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RECREATION. 



more harm than it is Recreation. It looks 

 more like an ©Id woman's spite work than 

 that of a business man. If Mr. Shields 

 was too big a coward to print the truth or 

 other people's ideas besides the manufac- 

 turer's, his magazine would not be worth 

 reading. 



Capt. Geo. Scott. 



MARLIN RIFLES UNSATISFACTORY. 



Des Moines, la. 

 Editor Recreation: 



My brother, George J. Bicknell, of 

 Humboldt, has sent me a pamphlet 

 being sent out by the Marlin Com- 

 pany, giving a copy of a complaint in an 

 action against you. I think all that is 

 quoted from Recreation, against the 

 Marlin rifle, is true and well founded. I 

 have had some experience in this line. 

 I bought a 22 caliber Marlin for my wife, 

 choosing that make because it was claimed 

 it would shoot all sizes of 22 caliber cart- 

 ridges. This was a model '92 repeater, but 

 it would never repeat. The cartridge would 

 stick in the action and the only way to 

 get it out was to take off the side plate. 

 I wrote the company and they said the 

 trouble was with the magazine cutoff. 

 They sent me one of those parts, which 

 was filed down to permit the cartridges 

 to come out of the magazine readily. 

 That did not remedy the difficulty. It 

 never worked but a few times without 

 sticking. I had it in the hands of expert 

 gunsmiths several times, in an effort to 

 get it to work, but it never did. Finally 

 I traded it for what I could get and 

 bought a Winchester. I have heard this 

 complaint against the Marlin from others, 

 and no man could give me a Marlin rifle 

 for my own use. I notice they are being 

 unloaded by several dealers. I have used 

 Winchesters some years without any 

 trouble whatever. Their action is sure 

 and safe, and they are the guns for me. 



I send you this unsolicited for what it 

 may be worth to you. I do not approve 

 of the style of attack which the Marlin 

 people are making on you. Some days 

 ago I sent you a list of nearly 50 names of 

 sportsmen to whom you might send sam- 

 ple copies of Recreation. I hope you 

 may double your circulation in Iowa. 



F. W. Bicknell. 



Is it a fact that the Marlin Fire Arms 

 Company no longer advertises in Recrea- 

 tion because you have published some 

 disparaging facts about the non-repeating 

 qualities of their rifle? If so I congratu- 

 late you. I admire an editor who will 

 publish the pold facts regarding such an 

 important article as a rifle, even if he does 

 so at the risk of losing an advertiser. 



Among my enterprises in Alaska was 

 a shooting gallery at Skaguay, and hav r 

 ing had a larg 1 caliber Marlin 10 years 

 ago in New Mexico, which gave satisfac- 

 tion, I bought some 22 caliber Marlins 

 for the gallery. I was always particular 

 to keep my rifles clean, but in spite of 

 this the cartridges would jam, which would 

 necessitate a delay, often at the critical 

 point in a match. Until I could get Win- 

 chesters to take the place of the Marlins 

 I was badly handicapped for time by using 

 the Marlins as single loaders. I often 

 bought rifles from men who were tired of 

 packing them on the trails, and used them 

 as prizes in the gallery. I would always 

 pay 25 per cent less for a Marlin than for 

 any other rifle. I had always been a friend 

 of the Marlin until the 30-30's came on 

 the market, but my experience has taught 

 me that the mechanism of this rifle will 

 not work the small cartridge; consequently 

 the rifle is often not so good as a club. 

 H. L. jSuydam, 467 Broadway, 



New York. 



I have received a pamphlet from the 

 Marlin Arms Company entitled "A Court 

 Document." On page 12 Marlin says you 

 printed a letter purported to be from 

 Montana. The dealer spoken of in said 

 letter is still publishing a gun catalogue 

 and he still says, "I do not recommend or 

 guarantee Marlin rifles." I have seen 4 

 short cartridges run back into the action 

 of a 22 Marlin at one time and clog the 

 works so the gun had to be taken apart 

 to get it in working order again. Then 

 on the next shot we had to do it all over 

 again. Some years ago you sent a 30-30 

 take down Marlin to George Perrin, of 

 Galesburg, 111., as a premium. He gave 

 the gun to W. W. Babcock, of the same 

 town. Inside of a month after Babcock 

 got the gun, he offered to trade it for a 

 30-30 Winchester, not a take down, and 

 pay $5 difference. Wm. Marshall says, 

 "I had one Marlin and that is plenty f©r 

 me." There are a lot of hunters here, but 

 not a Marlin rifle. I would sooner have 

 a double barreled cap and ball rifle than a 

 Marlin, though the latter is a good thing 

 for the game. 



M. P. Dunham, Ovando, Mont. 



I bought a Marlin repeating rifle, model 

 '97, tried to use it and found it wanting; 

 so I have no further use for a Marlin. If 

 I had to choose between a Winchester, 

 model 1866, and a Marlin of 1900 I would 

 take the Winchester. Who wants to take 

 a rifle into the woods and have it balk 

 or choke at the wrong moment, making 

 the hunter lose his game, and perhaps his 

 life? That good old standby, the Win- 

 chester, is good enough for me. 



G. E. Morris, Somerville, N. J. 



