.25-36 Marlin?

[Bill in Oregon]

Guys, my nephew recently came into an old Marlin 1893 in this caliber, and the bore is a mess, He is thinking about having it relined. I admire his loyalty to an old lever cartridge, but cannot help but wonder if it worth it, as I would probably do it in .25-35. Anyone load for and shoot this old Marlin number?

[3leggedturtle]

HELL YA its worth it . You can use 25/35 in 25/36 but not other way around. There are a few people on here that use 25/36 Marlins that will answer shortly.

[6pt-sika]

I had a 25-36 for awhile !

Gun had an excellent bore and I shot cast in it .

25-35 is actually a touch short but usable . Yes you can fire factory 25-35 in it .

But you can get a set of dies from CH=4D for about $75 and it's a simple thing to load for . With jacketed Hornady makes a nice 117 grain RN bullet that shot nicely in the one I had . For cast bullets the Lyman 257325 shot very nicely in the one I had . Also one or two NEI molds I do not remmember the number of but both were 111-114 grains .

[86er]

Long short story: Several years ago in W. Va I watched two young men on a snow bank shoot at a deer about 5 times. I went up there to see if they needed help looking for the deer. Both of them were 12 year olds with Grandpas rifle. It was a Marlin in 25-36. When the kid found the empties in the snow I noticed that they each had a piece of electrical tap around them. The shooter told me Pops said they don't make the ammo so they shot 25-35 cartridges in it. The tape apparently cured an ejection problem! We found a blood trail anodyne doe was dead at the end of the field, about a 125 yd run, and she was hit 3 out of the 5 shots!

[Bill in Oregon]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Joe, that's a great story!
My biggest hesitation in recommending a reline was that it might be hard or expensive to come up with a 25-36 chamber reamer.

[6pt-sika]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Joe, that's a great story!
My biggest hesitation in recommending a reline was that it might be hard or expensive to come up with a 25-36 chamber reamer.

Not Redman but another guy out in Washington or Oregon makes liners and has te chamber reamer for any number of "obsolete" cartridges . I asked him about the 25-36 Marlin and he claimed he had the reamer for that one as well !

Cannot remmember the fellows name but he used to advertise in the Gun List .

[Rusty]

Then just reline it to .25-35... only your gunsmith will know.

It's not like you're trying to dupe anybody, you just want to get her shootin again.

[Bill in Oregon]

6-pt., are you thinking of Mark Beinke? He is now retired.

[6pt-sika]

6-pt., are you thinking of Mark Beinke? He is now retired.

Thats "sounds" like him !

Guy was single and lived with his mother I believe and about 6 -8 years ago he moved to a new place close to where he used to be . This cat would make the liners install the liners and chamber to whatever you wanted provided it was safe . Never guaranteed his liners for jacketed stuff just cast bullets . I was thinking he was in his 50's then but apprently I was incorrect .

[Bill in Oregon]

6-pt., that was Mark all right. He is in his late 50s. His shop was out behind his mother's house in Klamath Falls. He and his wife moved further out and Mark retired. Back issues among other things. Nice guy and a fine craftsman. He relined and chambered a shot-out trapdoor Springfield for me to .40-82. Drove a nice old '51 or '52 Chev pickup.

[6pt-sika]

6-pt., that was Mark all right. He is in his late 50s. His shop was out behind his mother's house in Klamath Falls. He and his wife moved further out and Mark retired. Back issues among other things. Nice guy and a fine craftsman. He relined and chambered a shot-out trapdoor Springfield for me to .40-82. Drove a nice old '51 or '52 Chev pickup.

Well I'm sorry to hear that !

I talked with the gentleman a couple times on the phone back about 2005 or so when I had visions of taking a couple Marlin 1895CB's and making a 33 WCF , 38-56 and 40-65 thru relines !

Even went so far as buying a second 1895CB to start the process was gonna make a 40-65 first . But thankfully I got my hands on a decent circa 1896 Marlin 1895 in 40-65 . Shortly thereafter I found old 1895's in 38-56 and 33 WCF so i never went thru with any of the relining projects and later traded the 1895CB still NIB to a member here I believe .