Walking around the gun show today there was an abundance of over priced new Marlins and other firearms.

I did notice that the "antique" guns are pretty steady in their prices.(Not spiked in the past year) Winchesters made around 1900..maybe this is now the time to get into collecting these guns.

What are your favorite models/calibers?

Here is a photo I took while at the show...this same rifle was available at the local farm supply store in December for $920-ish in 3030 or 4570.

Mine is a .303 in a Model 99 with a crescent butt
plate and octigonal barrel. I'm going to send it Turnbull's for restoration one of these days.

My fathers Marlin 336 A in 35 Remington manufactured in 1951. Bought new by him and passed to me on his death. It's a pig and deer hammer!

Which one?

My favorite is likely the one I'm holding in my hand at the time.

I do have one that's kind of in the unusual catagory. It's the original Marlin .410 lever action shotgun that was offered to investors in the 1930's. My step father gave it to me before he passed. He got it from his father.

I like the win. 94 SRCs and 64s, 30-30s and 25-35s..The older Savage mod 99F in 30-30 and 25-35s..I have a few ....My latest favorite is my Win 71 in 348 Win. and Marlin 95 in 45-70, a handy light to carry gun scoped with a Leupold Alaskan 2.5X and kicks like a team of mules..

My all time favorite is a 1920ish Savage m-99 take down that shoots 1/2 inch groups almost every time, not to shoddy for a take down or my best varmint cal 22 for that matter. Ive had it for 60 or more years, I don't keep many guns more than 6 months to a year, then move on, this one will always be in this family..

Mine do not quite meet your timeframe, but they are two Marlin 39As made in 1965. One is the full-sized rifle with the 24" barrel and the other is a Mountie.

94, 95, 92, 86, 73, 66, Anything but a Volcanic. Hard to get ammo for those!
Marlins are ok, Savages are, ugly and awkward.
I like them all.

All Winchester 1886, 1892, 1895 big bore + 9422 Extra.

Lavaca, I got rid of my Sav. 99 in 303 several years ago. It was a sweet rifle but factory ammo was hard to come by, + you can NOT form your own brass from 30-30. I might still have a box of WW brass lying around if you handload.

DAle,
Those old marlin 22s fetch a good deal of money these days, One of the finest 22 ever built..My son has one that I gave him 30 years ago..

I don't own one (yet), but if/when the right one comes along, a Marlin 1893 half magazine and pistol grip stock rifle in .38-55. I have also always wanted a Winchester '76 in most any caliber and a Winchester 1895 carbine in .30 US Govt. (also known as .30-40 Krag).

I am with you on those choices, I'll also be looking for a 95 carbine, late model or old, and a nice 38-55 of whatever would be nice..We have good taste in firearms, as me its a champagne taste on a beer budget..

I love my 1895's! I have 2 of them now. Great rifles

Ever since I was a boy I have had a hankering for a Model 71 Winchester wildcatted to .450 Alaskan.

No idea what I would do with it, and unfortunately Model 71's are almost non-existent here in SA. Never even seen one with my own eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Connan:
Ever since I was a boy I have had a hankering for a Model 71 Winchester wildcatted to .450 Alaskan.

No idea what I would do with it, and unfortunately Model 71's are almost non-existent here in SA. Never even seen one with my own eyes.

I was going to bring one to Namibia in 2012, but a side-excursion through Europe convinced me to leave my own rifles at home and use a camp gun.

Maybe next time...

I got to hold a 90%+ Winchester 1886 in .50 Express today...asking price was 1/2 of what the blue book says...which was still close to $20,000. I loved it. Now if I can only figure out how to win the lotto or have the cartel funnel money to me

well my 1910 savage 99 in 3030 or the 94 Winchester 94 trapper in 45 colt.

My favorite lever rifle (and I don't even own one!) is the Savage 99G. I'd absolutely love on in .250, but think the .300 would serve me and my kind of hunting even better.

I like shorter barrels, so a 20-22" tube would balance well. A lightfoot mount and classic 2.5 or 3X Weaver or Leupold would be perfect.

Levers are great, hard not to love 'em all; but my favorite is still the 1881 Marlin in 40-60 Marlin. They're heavy, like most all pre-1890 lever rifles (notable exceptions being the 1883 Colt-Burgess, essentially a small-cartridge-firing 1881 Marlin; and the 1888-89 Marlins), and not particularly strong, but I love the simplicity, the smoothness of the lever throw, the sliding loading gate and particularly the not-a-dang-crescent buttplate. Beautiful rifles those 1881s.

Win Mod 71 made in 1937. Also Win 92 (Miroku) in 44-40, and Marlin 1894C in .357 Mag.

I have several levers but my all time favorite is the short Winchester Trapper chambered for 30-30 Win. That little rifle is a handy little rifle no matter if it is carried in my hands or in the rifle rack in my 4 by 4, or under the seat for quick access on the way out of my vehicle, or in a saddle scabbard. I wish Winchester had made the same little short rifle chambered for 357 mag,and 22Magnum.
.............................. MacD37

dpcd,
Savages are ugly, have you lost your ever loving mind? time for you to hang it up and take up tinker toy collecting!!

quote:

Originally posted by Ray:
dpcd,
Savages are ugly, have you lost your ever loving mind? time for you to hang it up and take up tinker toy collecting!!

Gotta agree with Atkinson!

I'm looking at a friends 99EG in .300. It has a Stith mount what looks to be a 2.5X or so scope of the period on deck. No extra holes, pad, swivels or cracks to ward me off - so it may just come home with me.... When I looked at it before, it fit me like a custom.

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I must confess that I really like the lines of the early 99s w/ the schabel forend + the straight stock w/ crescent butt. I find that a very beautiful rifle.

I've been hiding on this forum for quite some time, never anything to add till today. lol

I have a number of lever actions, but my favorites are the Marlin 1893s.
I have two, a 30-30, and a 32-40.
Neither one is 100% original, the wood seems to take a hit, especially the butt stocks.

When I was a kid looking to buy my first guns, I sure didn't look very closely at the Marlins.
I wanted a Winchester, or a Remington, or a Browning.

Now that I'm an old guy, I can appreciate the fact that the old Marlins were a quality gun, with the shooter in mind.
Simple for the home enthusiast to work on, dependable, accurate, safe, and good looking, what else do you need. lol
I like lever action Marlins.

I'd sure like to find a nice 1893 in 38-55, hint, hint.

Jim

My favorite levergun is my Winchester Model 53 in 25-20. It has a button magazine and 22” round barrel. The bore is like a mirror and it’s a tack-driver. Love the little cartridge!

RC

Mid 1950s Savage 99F in .300 Savage. It's a wonderful upstate Pennsylvania deer rifle that I'd not be afraid to use for black bear or even an elk with the right bullets. And it's almost as old as I am.

This one!
Bought my friends 1949 era 99EG in .300.
2.5X Weaver in Stith mount.
No extra holes or swivels, pad, etc........

the 99EG is a classic...I like the 99F (circa 1950) a feather weight and it comes in 308, 243, 300 Savage, 250-3000, 284 and 358..Mine is a .308 shoots an inch on average and its my saddle and pickup gun, wears a 4X leupold in old color case hardened Redfield rings and bases... then there is my beautiful old straight griped custom 30-30 I bought on AR, and do I ever love that one..Its by George Bietzinger, one of the oldies or gunmaking..

Im going to take dpcd out of my will!! after that ugly post on 99s and teach him a lesson!

I might add that I have my Texas Ranger grandfathers guns, a 94 trapper 4 diget ser.# and it consistanly shoots one inch groups at 100 yds with original factory sights, won a ton of turkeys iwth it..has a rough bore and still shoots like that..I also havea SRC in 25-35 and a Renner special factory crossbred with the"o" on the barrel, that has a 64 barrel and forend, on a 94 SRC action and stock, very rare indeed..someone else on AR has one also..The O stamp varifys a Factory job..

Both mine are Marlins. The older one is a Model 97 made in 1899, the second year of production. The second is a 39-A made in 1957. Both are in super shape except for the bore in the 97. Black powder did not treat it well~! I was not fortunate enough to get "clearance sale prices" on either of them.

I love the mystique of the Winchester 86, one of the first really solid repeaters, up to the big critters. The Marlin 1881 may have got there first but where is it today?

I like the larger Winchesters: 1876 in .50-95, 1886 in .50-110 or .50-100, and (of course) the 1895 in .405. I have one nice example of each to go with my treasured double rifles.

In thinking about this gun, I havn't seen it for probably 55 years. I wouldn't want to pack it far. It's a long barreled Winchester 30-30 with a full octagon barrel thats probably 24 inches. It also had some sort of long range sight on it. It is my Cousin Jack's gun. His graduation present. He still has it, I asked about it at the last family reunion. DW

MacD37,
You mean a Winchester 1892 in .357 Mag, like this?

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
Here is a photo I took while at the show...this same rifle was available at the local farm supply store in December for $920-ish in 3030 or 4570.

I can by an English Double for that. That thing never was, nor will be worth 3,500!

I just love old Winchesters, Marlins, and 99 Savages and guess Im a hoarder or collector of these, but push come to shove I love my old Win 94 Saddle ring carbine in 25-35, Ive shot a lot of whitetail, Coues, and Mule deer with it growing up ands still do on ocassion, shot a huge black black bear in Mexico with it and my first 4 or 5 elk, and that bear in Mexico was suggested to be a Mexican Grizzley by some of the neighbors, but dad said it was just a big black bear as far as he could tell..Its always been my "lucky rifle", and I learned not to streatch the range beyound 150 to 200 yards and most at under a 100 yds with most of these old guns..

cannot pick one, have the most winchester 94's so maybe my favorite but really like marlins and the one savage 99 in .243

I forgot to mention my all time favorite is a gun show pick up 250-3000 take down..wanted it for collection, but shot it and damn, a take down in 250-3000 that actually shoots like a bench rest gun, sub 1/2" 3, 5, or 10 shot groups, 1x14 twist that shoots any weight bullet, dotes on the 117 gr. Hornady RN and 80 gr. GS Customs?? all to the same poi!! Can't believe that? come on down and shoot it, no charge..but you can't buy it at any price

oh forgot to add it won't shoot the Nosler balistic tips or accubonds, shoots any other bulllet Ive tried...