New wood for an old Marlin
- Thread starter Ian
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Ian
Notorious member
No rust, Brad. Walnut powder from checkering.
The whole rifle needs a polish and some areas need filing. That's a LOT of work without power tools, not sure how this will shake out. Previously I touched it up with Oxpho Blue here and there but all of that has since worn off. I guess I could just clean up the bad spots with a 180-grit belt sander like Marlin did originally and re-blue the whole thing.
The whole rifle needs a polish and some areas need filing. That's a LOT of work without power tools, not sure how this will shake out. Previously I touched it up with Oxpho Blue here and there but all of that has since worn off. I guess I could just clean up the bad spots with a 180-grit belt sander like Marlin did originally and re-blue the whole thing.
Ian
Notorious member
Stuff is HARD. This piece especially, being a weathered shed. I think it will be pretty solid once I work the button down some more because it is on the back side.
gman
Well-Known Member
Nice touch Ian. So I do have a question as I've been thinking of doing some bedding on my 336 in 35 Remington. I understand the the work for the butt stock in the tang area and also the fore end stock where it fits into the receiver. I have seen where the barrel channel has been opened and RTV applied to bed the barrel but read an earlier post where both you and Brad said never bed the barrel. I also understand taking care of the magazine tube at the attachment point to the barrel. Just wanted to clarify before taking on this project and doing something I shouldn't.
fiver
Well-Known Member
your free floating the barrel as much as possible.
look at the post about floating the dovetail in the joint so the mag tube is just not allowed to move freely but can still move freely if that makes sense.
what your doing is turning a 4" rifle into a 2" rifle, but you do have to deal with that little bit of annoyance of the dovetail being loose.
I had a model 71 deluxe that was reworked [beautifully i might ad] and it had that feature, it shot extremely well but I like to hunt with my rifles and that was an annoying no-go for me.
I ended up swapping it out for my model 86 Browning.
kind of a meah miss the originality of the 71 and cartridge, but didn't really give anything up going to the 45-70 considering they were both intended to be used as 100 yd. deer/elk type rifles.
look at the post about floating the dovetail in the joint so the mag tube is just not allowed to move freely but can still move freely if that makes sense.
what your doing is turning a 4" rifle into a 2" rifle, but you do have to deal with that little bit of annoyance of the dovetail being loose.
I had a model 71 deluxe that was reworked [beautifully i might ad] and it had that feature, it shot extremely well but I like to hunt with my rifles and that was an annoying no-go for me.
I ended up swapping it out for my model 86 Browning.
kind of a meah miss the originality of the 71 and cartridge, but didn't really give anything up going to the 45-70 considering they were both intended to be used as 100 yd. deer/elk type rifles.
Ian
Notorious member
That was just a piece of 303 bar to hold the button in place for the photo, I haven't decided if I'm going to use the original hole and pin arrangement, or use two brass screws and the shaping is a long way from finished.
Two ways to do the forearm. One is float everything generously and make bands of electical tape to keep the forearm off the barrel the amount that you relieved it and then bed the magazine tube to the forearm and the forearm to the receiver with RTV silicone. After that has cured, bed the barrel to the barrel channel with silicone. The magazine tube holds the firearm in position, the front magazine screw (into to the dovetail at the muzzle) holds both, and the forearm/magazine tube have a little cushion back at the receiver to stretch/contract without putting excessive pressure on the barrel as it heats. The silicone dampens harmonic vibrations and keeps them consistent as things move.
The other way (if your rifle has two bands and no dovetail or forearm cap) is to create an anchor for the forearm by filing a notch in the bottom of the barrel and bedding a piece of hardened drill rod into the forearm with epoxy to lock the two together. Then the mag tube is bedded with silicone and the forearm to the receiver with silicone and the barrel allowed to float in the channel. The forearm band holds everything together and should be relieved to just barely put any pressure on tje bareel when installed. The notch in the barrel for the band screw should be relieved so the screw doesn't touch.
Two ways to do the forearm. One is float everything generously and make bands of electical tape to keep the forearm off the barrel the amount that you relieved it and then bed the magazine tube to the forearm and the forearm to the receiver with RTV silicone. After that has cured, bed the barrel to the barrel channel with silicone. The magazine tube holds the firearm in position, the front magazine screw (into to the dovetail at the muzzle) holds both, and the forearm/magazine tube have a little cushion back at the receiver to stretch/contract without putting excessive pressure on the barrel as it heats. The silicone dampens harmonic vibrations and keeps them consistent as things move.
The other way (if your rifle has two bands and no dovetail or forearm cap) is to create an anchor for the forearm by filing a notch in the bottom of the barrel and bedding a piece of hardened drill rod into the forearm with epoxy to lock the two together. Then the mag tube is bedded with silicone and the forearm to the receiver with silicone and the barrel allowed to float in the channel. The forearm band holds everything together and should be relieved to just barely put any pressure on tje bareel when installed. The notch in the barrel for the band screw should be relieved so the screw doesn't touch.
Ian
Notorious member
The forearm turned into a 20+ hour nightmare and it ain't over yet. Turns out the layout cuts and the actual pattern don't quite coincide, which may be why the factory just brush-sanded it to oblivion and sent it down the line.
I did a light pass all one direction, then the other to trace out the faint lines, then tried to define the borders (where it all went south), then cut everything to depth one way and the other, had to move several border lines out one more pass to clean them up, and when it was all done I was stuck with a diamond that wouldn't work out any way I tried because it wasn't layed out correctly on the pattern to begin with. I forced the outside border of the diamond to work, but the inside has nowhere to go. I did my best but now the only way I can think of to fix it is to carve it all out and inlet a piece of antler to fill it in.
I did a light pass all one direction, then the other to trace out the faint lines, then tried to define the borders (where it all went south), then cut everything to depth one way and the other, had to move several border lines out one more pass to clean them up, and when it was all done I was stuck with a diamond that wouldn't work out any way I tried because it wasn't layed out correctly on the pattern to begin with. I forced the outside border of the diamond to work, but the inside has nowhere to go. I did my best but now the only way I can think of to fix it is to carve it all out and inlet a piece of antler to fill it in.
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Ian
Notorious member
There were some places the pattern was just obliterated in softer wood (brush sanding too many passes or with too much pressure will do that) and I had to find it again and then grind down the lines more in places to try and even out the surface, which mostly worked out but took a lot of time working with a light shining at an oblique angle. I could have done this in about 6-8 hours from scratch at 20 LPI and it would have looked a helluva lot better.
Rick H
Well-Known Member
It would have been easier to sand the whole mess off and start over. The new Marlins have a lot of extra wood in the forearms anyway. I like the way the old style fits the hand better than the newer style. You checker a hell of a lot faster than I do....or did, my eyes won't stand that kind of work anymore.