I read two threads today that made me decide to post this.  One was about the poster who bought a $20 shotgun at a yard sale.  The other was the thread about shooting .22 shorts.  But, this gun is kind of a long story.  Scroll to the bottom for TL:DR.

About 2003-04, my FIL was diagnosed with bone and kidney cancer.

He was  a tough old bird, and fought it valiantly for about 8 years.

The summer before he passed away, he went through his closet and distributed his guns to his sons-in-law.  

He gave me an old post-65 Winchester Model 70 in 300 Winmag, which was nice, and this Glenfield 25, which was not.  Didn't know much about it, but later I figured out that Glenfield was a store-brand label for Marlins that sold at department stores and such. When he handed it to me, he went on about how accurate it was and how many squirrels he'd killed with it. The serial number indicates it was made sometime in the 70's.

Checked the bore, and sure enough, had the Micro Groove barrel, which looked good.  Action worked well, too.  But the thing was rough.  Lots of rust, lots of missing finish on the stock, lots of dirt, and a single mag with lots of corrosion on it.




I didn't get a full "before" pic.  I wish I had, just for the contrast.

I had it a day or two, when I took it out and shot it.  The action was very smooth, and I could tell it was REALLY accurate, even with the crappy scope that was on it. I couldn't leave it in that condition.

So, I started to work.

Stripped all the finish off of it, and cut the front of the stock back at an angle:




Added stain, which brought out a nice tigerstripe pattern on one side of the stock:




Then, about 7 coats of polyurethane, and lots and lots of wet sanding and rubbing compound.

I took the iron sights off, pulled the bolt out, and cleaned up the metal. Steel wool took care of the rust, then a good cleaning with denatured alcohol, then several coats of gun wax for protection.  When the stock was dry, I put it back together and added a cheap scope.




The other side, showing the tigerstripe pattern in the stock:



Last thing I did was cut a white piece of plastic in the shape of the buttpad and sanded it to match.  Put it between the buttpad and the stock to create a nice white ring which really sets it off.



I put the irons back on after refinishing, but it just looked so much better without them that I took them back off.  



I took it over to my FIL's house and showed it to him.  He couldn't believe it was the same gun.  He told me if he knew I did this kind of thing earlier, he'd have had me restore it long ago.  He just sat there, admiring it and looking over and over at it. I'm sure, if his health would have permitted a range trip at that point, we'd have loaded it up and gone right then. He told me he was glad that it was back in good condition and that I was using it.  He passed away that winter. I was glad he got to see it in its completed state.

I still use it, when I can find ammo. It is the most accurate .22 I have, and the most fun. It feeds .22 Short and .22 LR from the magazine without a hitch. When you shoot with shorts, it barely makes a sound.  No earpro needed! You can even alternate them, which makes it really interesting when only every other shot has a report!.  

TL:DR: Before FIL passed away from cancer, he willed me his ratty Glenfield 25, which I restored and it is now one of my favorite guns. See pics.

Good on ya! Those old Marlin/Glenfields were a lot better than their price!
Glad your FIL got to see the final result.

I did a little internal work to my old Marlin Model 60, with the pressed in squirrel stock.(cleaned up the trigger, some bedding work, and some polishing) and it will punch dime size groups all day at 50 yds. with the cheapest .22 ammo I can put through it. Pretty good for a rifle that cost me $20 used in the early 80s.

Amazing job that you did on that rifle OP.  Looks beautiful.  I love seeing old guns like this restored, and it's a credit that you cared enough to do it.

Nice.  I enjoy hunting for parts and fixing up old .22s.  I have a bunch of them and old Weaver scopes.

Nice work!

Good work OP.

Awesome work.  Sounds like you made him happy.

Bought a marlin 25 in the early 80s for $89.  Very accurate gun.  Midway has spare magazines for them.

Damn OP, you did a hell of a job. It's great that your father in law got to see it in that shape before he died.

Damn, I use to have one just like that, somewhere around 1974.
It sometimes would not fire, I think it was something to do with the firing pin.
I also did a refinish job on it, it sat in pieces for a long time,not sure what I ever did with that thing.

I stripped the paint off a Glenfield $20 pawnshop gun once.  Reglued the stock back together where it had impacted the head of a significant other, and then stained it.  Who knew Marlin used nice wood under that crappy paint?

Looks good!  Pardon my ignorance, but is that stock cut for any reason other than appearance?

great story, that gun is a keeper

Thank you for sharing your story and pictures. Beautiful work on the rifle....and you made a dying man smile. This thread made me smile. This site needs more guys like you. Seriously.

Naw.  Just dressed it up a little to give it a little bit of a customized look.  I'd seen other rifles with the cut-back slant and I like the way it looks.

I had originally planned to do some more shaping on it and float the barrel, but since the stock attaches with a single screw, I'd read that floating wasn't recommended without also significantly bedding the stock to keep things from moving.  The gun was already amazingly accurate, so I figured the payoff would be small.  I ended up keeping the stock profile, except for the chopped front end.

On another note, after shooting it, my dad decided he had to have one.  He finally found a Marlin 80c and picked it up for about $100.  It wasn't in as rough condition as mine was, but he still wanted to refinish it.  

And, he liked the look of the cut back stock.  So, he did the same to his, although not as steeply as mine.



The original profile was angled with a slight forward slant, like this:



This gun is still manufactured as the Marlin XT-22, although they changed the magazine design along the way and I don't think it accepts .22 short any more - at least Marlin doesn't advertise it as such.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/xt/XT22.asp

It was also sold by Sears as a J.C. Higgins.