E. Arthur Brown will do this conversion. From what I've seen of his work, you will like what he does.

For years I 've wanted a Marlin 336 in 219Zipper for a fun coyote calling rifle. Well, I have found a super clean 336 made before they started drilling and taping them for scope mounts. This gun(30-30) is nice and tight and smooth-$200. If I would rebarrel it I wouldn't go to the standard Zipper, maybe the 219Imp. or the AI22/30-30 (is there a difference), or maybe even the 25-35AI. I won't hot rod it as I have good modern bolt guns to do that with. What do you guys think? And do most smiths rebarrel lever action guns? Pedro

Pete pop over to the Lever Gun forum and talk to those boys, there is also a listing for Lever gun smiths

Turn it into a 25/35 AI with a 24" barrel and you will have a great yote gun that can handle deer with ease. I'd have to go find my notes before giveing you vel. But they are very respectable without high pressure.

Of your three choices I think the 25-35 AI is the best. 60 grain bullets for varmits and 120 Round Nose for deer.

Otherwise if it were my gun I would have it rebarreled to a 7-30 Waters. A 22" barrel with a half tube magazine would be the ticket. I own a Win 94AE carbine in 7-30 Waters and love it to death. Excellent accuracy and long range killing power.

Thanks everyone for you input. I know of Brockman, and will likely talk to him.
Do you guys forsee any problems forming imp. zipper brass form 30-30?
Also what barrel length for the imp. zipper, 20 or 22?

Pedro

These are just personal opinions, so I don't expect anyone else to agree with or share them....



1. If it was my gun, I would NOT convert it. Those nice older, untapped Marlins are getting harder to find. Instead, I'd get a newer, factory-tapped M336 and use it. You're likely gonna wanta put a scope on it anyway.



2. I like all three rounds you named, but I'd probably go with the 25-35 AI just because I am a .25-35 Phreakofile.



3. Yes, there IS a difference between the 22/30-30 and the 219 Imp Zipper. They are NOT the same cartridge although performance is not vastly different with either. It is no big trick to make cases for each from the basic standard .30-30 brass. That's what I used for both of mine, anyway. Actually, it is easier than using post WW-2 Zipper brass. A change was made in brass composition after the war, leaving the brass harder and less amenable to fire forming without splitting right at the bottom of the shoulder. I quit wasting my good .219 Zipper brass and made all my cases from the .30-30.



4. If you want a very similar case to the Imp Zip, you might consider the .225 Winchester instead. Heck of a lot easier to keep yourself in brass that way, with almost identical shape and ballistics.



5. I'd go with the 22" barrel, or even better, a 24" tube. After all, you're gonna want all the velocity you can get from those mild loads, or you wouldn't likely be "improving" (enlarging) the case capacity anyway. With any powder you're likely to pick for daily use, the longer tube will produce more velocity with the same pressures, as the gas will be pushing on the bullet base longer. Even though the powder may all burn in a shorter barrel, it will still be expanding and pushing on the bullet at the end of a 24" tube.



Nice project...



AC

If you go with a 25cal something, then the Cast bullet board is putting a 25cal special order mold through soon.

It looks like the 444 Marlin case head is just barley larger than the 30-30. This will offer more case capacity. Just out of curiosity, I pluged the 309 JDJ with 22" bbl and loaded to 2.55" into quickload.
110gn Hdy V-max 47gn RL15 @ 40ksi and 2935fps. Not as fast as the 219 Zipper, but you might be able to just rechamber your 30 cal barrel??

Okay, I was haveing another idea. Maybe you could look at the 257 AI. Have the barrel chambered deep enough that the loaded round will cycle, then get a set of dies and cut them down to make a shorter round to fit the finished product. You could use 444 marlin brass, or make it short enough to use 307 win brass. You could probably find a smith with the reamer, so no new developement cost and 257 AI dies should be availible also.