Finally got me a Marlin M1 carbine

[gsbuickman]

Hiya Guy's ...

It looks like I finally got me an M1 carbine to add to my collection . This is the 2nd rifle I got yesterday in a two for one $/trade deal for my Hatsan escort MP2 12 gauge I had.

Ok , well, technically it may not be a Cal. 30 US M1 Carbine, but it is a collectible & hard to find Marlin 99-M1 Carbine in 22LR . It looks like these were made from 1964 - 1978 with this being a 74' model from Marlin Firearms of North Haven, Conn. USA.

It looks like the idea behind these was to have a cool little pop can killer modeled after the .30 cal. M1 Carbine for the vets that wanted something similar to the rifles they used in the service, and it looks like they were quite popular with 160k + sold. Z's sold for less than $75 new on average back in the day but these days a complete unmolested M1 model in Nice condition such as this one with the original dovetail adjustable elevation rear sight which this has and maybe the original Marlin model 300B 4x20 nitrogen filled scope which this also has and the gold trigger which this also has can go for upwards of $300 - $350 . And if you happen to have one of these but you're looking for just the original dovetail rear sight maybe because it's missing or maybe it's broken, missing parts or needs replaced, expect to pay upwards of $150 if you can even find one, ouch...

This has an 18in Barrel, a short 9round or so tube feed magazine that doesn't have the loading Port so you have to take the follower out of it to load it, the original swivel sling studs and it's the same overall length as my 10/22. This one is in really nice condition and from the looks of it I'd say it's at in the back of someone's safe probably since they bought it new if they ever used it. I'm not sure what the stock is made of as of yet but it looks like it has some really nice wood grain patterns in it but I'm not fond of the finish that Marlin put on it and it reminds me of that gawdawful ruger finish they used that's dark, mottled & tends to cover up and hide a lot of really nice wood grain detail & even though this is all original I could be really tempted to strip the furniture down and refinish it with something a lot lighter that'll help highlight and bring the wood grains out and give it some character ...

 

[gsbuickman]

 

[gsbuickman]

Some of the pre 68 model M1's weren't serialized and the early models didn't have the bolt hold open feature either. In 68' and the first month or two of 69' they had a bolt hold open feature with a little metal pin on the charging handle that you pushed in to lock the Bridge open, but Marlin done away with that and changed it to pushing in on the charging handle while you held it open to lock it in place with a little arrow on the charging handle pointing toward the receiver which is what this has .

 

[greyling22]

I'm more impressed with the big millennium falcon myself. That's a lot of star wars decor in the background.

 

[Tommygunn]

Cool. I never heard of that gun before! I read your thread title and sorta went , WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?!
I have a real M1 carbine, and one of the new Citadel M1-22 carbine clones in a synthetic stock, but that Marlin, while not exactly duplicating the original carbine action, looks much better made than the Chiappa Citadel M1-22.
Nice gun there, congrats!

 

[loose noose]

I worked on one for a customer about two or three years back, if I remember right he had taken it apart in an attempt to clean it and couldn't get it back together. After re-assembling it I took it out and test fired it. It was fairly accurate as I remember and after shooting a 1/2 box of long rifle thru it returned it to the customer. Note his wasn't near as clean as the one you showed, and the anodizing was wore off most of the parts that weren't blued, and a bit of pitting on the parts that were blued.

 

[22250Rem]

Excellent............ Looks very nice; I've never heard of those either. Plan on shooting it? Or is it so collectible that it won't be used? It's very interesting either way; keep us posted on it.

 

[MedWheeler]

I have two of these, one of which is like yours, with its original (and somewhat rare!) rear sight still affixed. The other has a nicer stock, possibly re-finished (and quite attractive, IMO), but is missing that rear sight. In its place is a nice scope; the rifle is also slung.

The first rifle dates from prior to the effective date of the GCA's requirement for serial numbers, too. I also have a mint-condition Glenfield 75, also from the pre-serial days (the Glenfield was a catalog offering that was more of an economy version of the 99M1; it lacks the handguard and the M1-style rear sight, and has a silver trigger, but retains the sling swivels and shortened mag-tube.)

The stock on the Marlin is made from walnut, and the Glenfield's from birch.

They're neat little carbines.. I got them all during the .22LR shortage, which had a lot of people selling off firearms in the caliber for pretty good prices.

Now I'd like to find a 99M2.

 

[gsbuickman]

Cool. I never heard of that gun before! I read your thread title and sorta went , WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?!
I have a real M1 carbine, and one of the new Citadel M1-22 carbine clones in a synthetic stock, but that Marlin, while not exactly duplicating the original carbine action, looks much better made than the Chiappa Citadel M1-22.
Nice gun there, congrats!

I've actually seen the Chiappa and I wasn't impressed. It seemed cheaply built and disappointing as they could have put a little more effort into it and it could have been much better . no doubt that this Marlin is built a lot better and nicer than what the Chiappa I looked at was.

Excellent............ Looks very nice; I've never heard of those either. Plan on shooting it? Or is it so collectible that it won't be used? It's very interesting either way; keep us posted on it.

Back in the day for those that didn't want a run-of-the-mill plain-jane Marlin Model 60 the 99m1 was the cat's azz if you wanted a Marlin 22. These days they may be hard to find and collectible to the Die Hard Marlin guys but I'll definitely put rounds down range with it just like the rest of my 22's . I imagine it'll probably do about as well as my 10/22 but it won't be as accurate as my model 87a's or my Buckhorn 66 as they have 24 or so inch barrels . One thing I will definitely do is taking the scope off of this and set it aside and replace it with another scope that works for me because the eye relief on this one sucks and I have to choke way up on it just to bring the reticle into full View. No big deal, I'll probably find a nice vintage Weaver 4X for it or maybe a cheap but decent 3x9 or a 6X for it ...

 

[R_P_K]

Never let that rear sight get away from you. I believe they are pretty rare. I always wanted one. Short, handy, and different from an everyday model 60. Congratulations.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Neat rifles. the cost of upgrading a 995 to the 99 configuration costs more than a new rifle!

 

[MedWheeler]

R_P_K writes:

Never let that rear sight get away from you. I believe they are pretty rare.

This is true. Many original 99M1 owners removed the rear sights and subsequently lost them when mounting scopes.

The rear sight now is sometimes worth about as much without the rifle as the rifle is without the rear sight.

 

[Charlie98]

The rear sight now is sometimes worth about as much without the rifle as the rifle is without the rear sight.

I was just fixing to say just that.

I have 2 99M1's, a very early non-SN one, and a later one... thankfully both have the rear sight assy. I'm fixing to mount a Williams peep on one to see how it does, even given the rear sight they were not very good sights to start with. I bought 2 of them to kitbash into one really good one, and that's when I found there were quite a few differences between them.

It's a fun little rifle, compact and light.

 

[somethingbenign]

I bought one of these last year for $75. Had the rear sight but no scope. Guy's grandfather left it in his garage and the thing got covered in white spray paint. Little acetone on a rag and some light rubbing she looks almost as good as new. Mine has a fairly light finish that highlights the grain more than yours. Have issues with stovepipes and FTF so I still have a little work to put into it. Still a blast to plink at a steel plate a 200 yrds, can hit about 75% with irons. Honestly didn't know 22lr was capable of that.

 

[Armored farmer]

I didnt know they made those.
Very interesting, and a great speciman. Congrats, and thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[12Bravo20]

I have one also. They are neat rifles. I bought mine for $60. Mine still has the rear sight but no scope. My rifle is a pre 68 without any serial number.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I remember the Marlin M1 (tube) and M2 (clip) back in the day, was intrigued but I already had a Glenfield 99G (the rifle with 18 round magazine full length of the 22" rifle barrel).
I ordered a Marlin M1 stock and inletted it to the 99G rifle. Kinda looked like a mini-Garand after I was through.
I remember the M1 stock and rear sight were available through Marlin at reasonable repair parts prices when the gin was in production.

 

[gsbuickman]

I'm more impressed with the big millennium falcon myself. That's a lot of star wars decor in the background.

Ha ha, yeah , I get a lot of comments about my Star Wars stuff but that's just the coffee ttable. 2 animatronic legendary Yoda's, a power of the force Millennium Falcon, white TIE fighter and X-Wing Fighter as well as two lightsabers and a few other odds and ends ...

 

[gsbuickman]

I bought one of these last year for $75. Had the rear sight but no scope. Guy's grandfather left it in his garage and the thing got covered in white spray paint. Little acetone on a rag and some light rubbing she looks almost as good as new. Mine has a fairly light finish that highlights the grain more than yours. Have issues with stovepipes and FTF so I still have a little work to put into it. Still a blast to plink at a steel plate a 200 yrds, can hit about 75% with irons. Honestly didn't know 22lr was capable of that.

Wow, even though you had a little cleaning to do on it you still got a Smokin ' deal & basically stole that thing anyway . Hopefully the issue is something stupid simple and real easy to fix but I would start by looking at the ejector and extractor, whichever applys. You can still kick pop cans over and hit the gong at 200 yards with a 22 and an 18-inch barrel but in my opinion that's pushing it distance wise. If possible I wouldn't mind putting a 24 or so inch barrel on this thing one of these days as I prefer them rather than the 18 inch barrels anyway .

 

[somethingbenign]

This thread actually got me motivated enough to tear down my m1 as far as I could without punches. Turns out my feed ramp had 1/16" of buildup and lube was noticably absent in many areas. Did just a quick barrel clean when I bought it and never got back to a more complete cleaning. Already feels like it runs better. With luck I'll get out to the range in the next couple weeks to verify that's all it needed.