Personally i wouldnt worry about it, its wood and its going to move/shift with atmospheric change hot/cold, dry/humid if you go tighteneing things up and making wedges to go here and there, you chance putting stress on places that Dont need stress. If you do add stress somewhere it could impart problems with accuracy or possibly give you stress cracks in youe wood....

But its your rifles, and you do what you wish to do...
Maybe someone else has some better info than i give...

Questions?

Are these 2 rifles accurate even with this play
Does it feel like the gun is going to fall apart
How long have they had this play
Did they come like this "loose" when you first got them
Do you notice on the warm, dry, humid,cold, wet days a change in looseness

BG4570

 

Hey there FK -- That looseness you are referring to is a good thing. If I have a rifle with a tight/snug forend, I create some looseness. When things up front there get tight, they can impact accuracy by binding, and creating pressure points on your barrel. You don't want stuff falling off, but a little looseness is good. Hope this helps. Best regards. Wind

 

Hey, guys, thanks for the input!

Ha Ha...Wind this struck me kinda funny "Hey there FK"

To answer the questions:

Are these 2 rifles accurate even with this play - yes...well at least consistent anyway...I shoot open sights and mainly at ranges 100yd or less
Does it feel like the gun is going to fall apart - not at all - minor shift in the wood
How long have they had this play - since I got them, but they were used...possibly refinished? Maybe oversanded? Dunno
Did they come like this "loose" when you first got them - see above
Do you notice on the warm, dry, humid,cold, wet days a change in looseness - nosir, but I live in the desert, so we don't have much humidity variance


1894 357 and a Mountie - both will exhibit a slight shift in the forend when I pick it up from, say, leaning back against the wall.
Offhand grips forearm to lift rifle, and the wood slips just a bit

I have 3 other Marlin 1894/39a models and none of them have any forend shift at all.

Again, very slight, but I'd prefer them to be tight like the others all else equal.

 

I have a 1971 1984 44 mag. that has always been loose and a 1950 35 rem. 336 , they shoot good so I dont worrey about it,sometimes on these older gun the wood will shrink as it becomes dryer.

 

I follow Wind's advice, ya don't want things so tight they bind on the barrel and mag. tube. I had issues with my 308MX when I put a lam. stock off my 336 MXLR on it. The forearm was a very tight fit, hard to get the screw in on the hanger on the barrel. POI seemed to change with every change in temp. be it air temp or barrel temp when the barrel would heat up with each shot. Put the Walnut back on the 308 and she went back to very consistant groups. DP

 

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You have it Backwards, FK. You should make the tight ones loose like the two loose one's.:biggrin:

I spend time making my Marlins (and Winchesters) loose so that they shoot better............and you want to make your tight? Do your two shoot too good :questionmark: :biggrin: