Welcome to Marlin Owners.
Over the years I've seen a couple of old 32-20s and a 44-40 that the owners thought had shot out barrels but were badly fowled and when cleaned turned out to be shooters. Just a thought.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

Welcome roadrunner. First, I'll second what Oz said. Scrub the heck out of that barrel, and use some bore polish to boot. I like KG Industries' bore polish. Works great and easier to use than JB paste. If the rifling still looks good, but it still won't shoot, try some oversize cast boolits for good measure.

As far as the conversion goes, the tabs on the bolt face can be opened enough to accept the .357 head, but you will have some brass hanging over the face, unsupported. Probably not much of an issue, but there are other things to consider as well. You'll need a deft touch in tuning the extractor for sure. Possibly a different carrier, but I'd have to check.

If it were me, and I had to replace the barrel, I'd probably stick to the same family of cartridges and go with a .218 Bee or .25-20. Or do something really exotic, like a short stroke .38 Super!

AD

 

Another alternative, since it's been refinished and has no collector value, is to reline it. You could do any of the .32-20 headed cases besides .32-20, .218 Bee or .25-20 would work. There are guys out there that do this work if you're not tooled up for it.

Stan S.

 

Thanks for all the response. I'm an old milsaper so I'm real familiar with poor bores and when I say this bore is gone it is really gone. Thanks for the .38 super idea. I like the .38 super and have a Colt commnader in it. It has the same rim diameter as the .32-20 but I think I would have to tweak the loading platform (lifter) some. It would be a pretty hot round in a rifle. I have a Spanish Destroyer carbine I openned the bolt face for the super and it is a real shooter. I have a Savage 219 in a .25-20 improved and a Savage 23B in .25-20 so if I reline it won't be .32-20 or .25-20. Also, a wild one might be the 7.62 Tokaver. That would be a real screamer and one could reline to a true .308 bore. Hmmm kind of interesting. I have a lathe so the possibilities are there. It is a pity the bore is so bad as the rifle is in absolutly excellent plus condition. Even the screw slots are in perfect condition. I only paid $200.00 for it but it is in such good condition I don't want to do anything that will destroy the beauty of it. If i can make up my mind I will let you know what I decide. Again, thanks for all your responses.

 

Yeah, ya know, I threw out the .38 super idea on a whim, mainly because of the shared case head diameter. But I'm working on a short stroke .45 auto conversion for a customer, and it's so dang cool that the .38 super might be pretty appealing too. I'll warn you, the conversion is work, but anything worth having is.

 

Welcome aboard, and show us pictures! AC

 

Welcome,

Post some pics of that baby when your done!

 

The gent who commissioned the .45 auto conversion is a regular here on MOF. I'm sure he'll be weighing in when he gets it in hand.

AD

 

I ain't the Gent who commissioned the .45 auto conversion, but below is a video of the Cowboy .45 Special modification on the 1894.

The Cowboy .45 Special (C45S) is a cutdown sized .45 Colt case the same size as the .45 ACP, except it has a rim. Starline actually makes the brass for a proprietary owner and its MUCH better than cutting down your .45 Colt brass.

The rifle was originally a longer barrel Cowboy Limited in .45 Colt. Its is now a 16.25" Octagon barrel that will hold 11 of the C45S rounds in the mag tube. PLUS, it being a Marlin, I can load up some 'special' loads in this short brass equal to the .45 SUPER using Power Pistol powder and 185 Speer Gold Dot HP. Its a dandy, for sure.

Hope you enjoy. Its referred to the Widdermajik among Cowboy Action Shooters.

..........Widder

 

Welcome to the forum. You must post picture.
I too have a love affair with the .32-20. I have a Marlin 94 in the caliber and a Colt Army Special (1914). Were it me, I would contact a fellow in Washington state named John Taylor who does excellent relines at a reasonable price. He did an 1895 Winchester .30-40 for me which really shoots patched lead bullets and is a real killing machine. Quick turn around too.

 

Rangerpiontpresicion: regarding your .45ACP conversion. I have an article by Robert J. Snapp from the July 1983 American Rifleman on exactly the conversion you are working on using a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag. You probably already know about that. I also have an article on converting a Winchester 1894 to a takedown with drawings from a December 1979 American Rifleman by a Maryland gunsmith Roland Jorgensen. I have thought about converting my Marlin 1894 to a takedown. A Marlin conversion shouldn't be much different than the Winchester conversion. With a 16" barrel it would be a really handy takedown carbine.
I also have a very early 1893 rifle in .32-40 with octagon barrel but it is mostly all original or at least I think so but the barrel is 25" long. The aging look all from the same time period so I 'm not sure if the barrel was cutdown or not. I'm fairly sure it is an early one as it doesn't have the Model 1893 on the upper tang. Mostly all patina with nice wood and very dark pitted grooves with strong lands. Don't know if I should monkey with it or not. Wow! Talk about long winded!!!

 

Salute to you Brian for your work on the Marlin. And of course, another Salute to Rangerpoint for the work he is doing also.

Thanks for the 800X tip. I've never tried it.

The loads being used in the video ARE NOT my hot stuff. They were some lightly loaded stuff I had and wanted to shootup just to empty out the brass.

I hope to chronograph my Power Pistol loads this spring/summer. I expect some good results from those hot loads.

I'll have to look closer for some 800X at the local shop but as of late (past couple years), the poder options have been alittle thin, if you know what I mean. And most of my 'fun money' has been going for Cowboy Action reloading supplies.

Best regards,


..........Widder

 

Beware with the 800x it is fairly large. Some can get it to meter well others not at all. It seems the Uniflow meters it best. I trickle it. I got lucky with a shop i just found with powder. They had probably 50 or 60 kinds of powder with 10 or so pistol powders. I was in heaven!

 

Widder, I love watching you cowboys run a slicked up lever gun. I only wish I was that skilled. Roadrunner, I'm certainly aware that folks have done the .45 auto conversion before, but I haven't read much detail. Just worked it out for myself. Probably not too many ways to skin that cat, so my conversion may not differ much from previous, but I like applying myself. Haven't done a takedown conversion yet. Worked out the details in my head, but it's been low on the priority list. The more R&D we do, the longer the list grows.

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