.25-20 Marlin

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marlinman93
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.25-20 Marlin

Post by marlinman93 »

I picked up a Model '94 Marlin Deluxe Rifle .25-20M this weekend at a local auction. Got it home Monday and slugged the bore at a perfect .257" groove. Then went looking through my stuff for .25-20 WCF cases. I knew I had dies and bullets, but gave a lot of ammo and cases away to a friend, since I didn't own a .25-20.
What I found in my old ammo collection was two boxes of ammo marked .25-20 Marlin! Of course I can't shoot this ammo, but will be nice for display purposes. And I found some interesting marks on one box. There's been debate over the years as to whether Winchester or Marlin came out with the .25-20 first? I think the box of Winchester ammo gives us a hint! It reads, "Adapted for .25-20 Winchester M/92".
If Marlin was 2nd, I believe Winchester would have marked the box .25-20 WCF or Winchester, and the label would read, "Adapted for Marlin rifles"

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The UMC box:
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And the new to me '94 Marlin:

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Marlin lever actions 1870's-WWI, Ballards, and single shot rifles!
Regnier (gunrunner)
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Re: .25-20 Marlin

Post by Regnier (gunrunner) »

Vall;

Yeah, we know that it would not be the first time Winchester appropriated a cartridge and put their name to it. We all know the .32-40 and.38-55 cartridges were Ballard calibers long before they became a Winchester named caliber.
Nice gun by the way!!! Shoots way to many bullets for you though.
Due to the increasing cost of ammunition, there will be no warning shot!

The growing federal deficit = generational slavery to the national debt.

If the world was perfect.......it wouldn't be.
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marlinman93
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Re: .25-20 Marlin

Post by marlinman93 »

Regnier (gunrunner) wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:10 pm Vall;

Yeah, we know that it would not be the first time Winchester appropriated a cartridge and put their name to it. We all know the .32-40 and.38-55 cartridges were Ballard calibers long before they became a Winchester named caliber.
Nice gun by the way!!! Shoots way to many bullets for you though.
I'll just leave the mag tube empty and pretend it's a Ballard Rick!
Marlin lever actions 1870's-WWI, Ballards, and single shot rifles!
Regnier (gunrunner)
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Re: .25-20 Marlin

Post by Regnier (gunrunner) »

Vall;

That is cheating!! The magazine tube is there for reason. "Fill 'er up" as they say.........
Due to the increasing cost of ammunition, there will be no warning shot!

The growing federal deficit = generational slavery to the national debt.

If the world was perfect.......it wouldn't be.
oodmoff
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Re: .25-20 Marlin

Post by oodmoff »

Vall,

Congrats on the awesome find...

I have a sneaking suspicion that the rifle in question will be fired!

Darin
Thanks
Darin
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marlinman93
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Re: .25-20 Marlin

Post by marlinman93 »

oodmoff wrote: Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:55 am Vall,

Congrats on the awesome find...

I have a sneaking suspicion that the rifle in question will be fired!

Darin
It will indeed! But right now having issues with loads. I am loading 86 gr, and 90 gr. cast lead and the larger 90 gr. are 260", which wouldn't chamber after loading. The 86 gr. are .258" and almost chamber, but need the necks "bumped" a little after seating to ensure they load easily. The bore slugs .257", so don't want to go any smaller, but it appears to have a pretty tight chamber. So stuck with bumping the loaded .258" cartridges.
I did discover upon picking up this gun and examining it closer that the receiver had been hot blued over the original case colors! The purple hue to the receiver and lever gave away that it was hot blued over casehardened metal. I decided to send it to Al Springer to be professionally case colored, so I removed the barrel and wood and began chemically stripping the receiver and parts. But after the 15 minutes of waiting for the chemical to work, I washed the parts off and discovered whoever blued them had not polished the parts first! There were still some good traces of original case color underneath!
So I wiped the parts down, and treated them with oil to prevent rust. Then I reassembled the gun, and decided to not restore the parts. They look just fine for me, and I'd rather have faded colors than new colors. You can see the purple hue in this picture:

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And after stripping.

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Marlin lever actions 1870's-WWI, Ballards, and single shot rifles!
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