FALL 2019 GUNSOFTHEOLDWEST 41
THIS STORY BEGINS with John Mahlon Marlin, one of
Winchester’s most successful competitors. It’s important to
know this as one piece of a puzzle that helps define rifle-
making in the late 19th century and the lever-action repeater you are looking at today.
The largest piece of the puzzle, however, is Benjamin Tyler Henry, without
whom there would have been no Henry rifle, and subsequently, through his own
misdeeds, no Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Without Marlin and Henry,
there would be no story, because the new Henry Side Gate lever-action rifle relies
heavily on one of Marlin’s most successful designs, the Model 1893.
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There were a lot of arms-makers in America during the 19th century, and there-
fore a lot of choices a cowboy could make when selecting a rifle that would, at
the very least, put food on the table, and at best save his life from a wild animal
or wilder human. Among the bustling arms-makers in Connecticut was the
Marlin Firearms Company of New Haven. Founder John Marlin was a former
employee of Samuel Colt, and had learned the ins and outs of the business
from the master when he set out on his own in the midst of the Civil War
to build small-caliber, derringer-style pistols, which were in high demand.
Marlin’s little 1863 pistols—in calibers ranging from .22 to .41 rimfire—
sold well enough to keep him in business after the Civil War. But his
pistols have taken a back seat to the rifles and shotguns that began
rolling out the door in New Haven in 1881 and 1898, respectively.By DENNIS ADLER