Recently acquired 1881 Marlin - modified

[levallois]

I know the value of this rifle (now carbine) has been significantly dimished but when I saw it, I had to have it. This M1881 in 40 cal that started life in 1885 as a 28 inch rifle but it now 20-inch short rifle. Whomever did the mod was a pro and based on the patina it was done a long time ago. The action is tight and the bore very good-excellent. It really looks handy and very street-howitzer like. Need to get some black powder 40-60/40-65 to try her out. Thanks for looking.

John

[pokey]

cool beans

[Griff]

Very nice!

[J Miller]

John,

Welcome to the forum.

Most of us here are not collectors. We shoot our babies and enjoy them.
That rifle of yours might have been altered but and I mean this seriously, who cares. From your description it will still get the job done and do so in a handier configuration.

So, when you get some ammo loaded up show us some smoky pictures.

Joe

[Hobie]

I once had a .38-55 Marlin Model 93 to which the same mods had been done. Bulldog is what comes to mind when I think of it. I wish I had it back!

[kimwcook]

Looks might handy. Now we need a range report.

[marlinman93]

Considering how heavy a large frame 1881 was, I'm sure some previous owner thought he'd make it a easier rifle to pack while hunting. Made perfect sense back then, and although collectors will cry at the thought of a bobbed barrel, the owner probably really enjoyed his gun much more after doing the mod.
If it were mine I'd do the same; really enjoy it for hunting, or just shooting. As long as it shoots well, the rest doesn't matter much now.

[M. M. Wright]

SWEET!!!

[Swampman]

Very cool!!!

[levallois]

I appreciate all the great comments! I've got some black powder cartridges on order to give her a whirl (don't reload this yet) and will post a range report. Thanks again, great forum!

[KirkD]

What a great old rifle. Somebody way back liked it enough to have a good job done of shortening the barrel and mag tube. That is part of it's history. Enjoy that old timer and on those darkening autumn evenings as you sit under a tree waiting for a Whitetail buck to come along you may hear whispers of the old rifle's memories from more than a hundred years ago softly speaking in the dusk ... The crackling of a fireplace in a farm home in the 1880's, woodsmoke, a hearty supper of venison on the table, laughing children, now long grown and gone, running up to the table, the hint in the evening wind of an early snow ... The old rifle has many memories that sometimes come back as you sit alone with it in the hardwood forest and think of days from a century long past. It is one of the reasons I love these old lever guns.

[rjohns94]

Very nice Rifle. thanks for sharing.


Well Said KirkD.

[Ysabel Kid]

Very, very cool!

[Sixgun]

Nice piece but.........you don't need black powder. I have a 4 digit 1881 in 40-60 M with a 30" barrel and load 22 gr. of 5744 behind a 275 gr. NEI cast gc. Dang rifle weighs 12 pounds and shoots like a scoped boltgun.

Is was a little tricky getting the .408 bullet to chamber though-----Good luck---Sixgun

[FWiedner]

That is a handsome firearm.