(Posted on RimfireCentral, but I thought I'd post it here as well)

I inherited a Model 80 that was in rough shape:


The rear sight was half-there, and the stock inletting around the bolt was very rough. Bluing was more rust than blue, and the finish work on the bolt looked almost like a rough casting:


the trigger guard was fractured:


So the first job was to strip the stock with some Hood Finishing Cutting Force stripper, which made quick work of the bad poly job:


Once the action was removed, the factory inletting job was also pretty rough, and the factory reliefs for the bolt handle and breech looked like they had been carved with a dull pocketknife, and didn't match the openings in the receiver:



Everything was given several rounds of Naval Jelly to get it into the white. At this point it became apparent this rifle had been "de-rusted" and cold blued sometime before. The barrel had been ground or sanded to the point that the lettering was at 50%, but they apparently said "Eh, good enough", blued it, leaving a lot of surface pitting underneath. so it went through a 180-220-240-320-400-600-800-1000-1500-2000-2500 paper and cloth sequence, trying to stay away from the remnants of the barrel stamping. This shot is at about 800.


The broken stock trigger guard was removed. I didn't like the repro trigger guards that were available (mold sink marks made it look extra cheesy) so I inletted for DIP Inc's OEM13006 Savage Rimfire guard:




I cleaned up the factory hacking^H^H^H^H inletting job with Fisher inletting scrapers, which just happened to be the right size so I didn't have to regrind them (how often does that happen?)


Stock relieved properly for the bolt handle, breech, and new-style safety:


The replacement Williams sight had the right hole pattern, but required a little stock work on the left side, both for the mounting plate and the elevation adjustment:



Now for finishing!

The walnut was rather blond, and by the time I had finished sanding and scraping I decided that the stock was unlikely to take stain uniformly. I shot the stock with a mix of TransTint Dark Walnut and Reddish Brown dye in an alcohol base. Toning like this lets you build the color uniformly even if you start with substandard wood.


Cover coats were Hood Finishing's Hydrocote Polyshield Satin through an LPH80 1.2mm at 18psi.



Finished, corrected inletting:


I made a decision after doing the lower mag plate and safety with Oxpho-Blue (which took several attempts to get right- sometimes they wouldn't take new darkening coats, sometimes they did)
that I am going to leave the receiver and barrel in the white (polished to 2500) and see how it goes with wipedowns of silicone cloths. I can always get it hot blued later.

"Some Assembly Required":


I got a new-old (takeoff) Marlin buttplate to replace the fractured original:


I plugged and corrected the sling location (was off-spine by some bubba, maybe even factory), with a properly counterbored sling mount:


New trigger guard:


and sanded/repolished/reblued receiver plate (with reslotted/reground screws)


There is a bit of a problem with the Williams sight- If you want to remove the bolt entirely, the peep bracket will interfere and need to be removed (but it doesn't interfere with normal bolt operation). Fortunately it's on a dovetail with an elevation screw, so it shouldn't lose zero:




The finished rifle! Function test was good with a new magazine- going to the range soon...

Looks nice. Let us know how it shoots!

nice job... my first purchased rifle was an 80DL, and was used for NRA Jr Marksmanship program... Jesse Harp in Tampa added a Lyman 57 rear, and 17A globe front...unfortunately it and a M12 Winchester went to buy books...

My first firearm was a Marlin 80. Should have never sold it. It was a good gun.

I have a tube fed Sears/Marlin about that vintage (no S/N and no tip off grooves) the stock on mine is not as bad but I think the metal is worse.

I may get around to restoring it some day.  My first gun was a very Similar Ted Williams/Marlin that my dad bought in the late 50s.  My oldest son has that one now.

Fantastic job!

I have a soft spot for older Marlin .22's.

Ive got an 80 DL of about the same vintage. I tried a Williams sight on it but ended up searching for and finding an original set. rear with both peeps and the front hood. ( paid twice for the sights what I did for the rifle) but she is a shooter! Just about any standard velocity ammo will leave a ragged hole a dime will cover at 25 yds.

Nice work.