Look Here Before you even think of getting a Marlin XS-7 (Short Action)

[JesterGrin]

Seems as though Marlin has been putting refurbished Remington Barrels on the Marlin XS-7 (Short Action ) line both in blue and stainless. It would not be that bad if they made the barrels correctly. But just one gun smith I know has run into no less than 12 barrels missing threads. The easy way to tell from what we have found is when you remove the action and barrel from the stock and look at the proof mark on the rifle barrel if it says REM then it is a darn Remington barrel.  And as you know the Marlin has a floating recoil lug. And without the threads the barrel is too small to center the recoil lug on the barrel to square the action. I am not sure of the safety issues caused by this as well.


None as of yet have been found on the ( Long Action ) XL-7 line.

[Bigeasy]

How do you know they are "refurbished"?  Doesn't Remington own Marlin now?  (Would make sense to me that Rem. would cut repetitive manufacturing processes if they could make certian parts such as barrels under one roof)  Have there been any failure issues, or noted lack of accuracy in these rifles?

[JesterGrin]

They would have to be re cut Remington Barrels as there are no threads in a couple of spots. As I mentioned above this will keep the Recoil Lug from centering on the barrel since there are no threads to take up the space.

I have not heard of a failure yet. But it is not good to leave out something that should be there like threads lol.

If you feel missing threads are fine please by all means try and sell a barrel missing threads. Good luck with that unless they plan to cut the barrel and re thread anyway.

This was meant as a heads up as to what they are doing now. To some it may not matter but at least for myself if I purchase something I expect it to at least be done correctly.

[Bigeasy]

Well, I am not a Master Machinist, or a  Firearms Engineer, so I can not say the reason for the missing threads, or if it is in fact a defect at all.  Is a product defective if it does what it was designed to do safely and reliably?

Obviously if the threading on the barrel shank prevented the recoil lug from centering on the barrel, there would be a boat load of stories about loose recoil lugs and poor accuracy on these rifles, but haven't seen them...

Sure, maybe Remington / Marlin are trying to pull a fast one, and your gunsmith who has uncovered 12 of them like that was the first to discover it...  Or maybe there is a reason they are like that, based on the stellar user reports of this rifle.

Guess what I am saying is I wouldn't imply a rifle is defective, and maybe unsafe without being sure of my facts first.

Larry

[Swampman]

Using Remington barrels would be a good thing.  I wouldn't think Remington/Marlin would be concerned with the resell value of their used barrels.  As long as you can buy a new Remington 700 for $349.00 I won't be buying other brands.

[JesterGrin]

The Recoil Lug will not be loose if the barrel nut is snugged up correctly. But with the extra space that the lack of threads creates between the barrel and the recoil lug will not let the recoil lug be centered to the action and barrel which means it will be off to one side or the other. This in itself for a factory rifle may not matter since the fit is loose enough in the factory stock.

Lets say that you wish to improve the rifle. Many times since these are factory rifles the head space is loose. So you will have to loosen the barrel nut to re set the barrel for the head space you desire. By doing this simple thing the recoil lug will not sit in the same place as it did before. So you could have fit problems between the recoil lug and the stock. But maybe not since the factory stock is so loose it may accept things being off. 

But lets say like some you wish to get a better stock and bed the stock for the action. If you do this only one time and never intend to remove the barrel to change it or to work on head space or anything else that requires you to remove the barrel nut you should be fine when reinstalling the action into the stock but maybe not.


But I do know that like other manufacturers the barrels come with full threads. Just as Marlin used to have full threads. But now some are missing. 

At least for myself if I am going to lay down my coin for any new fire arm they should be made correctly.

But hey this is your call I just put up the information to keep my fellow shooters informed as to what is going on since Marlin was bought out and changed hands and has now moved.

If you do not care if a fire arm is not put together correctly then that is your call.

[dpe.ahoy]

Jestergrin, did you ask Dan over on MO's if he had run across any of this?  Is this just a recent developement, or were they like that before?  DP

[JesterGrin]

They were not like that before the buy out of Marlin.

[JesterGrin]

Using Remington barrels would be a good thing.  I wouldn't think Remington/Marlin would be concerned with the resell value of their used barrels.  As long as you can buy a new Remington 700 for $349.00 I won't be buying other brands.

That is the problem Remington/Marlin does not care about its customers. If they did they would produce a product that is made correctly like other makers do.

But I guess you are right if one decides to change there rifle then they are spending money and time to do so. But the barrel if they decide to not use it with all of the threads is worth something. One with missing threads I guess is good for an expensive crow bar.

[DannoBoone]

Jester, please give them the whole story:

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,83362.0.html

Take note that this is not new and has not happened just since the Freedom
Group took over Marlin........it has been going on for at least three years,
according to the gunsmith who started that thread.

[Harry Snippe]

Using Remington barrels would be a good thing.  I wouldn't think Remington/Marlin would be concerned with the resell value of their used barrels.  As long as you can buy a new Remington 700 for $349.00 I won't be buying other brands.

Are they using the Marlin Barrels on the good remingtons then ? that would be the only way

With Cramp like this going on Swamp How can you look in the mirror
It sure is a grand way to Drive Marlin into the ground isn't it ??That is the whole idea .
Well after they are all done I am glad to have the tikka's and you can keep your tomato stakes .

[JesterGrin]

Jester, please give them the whole story:

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,83362.0.html

Take note that this is not new and has not happened just since the Freedom
Group took over Marlin........it has been going on for at least three years,
according to the gunsmith who started that thread.

They were not like that before the buy out of Marlin.

I will say it once again. As how on earth would Marlin get Remington barrels before the buy out. Think guy think.

[woodyed]

Jestergrin---- It looks like there is enough initial threads on the barrel to center it to the action or bolt face, It looks like about 1" or more of starting threads that will engage the receiver threads and I think this would be enough to center the barrel in the receiver. I'm also wondering if this "missing thread" fiasco wasn't just in their early production rifles and that this has been corrected and that later production rifles are fine. Another point I'd like to bring up is that, if as you say the recoil lug didn't engage squarely like you say it will, why haven't we heard of any bolts flying open upon firing or any inaccuracy in the XS7 models. All I've heard is that owners are well pleased at the accuracy of their rifles and how they functioned. Although I don't codone or approve of this "missing thread" business and think that Marlin's quality control dept. definitely screwed up in this matter, I'm going to withhold any judgment until I hear of some real negative stories, facts, or responses that can be directly attributed to the "missing threads".

[Keith L]

I keep looking at that picture, and it looks to me like the area without threads is as high as the top of the thread peaks.  I can't see how this could have happened with a die.  I also don't know what the mating surface on the action looks like.  If there is a recess prior to threads this "mistake" may make no difference at all.  There are plenty of threads on the barrel to reach full strength for the connection.  If there is no recess then a visual examination would have revealed the missmatch without disassembly.

[woodyed]

I also am wondering how Marlin could headspace a action/barrel if the missing threads were causing any difficulty. The go/no go gauges would be impossible to use if the mising threads prevented the barrel from being adjusted to the proper depth. I'm beginning to wonder if this missing thread business wasn't a deliberate design procedure on the part of Marlin and it has no negative fit or function effect upon their rifles. I haven't heard of any functionig or accuracy problems from any owners of XS7 rifles to date and wonder if all this "missing thread" hype isn't wasted and useless concern.

[grout-scout]

I don't know anything but if Dan says some rifles have all the threads and some don't then I'd have to think it's not supposed to be that way. I'm thinking about starting a poll on the M. Owners forum to see if their Rem barrels are just as accurate as the original Marlin barrels. That seems like the only way to see if the new barrels are junk or not.