[BigBlue]

On Friday I picked up the Marlin 1895 Trapper that I had ordered. The rifle is a brushed stainless steel with a 16.5" barrel, oversize lever loop, Skinner peep sights, decelerator recoil pad, full length magazine tube and a splatter coated black hardwood stock. Everything looked fine at my LGS, but when I got it home I went through my usual routine of cleaning the barrel on a new gun. With a Marlin like this I like to remove the lever(one bolt), take out the bolt and ejector and run the cleaning rod through the chamber end. When I removed the lever I noticed the entire end of the lever that sits inside of the receiver was rusted. I decided I'd rather deal with it myself than go through the hassle of sending it off to a Remington repair facility, so I used some 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper with some oil and removed the rust. After finding the rust on the lever I thought it best to totally strip the receiver and check all the internals for rust. Everything else internally looked okay with the exception of a small amount of rust on the carrier, which raises the cartridges from the magazine into the chamber. I was able to clean that up with a small amount of sanding. BTW, both of the parts mentioned were also stainless steel. I cleaned the barrel by running a couple of patches coated in Kroil followed by a few patches with JB Bore paste and then more with Kroil. If you look at the picture of the gun you can see that for some reason(aesthetics?) they decided to leave some parts blued. While I had it apart I thought I'd order some of those parts in stainless steel and change them out. So I ordered the forend tip, both screws that hold it on, a spring loading gate and a rear swivel stud, all in stainless steel from Midwest Gun Works and should have those on Monday. With time to kill I polished up most of the internal parts using 320, 400 and lastly 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper. I smoothed out the sharp edges of the lever and also the inside of the opening for the loading gate so it's less likely to scratch the cartridges up when they're loaded into the gun. I also noticed that like most stocks they didn't bother to finish the stock parts that aren't exposed so I gave them a coat of black paint to match the stock's finish. I may at some point order a new grey laminate stock to replace the painted hardwood. I checked Brownells, Midway and Midwest Gun Works and no one had that buttstock. I really like the Skinner peep sight, but I don't know how my eyes will do with it until I can shoot it. I don't want to put a scope on it, but I will if I feel I need it. Now I can't wait to get it back together and get to the range.

 

[Czechbikr]

Must have been sitting in a warehouse for awhile to get in that condition. Looking forward to the range report!

 

[darbo]

Good looking rifle! Congrats!

 

[BigBlue]

It's a shame to have to strip every part off a new rifle just so you can end up with the rifle for which you paid. I will however end up with a better rifle for having done it and all of the time spent polishing the internal parts will pay dividends.

 

[jtg452]

Unfortunately, that's probably the best policy when dealing with a Remlin.

 

[Czechbikr]

Unfortunately, that's probably the best policy when dealing with a Remlin.

The reviews that I've read recently indicate that the rough spot may be in their past....although the reported rust by the OP means that they need to pay attention to their anti corrosion methods off the line.

 

[BigBlue]

This is the second Marlin I've bought recently, the first being a 336Y I got for one of my Godsons to go hunting with me. The wood to metal fit, properly lining up the tube magazines, lining up the sights and the smoothness of the actions are much improved over early Remington made Marlins. The finish on the hardwood stock of the 336Y however looked like it was just stained, not sealed in any manner. I put a coat of tung oil on that stock and it soaked right in. Not something I would expect to happen if it had the advertised Mar-shield finish. In the case of both guns there was no finish on the wood at all under the forend, under the butt plate/recoil pad or where the butt stock attaches to the receiver. In each case gun oil, solvent or ever water would eventually get into the wood.

 

[bobbojama]

Kind of like the old Chevy Vega, they came pre-rusted from the factory...

 

[BigBlue]

Kind of like the old Chevy Vega, they came pre-rusted from the factory...

At least then you knew what you'd end up with.

 

[BigBlue]

Here's the finished product. Parts came today from Midwest Gun Works, very fast shipping by the way, and I got her back together. I put a coat of wax on all the SS parts and a dab of no ox grease on the threads of every bolt. I had a big grin on my face when I first tried the action. It's so much smoother than it had been.

 

[flareside_ford]

That is a good looking little rifle. I didn't know such a thing existed.

 

[JimmyA]

That's a nice looking rifle for sure. I can't believe it rusted - wonder what the conditions are where it was stored or warehoused.
Seems like the last gunsmith to handle it at manufacture should have coated it better with a protectant.

But you fixed it so no big deal. Not like you didn't have fun working on it ...

 

[BigBlue]

Looking at the original blued loading gate I could see that it had ammunition loaded due to the copper color dragged across it and the barrel did look like it was test fired. The internal parts were completely dry lacking any kind of lubricant or protectant.

 

[Echo40]

Nice looking gun, I'd like to own a Marlin 1895BSS one of these days, myself.
I find it somewhat concerning that stainless steel parts were rusted internally on what is presumably a new/recently produced firearm. I know that stainless steel isn't "rust proof" or anything, but still, it typically takes prolonged exposure to the elements or corrosives to cause stainless steel to rust, which leaves me wondering if it was stored under poor conditions.

Still, it looks to be a fine firearm and I doubt that it will give you any trouble going forward.