date of manufacture

Ballards

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dickaye
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date of manufacture

Post by dickaye »

Rick,

What date of manufacture might a Marlin Ballard Serial number 32566 suggest?

Thanks, Rich
Regnier (gunrunner)
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Re: date of manufacture

Post by Regnier (gunrunner) »

Richard;

Dutcher states that the highest, observed serial number for a Ballard rifle is 36637, which would have been the end of the Ballard production in 1891. So, if Marlin produced around 37,000 Ballard rifles in 16 years of production (1875 to 1891), then that means that the annual production could have been in the range of arond 2,300 guns per year. So, subtract your number of 32,566 from 37,000 and you get 4,434 or about 2 years of production. That would mean that your Ballard should have been made around 1889. There are virtually no Ballard records, so we can only estimate production using the figures here. How accurate this is would be hard to say, but it is someplace to start........
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dickaye
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Re: date of manufacture

Post by dickaye »

Rick,

Thank you. I took possession of this gun today and it is a real beauty. From what I see in Brophy and
Flayderman this is a number "4 Perfection" in .32-40. It still has case color to it with a clean bore. It should make a good shooter, when and if I find some ammo. I need to start posting some photos and this gun would be a good place to start.......

Richard
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marlinman93
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Re: date of manufacture

Post by marlinman93 »

I think Marlin built a bit more than 37,000 Ballards. From what I've seen the early JM Marlin Ballards and later Marlin Firearms Co. Ballards have serial number ranges that seem to have repeated. I know for certain that I had a early JM marked Ballard that was a #2, and the number was the same as a later MFC marked #6 listed in Bill's book.
So with duplication of the same numbers, the total would be over the 37,000 and probably more along the lines of 40,000 I'd guess.
Marlin lever actions 1870's-WWI, Ballards, and single shot rifles!
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