Buzz,

Post his address/phone number. I have a spare 336 I want rebarreled to 25-35. I may contract the work with him. Olson does great work....some of the very best I have seen, but at $500 a pop, a bit rich for this hillbilly.

Jumptrap - the guy that did the work is Neil Spruill out of Gainsville, GA.

Like yourself, I have quite a few Marlin rifles. I think my favorite is my .444 Marlin. It was my first Marlin and I really have a soft spot for it. Within reason there isn't much one can do with either a .444 or .45-70 that the other cannot do. I do find the .444 to have considerably lighter recoil even when shooting the same bullet weight close to the same speed. It generally takes a lot less powder (but higher pressure) to do so. I can propel a 300g bullet out of the .444 at about 2100 fps and the recoil is noticeably less than the .45-70 shooting the same bullet weight the same speed.

Only 2 of my lever guns have scopes and both are pictured here. The M99 works really well with a scope and the 2.5X compact on the 444 is just as fast as a good peep sight is. It also has a ton of eye relief so it's not right in your face.