What happended to Marlin Lever Actions????

Remington Take Over

Since the takeover of Marlin by Remington Arms Company back in 2007 the supply of these popular lever actions for sport shooters in the UK has declined massively. In the initial takeover Remington discovered dimensioned drawings of Marlin’s iconic rifles did not exist. The plans at North Haven had simply been passed down through the generations. Many of these workers hadn’t made the move to Ilion, so much of that inherent knowledge had been lost. 

To save Marlin from imploding, Remington invested both dollars and manpower in a multifaceted approach to achieve the kind of quality that had slipped during the transition. From a manufacturing standpoint, the company has set up a stand-alone Marlin factory within the Ilion plant, with its own designated managers, workforce, and assemblers, people who are committed and invested in the Marlin brand.

On the product side, Marlin reduced its offerings from 29 catalogue lever-gun models down to 18. The reduction allowed the factory to focus on the rifles they had a greater ability to produce on a consistent basis, which tended to be the highest-volume offerings. At the same time lines were being reduced, R&D engineers started a project to complete three-dimensional drawings of all the parts. Meanwhile, production engineers were evaluating what new modern equipment would be necessary once they knew the exact dimensions that would be coming off the machine.

Current Situation

The company responsible for the importation of Marlin firearms into the UK moved from Edgar Brothers to Sportsmarketing who are a Remington owned company. Over the transition period the idea was that Sportsmarketing would be able to deliver the Marlin range of rifles quicker and more efficiently than going through another importer. 

Over time this has not proved to be the case and Northern Optics has yet to see a Marlin rifle through the Sportsmarketing Company to compare it with the original rifles made by Marlin. On a weekly basis we get customers contacting us asking about buying a Marlin rifle to which we have no definitive answers. Northern optics has had Marlin rifles on order now for 2 years in various calibres and often wonders if we will ever see a Marlin lever action rifle again???

Alternative Solution?

In order to meet our customers demands Northern Optics has been working with our suppliers Viking Arms to supply us with a Marlin lever action alternative. For a few years now Northern Optics has been offering the range of Henry Lever action rifles made in the USA with prices competitive to the Marlin range. Supply of these rifles to our customers is paramount and we have recently supplied customer these in various calibres from 22LR to 45/70. 

Customers often ask us what Henry rifles are like compared with Marlin's? Our honest answer is smoother actions, lovely crisp triggers, and nicely weighted and balanced. For more details on models available and prices please visit our Henry web pages at the links below:

Henry Rimfire Range

Henry Centrefire Range

Savage Model 12 Benchrest Rifles

Northern Optics and Accessories is proud to announce that the Savage Model 12 benchrest rifles in all calibres are now in stock and available for viewing and to purchase at the special price of £1665. These rifles have been used extensively in the USA to win many factory rifle classes as well in the UK where they have a big following. Numerous people in the UK shoot with these benchrest rifles at Diggle Ranges and also Ingleston range near Castle Douglas.

Savage Model 12 Bench Rest

The Savage Model 12 Bench Rest is a single-shot rifle chambered in 6 Norma BR, 6.5-284 Norma and .308 Win. The Model 12 Bench Rest is one of 5 rifles in Savage’s Target Rifle Series. Savage Arms was founded in 1894, and is headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts.

The Model 12 BenchRest features a 29" ultra-heavy stainless steel barrel with duel port action for quick loading and ejecting. The satin-finished wood laminate stock include a vented fore-end and wide fore-end and a buttstock that is sculpted to fit a shooting bag rest. 

The Model 12 Bench Rest also utilizes Savage’s Target Accu Trigger system. This inclusion features a dual-stage trigger design in which the first (vented) trigger acts to disengage a safety mechanism. Once this occurs, the second trigger can be depressed in order to activate the firing pin. The trigger assembly is also user-adjustable for weight of pull which is adjustable all the way down to an astounding 6 oz. 

The Model 12 Bench Rest is drilled and tapped for scope mounts, and is recommended and designed for the accuracy obsessed shooters who want to test their skills out to 1,000 yards. 

Series: Target 

AccuTrigger: Yes 

Stock: Bench Rest 

Magazine: Single-shot  

Sights: Drilled and tapped for scope mounts

Stock material: Wood Laminate Right Handed 

Barrel material: Stainless Steel 

Weight: 12.75 lbs

Overall Length: 49"

Barrel Length: 29"

Calibres: 6 Norma BR, 6.5-284 Norma, 308 Winchester.

Rate of Twist: 1-8, 1-8, 1-12.

How good is this rifle?

In the July 2015 edition of Target Shooter Vince Bottomley wrote an article on the new 1000 yard range at Castle Douglas and some of the results for these Savage rifles speak for themselves.

Factory Sporter Class 1000 yards

1^st David Leslie 6.5-284 Savage (Average four 5-shot groups) 9.972 inches

2^nd Nick Parkin 6.5-284 Savage (Average four 5-shot groups) 12.642 inches

3^rd Davie Rankin 308 Savage (Average four 5-shot groups) 15.764 inches

Smallest group: David Leslie 4.377 inches 

UK Record Smallest Group: 
Sean Broxham 4.148 inches 6.5-284 Savage (Diggle Ranges 21.10.12)

UK Record (Average four 5 shot groups)
Sean Broxham 7.481 inches 6.5-284 Savage (Diggle Ranges 21.5.12)