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Founded by John Mahlon Marlin in North Haven, Connecticut in 1870, the Marlin Firearms Company within just a couple decades had become a strong contender in the gun industry. One of its most popular, and in many ways, most enduring of designs, the Model of 1889, has proven to be among the most collectable of the breed. Moreover, you wouldn’t believe what some of these old guns go for.

Marlin’s first two cowboy rifles, the Models of 1881 and 1888, were catch-up guns to the then-standard Winchester ’73 lever action rifles. As such, like the ’73 and later follow-on Winnies, these early JM carbines were top-eject, meaning that the spent brass from the shell casings were thrown out the top of the receiver. Now, nobody likes hot brass in their face so Marlin engineer Lewis L. Hepburn in early 1889 took out patent number #400,679 for a side-loading and right-hand ejecting lever action system that, when matched to the existing M1888 rifle, soon became marketed as the ground-breaking Model 1889 Safety Repeating Rifle chambered in a choice between .32-20, .38-40, and .44-40, the classic black-powder cowboy cartridges of the day.

This same solid-top receiver rifle, changed internally over the past 125-years or so, remains the standard that Marlin lever actions are still built to.

Remember those internal changes? Well that’s the thing, the 1889 was only built for ten years, with some 55,000 rifles, muskets, and carbines coming off the line in that period before it was replaced by updated designs with different model numbers such as the 1893.

These guns were made in both standard grade and deluxe special grades covered in scrollwork and engravings, more of which you can seen in my column at Marlin Forum…