So a few years ago I bought a Marlin 980S and put a cheap BSA 3-9x scope on it. It worked fine for simple pinking and squirrel hunting, but I hated the flimsy synthetic stock that didn't fit me well and while I like the Marlin, the stock needed to change.
Anyways one thing led to another and I bought a Richard's Microfit stock. I had never done any stock work before and didn't know where to start, so after much time and research I ended up with something that I was much happier with.
I glass and pillar-bedded this stock (which was difficult because there is a take-down screw that secures to the barreled action with a dovetailed lug in the barrel), and finished it with Tru-oil. I have since had the rifle re-barreled and had to open up the barrel channel and entirely redo the bedding to not only plug up the existing forward action screw, but install a new pillar because I created a new action screw location by opening up the magazine guide screw hole and using it. In addition, I have used it to learn how to install and fit several accessories, so the stock now has nice inletted swivel studs, a checkered steel buttplate, and I cut a shadow line on the cheekpiece.
This past winter I was planning a winter backpacking trip and of course I wanted to have a rifle with to do some hunting, so I dusted off the synthetic stock that hadn't been used for awhile and fixed it up.
I filled in all of the dead spaces within the stock with expanding foam, lined the barrel channel with carbon fiber, glass and pillar bedded the action (with holes cut through the stock to create mechanical locks for the bedding), and painted it. I also fixed a 5 round magazine within the stock because I personally don't like fumbling around with magazines while I'm in the woods and would not want to risk losing one. In addition, it's pretty easy to load rounds directly into the magazine through the ejection port, so it works well. While I love the wood thumbhole stock, it is nice to have something that I can bang around in the woods without hesitation. I also ditched the cheap BSA scope and replaced it with a Mueller APV, which was a great improvement.
I've also used this barreled action for a couple of target rifle projects. I knew from the start that a Marlin 980S action was not made to be for serious target shooting- it is limited by a number of things, but is still okay. I had it re-barreled using a 20" Green Mountain 10/22 barrel. I did a little homework and realized that a 10/22 barrel could be easily converted to use for these rifles simply by turning the tenon down and lengthening it a little. Because they are pinned into the action, I requested that the shop that did work for me have the tenon on the 10/22 barrel a few thousandths thicker than the factory Marlin barrel tenon to ensure a super tight fit within the receiver.
The first target rifle I attempted to make was an offhand rifle.
I made the stock starting out with a laminated poplar blank and took the good part of a summer making it. It's NRA Silhouette legal and I shoot very well with it, especially considering I made it specifically to fit me. While I shoot offhand with it most of the time, it is still quite accurate off of rests.
Finally I made a walnut and carbon fiber laminate stock for benchrest shooting. It's bedded with an aluminum bedding block that I also designed and works very well (and is easy on the eyes).
It has been very difficult to get this rifle to shoot consistently under .25" at 50 yards and I cannot say that I have been successful yet. It will shoot very good groups but not often enough for me to be perfectly confident with it. It has a Rifle Basix trigger that I've worked on and got down to 1 lb. and the stock makes it track like a train, but it's still a headache. I do, however, have a couple more tricks up my sleeve so we'll see what happens once IR 50/50 matches start back up this spring.
So after several years and lots of mistakes and wood shavings, I've got one customized Marlin 980S barreled action and four stocks- one walnut hunting stock with classy refinements, one trustworthy synthetic stock that is ready for anything, an offhand target stock suitable for silhouette matches, and a quality benchrest stock.
The best part is that switching them simply requires an allen wrench and because all four stocks have been bedded well, the POI doesn't shift much at all when they are switched out.
Multi-purpose Marlin
Linear Mode
