Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 Govt Lever-Action Rifle
Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 Govt Lever-Action Rifle the bolt action rifle had its day, and the Modern Sporting Rifle has been taking hold. But the lever action still has a following, and the reasons for that following are still valid.
And then there is the increased power a lever action rifle can generate, which brings us to the Marlin 1895. Marlin brought it out in 1972, when the .45-70 was not exactly a spring chicken. In fact, Marlin themselves had already tried to replace the old buffalo cartridge, when in 1964 they introduced the .444 Marlin.
The .444 is a slightly tapered case that uses a bullet of .429 of an inch diameter, and that was part of the problem. Remington said the bullet they loaded in the .444 was not the same as that used in the .44 magnum. Both were 240 grains.
More About Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 Govt Lever-Action Rifle
Experimenters, testers and gun writers of the time disagreed. Bullets meant for the .44 Magnum were allegedly too lightly constructed for the velocities the .444 could generate. Reloaders could use the same 240-grain bullets as they used in their .44 Magnum, but the controversy of “is it or isn’t it?” didn’t help. The lack of (at the time) heavier bullets also didn’t help. The barrel twist rate of the original .444 Marlin rifles was too slow for heavier bullets, a serious impediment for those wanting to reload and use heavier bullets. In all, a good idea handled perhaps not well.
Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 Product Description
What’s in the Box
- Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 Govt Lever-Action Rifle
- Paracord Sling
- Cable Lock
- Owner’s Manual
Introducing the new Marlin Dark Series. The speed and accuracy of Marlin lever actions blacked-out and tricked out for the modern hunter.
The new Dark Series rifles feature a stealthy-tough black matte Parkerized finish and a black-webbed hardwood stock, with a host of performance enhancements, including a threaded barrel, big-loop lever and XS Lever Rail with ghost ring peep that also accommodates a wide variety of optics.
Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 Firearm Specifications
- .45-70 Govt.
- 5-shot full length tubular magazine
- 16.25″ Barrel
- Threaded muzzle – 11/16″x24
- Parkerized finish on metal
- Paracord Sling
- XS Lever Rail with Ghost Ring
- Black stock painted with black webbing
- Big Loop Lever
- Paracord wrapped lever
- Overall Length: 34.5″
- Approximate Weight: 7.65lbs
Marlin Dark Series 1895 .45-70 is a new take on an old idea. The old idea is still valid, and the new things Marlin has done, to my mind, just make the original even better.
The lever-action rifle is a distinctly American tool. Invented and perfected here, it has not received the love overseas that it has had here for generations. As the gun that won the West (and yes, there are arguments about exactly which one was most responsible, but we’ll not go there now) the lever action rifle was a mainstay of hunters for generations.
LEVER LOVE
I can’t help it, I have to throw a little lever-action love out there first. As per usual when I wander off into the weeds of gun history, feel free to skip this section. Of course, if you do you’re totally missing out.
The lever-action’s roots can be traced back to 1848. No, it wasn’t Winchester that first came up with the idea, it was a company called Volition Repeating Rifle.
They filed the first patent but in the end it bombed because they apparently made the design a lot more complex than it needed to be.
After that failure, another company, Robbins & Lawrence, purchased the patent and tried their hand at production – and failed. Finally, Smith and Wesson bought the patent off Robbins & Lawrence and teamed up with some other gun world guys to create the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company.
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