MachIVshooter
Member
Last month, while recovering from hernia surgery, I was pretty bored and spent some time perusing Gunbroker. I've watched auctions on vintage Marlins in .25-20 before, but they usually go higher than I'm willing to pay. Well, this time I lucked out, was able to score this really nice little model 1894 .25-20 that was made in 1903 for $500. I was thrilled, this has been on my short list for years, just not at $800+ even for total beaters. No shortage of patina and stock dings on it, but that's part of the appeal for me; this rifle has been used, probably put dinner on the table many, many nights before someone set it down to pick up a 1903 Springfield and go fight the Germans the first time around. It likely continued to feed a family through the Great Depression until it was perhaps again stuffed in the closet while it's owner carried an M1 Garand through the battlefields of Europe or the South Pacific. Lord knows how many children were taught to shoot and hunt with this Beautiful, functional piece of history.
At any rate, I was a little hesitant to do this, don't especially like modifying such classics, even if they're not particularly valuable. But it's not a pristine gun, and I did the job in such a way that it really doesn't detract from the rifle's aesthetics or originality.
I absolutely did not want to cut back magazine and turn threads where there used to be octagon profile. Nope. Yuck! With the amount of meat on the .25 caliber barrel, another solution was perfectly viable. I chose to ream the bore back .500" and thread the barrel internally. I would like to have gone a little bigger, but the dovetailed piece for the magazine screw precluded stepping up to 7/16" or 1/2" thread size. So I did the internal threads 3/8-28 and made a 4150 chromoly adapter
Did have to square the muzzle, but it didn't take a lot.
The adapter has an internal 5/16" hex for removing/installing. Milled, not broached, hence the radiused corners
It looks a little wrong, but sounds so much more right!
And with the adapter removed, one would have to look real close at the muzzle from the front to know there was an alteration
.25-20 is, of course, still a pretty zippy little cartridge, around 1,600 FPS with 86 gr. bullets, so sonic crack means it's not exactly a mouse fart, but sound is similar to suppressed .22 Hornet. I can probably drop the muzzle report a little with a can geared toward small volume cartridges, as my .26 caliber Phantom 8 is meant for full power rounds burning 40-60 gr powder charges. I think this neat little rifle also deserves a vintage looking blued steel suppressor with some octagon shaped end caps to match the barrel profile!
At any rate, I was a little hesitant to do this, don't especially like modifying such classics, even if they're not particularly valuable. But it's not a pristine gun, and I did the job in such a way that it really doesn't detract from the rifle's aesthetics or originality.
I absolutely did not want to cut back magazine and turn threads where there used to be octagon profile. Nope. Yuck! With the amount of meat on the .25 caliber barrel, another solution was perfectly viable. I chose to ream the bore back .500" and thread the barrel internally. I would like to have gone a little bigger, but the dovetailed piece for the magazine screw precluded stepping up to 7/16" or 1/2" thread size. So I did the internal threads 3/8-28 and made a 4150 chromoly adapter
Did have to square the muzzle, but it didn't take a lot.
The adapter has an internal 5/16" hex for removing/installing. Milled, not broached, hence the radiused corners
It looks a little wrong, but sounds so much more right!
And with the adapter removed, one would have to look real close at the muzzle from the front to know there was an alteration
.25-20 is, of course, still a pretty zippy little cartridge, around 1,600 FPS with 86 gr. bullets, so sonic crack means it's not exactly a mouse fart, but sound is similar to suppressed .22 Hornet. I can probably drop the muzzle report a little with a can geared toward small volume cartridges, as my .26 caliber Phantom 8 is meant for full power rounds burning 40-60 gr powder charges. I think this neat little rifle also deserves a vintage looking blued steel suppressor with some octagon shaped end caps to match the barrel profile!
