[boikman]

Hows this for trivia....does anyone know if Marlins were ever issued to the military ? From the 1880's on through the present day....:banghead:

[Soap]

Are you counting Potato Diggers? I think those were made by Marlin...

[MrAcheson]

Which military? The US military or a military in general?

[Nightcrawler]

I believe a limited number of Marlin .30-30s were issued to US stateside MPs and security troops during the second world war.

[Hkmp5sd]

Marlin was given a contract in July, 1942, to produce the M2 .45 submachinegun based on a design by George J. Hyde. Due to assorted problems, the M2 never made it into production and the project was dumped.

Marlin also produced 15,000 "M42" UD (United Defense) Submachineguns in both 9mm and .45ACP. It was issued to OSS operatives and provided to allied countries, but was never issued to US troops.

[boikman]

In answer to your question....the military in general....most of us always think of Springfield or Colt when it comes to U.S arms...who else played a part, especially did Marlin...thanks...

[DMK]

Didn't Marlin produce the M1941 Johnson for the Marines?

[Gewehr98]

on my Navy-issued M1 Garand. So Marlin was busy in the U.S. military weapons industry even to the point of supplying sub-assemblies. ;)

[Mike Irwin]

I believe that Marlin also supplied some shotguns to the Navy and Army to be used stateside in teaching aircraft gunners the finer points of leading targets, etc.

[Hkmp5sd]

Marlin made 4 prototype Johnson rifles in 1937. Taft-Pierce made another 7 prototype rifles in 1939. In late 1941, the Netherlands ordered 70,000 Johnson which were to be produced by Univeral Windings Company of Providence, Rhode Island. This company then found space at the Cranston Arms Company to manufacture the rifles and production began.

These rifles were supposed to be used by the Dutch East Indies to defend themselves against the Japanese. After about half the order was delivered to the islands, the Japanese captured them. The Dutch government then embargoed the remainder of the rifles.

The only US forces that actually used the Johnson was the newly created Marine First Parachute Battalion, which were issued them just prior to deployment to the Solomons in 1942. They did see some combat in the Solomons.

Soon after this, the Johnson was removed from service and replaced with M1 Garands.

[HerbG]

I believe Marlin also produced Lewis guns for use in aircraft during WW1.