Make: Marlin
Model: 1894
Serial Number: 132929
Year of Manufacture: 1895 / Antique
Caliber: .25-20 Marlin / .25-20 Winchester
Action Type: Lever Action with Half-Length Tubular Magazine
Barrel Length: 24" 1/2 Octagon, 1/2 Round
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a Marble Sheard beaded blade, dovetailed to the barrel. The rear sight is a 2-leaf folding express sight, dovetailed to the barrel. The tang is installed with a tang sight.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two piece checkered walnut with an S-shaped pistol grip, straight comb, and a steel crescent buttplate while the forend has a steel nose cap. There is a small loss on the top left edge of the forend at the receiver. There are scattered scratches, nicks, and compressions. There are tiny losses along the wrist at the receiver. There are scattered handling marks. The LOP measures 13 1/4" from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The stocks rate in about Fine overall condition.
Type of Finish: Blued, Case Color
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is gray and the rifling is well defined. There is very faint erosion. In this writer's opinion the bore rates 6/10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 50% of its metal finish. The balance of the finish shows light handling wear and operational wear. There is scattered intermittent oxidation. Most of the case color has muted and taken to a mottled patina with trace amounts of figuring preserved in the protected areas. There is thinning on the leading edges. There are a few scattered nicks and scratches. The screw heads are sharp to tool marked with serviceable slots. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle rates in about Very Good condition as antique.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We did not fire this rifle. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards. The action functions correctly. The hammer has a half-cock safety.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This rifle comes with a CFM Record Search with a record blank result.
Our Assessment: The Marlin Model 1894 was introduced in 1894 as a refinement of Lewis L. Hepburn's earlier Marlin lever-action system, retaining the company's distinctive solid-top receiver and side-ejection while simplifying and strengthening the mechanism. Period Model 1894 rifles were available with considerable configuration flexibility, including 24" barrels and half-octagon barrels, making surviving rifles with less-common combinations particularly interesting to advanced Marlin collectors. This antique example is especially attractive with its 24" half-octagon, half-round barrel, half-length magazine, checkered pistol-grip walnut stocks, and combination of barrel and tang sights. The .25-20 chambering further gives it the character of a light, small-bore sporting rifle from the formative years of the Model 1894.
This rifle is in about Very Good condition overall and retains about 50% of its original metal finish. The checkered walnut stocks remain in about Fine condition, showing scattered period handling wear with small losses at the forend and wrist, while the metal displays an appealing mixture of surviving blue, muted case color, and age-appropriate patina. The bore is gray with well-defined rifling, very faint erosion, and rates 6/10. The action functions correctly, and the rifle is accompanied by a CFM Records Search reporting a blank factory-record result. Its combination of original finish, attractive period configuration, antique status, and early .25-20 chambering should give it considerable appeal to collectors of vintage Marlin sporting rifles.
