Marlin’s Turn of the Century pump: The Model 19 shotgun
Produced for a scant two-year period, the often-overlooked Marlin Model 19 was a scattergun with class that signaled the end of 19th century thinking and stepped boldly towards a modern design that we can appreciate today.
Starting in 1898 Marlin made its first slide or trombone action shotgun, the imaginatively named Model 1898. This remained in production for almost a decade when it was replaced by the “teen series” (M16 and 17) guns which gave way to an improved Model 24 in 1908, which, like all of the above, had an external hammer. An often forgotten blip on the map here was the interesting and short-lived Model 19.
So what’s so interesting?
Well, the Model 1898 was a good takedown 12-gauge shotgun, with its 26-32 inch cylinder bore barrels, tubular magazine and pistol grip stock. What its follow-on versions did in the Model 16 was offer different calibers (hint: 16) and a straight stock (Model 17) without really changing much. They waited for the Model 19 to do that.
Overall, the new gun, introduced in 1906, was lighter, which made it faster to the shoulder and easier on the field carry for sportsmen. Further, to accommodate complaints that the previous Marlins scatterguns suffered from having too glossy a finish on the top of the barrel, the Mode 19 was given a special two-part matte finish on the topside to help with glare. This was one of the first times that the such feedback for better sporting use translated into changes made at the factory.
Further, the mechanism of this gun (in later 19G, 19N, and 19S versions) included internal safety features, which kept it from going into “false battery” like the previous Marlin pumps. Finally, these guns were set up to allow for the use of 2 3/4 inch smokeless shells whereas most of the Marlins before it in 12 gauge were 2 1/2 inch black powder guns.
