I wouldn't consider using one of the Marlin XL-7 or XS-7 rifles for a Savage barrel transplant unless I couldn't find a Savage or there were other circumstances at play. Here's my story:
I bought a new XL-7 in 270 for cheap instead of a Stevens 200 for the same price, mostly because of the accutrigger knockoff on the Marlin. My intention was to mount an Adams and Bennet barrel from Midway and turn it into a 35 Wheelen for (mostly) cast bullets but also maybe elk if I should get drawn for the eastern KY elk lottery. I bought a GO gauge and a barrel wrench and thought I was good to go. I was wrong.
1) The Marlin doesn't have a tab on the recoil lug like a Savage does. You're going to need a jig of some sort if you are going to have any chance at all of getting it realigned correctly when you reinstall it.
2) While the threads are the same on the action, the depth of the bolt faces is different, with the Marlin being deeper. What this means is that the chamber face will contact the bolt face before the shoulder of the GO gauge bottoms out in the chamber. You WILL have a rifle with excessive headspace unless you face off the rear of the barrel or the bolt face a bit. No problem, I thought, since I'll never fire factory ammo in it. I'll just fireform some cases and I'll be OK. To save money I loaded up some 158 grain lead .358 pistol bullets over 5 grains of Unique and went to fireform them. That's when I discovered problem #3.
3) The MIM extractors can't take any sort of stress at all. I got 3 shots during fireforming when the extractor shattered. I got a replacement from Marlin--it lasted 10 shots. Turns out the extractor was holding the too-short brass against the bolt face and the blow of the firing pin was enough to break it. Since I made my 35 Wheelen brass from 30/06 there is no secondary shoulder formed that I can use to hold headspace and the short SWC pistol bullets were no help.
So now I've made my own action wrench/jig with locating pins to make sure the recoil lug is perpendicular to the action and I've set the barrel back as far as it will go. I've also purchased some extractors from Savage and ground them down to fit (the Savage extractor is wider but otherwise same dimensions). I've cast some 200 grain gas checked lead bullets with an RCBS mold and I'm going to carefully experiment with seating them far enough out that they impinge on the lands, thereby holding the case head against the boltface until I can blow out the shoulders to correct headspace.
Moral of this story: this would have been a lot easier if I had just bought a Savage or Stevens action to start with!
I bought a new XL-7 in 270 for cheap instead of a Stevens 200 for the same price, mostly because of the accutrigger knockoff on the Marlin. My intention was to mount an Adams and Bennet barrel from Midway and turn it into a 35 Wheelen for (mostly) cast bullets but also maybe elk if I should get drawn for the eastern KY elk lottery. I bought a GO gauge and a barrel wrench and thought I was good to go. I was wrong.
1) The Marlin doesn't have a tab on the recoil lug like a Savage does. You're going to need a jig of some sort if you are going to have any chance at all of getting it realigned correctly when you reinstall it.
2) While the threads are the same on the action, the depth of the bolt faces is different, with the Marlin being deeper. What this means is that the chamber face will contact the bolt face before the shoulder of the GO gauge bottoms out in the chamber. You WILL have a rifle with excessive headspace unless you face off the rear of the barrel or the bolt face a bit. No problem, I thought, since I'll never fire factory ammo in it. I'll just fireform some cases and I'll be OK. To save money I loaded up some 158 grain lead .358 pistol bullets over 5 grains of Unique and went to fireform them. That's when I discovered problem #3.
3) The MIM extractors can't take any sort of stress at all. I got 3 shots during fireforming when the extractor shattered. I got a replacement from Marlin--it lasted 10 shots. Turns out the extractor was holding the too-short brass against the bolt face and the blow of the firing pin was enough to break it. Since I made my 35 Wheelen brass from 30/06 there is no secondary shoulder formed that I can use to hold headspace and the short SWC pistol bullets were no help.
So now I've made my own action wrench/jig with locating pins to make sure the recoil lug is perpendicular to the action and I've set the barrel back as far as it will go. I've also purchased some extractors from Savage and ground them down to fit (the Savage extractor is wider but otherwise same dimensions). I've cast some 200 grain gas checked lead bullets with an RCBS mold and I'm going to carefully experiment with seating them far enough out that they impinge on the lands, thereby holding the case head against the boltface until I can blow out the shoulders to correct headspace.
Moral of this story: this would have been a lot easier if I had just bought a Savage or Stevens action to start with!
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