My grandfather bought this Marlin new in 1948. My dad inherited it in 1970. I was in high school then and took it squirrel hunting. I cleaned it when I got home. The two main parts of the receiver were never properly fit at the factory. You had to bang on it to get it back together. I banged it way too hard and split the butt stock in two. š« My dad was not amused. He glued the stock back together. Then itās dads turn to screw up. Instead of taking it to a gunsmith to drill and tap receiver for scope, he took it to work and had a tool and die maker tap it. He was off in his drilling and the scope wasnāt aligned with the bore. Dad passed in 2011 and my brother ended up with the rifle. He contacted me and wanted to restock it himself. He had never done a stock job but was very confident he could do it. I sent him a killer set of semi finished walnut and he tried and failed. He did okay until he sanded the butt when it was off of the rifle and took off too much wood around the wrist. I told him STOP already, and told him Iād trade him the Marlin for our Stevens single shot. The Stevens was our rifle we both learned to shoot with. I restocked it and put a good scope on it. He agreed and I now have the Marlin. First thing, it will go to gunsmith to get receiver parts to fit correctly. Iāll put plug screws in the badly drilled holes and use open sights. Then Iāll restock it. I donāt know if I can salvage the butt stock somehow. Iāll eventually get this thing lined out!
