A friend of my daughters came by this morning. She wanted a .22 pistol. Said she had a rifle to trade for it. Its a 1970 Marlin .35 Rem. Has an older redfield 4X scope, all the iron sights and leather sling. It been abused and I don't know how much use. The bore is bright. The Hammer wont cock back manual or with the lever. I can push forward on the trigger and it will stay back and fire. There is rust on the trigger and around it on the receiver. There is quite a bit of surface rust and a rather large spot on top front of the barrel that is pitted and deep scratches. Wood is sound, needs refinishing. Now for the deal ...... I traded an H&R 622 revolver. It is parkerized and a 1972 model. 6" barrel and 6 shot. I paid $50 for the pistol last year. A friend of hers gave her the rifle to trade for a pistol. She is happy, I also thru in 400 rounds of .22 and a holster. AND I AM EXTREAMLY HAPPY. Late entry: Some liberal squirts of Break Free from the top of the hammer and into the trigger housing on the bottom ....... AND WORKS LIKE A REAL ONE NOW ......Still will tear down and clean, check everything out before I shoot it. Probably wont be this deer season. Something to work on over the winter.
Very sweet deal. Don't have a use for a 35 Rem. in this neck of the woods so I'm glad it was you. Couldn't happen to a better person. "What goes around, comes around" or "What a person sows, yet shall he reap." Just goes to show that a giving person can't out give the Lord. Very happy for you. That will be a great winter project. Be sure to let us see how it turns out. No doubt that it will be restored to it's previous glory. That would be a great rifle for a son or grandchild. Just thinking out loud.
You read my mind greyhawk50 ..... Of course the grandkids will get ALL of mine. My son has 200 acres in the WILD AND WOLLEY Mts. of Arkansas, about 4.5 hrs south of here. Has Deer, Bear, Elk, and those pesky Hogs. Was thinking if he settles there it would be a perfect gun for him. Right now his work has him in NC on a small farm north of Durham.
SW01, looks like the old girl has plenty of potential/life left in her. Nice job on the trade and I too would like to see how you progress on it. I particularly like the figuring in the stock.
The best guns are the ones restored with new life, now this one will forever have a story. Can't put a value on that.
With the grass cut yesterday today will be Teardown/inspect/clean the Marlin 336 .35 Rem. I had said earlier it was a 1970 but after cleaning off the surface rust the Ser# shows it to be a 1977. I will remove the scope and base, and remove the bolt. I am concerned with the trigger housing most of all. On first examination when I got it the hammer did not want to engage the sear and stay cocked with out pushing the trigger forward. I have since freed it up with break free. I expect to find rust and crud in the innards. The bore is bright and the feed ramp looks good. Havnt fed any ammo thu it yet to check for proper feeding, chambering, and extraction. I don't want to do that until its cleaned properly. If everything goes well today I will shoot it tomorrow. First will re sight in the scope ( a Redfield 4X ) using Fed 200 gr round nose at 50 yards. Then shoot at 25, 75, and 100 to see where it prints. As of now I don't have any dies, or bullets to reload the brass so hoping I can get some info on the one 20 rd box I have. I still have over a month till deer season and should be able to find reloading items or at least some more of the Fed factory ammo. My LGS only had one box of it, the other was Win.
Once you get your reloading stuff, your options will increase greatly. I traded my 35 rem. and all the ammo/loading components for a Stoeger O/U 20 ga. cause center fire rifles aren't legal for deer in my state and I have a Marlin 30-30 that is more versatile. Don't know how big the deer are in your area?? I had several boxes of 35s loaded with .357 Hornady 180 gr. XTPs. I thought the 200 gr. pill was a little large for deer. That round shot very well for me. You might want to give it a try?? From everything that I read, the 158 gr. didn't stabilize well in the 35 Rem. so I never tried it.
Good info Greyhawk. Wont shoot the gun tomorrow as planned. I have it COMPLETLY apart. I just cant stand the shape its in. The only part of the trigger assembly that is rusted is the Gold Trigger. I will sand that off. Also the ejection spring has some on it. The hammer spring and clip that holds it in are good. The bolt face is totally crudded up. I cant believe proper head spacing was achieved. While apart will smooth up all the innard parts. Nothing is really wrong with the gun, Just Pi$$ Poor Care. There is rust under the scope base. Also between the mag tube and the barrel. I have already started stripping it down to bare metal. Had to make a run back to town for more Sand Paper, steel wool and Break Cleaner. Most all blemishes on the stock are in the top finish. Sanding that with 400 wet/dry and all but two dings came out and they are not deep. LOL even the screw heads have some rust on them ..... The real bad spots on the top front of the barrel are almost gone now. With a fresh supply of paper will finish that up. All I had this morning was 150 grit and it will take a few passes of 100. Will go over it all again with 150, then 220, and finish up with 400. Then a couple rounds with fine steel wool. I wont shoot it until its CLEAN AS NEW. Will be at least rest of today and tomorrow, maybe even Friday for the Metal. The little parts, Screw heads, barrel bands, Rear and front sight with hood, and the top of the receiver will take the most time. The receiver top, trigger guard, rear tangs, and around the hammer slot, and the hammer are kind of a matte finish, not smooth like the rest of the gun. I may go ahead and slick them up while Im at it.
I watched 3 videos on tearing it all down. Never went past the lever and bolt before. The best one was by an Aussie, from his accent. Although it was a stainless steel one. His parts were WAY brighter than mine. But did learn all the places to smooth out on the innards. His was a newer one with cross bolt safety and he said ( and showed ) all the places it was rough, and had burrs. Nobody took off the mag tube but it was easy. I also removed the rear and front sight and found that who ever put on the scope base only used TWO screws ..... , but they were done with lock tite. I will find two more in my parts drawers. If I don't have any that fit will have to get some more. I am done for the night. First passes with 100 grit is done. Looks 1000% better already. Back at it tomorrow for a full day.
So you might be trying Oxpho on it? As long as both are happy then it was a good trade. You will be more likely to use the rifle than she would have. Especially since it wasn't functioning right. Remember Vinegar will clean bluing off real easy and quick. Save the 320 and 800 grit for after stripping the bluing with the vinegar. Lightly brush vinegar on metal with a soft bristle tooth brush and it will be cleaned in short time. LOL Like I need tell you how to do anything. I am a green horn compared to your experience. The bluing doesn't look to bad on it so you might just use Oxpho for rust touch ups. I think you fell into a deal.
I for sure don't know much if any about stripping and re bluing. ALL information is sought. I would have just touched up if it wasn't for all the rust in a lot of places. But it really needed to be stripped to bare metal. There will probably be a few scratches left on the top front of the barrel as I found out it will require a lot of metal to be removed to totally get rid of them. As was shown in the refinishing videos I have watched they are not, and were never intended to be Custom Show pieces. There will allways be machine marks left by milling. I am more concerned with Function than form. Just want to get rid of the BAD spots and prepare it for more care and Maint than what it has had in the past. It will serve its intended function and not a safe queen.
SW01, sounds like you have a solid plan to bring her back into shape. Best of luck on your project! I know you will be posting some pictures when you get it done..
I ordered the Oxphro Blue from Brownells. Price wasn't bad $9.95 BUT SHIPPING ...... $15.95 for a 4 Oz bottle. Just wish I had something else I needed from them to get free shipping. Oh well The difference between Men and boys is the Price of their Toys .........
Got the shipping notification from Brownells last night, it shipped yesterday. Should be here by first of next week. Have finished 2 of the 4 steps of preparing the receiver/barrel/mag tube for bluing. Started with 100 grit after the bluing was off, then went to 180. Next will go to 400 wet/dry and then fine steel wool. Will clean off with brake cleaner and then a final rinse with acetone. Started on the wood also. have the fore end piece stripped of polyurethane and sanded with 180. Will finish it up with 400 and steel wool. Havn't decieded what I will do for a finish yet. I really don't like the slick shiny stocks for hunting ...... any suggestions ?? Pics attached:
When I was going to order my Van's the place was going to charge around $12.95 for the stuff then like another $15 for shipping. I checked and found another vendor, Track of Wolf, and got the product and shipped total $12.90. Had it in a few days. As far as finishing prepping the metal I wouldn't finish using steel wool unless your steel wool is oil free type. Also the brighter you can get the steel finish the better the Oxpho will look. Oxpho supposedly isn't affected by the oil but the van's any oil stops the chemical reactions. I used 800 grit sandpaper for the finish sanding. IMO it works better than the steel wool anyway. For giggles and to be safe I would not use the steel wool until you are satisfied with the Oxpho coloring of the metal and are finish buffing the metal. From reports I read the buffing will bring out more of the blue luster in Oxpho bluing. I would suggest getting the metal hot to the touch before applying the Oxpho. A hair dry blower works good. PS use gloves to keep from getting hand oil and finger printing on the metal. Also don't keep dipping into the bottle of Oxpho. Pour a little in a clean glass so not contaminating all the bottle. If you want more of a mat finish on the wood then I suggest using boiled linseed oil and buff it into the wood. You might use some walnut stain on the wood or otherwise the wood will be fairly light colored. Again I wouldn't use steel wool because it can leave bits of wool in the wood and the finish. In high school shop we used pumice compound to burn in the BLO for a very natural wood finish. Good lord I am going back in history. I refinished a Remington 1100 that the wood had been stripped when I bought it. The wood looked pretty light like your gun wood does now. I used a little walnut stain then used maybe 5 coats of BLO. Don't rush reapplying the BLO, it has to sit preferably over night for the oil to soak in and dry. The BLO really brings out the natural wood grains. Like I said the BLO gives a very natural look finish to the wood. I wanted more of a semi glossy look so I then used Fornby's tongue oil for the last finishing. I actually was surprised how nice it came out. You want the mat natural look then stop with the BLO. Just burn in the finish with a lot of buffing. I used BLO on my kitchen cabinets and they came out looking good. Now protected from stains and still had the natural finish look. Really did not make the wood look glossy but did bring out the wood grain coloring with more of a little sheen to it. I would be willing to bet there are some members here that probably could give you better advice than I since they have more experience in wood finishing.
straightshooter ... Thanks for the info on the steel wool and also the finish on the wood. Great Info. I will heed your advice ....
SWO1 Get some of this stuff on it http://www.inoxmx.com/inox/mx4-lubricant/ or it's equivalent It's brilliant
