Back in the 1980's, my dad got into old lever action rifles...both Marlins and Winchesters His interest sparked a desire for a "shooter." He ordered a Marlin 1894 .357 at our local K-Mart. When it came in, my dad promptly removed the white spacer between the stock and the buttplate. He then sanded down the stock and forearm and applied several coats of Lin-Speed, letting each coat dry in the sun before steel wooling it down and putting on another coat. My father really liked how his little Marlin looked with its newly re-finished oil stock. But it wasn't short enough for him. My dad tightened his basement vise around the barrel and took out his hack saw. He cut the barrel down to 16 1/8". Then he re-crowned the outside and inside of the muzzle with hand files. He also re-cut the dovetail for the front sight and the slot for the barrel band's screw...again all with hand files. My dad worked over the action and performed a trigger job on his lever action. It was a very handy little carbine that shot great!
I went to a gun show my senior year in college and bought a Marlin .357 1894 for $150 of my hard earned summer job cash. When I brought it home, my dad made it into a duplicate of his. He showed me how to refinish the stock and I still love the way Lin-Speed smells on a hot summer afternoon....
I loved my little Marlin so much that I couldn't pass up a gun show deal on an 1894 chambered in .44 Magnum. As soon as it was home, the wood was off and being sanded and slathered in Lin-Speed. It spent a few hours in my dad's basement vise with the sound of a hacksaw blade and files grinding away.
One day, my dad and I spotted saddle rings for sale on a gun show table. We looked at each other and we both knew they had to go on our Marlins.
My best friend also bought a .44 Magnum 1894. His dad had a Winchester John Wayne commemorative with the big loop lever. My friend Karl called me and asked if Marlin made a big loop lever (this was before Wild West Guns even existed). When I told him that they didn't, he decided right then to make one. It helped that his family business had a machine shop with a CAD/CAM and that he was an engineer.
Karl blueprinted his Marlin lever and his dad's Winchester's big loop lever. He overlayed the blueprints and created a work sheet for the internal functioning of a Marlin lever with the Winchester's big John Wayne loop. Then he turned it over to his CAD/CAM genius and put the proper steel into the machine.
Out came four Marlin big loop levers. Before he had them blued, he had his initials, my initials, and my dad's initials stamped on the bottom (he left the fourth lever blank). They all worked perfectly the minute we installed them in our rifles.
My dad passed away in 2004 and Karl bought my dad's Marlin .357 from my mom. It seemed right that Karl should retain it. I didn't need two .357's and I would never want to sell mine - it's the first gun I ever bought. I still have several other of my dad's guns so I'm happy Karl likes having my father's .357 Magnum.
I used my1894 .44 magnum in Cowboy Action Shooting for a couple years, but it only holds 9 .44 Special rounds. I bought a Marlin 1894 Octagon .44 Magnum (only made in 1973) to use in CAS since it holds 10 .44 Specials and is much more competitive.
I've had a few handguns engraved by Michael Gouse. (www.mtart.com) Each one has 75% coverage American Scroll. I think Gouse is a master of gun engraving artwork. I started thinking about saving my pennies to have my short Marlin engraved.
I just got it back from Gouse and I am (again) enthralled with how handsome it looks. The engraving just sets off the rest of the custom features. Since the barrel band is so close to the muzzle, I decided to have the band and the forearm retainer engraved instead of the end of the barrel. I really like the engraving on the top of the barrel where it meets the frame.
I also ordered a buttstock cover for it from www.levergunleather.com to hold five extra rounds. The quality of the cover is amazing. I actually ordered three covers. One for my engraved Marlin, one for my .35 caliber Lever Scout Rifle, and one for my buddy Karl (who made the big loop lever). I had a Mountain Lion tooled on the left side of my .44's cover. The .35's cover is plain on the left side and my buddy's has his last name initial of "Z" on the left side. Amazing quality work by levergunleather!
Here's the pics, let me know what you think!
-Steve
My Marlin Lever Scout Rifle:
I went to a gun show my senior year in college and bought a Marlin .357 1894 for $150 of my hard earned summer job cash. When I brought it home, my dad made it into a duplicate of his. He showed me how to refinish the stock and I still love the way Lin-Speed smells on a hot summer afternoon....
I loved my little Marlin so much that I couldn't pass up a gun show deal on an 1894 chambered in .44 Magnum. As soon as it was home, the wood was off and being sanded and slathered in Lin-Speed. It spent a few hours in my dad's basement vise with the sound of a hacksaw blade and files grinding away.
One day, my dad and I spotted saddle rings for sale on a gun show table. We looked at each other and we both knew they had to go on our Marlins.
My best friend also bought a .44 Magnum 1894. His dad had a Winchester John Wayne commemorative with the big loop lever. My friend Karl called me and asked if Marlin made a big loop lever (this was before Wild West Guns even existed). When I told him that they didn't, he decided right then to make one. It helped that his family business had a machine shop with a CAD/CAM and that he was an engineer.
Karl blueprinted his Marlin lever and his dad's Winchester's big loop lever. He overlayed the blueprints and created a work sheet for the internal functioning of a Marlin lever with the Winchester's big John Wayne loop. Then he turned it over to his CAD/CAM genius and put the proper steel into the machine.
Out came four Marlin big loop levers. Before he had them blued, he had his initials, my initials, and my dad's initials stamped on the bottom (he left the fourth lever blank). They all worked perfectly the minute we installed them in our rifles.
My dad passed away in 2004 and Karl bought my dad's Marlin .357 from my mom. It seemed right that Karl should retain it. I didn't need two .357's and I would never want to sell mine - it's the first gun I ever bought. I still have several other of my dad's guns so I'm happy Karl likes having my father's .357 Magnum.
I used my1894 .44 magnum in Cowboy Action Shooting for a couple years, but it only holds 9 .44 Special rounds. I bought a Marlin 1894 Octagon .44 Magnum (only made in 1973) to use in CAS since it holds 10 .44 Specials and is much more competitive.
I've had a few handguns engraved by Michael Gouse. (www.mtart.com) Each one has 75% coverage American Scroll. I think Gouse is a master of gun engraving artwork. I started thinking about saving my pennies to have my short Marlin engraved.
I just got it back from Gouse and I am (again) enthralled with how handsome it looks. The engraving just sets off the rest of the custom features. Since the barrel band is so close to the muzzle, I decided to have the band and the forearm retainer engraved instead of the end of the barrel. I really like the engraving on the top of the barrel where it meets the frame.
I also ordered a buttstock cover for it from www.levergunleather.com to hold five extra rounds. The quality of the cover is amazing. I actually ordered three covers. One for my engraved Marlin, one for my .35 caliber Lever Scout Rifle, and one for my buddy Karl (who made the big loop lever). I had a Mountain Lion tooled on the left side of my .44's cover. The .35's cover is plain on the left side and my buddy's has his last name initial of "Z" on the left side. Amazing quality work by levergunleather!
Here's the pics, let me know what you think!
-Steve
My Marlin Lever Scout Rifle:
