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This really out of character for me. It's not a rimfire, I wasn't going to buy a thing at the show, and I'm been trying to sell off what I have.
This was just too good of a deal to pass up. It's just a standard configuration Model 1893, 38-55, dates to 1896, unmessed with 50% condition, but the bore is mirror brite and near excellent. I had a few other people look at, to make sure that it wasn't relined, but it's original. I wish I could find my load data, but hopefully someone will give me the info out of a Lyman book.
I know a whole lot about very little and nothing about a whole lot.
I love the 1893 ... and certainly in 38-55. I almost bought one last year with a Sheard 3-leaf sight but I passed like an idiot. I think you bought a really nice rifle there. That thin old-school Marlin forend I think gives it a great classic look.
... I love poetry, long walks on the beach, and poking dead things with a stick.
Assuming that it does have a "Special Smokeless Steel" barrel you can load it to the same specifications as the modern guns. Many older load books have data for the .38-55. So does the latest Lyman, but the loads are puny, as are the rest of the lever cartridges. They got the fear of litigation in 'em.
"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged"....President Abraham Lincoln
That gun looks dangerous, and I'd urge you not to fire it until carefully inspected. As it happens, I have some free time coming up, and would be glad to inspect and test it thoroughly. All you have to do is send it to me, and after a few months I will get back to you and let you know how it shoots and if it is safe, etc. May take longer, depending on how much I like it...
Sounds like you found a potential KEEPER...!
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws "first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.
Be still my heart. I'd have a hard time walking away from that one too.
Use at your own risk, of course I'd be happy to do all the risking for you
"There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves." -Will Rogers
Great find!! That's one nice-looking Marlin. It looks like a keeper! I just went down to my loading room to see if my Lyman Reloading Handbook (No. 48) had 38-55 data. I was surprised to find none. If you go on the Cast Boolits website, those guys over there seem to post stuff about the 38-55 every day, and are usually pretty careful about posting data that can be backed up by published documentation. Likewise, you can get some decent info on which mold to use should you want to cast your own for this rifle. I'd encourage you to do that. Cast bullets are what were most common when this gun was made, and they are very easy on old barrels. Greased lead bullets, fired from cartridges loaded with today's noncorrosive primers, won't wear an old barrel anywhere near as much as jacketed loads. If you're concerned about effectiveness on game with this gun and cast bullets, don't be. That rifle looks like it's ready for deer season right now, and a semisoft lead bullet coming out of that octagon barrel most certainly will not bounce off nowadays any more than it did at the turn of the 20th century.
That '93 is just the way I like them ...... showing some history, but unmessed with and with a pristine bore. An excellent, honest rifle.
Kirk: An old geezer who loves the smell of freshly turned earth, old cedar rail fences, wood smoke, a crackling fireplace on a snowy evening, pristine wilderness lakes, the scent of
cedars and a magnificent Whitetail buck framed in the semi-buckhorn sights of a 120-year old Winchester. Blog: https://www.kirkdurston.com/
Nice.
+1 RIHMFIRE and Shasta. Like this rifle, if you've seen a '93 SRC, apart from the tell-tale Marlin lever apparatus, it's a near dead ringer for the Win 92/94, from front sight and barrel band to slim forend/barrel band to ladder sight and carbine butt. Pure character, the '93 is a Marlin I could easily warm to.
It's not a rimfire, I wasn't going to buy a thing at the show, and I'm been trying to sell off what I have.
I had a few other people look at, to make sure that it wasn't relined, but it's original. I wish I could find my load data, but hopefully someone will give me the info out of a Lyman book.
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