Anybody ever drilled/tapped an old Marlin Leveraction?

[Doyle]

I was considering drilling and tapping an old Marlin 1936 that I picked up. It is too far gone for collector value so no worries about ruining value. I disassembled the action and found that there is a groove running right down the middle of the underside of the receiver top. A tongue on the bolt rides in this groove.

Since that groove is right in the middle, any screw holes would go right through it. I'm worried about the scope mount screws protruding into the groove enought to hamper the bolt travel.

Has anybody ever done this and if so - did the screws cause any trouble?

 

[Slopemeno]

That's a common issue when you D&T. The answer is you shorten the screws after the fact to make sure the bolt can move.

If youre not 100% sure of what youre doing, take it to a gunsmith.