[hunter718]

Has anyone done this mod to their 1894? I have a 1894CB in 357 that I would like to convert over to pistol grip for silhouette shooting. Sure would appreciate some pictures also. Thanks in advance.

JB-I slipped up there on my model #'s. I changed it to 1894CB

 

[JBledsoe]

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Wait a minute, are we talking 1894 or 336? Not interchangeable.

 

[Lucky1]

If you are talking about switching a 1894c from a straight to a pistol grip, it can't be done....not unless you find someone who has parts from a 44mag PG Marlin and get their parts from them; stock, lever, receiver plate etc... There are a couple of threads (at least), on this site where it was recently discussed. I had wanted this type of conversion myself,...even called the factory, but found out that the parts can't be bought directly. There is a new model 357 coming out this year with a PG stock configuration, but it isn't set up for the kind of shooting you mentioned.

 

[AINT NO FISH]

Any of you guys consider making your own stocks? Walnut is relatively cheap and you could use a template made off of a 336 or even a 39A. to construct, all you really need is a jig saw, drawknife or spokeshave, rasp and smooth files, some sandpaper to getthe shape down and a router to do the inletling for the tangs. Sounds easy huh? It's not as hard as you might think. Give it a try, what's to lose?
Tru Oil is ok for a no pore smooth gloss finish (steel wool will make sort of satin) tung oil is slower but a little more natural.
I thought all of us had little shops that we puttered in in the winter cold months, so move that reloading press off the bench and make a stock!

 

[gyrhed]

It can be done and any REAL gunsmith can so it. Its just you will pay as much for them to convert your gun as you could probably buy a 44 MG PG or 41 MG FG. I recently bought a PG for less than $450 and made the conversion myself. Then took the straight grip parts and put them on the 44MAG and made it an Xmas present to my son. After looking at teh passt involved I could have made the conversion myself but I am pretty handy with such things. The inletting of the PG and SG stocks is icdentical. There is simply a larger lug on the grip tang on the PG. There are several ways to address that and any decent machinist or even welder could figure out a way to alter the grip tang. The lever is eveneasier. people build enlarged levers all the time, doesn take much more ability to add a curve to the lever.

But still the cheapest way is to buy the FG or PG 1894s. Once you are finished you will have an 1894 with a straight grip left over that you can keep or sell to offset costs. Even if you pay $800 for and FG or PG and only sellthe leftover gun for $300 you will probaly still come out ahead of any gunsmithing costs for the conversion.

 

[gyrhed]

Any of you guys consider making your own stocks? Walnut is relatively cheap and you could use a template made off of a 336 or even a 39A. to construct, all you really need is a jig saw, drawknife or spokeshave, rasp and smooth files, some sandpaper to getthe shape down and a router to do the inletling for the tangs. Sounds easy huh? It's not as hard as you might think. Give it a try, what's to lose?
Tru Oil is ok for a no pore smooth gloss finish (steel wool will make sort of satin) tung oil is slower but a little more natural.
I thought all of us had little shops that we puttered in in the winter cold months, so move that reloading press off the bench and make a stock!

The stock is the easy part of the conversion. PG stock arer availible from a number of places, I believe even marlin.

 

[44-40 Willy]

It's the lower tang and lever where the trouble starts.

 

[hunter718]

Thanks for the replys so far.
Can the lower tang be bent for the PG? or are we running into some other problem there. I found those parts at Numrich. And found some PG stocks. Also know where there is another lever.

I would like to keep all the original parts off my CB and buy other parts for the conversion.

 

[Eli Chaps]

Thanks for the replys so far.
Can the lower tang be bent for the PG? or are we running into some other problem there. I found those parts at Numrich. And found some PG stocks. Also know where there is another lever.

I would like to keep all the original parts off my CB and buy other parts for the conversion.

The lower tang on a PG trigger plate is not bent. The difference between it and an SG plate is the thickness of the tang. The "internal" plane of the tang if you will, is the same.

 

[JBledsoe]

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Almost any conversion is possible.....................If you have enough money.

 

[hunter718]

Yup!! Theres a 41 Mag on GB right now at $900 with 2 days to go. Can't afford that.

 

[hunter718]

gyrhed-Thank you for the pix. I am thinking your way may be the best way for me to go about this. I don't have a problem with another Marlin laying around here anyhow. ;D

Lucky1-What is the PG 357 coming out? Maybe it can be bought more reasonable than a FG.

"The inletting of the PG and SG stocks is identical"

Eric & gyrhed-I have reread your replys and it is starting to sink in now that the tang isn't curved but just thicker.

The way my rifle is now if I just put a PG stock on it I would have a pretty good gap where your fingers wood grip the stock. Right?? If so, this could be filled with something(that is removable) for comforts sake. Then I would have "Muleman" make a lever to fit?? Does this sound right or do I have to reread somemore.

 

[Lucky1]

I'm not sure when the new 1894c is coming out...I've only seen pictures of it from this years Shot Show. I am not a gunsmith, but I think you are missing a couple of variables on the PG project as far as what must be done to make it work.

 

[gyrhed]

The tang is thicker but its not like it sounds. I have looked at that tang for hours deciding how to address it if I did it my self.

I bought my CB in December of 2009 and imediately started looking for a PG or an FG. I found it in Nov 2010 by complete accident. I was goofing off at work and typed in marlin 1894 for sale. The top of the list on google was a used PG for sale at buds gunshop.com for about $450 advertised as 90%. No picture nothing else. I figured WOW not gonna find one cheaper than that and bought it. Turns out it had just been listed like 20 minutes before and thats why a picture wasn't posted. It arrived and the sight was missing as well as it was obvious someone had coated all of the metal with some kind of paint varnish or linseed oil. I send them pictures they knocked off $50 and a few hours of scrubbing with laquer thinner I had a nearly 99% PG. By the looks of the internals if it was fired it wasn't fired much.


Sorry I digressed. In that 11 months I would take the CB apart and stare at it from time to time trying to figure out the best way to address the grip tang. You could bend it to match and then weld a block on the end to match the original sposition of the threaded end, but thats pretty tricky and a little hard to do, becuse the threads and flat part of the new block have to be in the right place so a jig would have to be made to make everthing line up.

The other way is very simple but extremly time consuming. You could start with a piece of bar stock the same width as the grip tang and then just cut and grind and overlay until it matched the PG stock. It could even be something as simple as an 1/8" strap bent to fit the cuve and then a small spacer welded between it and the SG tang. Not a lot of reason there to have extreme strenght. You can actually bolt a PG stock in the straight grip tang so it would just be a matter of cutting and then deciding wether it was good and finshed. Then it would be simple to tack weld it to the existing grip and only a little piece of teh weld would need to be cleand and poshished up on the front before bluing.

 

[gyrhed]

I am sorry I type so much about this conversion but I love the way the gun feels with the PG. I understand all of you straight grip guys and do not care if you like PGs of SGs to each his own. But I took the original bulky PG stock and thinned it, cut back the comb to make it look more CB and also cut between 1/2" and 3/4" off the base of the pistol grip itself so that there wasn't any extra wood hanging down there to get in the way.

Everyone of my buddies that has a SG 94 has held it and they all agree they like the way it soulders much better than the SG. I think it stems from the way the tndons ad such are aligned in your forearm as to which you prefer. In college I took a weight lifting course and we had to meet certial requirements as a percentage of body weight to pass. You had to curl 50% of you body weight 10 times. well I was 6'-4" tall and all of 175 pounds then and there was no way it was happening, and I was working hard at it. I had too much pain in my forearms. The professor gave me one of the bent bars to use. Apparently something like 20% of the population need to use the bent bar. I wonder if that had anything to do with liking the PG?

One of them even switched his CB into my case and took my PGCB and put it in his. He figured if I got home and found his gun I would convert it for him. Luckily I stoped about half way between camp and teh front gat to shoot a coyote and pulled out his rifle. I went back and got mine. I offered to take his with me but he likes shootin it oo much to go without it. He is looking for a cheap PG or FG as well.


In fact there seems to be a lot of people interested in this conversion.

 

[gonzo]

I swapped trigger plates with a forum member Goat (a great guy) and with a few Numrich parts completed a ''1894CBP''

 

[hunter718]

gonzo-Thats a great looking rifle. Thats the exact stock I would like to have for my CB. Guys thanka again for the replys.

 

[hunter718]

All-Thanks for the replys and pix. I put a ad in our classifieds to buy a 1894PG or I would trade my straight grip parts for pistol grip parts. If anyone sees what I am "needing" give me a holler. Thanks in advance. hunter

 

[gyrhed]

All-Thanks for the replys and pix. I put a ad in our classifieds to buy a 1894PG or I would trade my straight grip parts for pistol grip parts. If anyone sees what I am "needing" give me a holler. Thanks in advance. hunter

You will not be the only one looking. I had a guy lined up to swap parts and I guess he got to talking to his buddies about how rare PGs and FGs are and he changed his mind. Most people with PGs and FGs want to keep them that way. There are far more people looking for PG parts than SG parts. Any body can go out and buy a SG rifle, the only people that would swap with you are people that bought a PG or an FG then decided they didn't like the grip and were too silly to realize they could sell the PG or FG and buy a SG and make a profit to boot.

If you really ant this and want it before hell freezes over you will most likely have to buy a PG or FG.

Just trying to keep it real, I went that route and it took 11 months then I found a deal on a PG that I couldn't pass up.

Good Luck

 

[eaglesnest]

I think I'd have to want it pretty bad... :