codyadams
Well-Known Member
So my cousin has a Marlin MR-7 chambered in .270 win. The Marlin MR-7, while a fine rifle, is not a well known rifle. It was produced only from 1995 through 1999. This is not the optimal set up to build off of, but we enjoy unique rifles, and it was also my cousin's first rifle, a gift from his father, so he wants to keep it around and get more use out of it for sentamental reasons. We are going to be building this rifle into a lightweight mountain rifle chambered in .270 Sherman, but doing so is going to require some ingenuity and outside the box thinking. And since this rifle was only made for 4 years, I will give you a little more info on it.
The bolt face and race way are essentially an exact copy of a Remington 700 design, with the action footprint, 3 position safter, and trigger components being essentially, or very close to that of a Winchester model 70. While the footprint of the bottom metal is also close to a model 70 type, the design is shared with a Browning A-Bolt, with an internal box mag that detaches from the hinged floor plate. The scope base is also that of a Winchester model 70.
Our first challenge, was to see how to go about replacing the walnut stock with a light weight composite for the back country hikes. Not knowing much about the rifle at the time, it was challenging. I had recently bedded a Winchester 70, and when I took the marlin out of the stock, it resembled the Winchester very much. So I grabbed another Winchester 70 out of the closet, and it nearly dropped in to the Winchester stock, and would only take minor relieving in one location to get it to fit. The bottom metal of the marlin was only about .010" larger in all locations, but otherwise same screw hole spacing, and same shape. So that solved the stock delima, just get one for a Winchester 70!!
After further inspection, I realized that the box magazine would have issues with the .270 Sherman running 170's, as it only allows 3.350" OAL!! Well that's a problem.....
To resolve this, I grabbed a Remington 700 out of the closet to see what it would take to switch this over to a Remington Mag box.....and it nearly fit without any modification......nearly.
The floorplate has an arm that extends up to hold the detachable mag in place. This is going to have to come off for it to close. Also, the remington mag box must sit deeper in the action that the reciever allows. So a small amout of metal will have to be removed.
Then when function testing with just pressure holding the follower and mag spring in place, the feed rails on the marlin (designed to feed from the detachable magazine) are too wide. Well.....looks like we are going to have to modify a remington mag box to be a center feed!! I will update this more as this build continues.
I will add - this build is not about being efficient, and taking an easy rout to the quickest final design. We both already have outstanding long range rifles, we do not need this finished now. This is for fun, and to get more use out of a sentimental rifle. When it's done, it will likely be the only rifle of it's kind in existence. Also, if there is someone out there that has one of these rifles and wants to do some work with it, but aren't sure where to start, this will hopefully help them out. I know I was unable to find ANY real information on modifying these rifles or finding aftermarket parts for them.
The bolt face and race way are essentially an exact copy of a Remington 700 design, with the action footprint, 3 position safter, and trigger components being essentially, or very close to that of a Winchester model 70. While the footprint of the bottom metal is also close to a model 70 type, the design is shared with a Browning A-Bolt, with an internal box mag that detaches from the hinged floor plate. The scope base is also that of a Winchester model 70.
Our first challenge, was to see how to go about replacing the walnut stock with a light weight composite for the back country hikes. Not knowing much about the rifle at the time, it was challenging. I had recently bedded a Winchester 70, and when I took the marlin out of the stock, it resembled the Winchester very much. So I grabbed another Winchester 70 out of the closet, and it nearly dropped in to the Winchester stock, and would only take minor relieving in one location to get it to fit. The bottom metal of the marlin was only about .010" larger in all locations, but otherwise same screw hole spacing, and same shape. So that solved the stock delima, just get one for a Winchester 70!!
After further inspection, I realized that the box magazine would have issues with the .270 Sherman running 170's, as it only allows 3.350" OAL!! Well that's a problem.....
To resolve this, I grabbed a Remington 700 out of the closet to see what it would take to switch this over to a Remington Mag box.....and it nearly fit without any modification......nearly.
The floorplate has an arm that extends up to hold the detachable mag in place. This is going to have to come off for it to close. Also, the remington mag box must sit deeper in the action that the reciever allows. So a small amout of metal will have to be removed.
Then when function testing with just pressure holding the follower and mag spring in place, the feed rails on the marlin (designed to feed from the detachable magazine) are too wide. Well.....looks like we are going to have to modify a remington mag box to be a center feed!! I will update this more as this build continues.
I will add - this build is not about being efficient, and taking an easy rout to the quickest final design. We both already have outstanding long range rifles, we do not need this finished now. This is for fun, and to get more use out of a sentimental rifle. When it's done, it will likely be the only rifle of it's kind in existence. Also, if there is someone out there that has one of these rifles and wants to do some work with it, but aren't sure where to start, this will hopefully help them out. I know I was unable to find ANY real information on modifying these rifles or finding aftermarket parts for them.
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