Marlin 1897 Lever Action Bicycle Rifle (Video)

Built as a take down version of Marlin’s 1892(ish) lever action 22 rimfire rifle, this 16″ barrel version of the 1897 was called a “bicycle rifle” in advertisements and was even shown with an illustration of a specialized case that strapped to the frame of a bicycle.

Sweet!

Marlin factory records indicate that a mere 216 of these particular guns were sold.

While the 22 LR (long rifle) is what most of us use these days in our 22s, things weren’t always that way. Many older 22 firearms would function with short (S), long (L), or long rifle (LR), and this gun will, too.

The video gives us a pretty good look at the internals of this rifle, the same basic design that’s still used today in the Marlin Model 39.

Wish you owned this rifle? You can bid on it until Feb 28, 2016. Good luck!

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.