New wood for an old Marlin

Ian

Notorious member
I cheated this time and got new stocks from Remington. They actually fit my old 1954 336 pretty well, but the checkering sucks and the finish is worse. Nice wood with some good figure so I'm going to re-cut the checkering and strip/refinish and probably bed the tang and forearm (pro-bed and RTV silicone, respectively).

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Starting to re-cut the 16 LPI diamonds:

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freebullet

Guest
How's about no checkering & tack finish. I dunno, sounds easier.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Leaving it alone would have been the easiest thing, but you know me...

Definitely amateur hour at my house, and I don't have a 16 LPI spacer to clean up the original lines that get lost in space, but good enough for who it's for.

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Rick H

Well-Known Member
That original checkering was awful. You can do a lot of good work with a single cutter.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
better'n they did with a nail anyway.

airc the 50's stock finish was still a matte or oil type, they didn't do the high gloss until the 70's.
 
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freebullet

Guest
I'm obviously not a fan of checkering, but the part you cleaned up looks really great. I don't have those tools, would have just ground it off.


airc the 50's stock finish was still a matte or oil type

This here is why I was thinking eliminate the checkering & go with a grippy finish. I do like what you did though.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I have the original wood and I guess the buttstock was refinished with varnish or tru-oil or something because it's quite shiny. The original forearm has what appears to he a single coat of thin varnish from the factory. Since it soaked in mostly it has a matt sheen.

The original buttstock is so broken and oil-rotted at the wrist that there's no saving it. I've been using a cheap, poplar Marlin replacement buttstock that came with the package deal when I bought the rifle years ago.

I'm not going to get too McPherson with the buttstock but will bed the cheeks of the stock to the receiver at the very least. I also need to see if the upper tang is bent since it has to pull down to the bottom tang more than I think it should. The rifle was assembled at the factory with a side screw (short) holding the bottom metal at the front and when the stock softened, the extra stress pulled the 1.5 threads out of the receiver. I know the screw was wrong from the factory because it has belt-sanding marks on it that match the bottom metal and the original bluing is worn the same on both from being carried a lot. Firing it with the front screw not holding the threads and likely over-tightening the tang screw against the rotted buttstock probably bent the upper tang a little, will compare to my other pistol-grip 336 and see if it needs tweaking.

I did get a proper screw and salvage the remaining threads so the bottom metal is secure.

Before I relieve and bed the forearm I have another conundrum to muddle through. A previous owner essentially ruined the magazine tube with a pinch-on sling mount. Someone subsequently tried to remove it with pliers and a claw hammer, possibly a pipe wrench too. So I got a new tube....but it is for the post-1955 rifles that have a long front sight ramp and the front peanut band behind the ramp rather than the dovetail front sight with the band in front. What that means is the tube is notched for the front band screw in the wrong place. I could turn the tube around to hide the misplaced notch and cut the two band screw notches anew but am afraid it will cause feeding issues due to spring and cartridge rims snagging it. There are other options too such as installing a later-model front band, ramp sight, and hardened dovetail screw base for the magazine tube. Once I get that sorted I'll work on a Paco Kelly forearm anchor fix.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
that looks a lot better.
I'd just try to match the wood color with the bedding compound [or go a little darker] then run it around the wood on both the upper and lower tangs, and between the receiver and the wood.
[the receiver section is where most shot guns will crack or chip]
trim it carefully with an X-acto knife when it gets to the soft set stage and leave it be.

on the mag tube.
I'd change all the associated hardware over to the new style and keep your sights.
then do the float job.

you know I'd have to shoot it with the mag tube out, and just a short hard solid rod about 9"s long
screwed into the mag tube hole for a front rest.
 
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Spindrift

Well-Known Member
Ian, that turned out very nice! Good work!
If you could keep us posted on you other modifications as well, I’m all ears (or eyes, really)
 

Ian

Notorious member
The only way to hide the bedding is to make it black to match the metal because there's too much grain coloration in the stock wood.

I can't convert the front band to the new style without having to drift out the front sight every time I pull the forearm. If I put a modern ramp sight the empty dovetail will show under it. And in both cases the notch in the barrel for the existing band screw will be exposed and visible.

I'm probably either going to keep it basically original (but machine an anchor sleeve for the band screw to lock the tube to the barrel at the muzzle end) or ditch the front band entirely and use a hardened dovetail with threaded hole and a bugger screw through the magazine tube and end plug.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
that's how they model 71 was done.
and iirc the 73 win had that same screw to dovetail attachment.

I know a lot of guys would slide a piece of leather up between the tube and barrel to kind of tension the end of the barrel.
I don't know if it worked as intended for everyone, I just remember it being done.
 

Ian

Notorious member
What I'd done in the past on this rifle was clean and slightly enlarge the notch in the barrel and tube and put a little plastic bushing in there. It worked for a while but when I pulled it apart a few days ago the sleeve had cracked and came out in a bunch of pieces. When I first got this rifle, the bands had to be worked off with a 2# deadblow and Nylon drift, and the band screws beaten through the holes with a punch. I think keeping it "original" but improving the front band anchor so the tube doesn't bang around or twist and relieving any stress points or preload is the way I'll go. But the magazine tube has to have some freedom of movement so it doesn't flex the barrel as the barrel heats, so I'll have to engineer something at the receiver that will give some cush. The tube isn't threaded into the receiver on the 336 so the only anchor point is to the barrel via the bands.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
From Hornady/Marlin discussions of the 308MX, they stayed with the end cap system and tweaked it to get better accuracy. I Inlet the foreend of my 30/30 and accuracy is better. Seems the system attaches everything thru the endcap which put upward pressure on my barrel. Also very hard to keep wood pressure off the barrel unless you do take the endcap (& front sight) off; have to take the entire front end off to get the foreend off.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Thanks, Ben, that means a lot coming from you!

I'm still planning to strip and refinish the wood after I get all the bedding and final shaping done.