Marauder Style Conversion

[Sharps40]

Out this evening for a test fire with the new shortened and crowned barrel. The magazine capacity is 5 rounds and one in the chamber for a total of six. First shot went CLICK....seems I forgot to press the safety button. Oh well, its off now and will stay that way. Function is perfect, rounds cycle in and out smoothly without any hitches. The trigger is crisp but heavier than I like. I'd have to put a gage on it to see just how heavy.

First target session was bench at 25m, rear sight slightly elevated and firing 180g Rem Cor Loc round nose handloads....first two shots side by side but a bit high, lowered the rear sight to the bottom setting and fired three more in the bullseye....I use a 6 oclock hold on the target, I like my shots to impact right on top of the front sight bead....

Second target was also bench at 25m with the rear sight left in the bottom notch and firing the good old red box Winchester 150g JHP....10 shots total and I'm pretty happy with the grouping....heat and mosquitoes and wasps all considered.

From there I fired more of the Win red box 150s at the 150m swinger, broke the chain with one shot....so, had to shoot the other 9 rounds at the 200m swingers. Working left to right using only a bag under the forearm, this short barreled Marlin range the 200m steel 8 out of 9 more times with that same 6 oclock hold. Like I said, it was hot but I couldn't stop. Fired 6 more of the handloaded Rem 180g Cor Locs at the 200m steels for 5 more hits. This one is going to make up as one fine hunting rifle for busting brush and from a stand, still capable for some longer range work. The tripod on the right, missing a swinger, is the 150m target broken with the first long range shot.

 

[Sharps40]

Bottom two lines are the thick and thin parts of the lower tang, respectively. Top line is the thinest part at the hammer strut cut.

Remove the boogered grip cap and establish several lines to stop the wood removal at. These lines are proud of where I want to be, final adjustments are made with the stock on the action and the lower tang fully thinned and rounded over.

Cutting the stock and lower tang flat, simultaneously and using the toe line of the stock as a guide. Slow easy cuts with 60 grit on the wheel to keep from burning wood or drawing temper in the tang.

Removed the stock, sand nearly to the quit line and leave the tang proud....bring them together one at a time, slow and easy, lots of breaks to cool and test the fit.

A center line from the toe to the tang and a few more stop lines to keep from removing too much wood. Its easy to grind away too much, only one shot to get it right so the final shapeing and fitting is by hand.

Profiling the bottom of the stock to remove the hand swell. Its hard to describe the process but its much like modeling the forend of a rifle stock blank. Ticklish work needing a steady hand and a steady rest on the sander.

The right side at about the 80% finished point, time to switch to the left side. Left side is always harder for me to work on, I'm right handed and it looks backwards....don't know why, it just does....left side is usually slower work to match it with the right.

 

[Sharps40]

Scribe a stop line on the tang, proud of where you want to finally end up...a bit of extra metal removed by hand in the final marriage of wood to metal.

Drill and file or hacksaw but just remove the bulk of the metal from the outer face of the lower tang.

Here is the newly reshaped lower tang at about the 90% level....just like a Marlin straight tang. And the screw hole? Barely one thread removed....the threads are fine pitch, there is enough metal in the reshaped tang for full engagement as there was before reshaping.

Left side of the stock at the 80% level, see the bump left on the wood near the tail of the lower tang cut? That is part of the hand work and final shapeing/adjustment.

A quick shot underneath, the fit is good and plenty of meat in the stock and the tang left in place for hand shapeing later.

 

[Sharps40]

Bringing the shape of the left side up to about the 90% level. Still a bit of swell forward near the receiver but that is as it should be, it'll come off and into shape quick when the finish is removed.

Same, Same on the right. Almost 90% shaped with the action installed. Looking good and a nearly straight line from toe to trigger. A bit more metal shapeing on the tang and bring the wood down to it.

Right profile, looking pretty nice.

Holds well too, even with a slightly curved lever.....

- - - Updated - - -

Holds even better now with the lever very lightly forged to straight configuration. No heat, a few taps in the right spots, supported well and very little finish work to do. A nice feel in my hand and perfect function, the trigger disconnect pad makes full contact, the lever loop does not.

 

[Sharps40]

Here you can see, I have finished thinning the tang and slightly crowned its surface. The edges are beveled just a bit more than factory to allow for some of the loss of wood that will occur on the tip of the stock when refinishing it. The additional bevel is an old trick to help keep the wood stock even or slightly proud of the metal surface upon refininshing....since most of the factory fit is perfect before you strip off the finish and scratches and dents.... As you see, the stock itself is very nearly completly shaped. Only a whisker of wood left to remove around the tang and the shape comes up nicely from toe to tang, whidening slightly as it approaches the tang and rounded over just like the toe of the stock. I also took the opportunity to remove and toss the white buttplate spacer....when tossing this part, you also have to grind off the rubber washers on the rear of the buttplate. The buttplate now fits the stock well and I think looks much better w/o the white spacer.

I also took the time to clean up and bring the lever loop into a smooth and final shape. Drawfiling the outside of the loop, maintaining the convex shape and also drawfiling the inside of the loop, again maintaining the convex shape. Final finish will likely be on a flap wheel all over to establish the polishing marks length wise, they don't show nearly as much that way, especially with a satin finish.

 

[Morgan]

That looks AWESOME! Good work!

 

[markj]

Wow, you guys are doing some great work, the gun is coming along wonderfully.
Thank you for the detailed post, cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[Sharps40]

You can't proceed to finish work if the ground is not prepared. Chips and dings in wood have to be fixed before the final sanding and topcoating.

A flaw in the left side wrist of the stock. Fortunatly the wood is oil free and I have a doner 1949 Marlin Walnut stock that was previously broken beyond repair.

Square up the chip with a smooth cut file, check for oil in the wood and if none, no special epoxie is needed, simple waterproof carpenters glue will do the trick.

Harvest a matching sliver of wood from the 1949 Marlin stock, make sure you install it with the grain running the same direction. Trim it to fit with the files, a bit large in every dimension is best, I'll file it down to perfect later.

A dab of Titebond on all mateing surfaces, align and hold for several minutes for the glue to bite and set it aside for several hours to set to full strength.

 

[Hayata]

Wow, incredible work and EXCELLENT tutorial!

I feel like a gunsmith just having read your posts.

Keep up the great work!

 

[Sharps40]

The glue dries faster than 24 hours but I've learned to be a bit patient. Coming back sooner means for me coming back really soon and fileing away on an unset glue joint, knocking of the patch. So, 24 hours to set and its on their rock solid. A few swipes with a fine cut file to establish leading edge, backside and general shape. I leave the wood patch larger than its finished dimension for a sanding with the stock installed on the frame. It may be the patch needs a drop of stain to match, maybe not. It'll be evident at the wet sanding stage.