Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Introducing the Marlin Dark Series Model 1895, a formidable addition to the world of tactical lever actions. Chambered in 45-70 Govt with a 5+1 capacity, the Model 1895 offers power and modularity in a sleek package. Its nylon-reinforced polymer stock, equipped with a removable cheek riser, ensures comfort and adaptability for various shooting configurations. The anodized aluminum M-LOK handguard provides ample space for accessory attachment, while the integrated Picatinny rail offers additional versatility for mounting optics or other accessories. You have stumbled into the right place for those looking for a modern tactical lever action.
Table of contents
Marlin Model 1895 Specifications:
- Caliber: 45-70 Govt
- Capacity: 5+1
- Stock: Nylon Reinforced Polymer
- Material: Alloy Steel
- Finish: Satin Black
- Front Sight: Fiber Optic with Tritium Ring
- Rear Sight: Adjustable Ghost Ring
- Weight: 7 lb.
- Overall Length: 35.50″
- Length of Pull: 13.50″
- Barrel Length: 16.17″
- Barrel: Cold Hammer-Forged Alloy Steel
- Thread Pattern: 11/16″-24
- Twist: 1:20″ RH
The Model 1895 Out of the Box
Marlin ships out the Model 1895 from the factory with an offset hammer spur, cheek riser, muzzle brake, Allen wrench, gun lock, stickers, and an owner’s manual. The Dark series is currently available in 45-70 Govt, and 30-30 Win with 44 Rem Mag being added in the near future.
While I didn’t use the included offset hammer spur, some people will appreciate its addition.
Stock
The Model 1895 features a nylon-reinforced polymer stock that can nearly do it all. Utilizing a removable cheek riser, I was able to have a comfortable cheek weld whether using an LPVO or the iron sights. The one downside here is that it’s either on or off, and it’s a very snug fit to attach or remove the cheek riser. It’s got a large rubber butt pad that helps absorb the recoil of the mighty 45-70 cartridge. I could tell that the recoil pad made a difference. Near the trigger, the grip also features mild texturing to help maintain a solid grip. Also, the stock includes a steel QD socket for mounting a two-point sling. Steel inserts are the way to go for durability. I have had aluminum QD inserts waller out with time, but steel holds up great.
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Handguard
When it comes to modernizing a lever gun, adding an M-LOK handguard is probably the most visual way to do it. The Model 1895 uses an anodized aluminum handguard which has M-LOK slots at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. Towards the front, it also features additional M-LOK slots between 3 & 6, and 6 & 9.
This allowed me to mount two Midwest Industries shell holders, a Valhalla Tactical weapon light, and then my QD sling all to the handguard. Accessorizing firearms is the modern thing to do, and this slim and lightweight handguard gives you options.
Hiding discreetly beneath the handguard is the shell tube of the Marlin Model 1895. With a capacity to hold up to 5 rounds of the formidable 45-70 caliber, this tube ensures shooters are well-equipped for any task at hand. Its concealed placement maintains the rifle’s sleek profile while providing quick and easy access to additional rounds when needed.
Lever
The receiver, lever, and trigger guard plate are all CNC machined from alloy steel and feature a graphite black Cerakote finish. It also utilizes a push-button, cross-bolt manual safety, and traditional half-cock hammer. The mid-sized lever feeds well and is comfortable to quickly operate.
Sights
One of the great features of this lever action is the inclusion of a lengthy top Picatinny rail section. This provides a solid surface for mounting a variety of optics. My one complaint is that at around rail slot 7, two screws get in the way. This caused me to remove the rear sight to avoid mounting a one-piece scope mount further forward than I would have liked.
The Model 1895 features a ghost ring rear and green fiber optic front sight. The front sight has a tritium ring for improved visibility in low-light conditions as well. While I mainly used the Vortex Venom 1-6 for this review, it is nice to have a solid set of irons ready to go right from the factory.
Barrel On The Model 1895
The 16.17″ cold hammer-forged barrel did its job and comes with 11/16”-24 threads for attaching muzzle brakes or suppressors. Its 1:20″ RH twist with 6-groove rifling effectively stabilized projectiles ranging from 250 to 430 grains. While it comes with a radial brake, I opted to use this rifle with a suppressor. The threaded barrel adds a modern touch to the lever gun, and shooting it suppressed was a pleasant experience. My SilencerCo Hybrid surprisingly did a good job reducing the noise of this 45-70 rifle.
Precision
Throughout this review, most of the ammunition used was supplied by Buffalo Bore. They are the official ammo sponsor for this review and offer many types of munitions. They sent out some 300, 350, 405, and 430gr ammo, and it all ran flawlessly. While I have never hunted buffalo, I fully believe these rounds could live up to the company name and be effective for this planet’s largest game.
Besides shooting steel and running some drills, I aimed to test the precision of the Marlin Model 1895 using an assortment of various Buffalo Bore and Hornady ammunition. I proceeded to shoot 3-round groups from 50 yards. I was able to get a few sub-inch groups with Hornady 250gr MonoFlex but most types of ammo got closer to the 1.5″ mark. However, for a 45-70, this seems plenty reasonable to me. I took a beating shooting this lever gun and would believe that it could group even tighter in the right hands.
| Ammunition | Group Size (inches) |
| Buffalo Bore 300gr JHP | 1.296 |
| Buffalo Bore 350gr Barnes TSX-FN | 1.040 |
| Buffalo Bore 405gr JFN | 1.790 |
| Buffalo Bore 430gr Hard Cast LBT-LFN | 3.511 |
| Hornady 250 gr Monoflex | 0.727 |
| Hornady 325gr FTX | 1.162 |
Handguard Issue
During this review, I ended up breaking this lever gun. Now it wasn’t anything that would keep it from running, but the handguard broke off twice… After firing just 12 rounds, the tenon that goes between the shell tube and the barrel sheared off on both sides. This caused the handguard to be completely detached from the Model 1895.
Thinking it was a fluke, I reached out to Marlin’s customer service and they sent me out another tenon which proceeded to only last for 8 rounds before shearing the right side of the tenon, and the screw head on the left side.
After 4 months of back and forth, Marlin told me that though they couldn’t break a tenon replicating my setup (lots of accessories mounted to one side of the rail), they are now shipping the Model 1895 with a stronger upgraded tenon. While this wasn’t great to find for myself, I am happy that Marlin took it seriously and worked to find a solution. However, I have been waiting for an additional 3 months since they told me they had new tenons to get a finished rifle back out to finish testing. I still have yet to receive it, which leads me to believe Marlin seemingly doesn’t have them in hand yet so buyer beware.
Marlin Model 1895 Performance
In the process of the handguard breaking it also bent the shell tube which caused feeding issues. However, these were not present beforehand. Besides the obvious problem of the handguard issue, the Marlin Dark Series Model 1895 ran pretty well. I spent the majority of my time shooting it without a handguard even attached which was boring, yet very sleek and lightweight.
I was able to achieve around 2 MOA groups which are good enough precision for any distance I would intend to shoot 45-70 anyways. When working properly, the full-length M-LOK handguard offers a lot of versatility to truly modernize a lever gun. It is easy to add shell holders and weapon lights. Also, in my mind being able to shoot suppressed is a huge win. The Model 1895 shoots quite with a suppressor and subsonic ammunition due to the action only moving when the user decides to actuate it.
READ MORE: Smith & Wesson Model 1854 Review: A Modern Take on an American Classic
Summary Of The Model 1895
When it comes to tactical lever actions, the Marlin Model 1895 gives you all the functionality you could ask for. It maintains the slim and lightweight profile lever guns are known for while incorporating a threaded barrel, M-LOK aluminum handguard, Picatinny rail, and a cheek riser. Other than the handguard tenon issue, this lever gun performed well and handled 250-430gr ammunition with ease. It sounded great suppressed, and the 45-70 variant I tested packs a punch. However, it’s worth noting that while the MSRP sits at $1429, the current street price hovers around $1800, which might give some potential buyers pause.
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So in summary other than flying apart and destroying itself under recoil its a great gun.
A $2000 flashlight with a butt-ass ugly gun attached. I’ll stick with my Marlin made, wood stocked 1895 45-70 Guide Gun, 1894P .44 Magnum and Model 39TDS. It’s disheartening to see that lever actions are going the way of the AR-15. Accessorized BS mods that look “tacti-cool” but contribute little to practicality. And, 95% are safe queens. Dream on, Walter Mitty’s…….
Lots of good comments here. Here’s what I’m seeing: 1. Marlin is no longer “Marlin.” 2. Ruger is looking more like Kel-Tec. Put something on the market, let the customer find out what’s wrong. Then fix it till it’s fixed. 3. Like with Ruger’s ARs. “Why do it Mil-Spec when we can do it “Ruger-Spec.” I’d been waiting for them to release a Marlin 39A…That Henry is looking better all the time!
Too much money for fixing something that was not broken in the first place. Ruger should have, first of all, eliminated the useless “Lawyer Safety”, but adding attachments for all the gizmos you can afix to the gun won’t make it shoot any better for someone who doesn’t have training or experience. As shown in the artilce, putting all that modern PR hangers onto a tried and true rifle only makes it worse.
Where is the Marlin model similar to the 1895CB, the full length version? All I see Ruger putting on the market are the short barrel and “tacticool” version.
I’m partial to lever guns. However, I do not own a 1895 Dark. If I do buy one it will not be a 45.70. The 45.70 is a venerable cartridge but more than I care to endure. The only rifle in that calibre I have not traded away is a favorite Browning 1895 which is too beautiful to part with. About the broken hand guard tenon: undoubtedly, this part failure is “the exception” rather than the rule. I have owned and enjoyed many Ruger products and very seldom experienced service issues. Is there something the gentleman who evaluated the unit overlooked regarding his interaction s with the service department? Just A thought.
I can’t warm up to tactical lever actions. They look hideous to me. I don’t mind the looks of the stainless models but adjustable stocks, rails, etc., turn me off. Also why do many of the gun writers test for accuracy at 50yds? When I see that it makes me think it must have been awful at 100yds. I own an original old Marlin 1895 45-70 rifle. It will repeatedly put 3 rounds touching at 100yds, using Hornady 350 bullets and almost that good with speer 405 grain bullets with factory irons. I keep it sighted in at 150 yds and have killed moose, bear and even an occasional sitting partridge for the camp stew pot.
I like the 5x walnut on my winchester better.
I dont -hate- this. Its kinda tacticool, but at least it -does- have some added functionality (the stockriser is useful, might make the difference between a cheekweld and a chinweld for using scope)
What I dont understand, and I think they really missed the ball on this one, is why not an adjustable length of pull? Would have been easy to add, wouldn’t cost much if you did spacer system, would have added so much utility.
I’m a pretty short guy, I like length of pull to be fairly short (12 to 12.5″ is about optimum for me), so am outside of the usual range, BUT… even for regular sized folks, a short LOP can be really handy – think cold weather & thick clothing. Particularly on a rifle that might be used as defense, having a long LOP that can snag on clothing is a liability, and thick baggy cold weather gear can make it worse. Longer LOP certainly useful as well, given how big people have become, though its always easier lengthening than subtracting in the case of stock length
For the record, I’m not planning on buying one though. I had a 30AS marlin 30-30 that I liked, lost in housefire. Now have a 39AS marlin with some gorgeous wood on it (bought it that way, someone lucked into nice wood), and a Japanese Winchester 1886 which I dearly love (26″ octagon, pistol grip, 45-70). I really like the 1886 design. Oh, also for the record, the 86 wears a stock a hair over 12″ long, that I made for it (started with an OEM copy aftermarket made walnut buttstock and cut it down, bedded it with steel tube around rear bolt hole going tang to tang for strength, consistency, and mindful of a possible 450 or 50 alaskan conversion one day). I made the stock short enough that I could cycle the action from the shoulder, as a man should be able to do
If 86’s didn’t exist, this marlin would have tempted me if it had adjustable LOP.
If you don’t own an 1895 you need to correct that. Any version. Handloading the 45-70 opens up a world of versatility. I got mine…
Goes to show that messing with perfection never pays off.
Tactical lever gun? This is getting old fast. If Marlin still made the gun the parts would have been billet steel. Ruger has a bad habit of casting things and changing things that were fine to begin with. On that note, $5 per bullet for 45-70 in about any configuration, proves the 44 magnum is a superior cartridge. Holds 10 rounds, fits a revolver, and is half the price for ammo. 250-300 grain bullets have about the same ballistics between the rounds with the exception of the cost. The 300 grain .44 will kill a grizzly. If power is what you need, there are companies that make .500 magnum lever guns. Non tacticool. Granted they’re $4k and there’s a wait.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the 45-70. But bang for the buck I’ll stick with the .44. I sold all three of my Marlin 47-70’s and all the ammo at their peak market price. Good call on my part. These are just my opinions on the round and the Marlin’s made by Ruger. I’m an avid Marlin collector and a purist. If you want a “Mall Ninja” rifle, stick with the AR platform. Leave the Levers out of it.
I have long wanted a Marlin 1895, but will hold out to find a nice used one with wood furniture. Maybe just too old fashioned, but a lever gun with all the tacti-cool stuff mounted on it and a polymer stock looks terrible, but to each his own.
You can keep the “modern” 1895. I prefer my old 1970’s Classic, with its old updates of Magnaport barrel, cushioned butplate, scout scoped with a Leopold 4x, and it shoots great, nothing falls off!
I learned a lot of things in this review, not the least of them being that a buffalo is larger than an elephant.
Sad to see a “Marlin” like this. As a traditionalist, I see this gun belonging in a Star Wars movie…not in the deer woods.
Hold on Lloyd this “tactical” fad will run its course….or not…probably not.Good to see the model is still alive and in demand.