Marlin is reflexively associated with classic lever guns, both centerfire and rimfire. Sure, there have been some excellent Marlin bolt-action and semiauto rimfires along the way, not to mention some hell-for-stout bolt-action shotguns. But by and large, lever actions were what put the company on the map.
But one of the company’s most intriguing, and relatively obscure, offerings was the Model 27-S pump, a nifty little takedown chambered in .25-20 and .32-20, plus the .25 Stevens rimfire. The rifle’s production life was from 1913 to 1932.
Marlin had, of course, produced a number of pump-action rimfires prior to 1930, but the 27-S was a center-fire standalone. It was essentially an improved version of the slightly earlier Model 27. The major difference between the two? The 27-S featured a safety button…