Marlin 1895 SBL .45-70, Suppressed and Subsonic

The .45-70: an 1873 Army cartridge

The U.S. Army adopted the .45-70 in 1873. It was developed at Springfield Armory for the Springfield Model 1873, the rifle collectors call the Trapdoor Springfield, and its name describes the original load: a .45-caliber bullet over 70 grains of black powder. The full designation of the Army load, .45-70-405, added a 405-grain lead bullet.

Factory .45-70 has long been loaded moderately, because so many older rifles chambered for it are still around, including the original Marlin Model of 1895. Rifles of different eras and designs differ in strength, so the cartridge name alone does not tell you which loads a given rifle takes; go by the maker’s guidance for that rifle.

From the Marlin Model of 1895 to the SBL

The name goes back to the Marlin Model of 1895, made from 1895 to 1917. Marlin revived it in 1972 as the New Model 1895 in .45-70, built on the same receiver design and lever-action mechanism as its Model 336 and Model 444.

Marlin itself has changed hands. Remington took over the company in 2007, and in late 2020 Sturm, Ruger & Co. acquired the Marlin business from the bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company. The SBL is the stainless version with a big-loop lever. Gun Tests dates the first 1895SBL to 2009, before Ruger, and when Ruger relaunched the brand, the 1895 SBL was the first Ruger-made Marlin.

To spot a Ruger-made rifle, American Rifleman notes that they are marked Mayodan, NC, where Marlin rifles are now made, and carry an RM serial prefix for Ruger-Made.

American Rifleman describes the Ruger-made SBL with a 19-inch stainless barrel, 1:20 twist, threaded 11/16×24 at the muzzle, a stainless receiver, a six-round tube magazine, and a Picatinny rail that runs from the receiver onto the barrel. The factory gun comes with laminated wood furniture; ours wears an aluminum stock and a slotted aluminum handguard instead.

How the Marlin 1895 SBL action works

Swing the lever down, and the bolt slides back and opens the action.

Here we load one round at a time: we drop a round straight into the open action, close the lever, and it’s chambered.

For a full load, rounds go in through the loading gate on the right side of the receiver and into the tube magazine under the barrel. American Rifleman describes the cycle: on the upstroke of the lever, the carrier lifts the next cartridge so the returning bolt can guide it into the chamber.

Side ejection and a flat top

Open the lever again, and the round comes out the right side. Marlin’s lever guns have long used a solid-top receiver with side ejection, and that is what lets a scope sit right over the action. A traditional top-ejecting lever gun throws its empties straight up, where a scope would be in the way.

How quiet is a suppressed .45-70?

To our ears, quieter than you might expect, though not silent: the muzzle still makes a sound, and so does working the lever. We have not measured it. Ours runs ammunition labeled subsonic. A bullet that stays below the speed of sound, about 1,116 feet per second in 59°F air and changing with the conditions, makes no supersonic crack; with a suppressed rifle, that crack makes a big difference to how loud a shot is.

During that filming session we put four subsonic rounds into a parked car; one of them went into the passenger compartment, and the other three did not.

Why the red polymer tips?

In a tube magazine the cartridges sit nose to base, so a bullet’s tip can rest against the primer of the round ahead. A hard point could set it off under recoil or rough handling, which is why lever guns traditionally used blunt or flat-nosed bullets. The red tips on our rounds are soft polymer, a design meant to give a pointed shape without a hard point resting on the primer in front.

The Chisel Machining aluminum stock

The stock on ours is machined from solid aluminum by Chisel Machining. The Firearm Blog describes Chisel’s skeletonized Marlin stock as machined from a solid billet and made as a drop-in replacement for 1970-and-later pistol-grip Marlin lever guns, the 1895 among them. Ours is a Ruger-made rifle wearing one.

Specifications

Item	Our Marlin 1895 SBL
Maker	Marlin Firearms (Sturm, Ruger & Co.)
Cartridge	.45-70 Government
Action	Lever action, side ejection, tube magazine with right-side loading gate
Barrel	19 in stainless, 1:20 twist, threaded 11/16×24 (as reported by American Rifleman)
Magazine	Tube, six rounds (as reported by American Rifleman)
Rail	Picatinny, receiver onto the barrel
Stock	Chisel Machining aluminum (factory: laminated wood)
Handguard	Slotted aluminum (factory: laminated wood)
Optic	Arken EP-8 1-8×28
Muzzle	Suppressor
Ammunition shown	Labeled subsonic, soft red polymer tips

On the floor at OSA

The Marlin in these photos is part of the Old Steel Arsenal collection. These pieces in our case connect to it:

• Pedersoli Springfield Trapdoor Carbine in .45-70: a reproduction of the carbine version of the Springfield Model 1873, the Army rifle the .45-70 was developed for.
• Pre-64 Winchester Model 94 Carbine in .32 Winchester Special: the top-ejecting Winchester lever gun that Marlin’s side-ejecting, solid-top designs were long measured against.
• Ruger M77 in 7mm Rem: a Ruger bolt rifle, from the company that makes Marlins today.

The grid below updates by itself as pieces come and go.

Scope and suppressor on a lever gun: upgrade, or sacrilege? Tell us on our Instagram. Watch it on Instagram.

General information for collectors, not legal advice. Suppressor rules differ under federal, state and local law; check the current rules where you live.

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Marlin Model 336” (Model 1895 section) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Model_1895 (original Model of 1895 made 1895–1917, New Model 1895 in 1972 on the 336/444 receiver, solid-top receiver and side ejection suited to scopes, moderate factory .45-70 loads for older rifles)
• Wikipedia, “Marlin Firearms” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Firearms (Remington 2007, Sturm, Ruger & Co. took over Marlin from the bankrupt Remington Outdoor Company in 2020)
• American Rifleman, “NRA Gun Of The Week: Marlin Firearms Model 1895 SBL” — https://americanrifleman.org/content/nra-gun-of-the-week-marlin-firearms-model-1895-sbl (19-inch stainless barrel, 1:20 twist, 11/16×24 threads, stainless receiver, rail onto the barrel, laminated furniture)
• American Rifleman, “Review: Ruger’s Marlin Model 1895 SBL” — https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/review-ruger-s-marlin-model-1895-sbl (threads for suppressors, six-round tube magazine, carrier lifting the cartridge on the upstroke)
• The Firearm Blog, “Viva La Lever Gun! Ruger-Made Marlin 1895 SBL Rifles” — https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/12/23/ruger-marlin-1895-sbl/ (first Ruger-made Marlin)
• Wikipedia, “.45-70” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45-70 (adopted 1873, Springfield Armory and Model 1873, 70 grains of black powder, .45-70-405)
• Wikipedia, “Subsonic ammunition” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsonic_ammunition (speed of sound about 1,116 ft/s in standard air, no supersonic crack)
• Wikipedia, “Tubular magazine” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubular_magazine (pointed bullets can ignite the next primer under recoil, blunt noses and soft plastic tips)
• The Firearm Blog, “Chisel Machining Skeletonized Marlin Stock” — https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/12/27/chisel-machining-skeletonized-marlin-stock/ (machined from solid billet aluminum, drop-in for 1970-and-later pistol-grip Marlin lever guns including the 1895)
• Gun Tests, “Marlin Model 1895SBL 45-70 Govt.” — https://www.gun-tests.com/rifles/marlin-model-1895sbl-45-70-govt/ (1895SBL debuted in 2009)
• American Rifleman, “Ruger Reintroduces Marlin 1895 SBL Lever-Action Rifle” — https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/ruger-reintroduces-marlin-1895-sbl-lever-action-rifle (Mayodan, NC marking and RM serial prefix on Ruger-made Marlins)