Why the dislike for the Marlin lever rifle w/the safety?

[quietman]

I'm in the camp of appreciating the crossbolt safety. Gives you a lot more piece of mind when unloading the rifle.

You can easily disable the safety in the field with an o-ring. Get back to camp, take it off, use the safety, and unload the gun.
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/52

If you don't disable it, it's a matter of training to avoid the "click" when you pull the trigger. Always start with the safety on and develop the habit of "hammer back, safety off, pull trigger" AT THE RANGE. Guys with bolt guns and semi autos have been shooting that way for years. None of them gripe about the safety on their rifle. It's a matter of how you practice.

After a few times of pulling the trigger with the safety engaged at the range, it will make thumbing the safety second nature w/o thinking about it (personal experience in that area ). Those who gripe about it typically don't bother to train that way.

On the other hand, it would be nice if someone made a left hand crossbolt safety kit.

 

[eastbank]

you can lead a horse to water, but you can,t make him drink. use what you want,but no animal is going to get away from you because of the safety with proper use. if you need more speed,just hunt with the hammer back but please stay away from me. i hunt to enjoy the out doors not to kill every thing i hunt. and i to have been hunting over 56 years and have not lost a animal because of any safety. eastbank.

 

[Beach Nut]

Another vote for the Marlin 336CS here. I like the crossbolt safety on my
.30-30 because it makes me feel even more secure when I'm using my Marlin.
I keep it engaged unless I'm about to take a shot at all times. Gun safety
is the most important attribute a gunowner or shooter should have and
I practice what I preach. My best friend, on the other hand, has a Mariln
336CS in .35 caliber and he never uses his safety. He says half cock is safe
enough for him. He has not had an accident with his Marlin yet, but he did
blow a nice hole in his truck door with a double barrel 12 gauge he inherited
from his father a couple of years ago on a hunting trip. I don't think you
can ever play it too safe with a firearm.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Safety or not----KNOW YOUR WEAPON.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

My Marlin 39A Mountie does not have the push button safety.
My son's 336C Mountie does not have the push button safety.
We are familiar with the traditional manual of arms for safely handling a exposed hammer lever gun (previous lever guns in the family did not include push button safeties). My son despises the safeties added to lever guns like my 336W rifle or his Puma carbine.

Someone is going to have an accident from walking about with a cocked lever gun depending on the push button safety being engaged when it is not. Too many mechanical "safeties" can lead to complacency about safe gun handling.

My drill is to use the half cock position for safety, and use the safety button only when unloading the magazine by cycling rounds using the lever.

A safety button or safety switch is for an internal hammer gun like the Marlim Model 60 or the US Carbine cal .30 M1.

 

[Dr.Rob]

If it was a hammer block I wouldn't mind. I used a 336 with just the half cock option for years and years... never had an issue with it. Found that new feature on the first guide gun my dad purchased and wow, what a shock it was to drop a hammer on a gun on safe. Not a feature I'd want on a bear/dangerous game rifle. You get used to it after a while, but I still prefer the half cock safety.


4 rules always apply with any firearm.

 

[chas08]

I like it on my 45/70 guide gun, especially when it comes time to cycle the rounds out of the magazine. I own two other Lever guns without a "Lawyer Safety". I didn't find it difficult to adapt to, just as I don't have any trouble adapting to safety locations on other guns I own, be it top tang, front of trigger, rear of trigger....whatever.

 

[wyocarp]

The safety on the Marlin works well and doesn't affect the operation of the gun. That being said, it ruined my shot on a nice antelope last weekend.

That safety is generally the first thing I check when I get out of the vehicle, to make sure it is off and o-ring in place. I grabbed my son's gun last weekend and was going to move a nice antelope towards him. I wasn't even planning on shooting and just grabbed the gun for the heck of it. I found myself 40 yards from a nice buck standing broadside (the shot I try for), I pulled the trigger and heard a loud click (No Bang). How disappointing.

 

[Rexster]

Safety is indeed between the ears, but when one has been awake for 30+ hours, or gone a week with less than four hours of sleep a day, there can be lapses of concentration between the ears. Not that I carry a lever rifle at work, but having other firearms under such conditions makes me appreciate the intuitiveness of some firearms' operating controls over others. (I am armed 24/7.) The position of the Marlin crossbolt safety button is neither intuitive nor ergonomic, and is very unfriendly to lefty/ambidextrous use.

Obviously, muzzle awareness is THE holy grail of firearms safety. Everything else can go wrong, and muzzle awareness will save the day, or at least prevent tragedy.

To be clear, I am not saying that it is routine for me to get by on so little sleep, but the aftermath of killer hurricanes has caused me to live under such conditions. I have never discharged a Marlin lever rifle rifle, or any other cross-bolt weapon, unintentionally, but I will admit to having scared myself a couple of times by what almost happened.

I do live with Remington 870 shotguns as go-to weapons. My cross-bolt Marlins are utility rifles, and I do like them, but they are second in line behind other go-to rifles for SD/HD, and not my first choice for use in the field, either.

 

[eastbank]

if you want to talk your self out of useing it, go ahead. it,s your choice and i would be the last one to try and talk you out of it. eastbank.

 

[Cosmoline]

I wouldn't mind a safety, but it should be TANG mounted like a Mossberg's. That way you can see the thing and know for sure what its status is. The Marlin safety is in a deeply stupid place where it can both be clicked on when it should be off and visa versa. I'll take a traditional half-cock over the Marlin safety.

 

[MCMXI]

Let's get something straight here about unloading a Marlin lever action rifle. You DO NOT need to close the lever all the way when emptying the magazine. In fact, you can place your thumb on top of the lever (between the lever and the stock) to cycle the action to unload the rifle. If the lever isn't closed, the rifle can't fire. Whether or not you use a safety is up to you, but it's not needed in order to safely unload a Marlin.

 

[chicharrones]

The Marlin safety has been in production long enough that the last two generations of buyers of newly manufactured Marlins can certainly be used to the safety. Whether they use it or not is their own decision.

Thankfully, the Marlin safety is not an auto-reset safety like on some break barrel shotguns. Can you imagine the PITA it would be if it reset with each movement of the lever?

 

[planetmobius]

A hardware solution to a personnel problem. I hate em and wouldn't buy one. They ruin the lines of this beautiful gun and and are not demanded by anyone but the legal department. If Marlin never installed them, you wouldn't see any posts on this site arguing for them. As for the proponents, if Marlin installed some sort of Lo-Jack safety activated only by the home office, someone would be telling an anecdote where it might have saved a life. Just know your weapon and take due care. I own several Marlins and none have the crossbolt. Incidentally, none have that useless micro-groove either. There are plenty of beautiful older rifles out there to be had. Go get one.

 

[md7]

put me in the i don't really care camp. i like the 336 and would use one with or without the manual safety. though i can understand how personal preference could sway ones opinion either way.

 

[CraigC]

I despise them and prefer they weren't there but the Marlin version is pretty easy to live with. The later model Winchester crossbolt is another matter entirely. The last of the domestic 94's as well as the Miroku guns are rather easy to live with, with their tang safeties and rebounding hammers but if I could have it my way, they would all be traditional half cock actions with no push button safeties. Safety is between the ears.

 

[quietman]

Can you imagine the PITA it would be if it reset with each movement of the lever?

Now there you go giving the lawyers ideas. But this time we'll know who to blame

 

[teumessian_fox]

Wait till you pull the trigger on a good buck and hear click because it got accidently put on when it brushed up against you...

Actually, I'm a left handed shooter and looking at the pictures, it might be ok.

 

[chicharrones]

Now there you go giving the lawyers ideas. But this time we'll know who to blame

You know what would be interesting, an honest poll of the age divide of people that hate the safety and the people that don't mind the safety.

I'm 45 and the Marlin safety doesn't bother me one bit.

 

[oldfool]

a lot of the hard core lever action guys hate any kind of safety on any lever action period
but a lot of that does derive from malfunctioning safeties on Winchesters, which really irritated people, of course, they were notorious for that during some Winchester eras

never had any issues whatever with such on my Marlins (18" 30-30 and 1894C 357)
and I don't think many people (other than those" philosophically opposed" to ANY safetey on lever actions) ever did have any real issues w/ the Marlins, unless they are unable to remember to take the safety off before firing
(but you could say the same for those who wail and gnash their teeth over S&W infernal locks)

PS
the half cock on most lever actions, is not in fact, technically a "safety"... but be careful who you say that to !

PPS
a non-issue for me, all my S&Ws are old style, I shoot Marlins, not Winnies, and I use whatever safeties happen to be on any gun I own, always have, just never had a problem with any of 'em

 

[alsaqr]

Wait till you pull the trigger on a good buck and hear click because it got accidently put on when it brushed up against you...

Bingo!!!!

That happened with my Savage model 24F me several times while I was calling in coyotes. They hear that click and, presto, they are in the next county.

 

[redbullitt]

i dont have a real problem with it on mine, but given the choice Id opt out of it b/c it is entirely superfluous. They functioned just fine without it for a very long time.

The hammer on mine uses the transfer bar as well, so it is kinda like sticking a safety like that on a SW 686 of GP100... not something i would like much.

BUT as a whole, it really doesn't impair function as far as I have seen. So, no biggie for me.

 

[oldfool]

interesting split of opinion, usually goes all one way in a hurry
1858 offers excellent info that not many seem real aware of, Marlins only been thataway for about a century now.. good post

button safeties
like 'em use 'em, don't like 'em don't use 'em (but always mind your booger hook)
can't stand 'em, brain-dead easy to remove and plug, your call, your gun
but forgetting to take the safety off never was a gun malfunction, it's operator error
been there, done that, blamed me, not Marlin
I can live with a missed shot opportunity, it's just another learning experience

never could blame anybody mad about real-deal mechanical malfunctions, whole different thing that, color me "me too"

PS
gotta' confess, that safety on my 357 Puma '92 never has been set to "on" and never will be in my hands
go figger
(but if it ever fails, won't be but once, easy enough to remove, just not worth my time to do, doesn't get in my way)

 

[Carl N. Brown]

How's about the Spencer repeating rifle of Civil War fame? You manually work the lever to eject the empty and load the next round from the magazine, then you manually cock the hammer to fire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_repeating_rifle

This actually makes practicing to check the 336 safety as part of your cocking action look simple.

 

[50caliber123]

I'm not the biggest proponent of sateies, but while hunting with my dad at 14 a long time ago, I learned how close an AD can come to happening. Not with a levergun but with an 870. Same principle applies though. Here was the situation: We were hiking on uneven terrain through the woods down a two-track. I tripped over a tree root and my 870 went flying out of my hands. I opened the chamber and the shell had a noticeable buldge. I never leaned the gun against a tree and had it in my hands firmly before tripping. Now I keep an eye on the ground. A levergun could have gone off, especially one without a safety and a halfcock. Anymore, I really take my time walking and keep my distance from tree roots. If the terrain is unstable, I'll unload the gun. A lost deer beats an AD/ND anyday.