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Garage Gunsmithing & DIY Mods

Opinions wanted on a possible tactical looking brush gun. I have a couple of 30-30 lever guns that don’t get shot much, and I’m thinking about modifying one of them into a brush gun with more of a semi-tactical look. Gun 1 is a 1976 Marlin 336 Texan. It’s pretty rough looking overall, but it’s a good shooter. Gun 2 is a 1986 Marlin 336CS. The cross bolt safety has been removed. It’s not beaten up, and overall it still looks good. Obviously, both guns are JM stamped. Am I stupid for considering this kind of modification? The main modification would be cutting down the barrel to around 16.25”, and the rest would mostly be cosmetic changes. I will be using the rifle as a brush gun that will see a fair amount of use. The maximum distance of shots would be approximately 50 yards. Here’s an example of what the “new” rifle would mostly look like.

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Opinions wanted on a possible tactical looking brush gun. I have a couple of 30-30 lever guns that don’t get shot much, and I’m thinking about modifying one of them into a brush gun with more of a semi-tactical look. Gun 1 is a 1976 Marlin 336 Texan. It’s pretty rough looking overall, but it’s a good shooter. Gun 2 is a 1986 Marlin 336CS. The cross bolt safety has been removed. It’s not beaten up, and overall it still looks good. Obviously, both guns are JM stamped. Am I stupid for considering this kind of modification? The main modification would be cutting down the barrel to around 16.25”, and the rest would mostly be cosmetic changes. I will be using the rifle as a brush gun that will see a fair amount of use. The maximum distance of shots would be approximately 50 yards. Here’s an example of what the “new” rifle would mostly look like.

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Not at all, if you need it, make it happen. I bought the scout rail/ghost sight combo seen in your picture from XS Sights: https://xssights.com/products/marlin-optic-mounts-ghost-ring-sight-sets.html

I love the setup. Slapped a Burris 2.75x scout scope on it too, works like a dream and carries nice too.

For other fun parts, I suggest Ranger Point Precision. They're pricey, but you can get a new trigger, loading gate, mag followers, safety delete, etc from them, and they're all pretty nice. I found on their trigger that the benefit and trigger pull weight reduction to be negligible; but it does look and feel nice on the finger.
 
This is as much as I would do regarding Kitchen Blacksmithing. Glock Perfection is a true thing in my world. But you can always make it “more perfecter” with a little bling. I have a magwell and a slide backing plate coming. Both blue.
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A YouTube video gave me this idear for a bench grinder to use with my Giraud Tri-Way trimmer.


This is the unit. Trims to length, chamfers the inside of the case mouth and deburrs the outside in one step. Simply insert until you hear the cutter finish cutting, give it a half twist and remove. With shipping, it was 119 dollars shipped from Texas. Estimated cases before it needs replaced is approx. 50k from what I've read. The cutter is 3 sided and can be disassembled and rotated for a fresh cut. Plastic housing slides off to clean the cuttings out. I recommend cutting with the unit at an angle upwards to keep all the shavings in the unit. Depth of cut is adjustable and pretty simple too. I adjusted to 1.757" and left it there.


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Fits in any 3/8" drill or you can attach it to a bench grinder. I purchased this coupler. 3/8" for the cutter and 1/2" for the Bench Grinder shaft around 20 dollars.


The Bench Grinder in the video has been discontinued, but I purchased this from Harbor Freight. It was perfect for what I was doing. Around 60 dollarsish
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I removed the guard and stone from the right side of the grinder and the stone from the left and replaced the guard to be safe. On the right side, I cut the threaded area of the shaft off to get a better seal with the coupler. This side is now toast if you ever want to use this a Bench Grinder. With the coupler, it's balanced and secure. It hums very quietly and very smooth.

I may play with attaching it to my bench later, but for now, this works very well.
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Cases look great afterwards. Make sure the cutter is balanced and it will glide in smooth. My hand drill didn't have enough RPM's to be as smooth. Cases must be resized as it index's off the shoulder.

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You definitely gotta watch your dick while using that thing.
 
I noticed that when you link amazon to here, you get this weirdo thing with a thought cloud and three dots. sup with that?? It happened to me a few times

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You definitely gotta watch your dick while using that thing.
As long as there is stone meat on the case, no worries. I've lost a few 300 BO cases bouncing off the walls
 
As long as there is stone meat on the case, no worries. I've lost a few 300 BO cases bouncing off the walls
I would have to pass unless I can find a way to vary the speed. I’m sure there’s a potentiometer you came inline with the power cord. Cost vs reward
 
I would have to pass unless I can find a way to vary the speed. I’m sure there’s a potentiometer you came inline with the power cord. Cost vs reward
The case hits a ball bearing in the trimmer and doesn't spin. 300 is just so small.
 
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