Values of Marlin 1895 .45-70, .444, & .375 Win. NIB Old Rifles

[DougB]

I received three nearly identical-looking Marlin lever-action rifles in a trade. They are all in like-new condition (quite possibly unfired) in their original boxes. The guy who traded them to me got them from his father, who apparently was a collector. It doesn't look like these have ever been used at all - though I can't say for sure he never fired them. They all have nice wood stocks (no machine checkering), blued metal, and NO push-button safeties. I looked up the .45-70's serial number, and it was made in 1982. I haven't checked the others, but I'd guess they are all from around that time. They have 22" barrels and pistol-grip stocks.

So, I'm planning to sell at least two of them. I originally planned to sell them all, but now that I've had a chance to handle and learn a little more about them, having a nice, full-sized lever gun without the cross-bolt safety and machine checkering is pretty tempting, so I might wind up hanging onto one of them.

Anyway, can you help me find out what they are worth? I'm not looking to get "top dollar" for them - but I don't want to give them away for significantly below their value either. I think new current production rifles like these go for around $750 or so, but I don't think you can get the .375 Winchester anymore. I know that many people prefer these rifles without the safety - in fact, they sometimes go to quite a bit of trouble to remove/deactivate the safeties on the new rifles.

Anyway, any guidance on what I should ask/expect to get for these would be much appreciated. I'm including a photo I took of the .45-70 .

 

[ECVMatt]

You found my gold mine!! I love those old Marlins and perfer them without safeties. You might head over to https://www.marlinowners.com/ for some good info. PM for more details about California specific info.

Great find!

Matt

 

[.455_Hunter]

Wow!

I would keep the .45-70 and move the others.

The .444 is cool, but ammo can be difficult.

The .375 would be very attractive to JM collector.

 

[Riomouse911]

Ya, I agree: the others will sell for a pretty penny and keep the .45/70.

You can locate .45/70 ammo in lots of gun stores as it’s still somewhat popular and in regular production. .444 Marlin on the shelves is rare...and even rarer still is .375 Win ammo. If you don’t reload, you will if you decide to keep and shoot those two. (But you should reload if you keep the .45/70 anyway, it’s easy to load and saves a lot of $$ over factory ammo!)

As was posted, you lucked into some real treasures there, congrats! My JM 1895 .45/70’s are safety models, but my JM 336 in .35 Rem isn’t.

Stay safe.

 

[DocRock]

I know a little about the 444s but agree with the advice above that the Marlin Owners forum will offer quite good info. If the 444 is contemporaneous with the 45-70, it will be a microgroove barrel. Nothing wrong with microgrooves but Marlin got the twist rate wrong at 1:38, meaning they will only stabilize as big as 265 grs, usually. This really detracts from the true potential of the 444. And with the reintroduction of the 444 last year, they are producing 1:20 twist, so-called "Ballard" cut rifling again, so this has taken some of the interest away from the older microgroove rifles. However a like-new, pre-safety, JM stamped model will attract a good deal of interest and you could get up to $1400 in a private sale depending on condition.

 

[Old Stumpy]

The .375 was only made for a few years in the 80s. Great little rifle that just didn't catch on. Loved mine.
Must have some collector value.
Starline brass is available for reloading.

 

[jmr40]

Figuring date of manufacture on most of those is easy. Subtract the 1st 2 digits of the SN from 100. A rifle made in 82 starts with 18. Most rifles made from the early 70's until they were sold to Remington use that code. There are a few exceptions with limited production runs. The 375 is the one with the most value. The 45-70 and 444 would bring a small premium over newer guns since they have no safety. I'd estimate the 444 is the least desirable.

The thing I like most about rifles from that era is the trim fore end wood. Newer production rifles look pregnant.

 

[someguy2800]

From what I have observed similar examples selling for I would say about $800 each would be a fair price.