Dear Guys,
I am thinking of taking a standard Marlin 336C, and shortening the mag tube to 2/3rds length, to give it that great Guide Gun look.
Here is the problem, unlike the Marlin 336A, and unlike the Guide Gun, the 336C does not have a metal nose cap at the end of the wood forestock to securely hold and position the mag tube in proximity to the barrel. Instead, there is a metal stock band that wraps around the entire forestock and barrel, and then there is a metal barrel band near the end of the barrel, that holds both the mag tube and the barrel in close proximity. There is also a verticle screw, that goes up through the end of the mag tube, and screws into the bottom of the barrel.
If I shorten the mag tube to 2/3ds length, it will be about 4 inches shorter than the end of the barrel. How do I then secure the short mag tube to the barrel. I know for sure that I will need to drill and tap a new hole in the bottom of the barrel, so that the verticle screw can be screwed up through the bottom of the end of the short mag tube into the bottom of the barrel. BUT, will this be enough to secure the short mag tube to the barrel, so that it won't get bent sideways or something?
OR, am I going to have to take the barrel band that is currently near the end of the barrel, and move it backwards, so that if wraps around the new short end of the mag tube and the barrel?
? If so, then this is going to be pretty wierd (ugly??) looking.
I would certainly appreciate any advice on this issue from someone who has done this before (or has had it done to his rifle)
Thanks, Big Paulie
