Rossi Rio Grande vs. Marlin 1895 Action

[aragornelessar86]

I've been planning to get a 1985GS when I get the funds pulled together, but I just recently found the Rossi Rio Grande, which has a larger magazine and lower MSRP. I don't know enough about either action to decide which to get. Any education would be greatly appreciated.

[JACKP]

Best advise I can give is to just do what you are doing and that is asking question in the right place and also look at reviews on both, their's plenty of that on the net.

I have several Marlins made by Marlin not Remington and they are all great out of the box. A man should never buy a new rifle and have to spend his time and money getting it to function.

Jack

[Old Ironsights]

Can't tell you about the RioG .45-70, but my .410 seems decent enough. Mot as finely tuned as my 1895gs (pre Rem) but a solid enough gun...

[Ranch Dog]

I bought a Rio Grande 45-70 and sold my two 1895s and have not regretted it. Run a search and it will bring up a number of posts about both.

[AJMD429]

Search around the forum for "Rio Grande" and I think you'll find lots of stuff. Seems mostly positive. The Marlins are supposedly 'spotty' since Remington bought them, but the few I've seen recently are decent looking.

Nobody makes a normal-price gun that has the fit and finish they had forty years ago.

If you are ready to buy try to buy in a way that you can handle the specific gun you're intending to buy before finally saying 'yes', because of the individual variation ALL the makers can have in quality.

Also keep in mind that "rough action" type stuff you can easily fix with twenty minutes time and some fine-grit sandpaper, but a gun with poor wood-to-metal stock fit will be much harder to fix yourself and make look nice.

[6pt-sika]

I am a Marlin person period !

I do not however WANT any of the new made by Remington Marlin's and rather prefer the ones that are pre 1975 or so .

As to the Rossi I've only owned one in the 480 Ruger . Bought it new and sold it still unfired as I didn't care for the appearrance of the gun .

I have since looked at and held a few of the Rio Grande 45-70's in my hands and while I doubt if I'll ever buy one , for the money they may be okay .

[olyinaz]

I've been planning to get a 1985GS when I get the funds pulled together, but I just recently found the Rossi Rio Grande, which has a larger magazine and lower MSRP. I don't know enough about either action to decide which to get. Any education would be greatly appreciated.

I don't see how mag cap can be a large consideration with a .45-70 (how dead can you make something) but the Rio Grande action is a copy of the Marlin action design so they're quite similar. The ones I've handled have seemed quite nice with the exception of wood (nothing wrong with it, but it looks pretty bland). The Marlins I've seen recently all looked pretty good too and none had any obvious flaws. I've asked my local gun shop and they say that Marlins are not coming back for warranty repair and certainly not as much as Rossis do. If you DO need warranty work, it's pretty bad with Rossi (most of us just suck it up and fix it ourselves), but I'm not suggesting that the Rio Grande will give you trouble - just pointing out the fact that most foreign manufacturers have poor warranty reps. vs. an American manufacturer. I guess Marlin is now Remington, and while their warranty rep. is not sterling it's clear that they are trying to improve and you would be able to phone the place and actually talk to someone just as you would with Ruger.

I guess I've always felt that if it comes down to a 50/50 decision matrix then an American should buy American, but I'm not trying to steer you away from the Rio Grande at all. They look quite nice and I could see owning one.

[sore shoulder]

Some of my thoughts about the Rio Grande, despite the good reviews, is parts and accessory supply chain. According to Ranch Dog the parts are not interchangeable between the Marlin and the RG. Conversely there is a large base of aftermarket parts suppliers, gunsmiths and years of articles for the Marlin in addition to the US based manufacturing and service. It's also been mentioned that the RG weighs 2 lbs. less than the Marlin. My question is, why? Where can you shave 2 lbs? The most obvious, and really the only place, is by using less metal or lighter metal. So where is that metal missing, or different, in the RG? Ranch Dog posted a link to a discussion on the differences which I browsed but didn't read in depth so perhaps it's explained satisfactorily there. Personally, I will gladly carry the 2 lbs for a Marlin. I will never notice the difference in weight, but I'll sure notice the lack of support if it fails.

[sore shoulder]

Here's Rio Grande search results here.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/searc ... mit=Search

[Old Ironsights]

I know for a fact that the extractors are interchangable and that the Marlin Saddle Ring Safety Delete installs with very little fitting...

[44-40 Willy]

I am a Marlin person period !

I do not however WANT any of the new made by Remington Marlin's and rather prefer the ones that are pre 1975 or so .

As to the Rossi I've only owned one in the 480 Ruger . Bought it new and sold it still unfired as I didn't care for the appearrance of the gun .

I have since looked at and held a few of the Rio Grande 45-70's in my hands and while I doubt if I'll ever buy one , for the money they may be okay .

Darn shame about that 480. You do know that they only made 100 of them? It's kind of like finding the holy grail when one is located.

I still like my Marlins, but if I had to get rid of everything but one gun, my Rossi built Navy Arms 1892 would be the last one to leave. And my Rossi pump 22 the next to last.

[6pt-sika]

I am a Marlin person period !

I do not however WANT any of the new made by Remington Marlin's and rather prefer the ones that are pre 1975 or so .

As to the Rossi I've only owned one in the 480 Ruger . Bought it new and sold it still unfired as I didn't care for the appearrance of the gun .

I have since looked at and held a few of the Rio Grande 45-70's in my hands and while I doubt if I'll ever buy one , for the money they may be okay .

Darn shame about that 480. You do know that they only made 100 of them? It's kind of like finding the holy grail when one is located.

I still like my Marlins, but if I had to get rid of everything but one gun, my Rossi built Navy Arms 1892 would be the last one to leave. And my Rossi pump 22 the next to last.

To each his own and no I didn't know they made so few .
But even after hearing that it doesn't bother me a bit that I let it go for what I had in it .

[AJMD429]

Darn shame about that 480. You do know that they only made 100 of them? It's kind of like finding the holy grail when one is located.

Never knew that. Would have been a nice handy 'thumper' carbine, I'd think.

[sore shoulder]

I am a Marlin person period !

I do not however WANT any of the new made by Remington Marlin's and rather prefer the ones that are pre 1975 or so .

As to the Rossi I've only owned one in the 480 Ruger . Bought it new and sold it still unfired as I didn't care for the appearrance of the gun .

I have since looked at and held a few of the Rio Grande 45-70's in my hands and while I doubt if I'll ever buy one , for the money they may be okay .

Darn shame about that 480. You do know that they only made 100 of them? It's kind of like finding the holy grail when one is located.

I still like my Marlins, but if I had to get rid of everything but one gun, my Rossi built Navy Arms 1892 would be the last one to leave. And my Rossi pump 22 the next to last.

I recall drooling many times over the stainless .480 when I had my RSRH .480. Which is fine, A Redhawk in .44mag and Marlin 1894 in the same will be just as good.

[Panzercat]

A man should never buy a new rifle and have to spend his time and money getting it to function.

THANK YOU.

[44-40 Willy]

I guess you can spend over $1000 for a Japchester 1892 or less than $500 and little elbow grease on a Rossi 92. And mine didn't even require the elbow grease.

[aragornelessar86]

Thanks guys. I guess my Google Fu is a little weak these days as I couldn't find anything relevant when I searched. I do appreciate the point about the weight, and that is one of my concerns with the Rossi. I think I'll just have to try to handle both before I make a decision.