1893 serial no confusion?

[dhpdean]

Hi Every one i am new to this forum. I live in the uk and i collect antique firearms but marlins are my passion.
I have an 1893 saddle ring carbine 1904 and have recently purchased an 1893 rifle full octagonal barrel .
It is marked 1893 so not a 93 it appears to be the same era as the carbine , Barrel markings etc are the same . Fire-arm co not corperation.
The odd thing is where as my carbine has a serial number 432875 so one of the highest in the range. The rifle is just 5464. No prefix and all numbers match inside stock
etc . The serial no is located in the normal place and everything is as it should be so i am confused.
I hope someone can help shed some light on this.
Best Regards Dean

[Parley Baer]

What is the caliber of the rifle with serial number 5464? I assume the serial number is up by the forearm and not under the lever. There are other rifles reported in that general serial number range with Model 1893 on the upper tang. However most say Model 93. Earlier on below serial number 4000 there are some reported with the serial number by the forearm. Yours is the highest so far.

In my study so far there are no Marlin 93's reported in the 4000 serial number range. I suspect that those serial numbers were skipped when the new Marlin Firearms Company took over from the defunct Marlin Firearms Corporation and restarted production. So if that is true than I would think your rifle would have been made in the 1926-27 era. The highest digit only serial number reported so far is 9958.

[marlin 1893]

First off your carbine with a serial number of 432875 would date a little later than 1904 the records ended
in 1906 around 355300.Maybe around 1910 0r so no way of really knowing for sure.
As for your rifle does it have a bullseye in the stock by chance and does it have the two holes in the top
of the receiver for the receiver sight and is there a star marked on the opper tang.

[dhpdean]

Hi neither the carbine or the rifle have a star on the tang. They both have the holes for the reciever sight . They are both 32-40 caliber smokeless.
I know everything is not correct in Brophy's book but he states that the 1893 became the 93 in 1905 1906 and that the highest serial no know was 448355 upto 1906 but no records for the higher numbers so i thought that would have to make the carbine pre 1907? I realise the rifle must be th start of the new serial series..
But why is it a n 1893 ? post 1922 it would be corp not co so was there some overlap in the models?
Regards Dean

[dhpdean]

Oh and yes the serial no is on the forend of the reciever the same a my other 1893. No Bullseye on the stock. The rifle is in beautifull condition witt 99.9 percent
original blueing and faded case hardening. Mint bore too, looks like new and the action is still very tight so very little use.
Dean

[dhpdean]

Hi they are both 32-40 caliber. There is no bullseye or star. The number is on the forend of the lower reciever. The reciever is tapped on both guns for the hepburn
sight. The confusion for me is that i thought 1893 were re named 93 in 1905/6 and if mine was as late as 1920 ish why is it still marked model 1893 and has the serial
no in the same place as my carbine. The barrel has firearm as two seperate words? I know they used earlier recievers some times but surely they would have put the serial on the tang? It is a beautiful rifle with a mint bore 100% original blue and faded case hardening and unmarked original wood.
Regards Dean

[marlin 1893]

The Model 1893 to Model 93 change was where Brophy did get it wrong.Current thinking know is that the Model 93
came into play around 1921 or so.The records ended in 1906 around 355300 but Marlin seemed to continue the same
series of numbers on their lever-action rifles up to around 455000 and maybe a little higher ending in 1915. I feel that
your rifle with the serial number 5464 located on the trigger plate near the fore-arm would have been made 1916-1921
with a case in where the Letter Prefix just by chance or accident got left off. It is not uncommon for a post 1921 Marlin
to have a Marlin Firearms Co. barrel because of the left over supply of barrels being used by the Marlin Firearms Corporation
as the same applies to the post 1926 Marlins after the new Marlin Firearms Co. took up with Frank kenna being the new owner.Also it is possible that both the new corporation and the new company used left-over roll-stamps.With out any
records and all the changes of ownership in this time frame all this is just guess work.