I want to put together a rifle for serious woods use, to take hiking, pack rafting and Moose hunting.

For this, I want to use a Marlin Guide gun but I have some extra money, and still have ~4 months before I'll need this gun so I was thinking of sending it off to a good gunsmith.

Id like to get an action job on it (if they do this), skinner sights, porting, and maybe a larger lever loop.

Can anybody recommend a gunsmith that could do this? Id like to get the ball rolling so this will be ready for my move up north.

thanks!!!

Probably the ultimate in lever gun custom work.

https://grizzlycustom.com

tp

quote:

Originally posted by g4tx:
Probably the ultimate in lever gun custom work.

https://grizzlycustom.com

tp

Thanks for posting that, they have some beutiful looking stuff but I think their stuff is much more involved that what I was thinking about.

Superior Firearms - the gallery section on the website has some great photos of their work.

http://www.superiorfirearmsllc.com/

They also have a section at m4c with some neat individual pieces/prices that might be more what you're looking for.

http://www.m4carbine.net/forum...39-Superior-Firearms

tp

quote:

Originally posted by g4tx:
Superior Firearms - the gallery section on the website has some great photos of their work.

http://www.superiorfirearmsllc.com/

They also have a section at m4c with some neat individual pieces/prices that might be more what you're looking for.

http://www.m4carbine.net/forum...39-Superior-Firearms

tp

Cool, thank you for the ideas. This may be more complicated than I'd hoped. I was sort of hoping to find a place I could just send in a marlin, pay 5-600 bucks for work and get it back a month or 2 later.

Skinner sights and a large loop you can do yourself. Porting in my opinion is a mistake. (having paid to have the porting on my Marlin cut off). Your time table is the biggest obstacle, especially for someone specializing it lever guns, though nothing you're after requires a specialist.

If a gunsmith can turn your work around quickly proceed with caution. Any worth their salt are backed up.

Wild West Guns comes to mind. Look for a JM proof stamp on the barrel. You can install the bear proof extractor, large loop, etc. yourself.

Interesting, maybe Ill just do those basic things myself and skip the porting.

I dont really want porting, just thought it might make it easier for y wife to shoot it.

Ranger Point Precision really cleaned up my Marlin SBL. While it was a real JM Marlin, it was a late one and I suspect the employees had stopped caring at that point. They are highly regarded on the Marlinowners.com forum.
Link: http://www.rangerpointprecision.com

Edited to add: I considered everyone from Wild West, Grizzly to Brockman's Custom. I eventually settled on RPP mostly based upon their CS and reputation on the Marlin forum.

I have several JM Marlins (450, 444, 45lc, 44m, 357/38) but not a 45-70 guide gun. I've read that the new ones are getting better and better, can anybody comment on that?

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:
I have several JM Marlins (450, 444, 45lc, 44m, 357/38) but not a 45-70 guide gun. I've read that the new ones are getting better and better, can anybody comment on that?

Marlinowners.com is your source for all things Marlin. Check out their rant page dedicated to the Remlins. I haven't looked at it lately to see the reports. The 45-70 page should be helpful too.

I always like to point out, 98% of the eleventy-zillion Marlins made are JM Marlins.

Don't pay scalpers prices for something that isn't rare.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cas,

Thanks for all of the suggestions, as soon as I can get to a shop I'll see if I can find a guide gun that dosent exhibit some of the more recent problems and I'll go from there.

Can anybody tell me, regarding skinner sights, those can be installed with simple tools? I mean no gunsmith needed?

Just screws. You can check out XS sights as well.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Just screws. You can check out XS sights as well.

Cool thanks. Are the XS sights worth checking out? Skinners seem pretty sweet.

I'm just not crazy about the looks of the Skinners myself, why I haven't bought any. (though I do have one of their sight rings on my Benelli Supernova, no windage adjustments, just elevation)

I have XS sights on a couple rifles. I believe they cost a but more than the Skinners.

Lew Bonitz / Grizzly is the only one I've used (two different rifles). His work is outstanding.