My brother, not a gun guy, called me today from an estate sale. They had three guns he asked me about. Two I dismissed offhand as things that would not resell quickly. The third was a NIB Marlin 9. He ended up buying it with the thought of reselling but the more I think about it the more I'm leaning toward buying it from him. Does anyone have any experience with this gun? hanks in advance, Jim

I had one for a couple of years and loved it, but sold it to my brother-in-law with the agreement that if he ever decides to sell it, I get the first chance to buy it back. It uses S&W 6906 12 round magazines (for a flush fit) or 5906 15 round magazines if you don't mind them sticking out a little. S&W doesn't make the mags anymore but Mec-Gar makes 5906 mags last I heard. If I were you I would buy it and shoot it!

i had one that was a jam-O-matic. Might just of been a dud. But it was not a good gun. For me at least.

I bought one brand new when they first came out in 1985. I still have it and will never sell it. Fun gun to shoot. They don’t make them anymore and they will only go up in price. Check out the Marlin Owners Forum. They have a section of the forum dedicated to the Marlin Camp Carbines.

Fun guns. Have both a 9 and 45. Not sure they are worth what the used to be, with more PCC's on the market now than a few years ago, but they are still fairly popular. I picked mine up a few years ago at a local gun show for a decent price. They were hard to come by. Always keep an eye out for the both calibers, and have seen more and more at the local gun show recently, for reasonable prices.

Had issues with buffers breaking if I remember correctly (might have been only the .45). When the buffers break, starts to crack the stock, so replace the buffer and springs before you start to get some use out of it.

IIRC, the 45's suffered cracks occasionally, but the 9's were mostly reliable. A buddy had the 9 version and sold it. Wish I'd bought it.

The buffers dry rot and break over time regardless of being used or not. Replace yours out of hand before firing it. The 9's can and do crack the stocks just like the .45acp versions.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
The buffers dry rot and break over time regardless of being used or not. Replace yours out of hand before firing it. The 9's can and do crack the stocks just like the .45acp versions.

This is true.

And they run pretty dirty, as they are blowback. I had a 9mm model and it was reliable and fun.

I've never had one, but 9mm carbines are super fun, as a general rule.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
And they run pretty dirty, as they are blowback. I had a 9mm model and it was reliable and fun.

That's an understatement! My Camp 45 was a fun shooter, and pretty reliable but it was the filthiest gun 've ever shot. Even the magazines on the outside were coated half-way down with crud after shooting. Since the 45 gets little velo (but a good amount of accuracy) with a longer barrel, and I'm somewhat anal about cleaning my firearms, I got rid of it pretty quickly.

Good little gun. replace the buffer. I think I got mine from Blackjack buffers

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
The buffers dry rot and break over time regardless of being used or not. Replace yours out of hand before firing it. The 9's can and do crack the stocks just like the .45acp versions.

I have a Camp 9 and have no issues with the stock or buffers and mine runs 100% with 4 aftermarket 20 or 25 round magazines that I don't even know who produced. It is boringly accurate at 25 yards, you can put bullets through the same hole all day if you do your part. I changed the buffer to a Blackjack delron buffer, change yours immediately and buy a spare. Also, mix up some clear 2 part epoxy and paint a very light coat on the unfinished wood at where the back of the receiver goes in the stock, this will prevent the stock from splitting. I've only heard of stocks splitting mainly on the .45 ones.....or if the buffer is completely gone and people just keep shooting and shooting it. Choate makes a very nice folding stock for them. I've had a Camp 9 for around 10 years. A buddy had a .45 acp one for several years. But it's a very accurate and fun gun. I've had no issues of putting 500 rounds through mine between cleanings. They are very similar in construction to a 10/22 rugar.

Just wait until you clean it.

Disassembly is what you'd expect.

Assembly convinced me to get rid of the POS before word got out about needing three hands to put it back together.

Military experience has me preferring firearms I can maintain with some quickness in the field.

Backstory is I purchased several firearms from a mutual friend that was going through a divorce.

Sprayed a little lube in it and swabbed the barrel (it was put away uncleaned by him). Took it out and put about 500 rounds through it over a couple trips. Accurate enough. Fun, for certain. Reliable. Fed everything I put through it.

And then I decided it needed a thorough cleaning.

It got one.

And then it got gone.

May your experience be better than mine.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jager,

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
i had one that was a jam-O-matic. Might just of been a dud. But it was not a good gun. For me at least.

Huh.

I must have bought yours on the used-gun-market, or you bought mine!

I couldn't get mine to go bang twice without being tempted to say bad words.

I just got a Ruger PC Carbine.

So far no jams in several hundred rounds almost all of which was handloads both fmj and jhp.