Gunsmithing question

[CEMENTHEAD]

Morning all,

I am replacing a forearm band on a Marlin 336 and the new one seems awful tight.

Anyway, my question is this......" How tight should the forearm and magazine tube bands be? "

IE: hand tight, Sears wrench tight, loose as goose. Also, is there a special sequence to tightening the screws for each?

Never had to take one off, until now. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Tom

[Pete44ru]

Tom, the barrel band should be a fairly tight fit as it's slid onto the forend wood - almost to the point that it's edge starts to scrape a little finish off as it slides.

There's a difference of opinion on the fit of the band to the barrel - some like it tight, some not, so YMMV.

The band screw should be snug, but not strong-armed to the point of burring the slot edges, etc - just tight enough to keep from coming loose during use.
The screw passes through both a round hole drilled through the forend wood, and a round metal hole that's half a barrel notch, half a mag tube notch.
The screw sometimes gripes going in, due to the mag tube moving a tad, messing up the circular part of the metal section of the screwhole - something to keep in mind.
.

[AJMD429]

The forend barrel-bands AND caps are one of the stupid features of otherwise nice Marlin and Winchester leverguns... They could have been designed much better, IMHO.

[Griff]

What Pete said. Doc, bands, yes; caps, big improvement, IMO.

[CEMENTHEAD]

Thanks for the answer Pete. Got it on and am going to shoot it and see what amount of tension it prefers on the magazine band.

Thanks, Tom

[Sixgun]

I beg to differ . (nothin personal guys ) I like everything that is touching the barrel to be "in slight contact"---not snug, not loose. Just tight enough so it does not rattle. The heat from shooting will make it "slightly snug".

I even back out any screws 1/2 turn from "slightly snug" when shooting or hunting. I'll degrease the screws and put on a tiny dab of loc-tight so I don't lose the screws.

You would be amazed at how accuratly a levergun will shoot with nothing but the barrel past the receiver.

If the wood under the barrel band is too fat for the band to fit over it, just sand it a bit. The same goes for the hole through the forearm--you can use a wooden dowel with some sandpaper over it--------Sixgun