56 http://www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 305
rear, others squared off; some
triggers were made of steel, oth-
ers an alloy. Sometimes the trig-
ger was gold plated, other times
not. There were models with both
clips and tubular magazines; the
stock, which initially was Amer-
ican classic in design, later fea-
tured a modest Monte Carlo and,
later still, was changed to emu-
late the Weatherby “California”
look. Throughout, there were the
trademark white-line spacers of
the age gracing both grip cap and
buttplate. As with most Marlins
of the time, the stocks were made
of attractive American walnut- not spectacular, but with nice
grain and, occasionally, very nice
figure and color. The exceptions
to this were some of the economy
versions, such as the Glenfield
and rifles made for retail houses
like Sears. For Marlin’s flagship
rifles, however, only nice walnut
would do.
The other hallmark of Marlins
of that era is just how solidly made
they were, of good steel, well fitted
and finished. They have an aura
of American craftsmanship that
hearkens back to the days of Ste-
vens, Pope and Ballard.
Levermatic barrels all have
Marlin’s trademark Micro-Groove
rifling. The front sight is on a ramp
with a hood, and the receivers are
drilled and tapped for both a scope
mount and receiver sight.
On the Levermatics, Marlin
made some concessions to mo-
dernity in both materials and fin-
ish. For example, the levers on
some Levermatics have a rough
matte finish instead of polished
blue, and when they are open they
rattle from side to side. This is an
aesthetic complaint, but aesthet-
ics matter. On some .22 rimfire
models, instead of an inletted steel
floorplate the rifles have a thin,
stamped metal plate that is simply
attached with wood screws.
The Model 56, which had a steel
receiver, was followed in 1959 by
the Model 57. The major differences
were a full-length tubular magazine
and alloy receiver. The same year,
the 57-M was introduced, cham-
bered for the .22 WMR. It, too, had
a tubular magazine.
In 1960, Winchester introduced
its .256 Winchester Magnum car-
tridge based on the .357 Magnum
necked down, and Remington
came out with the similar .22 Jet.
Neither company chambered a rifle
for either cartridge, but Marlin saw
potential in both rounds and set
about reworking the Levermatic
to accept centerfire cartridges.
The result was the Model 62. It was
fed by a three-round magazine and
was initially announced in the two
cartridges above, as well as .357
Magnum.
Although at least one sample
was produced in .22 Jet (a proto-
type was sent to writers Ken Waters
and Bob Wallack for evaluation),
it never went into production, and
the .357 Magnum never saw the
light of day. Only the .256 Win-
chester was produced in numbers,The Model 57 (top) has a very short lever throw compared to the Marlin Model 39.
Marlin claimed 2 inches versus 6 inches (25 versus 90 degrees), which allowed the
lever to be operated while keeping your hand on the stock and simply flexing your
fingers. Whether this advantage was worth the effort is questionable.
Coming Up Short
Cartridges for which Levermatics were supposed to be chambered include the
(1) .22 Short, (2) .22 Long, (3) .22 Long Rifle, (4) .22 WMR, (5) .22 Jet, (6) .256
Winchester Magnum, (7) .357 Magnum and the (8) .30 Carbine. Only one rifle is
known to exist in .22 Jet, and the .357 Magnum was never put into production.
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