Does anyone know how popular the Marlin lever action rifle was in the Indian and Oklahoma territories?

I don't have any hard and fast proof, but the Winchester rifles seem to have been the predominant shoulder arms of the day throughout the country. However, on a lesser basis, the various other lever guns such as the Marlin rifle and the pump guns such as the Colt Lightning Rifle, were present. From what I've seen of historic period photos from the I.T., Winchesters seem to have been the norm.

On the Trail
Diron Ahlquist
editor, Oklahombres Journal

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Originally posted by Oklahoma Kid:
Does anyone know how popular the Marlin lever action rifle was in the Indian and Oklahoma territories?

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As the other poster noted, Winchesters were the weapon of choice, but I've always wondered why? In some important respects, the Marlin lever action was a superior rifle. The Model 1881 was chambered in 45/70, making it almost twice as powerful as the Winchester 44/40. A trade off here might be (and I'm guessing) that the Marlin couldn't hold as many rounds in its magazine (compared to the 1873 Winchester, which could hold 15 plus one in the firing chamber).

Also, the Marlin 1889 was (or so I've read) the first side ejecting rifle, which has always seemed to me to be a considerable advantage when compared to top ejection actions. It must have been quite distracting, during a gunfight, to have all those spent shells whizzing past your face. I get the impression that the Marlin rifles were more expensive than the Winchesters. Also, contributing to the Winchester's popularity is that the 44/40 cartridge was the same as used by the Colt six shooter, eliminating the need to carry different kinds of ammunition.

Anybody who reads the contemporary accounts of the period will be struck by the many references to "Winchesters," but I have often thought that even then the term "Winchester" was something of a generic term, and referred to any type of repeating rifle.

--meursault

Yes Marlins were very popular, at least in all of the Southwest Photos that I have scoured up. "Red Buck" Weightman had one in his possession when he was killed. Winchester and Colt were popularized by the Movies and TV. A great many Lawmen and Lawbreakers carried Smith and Wesson and many of that number were double action. Don't be fooled by all of the "Showman" "Hoopla", leading us to believe that old west folks were all walking around with a Colt single action on their hip and a Winchester rifle in the scabbard. Another reason might be that Winchesters were a little cheaper than Marlins, and Colts were cheaper than Smiths.

I don't know about price but my Great Grandpa was very insistant that we were not to buy or use a Marlin because they were prone to jamming at inopportune times. He came out of Ozark feuding country and his 32-40 Winchester came in handy once or twice.

Anyhow, to this day my family won't buy a Marlin. I have started to once or twice but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.