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Marlin 336 Conversion

10K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  Big Shrek 
#1 ·
Inherited a 70s vintage Marlin 336 in .30-30. Have been considering converting it to a straight pistol-grip. I am not a huge fan of pistol grip stocks on a lever gun. Has anyone here done a similar conversion?

The main stumbling block seems to be the trigger plate. I've read that Marlin does not sell that component to anyone, and Numrich does not have a straight trigger plate in stock. My thought is to buy a straight grip stock, straight finger lever, and transcribe the excess portion of the curved trigger plate and mill/file it down. Any thoughts or ideas from anyone?
 
#3 ·
Thanks, JLA, but I've already checked into Nunrich. No dice on those parts there. At least not the trigger plate for a 336. The finger lever and the stock are an easy find.

An off-the-wall question..... Is the trigger plate for an OLD STYLE 1895 the same size as the 336? I'm not into Marlin rifles, so I don't know if there is any difference in specifications for that part. Numrich has that part listed. Thanks again - Jim
 
#4 ·
They were marketed as Texans and from what I have read only made twice. I have only ever seen one and I bought it a few months back. It has shorter barrel than normal 336s.

Like you I like the straight grip stocks.
 
#6 ·
The trigger plates are the same length and size for the 1895 and the 336. Only difference being the 1895s receiver has a different cartridge lifter and wider ejection port for the .45/70 ctg. Youll need the trigger plate, buttstock and finger lever for the 1895 to convert your 336 to straight stock.
 
#7 ·
I've done that conversion several times; and it's an easy commonsense conversion. All you need is a straight gripped butt stock, lever, and trigger plate for a straight gripped Marlin as was noted above; and all Marlin 336 type frames are the same frame regardless of cartridge chambering (ejection ports, bolt faces, and lifters vary by cartridge chambering). This may not be permitted, but I found most of my parts on eBay and *********; I've never used Numrich, or any of the parts suppliers. Another course of action would be to join Marlin Owners (marlinowners.com); make 25 posts, then advertise that you need those parts, or ask if anyone is willing to trade his straight gripped stock parts for your pistol grip parts. There's even a thread there where one member illustrates how he modified his pistol grip parts and used those modified parts to convert his Marlin to straight grip. Straight gripped Marlins are not rare; and none are marked "Texan" on the barrel, although some models may include a "T" in the model stamp. Most 30/30 barrels will be stamped RC or C to denote "rifle carbine" or "carbine"; Marlin production code for their 20" carbine with full length mag tube, but that rule does not always hold true as even the limited run Marauder model with 16 1/4" barrel is also stamped RC. But Marlin also made straight gripped lever guns under trade names; and two that come to mind would be the Glenfield 30GT and the K-Mart model 30TK. The straight gripped stocks, levers, and trigger plates from Marlin's straight gripped big bore models in 444, 45/70, and 450 Marlin will also interchange; but keep in mind that the 45/70 and 450 Marlin levers have been modified to accommodate those wider cartridge cases. One final thing to consider, if you use a lever from another gun be sure to have a competent gunsmith check to make sure the headspace is correct afterwards when the gun closed on a round; as each lever was factory fitted to the bolt of that gun to insure correct head space (which is why Marlin doesn't sell levers to private individuals).
 
#9 ·
If you get a Curio and Relic FFL-03, you are then a Federal Firearms Licensee...
which means that many parts houses will then sell you "Gunsmith Only Parts".
Well worth the $30 ;)
 
#10 ·
True.. Except the vast majority of them have currently put all their parts on "restricted" list requiring you to send your gun in for repair.
 
#11 ·
True.. Except the vast majority of them have currently put all their parts on "restricted" list requiring you to send your gun in for repair.
cough cough used parts houses cough cough....

Sadly, now that Marlin's moved & they dumped their old parts, I can't just call in and get the stuff I used to get...
there was definitely a benefit to being able to call specific people and purchase items that weren't available to everyone...
 
#12 ·
I have completed the project 98%. Just have to apply a hand rubbed oil finish to the stock and touch up blueing here and there. It was much easier to do then I had originally thought, and only ended up spending a little over $50 to do it. I checked and measured everything, but for safety I will have the headspace checked before I call it final.

The only part I ended up buying from the site that gets bleeped out when it is mentioned here was the stainless steel straight lever (all demensions matched perfectly). I used a straight edge to draw out the lines for the straight stock, and with my ordinary shop tools accomplished that in an hour or so. I removed the lower portion (the curved part) of the triggerplate with VERY slow and cautious use of my bench grinder - being sure not to heat the metal - with many stops to allow cooling of the metal back to room temp. My primary concerns were 1.) not to over heat the metal so as to retain it's strength, and 2.) to keep more than sufficient metal thickness for strength and support contact surface under recoil, and finally 3.) not to alter or remove the serial number that is found there. Files and sandpaper were the only other tools required.

I really like how it looks now. I got the rifle as a 'freebee' and it will be a barn gun, but it really does not look like a chop-job. I will post pictures when I figure out how to do it. Thanks to all of you for your help and advice! Jim
 
#16 ·
Great work!

As far as this place bleeping out site names, that's why other sites get more time from a lot of folks...
Rimfire Central & Gun and Game get tons more posts per day on modern current MFR's...and no bleeping headaches.
However, TFF is Where To Go when it comes to Iver Johnson, H&R, and other defunct manufacturers...
 
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