Marlin 25N Makeover Project

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priell3

New member
A few weeks ago I acquired this neglected Marlin 25N. It was a long term closet queen and was rusty, dusty and had dried paint drips on it.

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The stock was in good condition overall, even though it had been varnished at some point. Just a plain, ugly finish with one flaw in the forend.

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I turned it into a project piece. First I removed and stripped the stock clean.

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Refinished in Red Mahogany and sealed with clear satin spar urethane.
Rust on barrel and receiver removed with 000 steel wool.

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A few days later, I reblued with Outers Gun Blue and mounted an old Bushnell 4X scope.

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I got it out to the range last week for some testing and it is working great. Accuracy with iron sights is spot on.

It was my first attempt at restoring a firearm and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.
 
Awesome job! How does it shoot? My 25N is a fine rifle with great accuracy, and although it isn't in as bad of shape as yours was but it still needs to be fixed up a little. Mine is from the early 90's and has the birch stock with crappy pressed in checkering. This rifle will be the first rifle I pass down to my son (6 months old right now) and it was the rifle that I really learned to shoot well with. I may have a peep mounted on it in the next few years for my own enjoyment and for my son to learn with.
 
Hi Five -

It seems to shoot great. I'll know more when I shoot it from a bench.

This is my wife's target shooting offhand with the iron sights and her FIRST time ever behind a rifle.

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Priell3 - This is the kind of story that always makes me feel good. You have taken a rusty dusty closet queen and made it into what it started out to be, a good looking and fine shooting rifle. To me more rifles die of neglect than being used too much, and to resurrect one back to what it was is like planting an oak tree knowing you won't be around to see it 50 years from now, BUT someone will enjoy it. You made a keeper and hopefully a rifle to pass on to your grandkids.
 
Looks great, I love picking up guns like that and bringing life back into them, What did you strip the stock with? It looks like it stripped down pretty clean. I also love the fact that you can pick up a little bolt action 22 for cheap most of the time.
 
Hand held power sander. Course paper to strip and remove blemishes, fine to find finish it.

Thanks for the compliments.
 
Looks great. My buddy just did the same thing with his old Squires-Bingham Kmart special. Turned out really nice
 
I admire the project and the thread pictures. My project began with a rifle that had good steel but a crummy too-light colored stock. After buying the wrong brand of stripper, the old finish did not blister. I used a scrubbing pad thinking I was removing the finish, but it wasn't really coming off as I thought. After the wood dried, I saw how poor my removal was. At that point a very sharp pocket knife was used at a right angle to scrape off the old finish. I would have used power equipment if I had it, but I did not. And as a result, I (and others) agree that the result is very nice. The dark walnut & tung oil on the scraped stock gives it an older and rustic look. I wanted something that looked older and well used instead of the crumbum blonde factory with what looked to be a glossy spray-on varnish or whatever.
 
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