Marlin Lever Gun Help

[SES50]

So, to start out this is not a long range rifle discussion. What I want to build is a Marlin Lever Action Rifle in Stainless Steel with a 20" barrel in 44Mag with a pistol grip stock.

Currently this is not made that I can find anywhere, that is why I am saying I want to build it. But, I am trying to determine which marlin lever gun to start with.

From talking to Marlin:
If I start with an 1894 Stainless Steel Rifle in 44Mag that comes with a straight stock I can not change it over to a pistol grip stock because the recievers are different. It would be great if someone could confirm this, but that tells me I have to start with a reciver that already has a pistol grip stock.

Which then takes me to the 444XLR rifle in Stainless Steel. I know that the 444 Marlin Cartridge is just a longer 44Mag so that tells me the bolt face will handle the 44Mag. If I were to get a 444XLR could I just rebarrel it and have a reliable firearm. What I am conserned about here is feeding. Will the longer action feed the short 44Mag cartridge ok.

Anyone having indepth experience with these rifles that could help would be great.

Thanks
SES50

 

[bcp]

Random assortment of comments:

A pistol grip stock will fit a straight grip receiver, but with a gap on the bottom. The gap could be filled with epoxy. A gunsmith or welder could modify the lever to a matching curve.

Marlin made the 336 in 44 Magnum before they re-introduced the Model 1894. You could use or copy those internal parts.

The 444 is not just a longer 44 magnum. The 44 is straight cased, the 444 is mildly tapered, with a larger head, though the rims are the same, and both approximately the same as the 30-30 rim. Diagrams at:
page8d

Bruce

 

[SES50]

Thanks for the info.

So the question is will the 444 load 44mag reliably? If so, then all I need to do is rebarrel the rifle, correct?

Thanks
SES50

 

[bcp]

At a minimum the carrier will have to be modified, or 1 1/2 44 Magnum cartridges will enter the action causing a jam.

http://www.gunuts.com/images/40.jpg

Found another description showing the 336 44 Magnum parts. The carrier and ejector are very different.

1967 336 44 mag

Bruce

 

[msalm]

I just modified a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. Took it all apart and rechambered to 356 Win. The feeding lever needed modification (opening up a bit) to feed the longer round, still have to modify the feed gate a tad as loaded rounds feed into the magazine stiffly, but I'm pretty close to whipping it. For your 44 Mag conversion you would need to add metal to the feed lever to only allow one round into the action body for feeding vs. the 1 1/2 as mentioned.

Easier thing to do would look at getting the 1894 in 44 Mag, and just doing the tang and lever work to fit the pistol grip stock to the existing gun. I think that would be FAR cheaper than fitting a new barrel or cutting the square threads and duplicating the tenon on the new stub when setting back the existing 444 Marlin.

I want to pick up one of those 1894's in 44 Mag myself as a future project. That one will get rebarreled to 475 Linebaugh to match my revolver ammo... THAT would be a handy brush gun/bear thumper....425gr hardcast out of a 20" barrel vs 6" on the wheelgun...