Америкалық Marlin мылтық компаниясы тарихы

American firearms manufacturing company

Marlin Firearms is an American manufacturer of semi automatic, lever action and bolt action rifles. In the past the company (based in Madison, North Carolina and formerly based in North Haven, Connecticut) made shotguns, derringers, and revolvers. Marlin owned the firearm manufacturer H&R Firearms. In 2007, Remington Arms, part of the Remington Outdoor Company, acquired Marlin Firearms. Remington produced Marlin brand firearms at its Kentucky and New York manufacturing facilities. In 2020, Sturm, Ruger & Co. bought the Marlin business from bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company.

Marlin Firearms was founded in the 1870s by John Marlin. Marlin produced a large assortment of firearms such as lever action rifles, pump action shotguns and single shot rifles. Marlin was considered the main competitor to Winchester. In World War I Marlin became one of the largest machine gun producers in the world for the US and its Allies, building the M1895 Colt–Browning machine gun and a later variant called the "Marlin gun" optimized for aircraft use. In 1917 Marlin Rockwell bought out the Hopkins & Allen Arms Company to promote an expanded line of firearms and restore the image of the Marlin company as makers of "sporting arms". Marlin Firearms labored for a century as an underdog levergun maker to Winchester (formerly of New Haven). However, in the 1980s and 1990s, Marlin finally began to outpace its old rival. It is currently the dominant seller of lever action rifles in North America. Its use of side ejection allows for flat topped firearms, thereby making the mounting of scopes easier than for traditional Winchesters. This helped Marlin capture more market share as American shooters came to rely more and more on optics. Marlins are larger, stronger and heavier than most of the comparable Winchester line, allowing Marlin to use higher powered cartridges such as the .45 70. Marlin's model 1894 lever action rifles and carbines are available in handgun calibers, including .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum, making them suitable companion long guns for revolvers in those calibers.

In 1953 Marlin Firearms was issued for what was named MicroGroove Rifling, which was a departure from the standard "Ballard," or cut rifling. One purpose of Microgroove rifling was to increase the speed of producing rifle barrels. Microgroove rifling is described in the patent as having 5 grooves for every 1/10 of an inch bore diameter, and that the driving side of each land would be "tangentially disposed" to prevent accumulating fouling in use. Marlin introduced Microgroove rifling in their .22 Rimfire barrels in July 1953, with 16 grooves that were .014" wide, and nominally .0015" deep. Ballard rifled barrels have grooves generally in the range of .069–.090" wide, and .0015–.003" deep. This change was marketed in the 1954 Marlin catalog, as having numerous advantages that this new form of rifling had, including better accuracy, ease of cleaning, elimination of gas leakage, higher velocities and lower chamber pressures. The catalog also claimed that Microgroove rifling did not distort the bullet jacket as deeply as Ballard rifling hence improving accuracy with jacketed bullets at standard velocity. Designed for factory loaded ammunition, Microgroove barrels have a reputation for accuracy problems with centerfire ammunition handloaded with cast lead bullets due to the increased bore diameter generated by the shallow grooves. The use of oversized cast bullets greatly solves this problem, restoring accuracy with cast bullet handloads to levels seen from Ballard rifled barrels. Early Marlin .30 30 microgroove barrels had a twist rate of 1 turn in 10 inches optimized for factory ammunition with jacketed bullets; later Marlin .30 30 microgroove barrels show a twist rate of 1 turn in 10.5 inches which improves accuracy with cartridges loaded to lower velocity than standard.