been to the range 3 times with it, and put about 75 rounds of various brand 150 grain soft points through it. The loading and cycling was a little rough at first, but those have smoothed up nicely.
Love it, no regrets.
The magazine tube alignment was one of the complaints when I bought my 336BL. I wrote about it here:
viewtopic.php?p=1128014#p1128014. I have a Henry Octagon Frontier in .22 that I really like a lot. So far, living with loading through the day of the magazine tube has been a non-issue, but it has only been used as a plinker at the range. OTH, I really want the top off ability of the Marlin's side loading gate for field use. Now that Henry is beginning to offer it in centerfire calibers, my Marlin's days are numbered.
Another of the complaints I had about the Marlin was that the side loading gate was so stiff that it was unusable. It was so bad that, the first time I took it to the range, I gave up trying to load through the gate, and just fed dingle rounds through the ejection port. I fixed that with a replacement part from Ranger Point Precision that has less spring tension. I have a JM stamped Marlin 1895G Guide Gun in .45-70, and it is a
beautiful rifle (and for sake too!). I did a full write up on my 336BL on my website here:
https://annoyedman.com/firearms/lever-guns-remlins.html.
So I have a frame of reference between older and newer Marlins, and the new ones just aren’t up to snuff. The older ones are heirloom rifles - the newer ones no so much.
But Henry more than makes up for all of that’s OTH even their tube-loading design. They are
beautifully made, even the little .22s. This is the one that I bought:
https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/lever-o ... ier-rifle/. Henrys are rifles that you’d be proud to pass down to your kids and grandkids.
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, "Those Who Remain"
#TINVOWOOT