How'd I Do?

[murf205]

Went to a VERY small gun show today and it was full of all the black rifles, pink and orange pistols and all the over priced ammo you could afford along with phony jewelry. After about 45 minutes I had enough and was leaving when a guy walked in the front door with a lever action Marlin. I asked him if he cared if I looked at it while the police lady was putting a zip tie on it. He said sure and it was for trade or sale. It was a Glenfield 30 50yr anniversary gun in absolutely pristine condition except for where some previous owner had taken a small engraver and scratched his name and SS# on the receiver. Not very deep but there never the less. I asked him what his bottom line was and he said he had this and that in the gun and it was in great shape, bla bla bla. I asked him if he would take $400 for it and he said he would have to think about it. While he was thinking I laid 4 $100 bills on the police lady's table and he took it. It is not marked " Micro Groove" but it is and it is a '69 gun.Attachment 314247Attachment 314248Attachment 314249
So what to do? Make a 38-55 , 35-30, or just shoot it like it is ? Bore is perfect and I have a Skinner sight set for it (Thanks Andy).

[Martin Luber]

Nice! What is the original caliber?

[pworley1]

Nice. I wouldn't do anything to it until I was sure it needed something.

[BLAHUT]

I would just shoot it for now, then see if it needed to be changed ???

[murf205]

It's a 30-30. I think I will order a mold , maybe a 170 gr and pc a few to find out if all the bad press about micro groove rifling is true or not. I need some 30 cal gas checks to give this old gun a fair evaluation. Which brings another question. Is there any performance difference between AL and copper gas checks. All that I have ever used have been copper crimp on's and with good results but Sage checks have Aluminum in stock now.

[Mk42gunner]

So what to do? Make a 38-55 , 35-30, or just shoot it like it is ? Bore is perfect and I have a Skinner sight set for it

If you shoot it, it will forever stay a .30-30, not that that is a bad thing. Shooting a donor rifle is the number one cause of failure to convert to some other suitable caliber.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be very enthused about pouring more money into a rifle that had someone else's name and SSN on it. I have never understood this practice on anything that has a factory serial number.

My Model 30AW likes boolits sized 0.311".

Robert

[WRideout]

That's a very nice find. I never owned one but I like the idea of the side eject on the Marlin/Glenfield rifles. The old 30-30 is a deservedly popular cartridge still. If it were mine I would shoot it as is, then go from there.

Wayne

[Texas by God]

I had a Marlin 36G( the first model of Glenfield) and the first group I shot with it was 3/4” of an inch at 100 yards. It had swing over Weaver mounts and a 4x Valor scope.
That gun will hunt for sure.
But if the 30-30s accuracy and performance bore you;- it’ll make a dandy 38-55!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shawlerbrook]

You did very good ! If you already have a 30 30 then I would have JES make you a 356 Winchester.

[murf205]

If you shoot it, it will forever stay a .30-30, not that that is a bad thing. Shooting a donor rifle is the number one cause of failure to convert to some other suitable caliber.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be very enthused about pouring more money into a rifle that had someone else's name and SSN on it. I have never understood this practice on anything that has a factory serial number.

My Model 30AW likes boolits sized 0.311".

Robert

I wonder if a 170 gr Lee mold will drop a .311. I agree that having a gun with someone's ss# and name on it is less than ideal but other than this, the rifle is a solid 98% gun with a pristine bore. As far as shooting the donor, I've already made that mistake with my F N 30-06. I bought it for $125 to make a 35 Whelen but it shot 1" 100 yd groups with 3 different batches of ammo I had loaded previously. Yep, it's still a 30-06, for that very reason.

[Wag]

I LIKE it!!!

--Wag--

[murf205]

Thanks Wag. I figured a $400 336 Marlin in this shape will not be seen again except for rare instances, especially since looking at today's prices.

[stubshaft]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the 30/30. Good snag at a great price.

[FergusonTO35]

I have a Glenfield 30 and it's the most accurate lever action I've ever tried, it will keep up with most off the shelf bolt actions. I would keep it as is and figure out what load it likes. Mine is super accurate with 30 grains IMR 4064 and a Sierra 150. I want to get into .38-55 myself, but I think you'll discover that rifle is about perfect in .30-30. If you end up putting a scope on it, don't be afraid to spend on a good one because this rifle can take advantage of it. Mine wears a Leupold VX-3 1-5x20.

[murf205]

"Mine wears a Leupold VX-3 1-5x20."
That's just about the perfect scope for your rifle. Huge scopes on a lever gun look as out of place as I would have at King Charles coronation! A 4x Leupold compact is a good looking choice but a used one is scarce and pricey. I an going to put a Skinner brass trimmed peep and brass front blade on this one to facilitate carrying it with my hand around the receiver.

[fordwannabe]

If you cast and then PC the PC will let you size it to .311. What to do what to do I am not a good one to ask as I had a gun rebored in 38-55 I have a 35/30-30 and several 30-30 soooo my answer would be ONE OF EACH, Ok you need another gun or two!

[murf205]

Sizing to .311 will mean as dropped and pc'd I am thinking if I use a Lee .309 170 gr which is what I will probably try first. My only concern is that Lee's are famous for dropping a bit small although I have not had this problem with hand gun molds from Lee. I have a Lyman GC seating tool so I shouldn't have to run the boolit through my sizer. All I have read and members here have told me, is that Micro Groove Marlins like 'em fat and gas checked. If pc'd larger than .311 I might have to get a Lee push through sizer.

[snowwolfe]

Did you verify he was the actual person whose name and social security number was engraved on the gun?

[koger]

I would consider taking the info off of the reciever and polish and rust blue it, or eve have it hot blued. I have done for several customers over the years, that bought guns off of estate auctions, and the owner who had passed away, had etched his name and soc sec# on shotguns and rifles. I used a fine grit sanding belt when it would work, then buffed them down starting with 180, 240, 400 and 550 grit before hot bluing. They looked better than new. Also, you could get the reciever cleaned off by drawfiling it with wet/dry sandpaper of a fine grit, then spray it with duracoat gun blue finish. Looks good and protects the metal great. Just some possibilities.

[murf205]

The man I bought it from said he had researched the mans name and said he was dead. His story. I will look in the obits for this man but I'm not going to do any cosmetics until I shoot it. Just because it is a very clean rifle doesn't mean it is a shooter. the proof will be at the bench. The engraving looks very shallow and would not take a ton of draw filing to fix but not by me for sure. It doesn't take much to remove the well defined edge of the Marlin receiver.