Marlin rebarrel

[Frank46]

I have a buddy that has a 444marlin and the bbl is sad to say horrible. Lotta rust and pitting. He asked if it was possible to get rebarrelled to 30-30. I said I didn't know. Then why the 30-30?. His reply was if he kept the same size bbl then it would be a heavy barrelled 30-30. Since both cartridges are similar in length I'm guessing here that this may be doable. But if anyone has any comments then I'd like to hear them. I have a 444ss and the micro groove rifling in the bbl looks different than that of either my marlins in 357 or 44 mag. To me it looks like mini micro groove, the other marlins have shallow square rifling and are not the ballard
type. Has anyone sent back one of their marlins to have a ballard rifling bbl put on by marlin?. Thanks Frank

[BABore]

I had my 450 GG rebarreled a few months ago. Wnet from a ported to a non-ported in the same caliber. Cost was $113.00.

I'm guessing, on your 444 to 30'30 conversion, but I would think that you would also have to replace the carrier and maybe the finger lever. Marlin doesn't have a custom shop so you would be getting one of their standard 336 30'30 barrels. I'm not aware of them offering a heavy barrel in 30'30. You may be able to get an octagon cowboy bbl, but not sure. The only other option is a custom barrel and that's likely to cost upwards of $500-$600. Lever action barrels are quite costly due to all of the extra dovetails to cut. I was told that the type of barrel threads, Marlin uses, are a PITA to do right too.

[Blackwater]

I can't remember specs or anything, but aren't there some .30 cal. wildcats based on the .444 case? That seems to be the easiest/best route, since all you'd have to change out, likely as not, would be the barrel. Changing out all the other parts would be kinda' spendy, and it'd probably be better to send back to Marlin for a rebarrel in .444, then sell, and buy a .30/30. Then he wouldn't have that heavy barrel he wants, though.

Well, I just got spunky and retrieved my Hornady manual, and the .30/30 had a case head dia. of .506" while the .444 goes .514, according to the manual. Not much difference there. Both rims are listed at .063", so no difference there, even theoretically.

Hmmm. Maybe it IS doable? You might want to give Marlin a call at 800-544-8892. Don't expect tacit "permission" for this kind of thing, since the lawyers get involved in any matter concerning altering their guns from the original configuration, but they MAY (?) advise you whether a lifter for the .30/30 will fit or not. Don't know whose barrels you're looking at, but you also may want to check out Green Mountain barrels. I have a good idea they'll have a very suitable barrel, or at least one that'll be easily modified to his wants and desires, and they have octagonals, too, which would really make it a nice looker. Don't have a link to their site, but you can google them up quick.

[versifier]

www.gmriflebarrel.com

[Frank46]

BaBore, marlin uses the old style square threads. And you have to fart around when doing the breech end of the bbl as it requires an extension (not sure if thats the correct word) I think on the bottom. I saw an article about rebarrelling marlins and there's a lot of extra work that has to be done. There is a 30 cal based on the 444 marlin case. You can size down the 444 case in a 308win die and get a rimmed 30 cal ctg. But no way, shape or form could you load it to 308 pressures except only when using cast boolits and even then I'd err on the low side. Thanks, Frank

[Doughty]

Frank 46

Do you recall where you saw the article on re-barreling Marlins?

I'm thinking .30-40 Krag.

[woody1]

Frank 46

Do you recall where you saw the article on re-barreling Marlins?

I'm thinking .30-40 Krag.

Old Vic, The Krag has a much larger head (.545") and is too long for the Marlin action unless you loaded very short. Regards, Woody

[Four Fingers of Death]

Why don't you ring Marlin and see if they will convert it? the receivers are the same, they would probably replace any necessary parts.

When you find out how much it is going to cost, check out what you will get for a trade, you might find it not much dearer and a whole lot quicker, plus you have a brand new rifle that only you has ever shot.

I owuld probably get marlin to rebarrel it to 444 or 450 or 45/70 and buy a 30/30 as well, but I'm a cot case when it comes to spending money on guns, ddon't listen to me, you'll end up poor.

:)

Mick

[Frank46]

Old Vic, was in the cba newsletter some years back, rebarrelled to a cast boolit cargtridge using a springfield bbl, took off all the junk forward of the receiver and put on a single shot rifle type forearm. You may want to look at "accirizing the factory rifle" by M.L.Mcpherson. He goes into a lot of depth in working with the marlins.

Mic, you are like me champagne taste and a beer pocketbook. Well at least it keeps us off the streets. Frank

[Hackleback]

375 JDJ sounds sexy to me in a lever gun (444 necked to 375). You can even get factory ammo. Might want to check to see what presure these are loaded to since the JDJ line is for single shots such ad the Thompson Contender. There is an entire line of JDJ chamberings you might want to check out, about half are based on the 444.

Just my 2 cents

[anachronism]

The .375 JDJ is too long for a lever action. It can be done, but it will be expensive, because other things need to be changed as well.

[anachronism]

Consider this option http://www.bellmtcs.com/BellmTriad/308bellmdata.htm

[Doughty]

Woody1

That maybe.....however, I borrowed a friends Marlin .45-70. Filled the magazine with .30-40s loaded with the 31141. Cycled them through the action with no problems. I'm inclined to think it could be made to work.

Frank46

Thanks for the pointers. I'll look there.

[Frank46]

Checked out the bellum website. This isn't new, some years ago there was an article similar to the 308/444 case. I believe it was a 35 rem reworked to 357?win. And have heard of the 308/444 conversion being done on marlins, just can't remember where. Its not hard to form 308 rimmed cases from 444 brass. I've tried it just to see if it would work. It did. Thanks, Frank

[Four Fingers of Death]

I had a look at it. Am I imagining it or is the ballistics not much better that a 30/30. I suppose you would improve with a 20" Bbl, but they didn't look overly impressive. I'm too tired to go down to the garage and get my manuals out. Maybe tomorrow.

[StarMetal]

On the 30-40 Krag a friend of mine and I were just joking around at work one day renaming cartridges. We renamed the 30-40 Krag the 30-30 magnum, cause that's what it seemed to us.

Joe

[Frank46]

Mick, nope you got it right. The numbers aren't all that much faster if at all from the good ole 30-30. Frank

[rockrat]

You could rebarrel to 307win I would imagine. Or a 356win if you want a larger caliber. Everybody is right, the barrel work is a PITA. You might find a 24" 30-30 barrel and have it fitted , then rechambered to the 307 or possibly the 30-30AI. I suspect that Marlin won't change calibers, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[D.Mack]

Just curious, But have you cleaned it and tried to shoot it, you might be suprised, it may not be a tack driver but a 444 doesnt need to be. You would probably be better off selling it (with an explanation ) and buying what you want .

[Frank46]

D.Mack, yes cleaning was done.we used all the chemicals at our disposal and it seems to have gotten a lotta rust and other junk out. But ran out of light. Plan to go back and try my auto body compound routine and do some polishing. Looks shootable. This was bought used. Frank

[Maven]

Frank46, The autobody compound route will work, but is time consuming. Have you considered taking hard CB's and covering them with something like Pearl Drops toothpaste or a slurry of Comet cleanser and ATF ( Roll either/both bet. 2 pcs. of flat steel first.) and then firing them with a very light charge of Bullseye? Fine lapping compound is even better if you have it on hand.

[Frank46]

Maven, I have lapping compounds fron 220 to 1000. Which grit grade would you suggest?. Your right about the auto body compounds taking a lot of time. But its at least predicable.
Frank

[Maven]

Frank, I'd recommend the finer compounds first; i.e., finer than #250. I'm thinking you should shoot no more than 10, clean & examine the bore, repeat if necessary. The problem is removing too much metal if you use the coarsest compounds first.* On the other hand, if this is too slow, try something coarser, but go slow (maybe 5-7 rounds) and save the finest for a final polish.

Btw, I used whatever lap LBT/Veral Smith was selling years ago to lap a new bbl. that he said was larger at the muzzle than the breach (bad for CB's). I used perhaps 50 CB's for this, but I was trying to enlarge the throat. Also, be prepared to remove lead from the bore since lapping compund isn't a good bullet lube. (Don't ask how I know this.)

*This is anecdotal, but I've read about people ruining bores by using the lapping kits in a slapdash manner.

[Rrusse11]

Frank,
Simplest thing to do is buy a new barrel from Numrich's, for $44 you can't go to far wrong,
http://www.e-gunparts.com/productschem.asp?chrMasterModel=082Zz444S (http://www.e-gunparts.com/productschem.asp?chrMasterModel+082Zz444S)

Cheers,
R*2
Ps. Might have to copy and paste above into ur browser, my Mozilla don't want to "link", for whatever reason. Well worth digging around IMHO, lots of Marlin barrels available for the 336 receiver.