You poking the wrong bear boy!!!!!!Was it well done? Did you love it?
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Marlin 336 brought back to life (pic heavy)
- Thread starter 10-8 Gunworks
- Start date
I think you did an awesome job! It is a beautiful gun now.I picked up a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem that was dying for some love. I worked at a small gunsmith shop, and needed a project, so she followed me home. Unfortunately, I didn't take any "before" photos, but let's just describe it as "beat up from the feet up". The metal had a layer of surface rust, the original stock had been replaced with an incorrect straight pull stock, the receiver plugs were rounded out where Bubba had gotten on them with some channel locks and cold chisel, and the internals were packed with grease. And dirt. And sawdust. How do you even get sawdust inside the action?
I started with a thorough disassembly, followed by several days of soaking in the degrease tank. The small parts were scrubbed and run through the ultrasonic, then set aside until after refinishing.
I moved on to the wood, and ordered the correct stock, and began stripping the fore end that I was going to re-use. After many hours of sanding, shaping, testing, and repeating, the stock was fit to the receiver. Then the fun began.
I'd never tried my hand at checkering, but it was something that always interested me. I began with the stock, and laid out the pattern using transfer tape. I then made a cutout of the pattern onto card stock. First the master lines were laid out.
After several hours of doing lines, the work began progressing nicely. Charlie Sheen would be proud.
The crossing lines really began to make the checkering come to life. There was quite a learning curve to this, and I now see why the ones who are really good at this charge so much for the work.
After the crossing lines were cut in, I began the border.
The process was repeated on the fore end, which was a point pattern. The pattern was laid out on paper, the crossing lines and top border cut in, then line spacing and crossing lines. Each line had to be deepened twice to make the top of the diamonds "pointy".
Now it was time to oil the stock. I wanted an older looking, low gloss finish, and decided on a low sheen oil from Dem Bart. The oil was rubbed in by hand, and took about 6 coats before the wood finally stopped soaking it in. The 3-6th coats were light sanded while the oil was still wet. This process causes the sanding to mix in with the oil, creating a slurry that fills the the pores of the wood nicely. The last coat was very light.
Now, I got on to the metal. This rifle was a prime candidate for Cerkaote, so to the blast cabinet she went. The rifle was coated in Tungsten, and Graphite Black. The Leupold VX2 1-4 was coated to match, as was the American Defense scout mount. An XS Lever Rail, as well as a rear peep (I forget the brand, but not the XS rear peep) was coated as well. Badger Claw Leather out in Texas hand made a butt stock shell holder and matching sling to finish it off. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the end result. I know the purists will cringe, but I really think it is a blend of old school class and modern tech.
WOW, AWESOME job!!!!! it's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
GREAT JOB,I WOULD BE PROUD TO CARRY THIS PIECE.I picked up a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem that was dying for some love. I worked at a small gunsmith shop, and needed a project, so she followed me home. Unfortunately, I didn't take any "before" photos, but let's just describe it as "beat up from the feet up". The metal had a layer of surface rust, the original stock had been replaced with an incorrect straight pull stock, the receiver plugs were rounded out where Bubba had gotten on them with some channel locks and cold chisel, and the internals were packed with grease. And dirt. And sawdust. How do you even get sawdust inside the action?
I started with a thorough disassembly, followed by several days of soaking in the degrease tank. The small parts were scrubbed and run through the ultrasonic, then set aside until after refinishing.
I moved on to the wood, and ordered the correct stock, and began stripping the fore end that I was going to re-use. After many hours of sanding, shaping, testing, and repeating, the stock was fit to the receiver. Then the fun began.
I'd never tried my hand at checkering, but it was something that always interested me. I began with the stock, and laid out the pattern using transfer tape. I then made a cutout of the pattern onto card stock. First the master lines were laid out.
After several hours of doing lines, the work began progressing nicely. Charlie Sheen would be proud.
The crossing lines really began to make the checkering come to life. There was quite a learning curve to this, and I now see why the ones who are really good at this charge so much for the work.
After the crossing lines were cut in, I began the border.
The process was repeated on the fore end, which was a point pattern. The pattern was laid out on paper, the crossing lines and top border cut in, then line spacing and crossing lines. Each line had to be deepened twice to make the top of the diamonds "pointy".
Now it was time to oil the stock. I wanted an older looking, low gloss finish, and decided on a low sheen oil from Dem Bart. The oil was rubbed in by hand, and took about 6 coats before the wood finally stopped soaking it in. The 3-6th coats were light sanded while the oil was still wet. This process causes the sanding to mix in with the oil, creating a slurry that fills the the pores of the wood nicely. The last coat was very light.
Now, I got on to the metal. This rifle was a prime candidate for Cerkaote, so to the blast cabinet she went. The rifle was coated in Tungsten, and Graphite Black. The Leupold VX2 1-4 was coated to match, as was the American Defense scout mount. An XS Lever Rail, as well as a rear peep (I forget the brand, but not the XS rear peep) was coated as well. Badger Claw Leather out in Texas hand made a butt stock shell holder and matching sling to finish it off. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the end result. I know the purists will cringe, but I really think it is a blend of old school class and modern tech.
Very nice! Thanks for sharing.
I’ll take it!!
