Marlin’s Faux 22 M1 Carbine, the Model 989M2
Today the AR-15 series rifles are perhaps the most popular semi-auto firearms in the country. In the early 1960s, when the AR was still unknown, the go-to rifle for medium game hunting and home defense was the M1 Carbine. With this understood, Marlin went about creating a M1-ish carbine for small game hunters and plinkers. This gun we know today as the Model 989M2.
Most American GIs of the 1945-73 time frame (remember there was a peacetime draft then, so that is a pool of literally tens of millions of young men) at one time or another shot a M1 carbine. It was an easy gun to shoot and was widely issued for a variety of purposes.
Starting in 1964, Marlin produced a modified variant of their popular Model 99 rimfire rifle, stylized to look and feel like the WWII- M1 Carbine which they dubbed the 99M-1. They took the standard 22-inch barrel of the design and cut it down to 18, the same length as the M1. This also produced an overall length of 37-inches, within a bullet’s length of the original.
Since the Marlin was a .22LR and not a .30 carbine, the action and barrel were lighter, at 4.75-pounds. Forgoing the detachable box magazine of the M1, Marlin kept the under barrel tube mag but shortened it to hold just 10-rounds to keep the profile of the gun similar. A stock redesign and military style ramp sights completed the transformation.
However, the M1, as everyone knew, was fed by a detachable box magazine, not by a brass tube that you had to pull all the way out to refill, which made the 99M-1 a little…off.
Which led to the 989.
