The History of Marlin

There is a particular romance to the lever-action rifle in American culture — the rifle of the cowboy, the frontiersman, the deer hunter in the November woods. And when serious lever-action enthusiasts gather to debate which brand built the best one, the name Marlin is always spoken with deep reverence. For more than 150 years, Marlin Firearms has produced some of the most iconic repeating rifles in history: the Model 336, the Model 1894, the Model 39A, and — in an entirely different category — the Model 60 semi-automatic .22, which remains one of the best-selling rimfire rifles of all time. This is the story of how one man's Connecticut machine shop grew into a legend of American gunmaking.

The Founder: John Mahlon Marlin

John Mahlon Marlin was born on May 6, 1836, in Boston Neck, Connecticut, to a family of modest means. Details of his early life are sparse, but we know that he left home as a young teenager and found work in a series of machine shops in and around Hartford, Connecticut — then, as now, a hub of precision manufacturing and firearms production. Connecticut in the mid-19th century was the Silicon Valley of its day, home to Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and dozens of smaller gunmakers and tool-making firms.

Marlin proved to be a gifted machinist and toolmaker. He absorbed the techniques of precision manufacturing that were then revolutionizing American industry — interchangeable parts, standardized gauges, steam-powered production machinery — and by his late twenties, he had risen to the position of foreman at a prominent Hartford manufacturing plant. But like many ambitious men of his era, Marlin dreamed of owning his own shop.

In 1870, at the age of 34, John Marlin opened a small machine shop at State and Willow Streets in New Haven, Connecticut. The business manufactured a variety of metal products — locks, hinges, sewing machine components — taking whatever work came through the door. But Marlin's passion was firearms, and it was only a matter of time before his shop began producing guns.

Founding and Early Revolvers

Marlin's first firearm was not a rifle at all, but a derringer — a small, concealable pistol designed for personal defense. The Marlin No. 1 Derringer appeared in the early 1870s and was immediately well-received. It was a single-shot pistol available in .22, .32, and .41 rimfire calibers, featuring a unique barrel-release mechanism that was simpler to operate than competing designs. The derringer line expanded through several models — the OK Derringer, the Never Miss, the Victor — each offering refinements in caliber, size, and ease of use.

By the late 1870s, Marlin had established a solid reputation for quality handguns. But the handgun market was crowded, and the real money — and prestige — lay in repeating rifles. The Winchester Model 1873 was sweeping the American West, and Marlin recognized that his future depended on entering the long-gun market. He began experimenting with lever-action designs, and in 1881, he introduced the firearm that would define his company.

The Model 1881: Marlin Enters the Rifle Business

The Marlin Model 1881 was the company's first lever-action rifle — and it was a radical departure from the Winchester norm. The Model 1881 was chambered for big-bore cartridges — .45-70 Government and .40-60 Marlin — making it suitable for hunting large game, including buffalo and bear, at a time when most lever actions were limited to pistol-caliber cartridges. The rifle featured a solid-top receiver with side ejection, whereas Winchester lever guns had open-top receivers with top ejection. This design choice had profound implications: the solid-top receiver was inherently stronger and did not interfere with scope mounting, advantages that would serve Marlin well for over a century.

The Model 1881 also introduced Marlin's characteristic square bolt — a robust, flat-sided bolt design that was easier and cheaper to machine than the round bolts used by Winchester. The combination of big-bore power, a strong receiver, and competitive pricing made the Model 1881 an immediate success with hunters and frontiersmen who needed a rifle that could drop a grizzly bear or a charging buffalo.

Key Historical Milestones

1889 — The Model 1889 and Top Ejection. The Marlin Model 1889 was the company's first pistol-caliber lever action, designed to compete directly with the Winchester Model 1873. Chambered for .44-40, .38-40, and .32-20, the Model 1889 was a beautifully made rifle. However, Marlin made a significant design decision that set it apart: it used top ejection rather than the side ejection of the Model 1881. This made the action slimmer but limited scope-mounting options — a compromise that Marlin would eventually abandon.

1893 — The Model 1893. The Marlin Model 1893 is a critical rifle in the company's evolution. Designed by L.L. Hepburn, one of the great unsung firearms engineers of the 19th century, the Model 1893 was a medium-frame lever action that could handle cartridges from .25-36 Marlin to .38-55 Winchester. Crucially, the Model 1893 returned to side ejection, re-establishing the solid-top, scope-friendly receiver that would become a Marlin hallmark. The Model 1893 was produced for over 40 years and served as the direct ancestor of the legendary Model 336.

1890s — The Marlin Safety and .22 Rifles. Marlin also invested heavily in the rimfire market. The Marlin Model 1891 was one of the first successful lever-action .22 rifles, and its successor, the Model 1892, became a beloved small-game and plinking rifle. The rimfire lever-action line evolved through the Model 1897 and culminated in the Model 39 (introduced in 1922 and later the Model 39A), which became the longest continuously produced rimfire rifle in history — manufactured from 1922 until the Remington-era closure. The Model 39A, with its takedown capability, solid-top receiver, and exceptionally smooth action, is widely regarded as the finest .22 lever-action rifle ever made.

1895 — The Model 1895. Marlin's big-bore ambitions continued with the Model 1895, an enlarged and strengthened version of the Model 1893 designed for the .45-70 and other powerful cartridges. The Model 1895 was adopted by the Texas Rangers and used by big-game hunters, including President Theodore Roosevelt, who carried a Marlin 1895 on his famous 1909 African safari.

World War I and the Marlin-Rockwell Era. In 1915, with war raging in Europe, Marlin was acquired by a syndicate that formed the Marlin-Rockwell Corporation. The company was contracted to produce M1917 Browning machine guns and Colt-Browning M1895 "potato digger" machine guns for the Allies, as well as Marlin M1917 rifles (a modified version of the Model 1893). The war contracts were enormously profitable but created a post-war hangover when military orders evaporated overnight. John Marlin himself had died in 1901, and the company would pass through several ownership changes over the coming decades.

1948 — The Model 336. After World War II, Marlin needed a modern lever action to compete in the post-war hunting boom. The company's engineers, led by Thomas R. Robinson Jr., took the proven design of the Model 1893/1936 and refined it for modern manufacturing. The result was the Marlin Model 336, introduced in 1948. The 336 featured a stronger, round-profile bolt; an improved extractor; a simplified trigger mechanism; and the distinctive Marlin "bullseye" in the stock. It was chambered for .30-30 Winchester and .35 Remington, and it became one of the most popular deer rifles in American history. The Model 336 has been produced — with some interruptions — ever since, and its total production numbers are in the millions.

1960 — The Model 60: Rimfire Revolution. In 1960, Marlin introduced a rifle that would become the undisputed king of the rimfire semi-automatic market: the Marlin Model 60. Designed by Ewald Nichol, the Model 60 was a .22 LR semi-automatic with a 14-round tubular magazine (later 15, then reduced to 14), an 18-round magazine variant (the Model 99, later Model 990), and a self-loading action built around a simple blowback mechanism. The Model 60 was inexpensive, accurate, and reliable — and Americans bought them by the millions. With estimated total production exceeding 11 million units, the Model 60 is the single best-selling .22 rifle of all time and one of the most popular firearms ever manufactured.

2007 — Remington Acquisition. In 2007, Marlin was acquired by the Remington Arms Company as part of Remington's purchase of Marlin's parent entity. Production of Marlin rifles was moved from the historic New Haven, Connecticut, factory to Remington facilities in Ilion, New York, and later to Mayfield, Kentucky. The transition was widely regarded as a disaster. Remington-era Marlins suffered from significant quality-control problems — poor fit and finish, unreliable feeding, canted sights — and the brand's reputation took a severe hit among loyalists who remembered the pre-2007 "JM-marked" (John Marlin) rifles as the gold standard.

2020 — Ruger Acquisition and Revival. Remington filed for bankruptcy in 2020, and its assets were auctioned. To the relief of Marlin enthusiasts worldwide, the Marlin brand and intellectual property were acquired by Sturm, Ruger & Co. for approximately $30 million. Ruger CEO Christopher Killoy made a public commitment to restoring Marlin's quality, and the first Ruger-made Marlins — the Model 1895 SBL in .45-70 Government — appeared in late 2021 to overwhelmingly positive reviews. Ruger has since reintroduced the Model 336 and Model 1894 in multiple configurations, manufactured at Ruger's facilities in Mayodan, North Carolina.

Iconic Firearms

Model 336 — The Deer Camp Standard

No rifle says "November in the hardwoods" quite like a Marlin 336. Introduced in 1948 and produced by the millions, the 336 is the definitive .30-30 lever action for generations of American deer hunters. Its side-ejecting, solid-top receiver allows easy scope mounting — a major advantage over the Winchester 94 — and its action, when properly fitted, is glass-smooth. Available in carbine, rifle, and sporting configurations, the 336 has been carried in every deer state in the union and is the benchmark against which all other .30-30 lever actions are measured.

Model 1894 — Pistol-Caliber Perfection

The Marlin Model 1894 (introduced in its modern form in 1969) is a scaled-down version of the 336 designed for pistol-caliber cartridges: .357 Magnum/.38 Special, .44 Magnum/.44 Special, and .45 Colt. The pairing of a handy, fast-handling lever action with affordable, widely available pistol ammunition made the 1894 an enormous success with cowboy action shooters, plinkers, and anyone who wanted a compact, powerful carbine. A Marlin 1894 in .357 Magnum, loaded with .38 Special for practice, is one of the most enjoyable rifles ever made.

Model 60 — The People's .22

With over 11 million produced, the Marlin Model 60 is the bestselling .22 rifle in history. The secret is simple: it works, it's accurate enough for squirrels and tin cans, and it has always been affordable. The 14-round tube magazine provides ample capacity without the bulk of a detachable box magazine, and the self-loading action cycles everything from bulk-pack copper-plated hollow points to high-velocity stingers. For millions of Americans, a Model 60 was their very first firearm — a Christmas gift, a birthday present from Dad, the rifle they learned to shoot with.

Model 39A — The Gentleman's .22

If the Model 60 is the people's .22, the Model 39A is the connoisseur's. A lever-action .22 with a takedown feature, a beautifully blued solid-top receiver, and a walnut stock, the 39A was produced continuously from 1922 until the Remington shutdown. It is the longest continuously produced rimfire rifle in history, and used examples command premium prices on the collector market. A pre-Remington 39A with the JM proof mark is a treasure.

Model	Year Introduced	Type	Notable Calibers	Production Status
Model 1881	1881	Lever-action rifle	.45-70 Govt, .40-60 Marlin	Discontinued 1892
Model 1893/1936	1893	Lever-action rifle	.30-30, .32 Special	Replaced by 336 (1948)
Model 39A	1922	Lever-action .22	.22 LR, .22 Short, .22 Long	Discontinued (Remington era)
Model 336	1948	Lever-action rifle	.30-30 Win, .35 Rem	In production (Ruger)
Model 60	1960	Semi-auto .22	.22 LR	In production (Ruger)
Model 1894	1969 (modern)	Lever-action carbine	.357 Mag, .44 Mag, .45 Colt	In production (Ruger)
Model 1895	1972 (modern)	Lever-action rifle	.45-70 Govt	In production (Ruger)

Legacy and Modern Era

Under Ruger's stewardship, Marlin is experiencing a renaissance. The Ruger-made Model 1895 SBL — the "Space Cowboy" rifle — has been a runaway success, blending classic lever-action handling with modern features: a threaded barrel for suppressors, a full-length Picatinny rail for optics, a large-loop lever for gloved hands, and Ruger's exacting manufacturing standards. The reintroduced Model 336 and Model 1894 have been met with similar enthusiasm, and Ruger has signaled its intention to gradually restore the full Marlin catalog.

John Marlin could not have imagined the journey his small New Haven machine shop would take. From derringers to lever actions to the most popular .22 rifle in history — Marlin has been, for 150 years, a name that American gun owners trust. The "JM" proof mark on a pre-Remington rifle is still a badge of quality that collectors seek out, and the brand's resurrection under Ruger has given a new generation of shooters the chance to experience what Marlin loyalists have known for decades: a properly made Marlin lever action is one of the most satisfying firearms ever built.

MatchMyGun Verdict

The Marlin story is a testament to the enduring appeal of American lever-action rifles — and to the importance of manufacturing quality. The Remington era was a cautionary tale about what happens when a storied brand is managed as a line item on a balance sheet rather than a living tradition of craftsmanship. The Ruger revival, by contrast, is a masterclass in brand restoration: honor the design, invest in the tooling, and let the product speak for itself. For hunters and collectors today, Marlin represents both a glorious past and an exciting future — classic American rifles, built right, ready for the next century.