Marlin 80DL .22LR

REDBULL600 · March 10, 2013, 12:11 PM

Ok, long story short; Father-in-Laws rifle from when he was a boy, Mother-in-law found it and gave it to me to get rid of. Not happening as Just yesterday I was going around to LGS looking and pricing .22LR rifles to start my 9yr boy on out at the my familys farm. Not taking him to the range for his first few shooting lessons. My Wife was like perfect, no more spending money. How little she knows, getting a firearm is only the beginning.

Father-in-law has long past away so I can't talk to him about it to get the history.

This rifle has been in a basement for about 40+ yrs, and it was nasty with cob webs, dust and smelled like cat litter. Bolt was really hard to open and the safety would engage.

So I locked my self in the basement last night with some rags, a new bottle of hoppers oil and cleaning kit. after settling on the die hard Bluray I finally got the gun cleaned up. I am very new to firearms, kinda learning as I go and very reluctant to start disassembling a gun. Any ways, i'll look on YOutube per haps. Bolt is smoother now and the safety is moving but really hard, but that isn't my biggest problem; no mag...

Can I just insert a round into the "pipe" and close the bolt? It is a bit awkward but I have tried but didn't close the bolt as I don't know if it will discharge. I know closing the bolt wont make it automatically go off but just incase there is malfunction or something, I want to be on the range before I do so. Again I have not history of this rifle so I feel I must proceed with caution.

The stock is scratched up badly, can that be replaced or could I lightly sand it and re stain it? How do I remove the parts to do this? Also that would be nice to know to do a REALLY good cleaning.

I know not so short.
Thanks. Andy.

alex0535 · March 10, 2013, 01:25 PM

Do you know how to remove the bolt from the gun? Check to make sure there is no round in it. Close the bolt, pull the trigger and hold it back. While holding the trigger, lift the bolt handle up and back. Should pull right out the back.

I would soak the bolt in a solvent. consider buying an empty paint can from home depot, pouring in a little bit of kerosene and letting the bolt soak for a few hours.

While letting it soak go back to the bolt-less action and stock. Give the barrel a good cleaning. I would start buy running a couple cleaning patches with cleaner on them through it first. Then run a cleaning rod with a .22 wire brush on it through the back where the bolt came out of into barrel chamber and out the muzzle in one direction. Do this a couple more times. Run another cleaning patches with cleaner on through it, then a couple dry patches.

Next I would inspect the inside of the barrel. The gun should be empty with the bolt removed, so it is safe to look down the barrel. Take a flashlight and put it up to where the bolt was removed and shine it down the barrel. Look down the barrel. Hopefully you see smooth surface with visible rifling.

I would take the stock off the action and barrel. This is done by removing two screws on the underside of the stock and lifting the action out the top. Clean every nook and cranny you can. q-tips are your friend.

After clean. Put the stock back on the action. Tighten screws to an even snugness. To put bolt back in, squeeze trigger with safety off and slide the bolt back in after putting a light coat of oil on it.

These people sell the magazine you are looking for.
http://www.ammoclip.com/m/marlin_80,80c,80dl,80e.htm

alex0535 · March 10, 2013, 01:41 PM

Before you start to refinish the stock, I would make sure that you can get it working and get a clip for it.

Feeding them one at a time into the tube will probably work if you want to test fire it. Should work fine if everything is in working order.

On the topic of refinishing the stock. Take a wood stripper like Citristrip to it. Will strip it down to bare wood with a few coats. Handle scratches and dings differently. To take care of dints and dings in the wood, take an iron, put a tee shirt between the wood and the iron and steam the wood. It will raise the wood and get rid of dints and such. Sand stock with finer and finer sandpaper.

The staining process is something you can figure out. Consider getting some Tru-Oil to finish the stock, apply a few coats of it. Will produce a high gloss finish. Some fine steel wool will make it a more subdued satin finish.

REDBULL600 · March 10, 2013, 03:30 PM

Thank you guys. This has helped a ton. I'll do this and clean it again, see about getting a mag or two and worry about redoing the stock later.

alex0535 · March 10, 2013, 03:58 PM

Just one person so far

Found any rust or just some cobwebs in it?

If there isn't much rust, I think you will be able to clean it up pretty well.

If the bolt is still stiff after cleaning and oiling, I would attempt to polish the contact surfaces of the bolt and the receiver until smooth. Might have a little bit of rust creating friction.

If the safety stays sort of stiff after you clean it as best you can and you still are not happy with it. If the trigger is not made of plastic I would just let the action and trigger group to soak in the kerosene bucket for a while.

An air compressor with a nozzle will dry the kerosene out quick. It will leave a light coating of lubrication when it evaporates and will clean as it soaks.

alex0535 · March 10, 2013, 04:03 PM

edit:for some reason the post posted twice.

FrankenMauser · March 10, 2013, 04:59 PM

Single-loading into the chamber is not a problem. It's awkward, but perfectly fine.

One place the original magazines occasionally turn up, is at Numrich.
Check this page once in a while, to see if the magazine assembly (or "Magazine, .22 LR, 7-round") changes from 'sold out' to 'Buy Now'.
Numrich Marlin 80 parts.

HOWEVER...
If you don't care about having an original magazine, there are appropriate magazines still available. The same magazine is also used for the 780 model series (replaced the 80 series).
LG Outdoors has one for $15.
Midway occasionally has them for about $20.
And, there are probably a few other places, as well.

Disassembly is pretty easy, and you really don't have to go any farther than removing the stock.
The manual for the 780 can be found here: http://stevespages.com/pdf/marlin_780.pdf (very slow download

)
Basic disassembly of the 80DL will be the same.

Removing the stock will allow better access to clean up the safety and trigger group.

That will allow you to get a better look at hidden parts of the stock, to determine if you want to try refinishing it, as well.

REDBULL600 · March 10, 2013, 05:43 PM

No rust. I did what you said and removed the bolt. Other then some dust and oil from my earlier attempt at cleaning it, it was free of rust. In fact there isn't any rust on it. It feed up nicely, the bolt, after my Initial cleaning but now it's cleaner.

Thanks for the mag links.

REDBULL600 · March 25, 2013, 03:36 PM

Ok, well it shoots great. Took it out last weekend to the farm and put about 10 rounds through it. Monday I ordered some Mags from Ammoclips.com and got them this weekend.

As mentioned either here I had to file down the rivet on one side then it fit like a glove.

The rifle is solid and will continue on in the family.

I'm not sure about refinishing the wood, I may hold up on that for now.

thanks.

Pathfinder45 · March 26, 2013, 10:00 PM

If the stock is Walnut I would recommend Teak-wood oil without stain. Strip the old finish off, treat scratches and dents and apply oil.

March 10, 2013, 12:11 PM	#1
REDBULL600 Member Join Date: March 6, 2013 Location: INDEPENDENCE, MO Posts: 62	Marlin 80DL .22LR Ok, long story short; Father-in-Laws rifle from when he was a boy, Mother-in-law found it and gave it to me to get rid of. Not happening as Just yesterday I was going around to LGS looking and pricing .22LR rifles to start my 9yr boy on out at the my familys farm. Not taking him to the range for his first few shooting lessons. My Wife was like perfect, no more spending money. How little she knows, getting a firearm is only the beginning. Father-in-law has long past away so I can't talk to him about it to get the history. This rifle has been in a basement for about 40+ yrs, and it was nasty with cob webs, dust and smelled like cat litter. Bolt was really hard to open and the safety would engage. So I locked my self in the basement last night with some rags, a new bottle of hoppers oil and cleaning kit. after settling on the die hard Bluray I finally got the gun cleaned up. I am very new to firearms, kinda learning as I go and very reluctant to start disassembling a gun. Any ways, i'll look on YOutube per haps. Bolt is smoother now and the safety is moving but really hard, but that isn't my biggest problem; no mag... Can I just insert a round into the "pipe" and close the bolt? It is a bit awkward but I have tried but didn't close the bolt as I don't know if it will discharge. I know closing the bolt wont make it automatically go off but just incase there is malfunction or something, I want to be on the range before I do so. Again I have not history of this rifle so I feel I must proceed with caution. The stock is scratched up badly, can that be replaced or could I lightly sand it and re stain it? How do I remove the parts to do this? Also that would be nice to know to do a REALLY good cleaning. I know not so short. Thanks. Andy.

March 10, 2013, 01:25 PM	#2
alex0535 Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2012 Location: Georgia Posts: 908	Do you know how to remove the bolt from the gun? Check to make sure there is no round in it. Close the bolt, pull the trigger and hold it back. While holding the trigger, lift the bolt handle up and back. Should pull right out the back. I would soak the bolt in a solvent. consider buying an empty paint can from home depot, pouring in a little bit of kerosene and letting the bolt soak for a few hours. While letting it soak go back to the bolt-less action and stock. Give the barrel a good cleaning. I would start buy running a couple cleaning patches with cleaner on them through it first. Then run a cleaning rod with a .22 wire brush on it through the back where the bolt came out of into barrel chamber and out the muzzle in one direction. Do this a couple more times. Run another cleaning patches with cleaner on through it, then a couple dry patches. Next I would inspect the inside of the barrel. The gun should be empty with the bolt removed, so it is safe to look down the barrel. Take a flashlight and put it up to where the bolt was removed and shine it down the barrel. Look down the barrel. Hopefully you see smooth surface with visible rifling. I would take the stock off the action and barrel. This is done by removing two screws on the underside of the stock and lifting the action out the top. Clean every nook and cranny you can. q-tips are your friend. After clean. Put the stock back on the action. Tighten screws to an even snugness. To put bolt back in, squeeze trigger with safety off and slide the bolt back in after putting a light coat of oil on it. These people sell the magazine you are looking for. http://www.ammoclip.com/m/marlin_80,80c,80dl,80e.htm Last edited by alex0535; March 10, 2013 at 03:34 PM.

March 10, 2013, 04:03 PM	#6
alex0535 Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2012 Location: Georgia Posts: 908	edit:for some reason the post posted twice. Last edited by alex0535; March 10, 2013 at 06:57 PM.

March 10, 2013, 04:59 PM	#7
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	Single-loading into the chamber is not a problem. It's awkward, but perfectly fine. One place the original magazines occasionally turn up, is at Numrich. Check this page once in a while, to see if the magazine assembly (or "Magazine, .22 LR, 7-round") changes from 'sold out' to 'Buy Now'. Numrich Marlin 80 parts. HOWEVER... If you don't care about having an original magazine, there are appropriate magazines still available. The same magazine is also used for the 780 model series (replaced the 80 series). LG Outdoors has one for $15. Midway occasionally has them for about $20. And, there are probably a few other places, as well. Disassembly is pretty easy, and you really don't have to go any farther than removing the stock. The manual for the 780 can be found here: http://stevespages.com/pdf/marlin_780.pdf (very slow download ) Basic disassembly of the 80DL will be the same. Removing the stock will allow better access to clean up the safety and trigger group. That will allow you to get a better look at hidden parts of the stock, to determine if you want to try refinishing it, as well. __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

March 25, 2013, 03:36 PM	#9
REDBULL600 Member Join Date: March 6, 2013 Location: INDEPENDENCE, MO Posts: 62	UPDATE Ok, well it shoots great. Took it out last weekend to the farm and put about 10 rounds through it. Monday I ordered some Mags from Ammoclips.com and got them this weekend. As mentioned either here I had to file down the rivet on one side then it fit like a glove. The rifle is solid and will continue on in the family. I'm not sure about refinishing the wood, I may hold up on that for now. thanks.

March 10, 2013, 01:41 PM	#3
alex0535 Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2012 Location: Georgia Posts: 908	Before you start to refinish the stock, I would make sure that you can get it working and get a clip for it. Feeding them one at a time into the tube will probably work if you want to test fire it. Should work fine if everything is in working order. On the topic of refinishing the stock. Take a wood stripper like Citristrip to it. Will strip it down to bare wood with a few coats. Handle scratches and dings differently. To take care of dints and dings in the wood, take an iron, put a tee shirt between the wood and the iron and steam the wood. It will raise the wood and get rid of dints and such. Sand stock with finer and finer sandpaper. The staining process is something you can figure out. Consider getting some Tru-Oil to finish the stock, apply a few coats of it. Will produce a high gloss finish. Some fine steel wool will make it a more subdued satin finish.

March 10, 2013, 03:30 PM	#4
REDBULL600 Member Join Date: March 6, 2013 Location: INDEPENDENCE, MO Posts: 62	Thank you guys. This has helped a ton. I'll do this and clean it again, see about getting a mag or two and worry about redoing the stock later.

March 10, 2013, 03:58 PM	#5
alex0535 Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2012 Location: Georgia Posts: 908	Just one person so far Found any rust or just some cobwebs in it? If there isn't much rust, I think you will be able to clean it up pretty well. If the bolt is still stiff after cleaning and oiling, I would attempt to polish the contact surfaces of the bolt and the receiver until smooth. Might have a little bit of rust creating friction. If the safety stays sort of stiff after you clean it as best you can and you still are not happy with it. If the trigger is not made of plastic I would just let the action and trigger group to soak in the kerosene bucket for a while. An air compressor with a nozzle will dry the kerosene out quick. It will leave a light coating of lubrication when it evaporates and will clean as it soaks.

March 10, 2013, 05:43 PM	#8
REDBULL600 Member Join Date: March 6, 2013 Location: INDEPENDENCE, MO Posts: 62	No rust. I did what you said and removed the bolt. Other then some dust and oil from my earlier attempt at cleaning it, it was free of rust. In fact there isn't any rust on it. It feed up nicely, the bolt, after my Initial cleaning but now it's cleaner. Thanks for the mag links.

March 26, 2013, 10:00 PM	#10
Pathfinder45 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2008 Posts: 3,224	About the Stock...... If the stock is Walnut I would recommend Teak-wood oil without stain. Strip the old finish off, treat scratches and dents and apply oil.