I dug up an old ,very rusty Marlin 20A pump receiver and barrel with magazine tube out in the garage at my dads. Been spending the last week and a half using my spare time to clean it up. First started with the magical Citric Acid, water and a little heat to clean and kill the rust. The rest was done with hours of filing, sanding, and polishing. I'm missing a few parts and have found many are no longer available. So I am making the ones I can, and looking for the one I cant. Using photos from online Numrich schematic I was able reconstruct and make drawings with dimensions of the missing locking bolt I needed, the other parts are just a few screws and a spring, but the extractor is a different story. I cant find anything to get detailed drawings off of to recreate it . Numrich is sold out, and I cant find it anywhere else. If anyone has a decent photo of it with the main dimissions, or even detailed dimensions , I would really appreciated it.
My dad thinks he still has a stock for it, I have to make the pump forearm, not that big of a deal though, I hope.. Being a jeweler metal isn't a big problem to fabricate, wood, I'm not the best with , but I can get by.

I'm putting some photos up, unfortunately , I jumped into cleaning up the receiver before I took any photos, and I had used citric acid on the rust pre photos as well. so I dont have any photos starting from scratch , but I think you will get the idea of how bad it was. But thank god the old guns were built thick and strong. I new stamped receiver I might not have been able to get as many pits out as I did. It took a lot of sanding , filing , burnishing of rust pits and scratches, but its looking good. I still have to decide on a finish for it too. But thats a ways off yet. I want to get all the parts for it first.

photobucket.com/Marlin20A


Again, if anyone has any details that can help, I would really appreciate this. So would my 11 year old daughter who has helped me out with this and really wants this rifle. Cant blame her, its a classic. Personally, i wanted to put it with my Remington model 12 , 22 pump my grandpa gave me when I was 15, but hey, all kids deserve a good rifle to plink around with.

You are doing a brilliant job on that pumper mate...it looks magnificent already, and you are only half way there. Can't help with data for the bits you need mate, but I feel certain that there is someone here that can.

Give some thought to a colour case hardened finish mate...I reckon it would look magnificent on that receiver.

Your daughter pitching in and helping is brilliant mate. In a few years shooting will take a back seat to "boys"...but that is to be expected...the shooting roots will be strong and will come out again later.

Cheers, Vince

maybe she will be confident enough to pistol whip a boy who gets a little too pushing with her. lol

I think the more they learn and respect guns, the safer they will be around guns and in life. Just wish they would lower the CCW age. I have 2 daughters and would feel much better knowing they were packing these days. Then again, I also know that younger folks dont often think and use reason when they get their feelings hurt, so it could be a double edged sword to lower the ccw age too much. but my kids, of course, would be the exception to the rest and should be allowed to carry
remember that old movie " 9 t0 5" where Dolly Parten threatens to turn a" Rooster into a Hen" with a pistol? lol I can see my daughters doing that to some over active young man..

Ive only finish sanding the parts with 1200 paper, I havent hit the buffing wheel yet, but I dont know if it would really make that big of a difference with steel. I like you idea for color case hardening. It would be some work, but man would it be a beauty.

speaking of finishes, do you know anything about Flame / Oil finish? I saw of video of a guy on youtube who does it with air rifles, and it looks fantastic. Deep blues and brilliant purples, but I'm not sure how the heat would effect the parts on a firearm. Though the receiver doesn't have to be hardened, and according to gunsmithing books I have, hardened , without tempering is very bad for receivers. I dont know much about it , but I know the flame blue looks great. No, not for the Marlin, but I have a couple others in mind that it would be great on.

By flame/oil finish do you mean heating the part until it turns blue then quenching it in oil? If so, then I have done this with small parts. The pieces I "coloured" blue were bits like sites, site ramps, screws etc, but I am not sure if it would be suitable for larger pieces like the receiver.

Cheers, Vince

dan1dad, have you considered modifying some parts from a Marlin Model 39 Lever Action. The recieve looks just like my lever action. Also, not sure it will help or it would be something that you would want to use, but I have an extra set of new walnut stocks for a 39 that you might be able to fit.

That looks like a great project, and some nice work! Can't wait to see the final results.

Slim might be on to something there, wonder how many parts are interchangeable between the two? It would be worth contacting Marlin to try to find out.

slimjim wrote:

dan1dad, have you considered modifying some parts from a Marlin Model 39 Lever Action. The recieve looks just like my lever action. Also, not sure it will help or it would be something that you would want to use, but I have an extra set of new walnut stocks for a 39 that you might be able to fit.

thanks for the suggestions, I never thought of other rifles for parts. have to look into it. But you know, right now I am kind of pumped on making the parts I can myself. However, the extractor would be a godsend if another model used it. Then again, wouldn't you think Numrich would have it in stock for all models if fit if it was interchangeable? Just a thought.

My dad said he has a stock, I want to see it first. A new walnut one might be even nicer one considering I am doing a referb and not trying to keep the old original appearance. Vince suggested a case hardening finish on the metal, which I kind of agree with, and I was thinking if I could find some nice Amboyna Burlor to do a 1/2 lamanent / veneering type over an older stock would look great.

www.bellforestproducts...oyna-burl/

so if my dad does have an old stock I could overlay the Amboyna Burlor wood over that would work out fantastic I think.
Sorry, being artistic, or some have said autistic, but either way, I kind of look at guns sometimes as art, and then try to make them look even better , as long as I can do it in an affordable way that is. The wood overlay idea , if I can do it first time around, would set me back around $100 bucks. Which I can live with for the results. However, I could change my mind, I do that sometimes. lol

dan1, even if the parts were not interchangeable, they might be close enough to only need minor modification. I have my 39A apart at the moment so if you need any pictures for comarison, just let me know.

I have not seen stocks done with wood overlays before. I would think with some of the tight bend associated with a stock that delamination over time would be a concern.

Id love to see some photos of the Locking bolt. I made another one for mine and its pretty good, but I'm having troubles where it slides on the carrier.

As for the stock, I was thinking of cutting the stock back, just in a slim rectangle, then gluing and clamping on the new wood which would be rough cut to shape. Then finish it off to from. I dont think it would be feasible to try to force the wood around the curves, and the wood I am looking at comes in 1/2 inch to 1 inch thickness, so it would be really had to bend, even with steam.

Metal parts: get some that are close to what you need but a bit larger in size and remove everything that don't look like the orriginal. I like to get two- one for practice and one for final.

Wood: get a block of foam and sculp it to the dims ya want, make notes and measurements then transfer them over to a nice piece of walnut or take it to a smitthy and have him do-er up.

As far as bending wood you can bend THICK wood like butter with steam, I'd have a pro do that due to warping concerns.

You and Omni will have to get them both together for a pic when your resto's are done man!

Been doing some research, the 25 and 29 are basically the same beast. Problem is, the parts are out for all of them. The other models are different , at least from what I can find on schematics that Numrich has.

I do have a working locking bolt made, even made the plunder and spring assembly out of some rod, a nail and a spring from a big box of 1911 parts i have. it works, I just need to make another just a little different shaped to see if it works a little better matching up to the front of the carrier. Then I whip up a slide bar and try to find or make an extractor, and I'm down to relining the barrel and the wood, and Bobs your Uncle..
I hope LOL


Nope Im not going to mess around with steaming the wood for this project. I do like the idea of blocking out the form in foam though. but Im thinking if I get the 1 x 12 x 18 inch Amboyna Burlor and glue the 2 together, I could just about make the stock from that and not even have to butcher the old original stock. The forearm will be a little trickier though, but what the heck, Ive got time.

the stock project might be worth doing though. I have a very old double barreled wire wrapped Parker shotgun that my gramps for some reason sawed the stock down on. Id like to make a new stock for it, and this would be good practice. I dont think I would shoot a wire wrap shotgun, not as old as this pig is, but its a good looking gun and just needs some TLC to be a real beauty again.

Sounds to me yer on the right track bud!

Can't wait to see it!

photobucket.com/Marlin20A

well here is my first full prototype for the locking bolt and plunger. I made the locking bolt itself out of stainless steel. its all I had handy that was about the right thickness. And its pretty easy to work with anyway. Dont know what the life span will be, but I'm sure it will outlive me. Plunger cap (?) is just some steel rod I had, the plunger itself is a nail, and the spring is a bit from a 1911 extractor spring. This is just a first run prototype, and I want to make at least another one a little different to see if it works better on bringing the carrier all the way up to the chamber. Haven't tried any rounds in it yet though, this might work fine. I still have to make the pump slide too. but thought Id share my adventures in gunsmithing.

nice

Slim wrote:

...I have not seen stocks done with wood overlays before. I would think with some of the tight bend associated with a stock that delamination over time would be a concern.

I tend to agree Slim...it would be a better option to make the stock from a solid piece...but it would be expensive. Another problem would be the added thickness to the stock...might be too much...unless you sanded the stock down to start off. Another way to do it might be to do some burl inlays in the sides of the for-end and the butt stock...would look ok.

Cheers, Vince