MARLIN And H&R 1871 MERGE

Guns Magazine, March, 2001 by Scott Farrell

Marlin Firearms, one of the country's largest and oldest manufacturers of lever-action rifles, announced in November that the company had purchased the assets of H&R 1871, the world's largest manufacturer of break-action, single-shot rifles and shotguns. According to Marlin executives, production of H&R 1871 guns will continue at that company's Gardener, Mass., plant, with no "significant changes" anticipated in either personnel or production.

Marlin chairman Frank Kenna said, "H&R is the kind of solid, reputable company that we continue to actively pursue in order to solidify and expand our position in the industry." According to the most recent U.S. firearms production figures reported by the BATF, Marlin was the fourth largest producer of long guns in 1998, with a total of 308,389 rifles and shotguns; H&R 1871 ranked fifth, with a total of 232,370 guns produced that year. Consolidating these two production figures creates a corporate entity which could give Remington a run for its money as America's largest producer of long guns, with 612,439 produced in the same year. Ruger is the largest single producer of firearms of all types in the country, with a combined total (rifles, shotguns and handguns) of 634,692.