Ideas on who the barrel maker or gunsmith was

[shauny88]

Hey all,

This could be a very long shot, but I was hoping to see if anyone recognised this name/signature on the barrel at all? The work on the barrel is superb and it shoots very well. Would love to know if anyone recognises the logo or know who would have done it and if they are still around?

barrel

IMG_6577.jpg (444.99 KiB) Viewed 3665 times

[Bill]

Look like a W.Ma so I'd hazzard a guess and say William Marden was the gunsmith. Not sure if he made barrels ?? Old ZKK hey

[Bugman]

I though Bill Marden was involved with Simplex reloading gear. Like you, not sure if he made barrels.

[straightshooter]

Yes definitely Bill Marden but no way of telling if it was done during Marden senior or Marden junior's time.
How can I be sure, I have a couple of Bill Marden jr custom barrelled rifles myself.
Unlikely it was personally done by either but done by a gunsmith employed in the business. It is also likely a Douglass barrel.
Bill Marden jr, now retired, was also a maker of high quality precision reamers. He had to be for the Simplex side of the business.

[shauny88]

Thanks so much all, a whole lot more info that I had, so this is great.

Sure is a very nice ZKK and the barrel work is amazing, it shoots very nicely. Don't think it has done any rounds at all since it was done way back.

Thanks for that extra bit of info straightshooter. Do you know much about his smithing business they had? Was it done from the Simplex workshops or separately? I have reached out to Simplex for any info they could give.

[doggy]

Greetings, I am seeking details for W Marden, Custom Grade Rifle. I have one in 22 Varmint. Browning M 98 action. It is virtually new and has fine figured stock. Any details would be appreciated , thanks

[Bill]

Bill Marden sure does great work a mate has a Mauser 98 varmint in 22-250 and the thing shoots like stink despite having had a hard life

[xkkat]

Hi guys I too have a Bill Marden made Rifle Its in 22 VARMINTER caliber It was advertised as 22/250 cal
It will not chamber a 22/250 round The parent case for both 22 varminter and 22/50 is the 250/3000 savage Back in mid-1960s Remington slightly changed the patented 22 varminter and remarketed it as the 22/250
Looking at the specs The 250/3000 has a 26.30-degree angle on the shoulder and the 22/250 is 28 degrees On Paper it looks like the chamber will ream out There's enough meat Time will tell Like to hear from anyone with @@ varminter rifles regard Terry xkkat

[xkkat]

hi guys like to hear from anyone with a rifle built by W Marden I have just bought one in 22 varminter
the seller listed it as 22/250 rem a 22/250 round won't chamber, but looks like it will cut out to be ok
regards to all xkkat

[straightshooter]

doggy and xkkat
The 22 Varminter had been around since the early 30's and it overshadowed the 22 Swift in popularity by being far more flexible in handloading and was rimless.
In the mid 60's Remington had merely standardised it's dimensions as there had been many chambering variations prior to that time. That lead to some variants not being interchangeable with other variants.
Before either of you do anything drastic I would suggest that you try progressively deeper full length resizing of a standard case until it fits your chamber. That may involve thinning the upper edge of your shell holder.
If that does not deliver positive results then you can contact Simplex and enquire about a 22 Varminter FLS die. They may still have the reamer used to chamber your rifle 60+ years ago and can use it to make a suitable FLS die.
The last resort is to find a gunsmith who will touch up the chamber with a modern 22/250 reamer, however they will try to talk you into setting back the barrel a half or whole thread and you will lose originality.

[xkkat]

Hi, Straight shooter The shoulder angle is what needs changing The 22 varminter is26.30 degrees and the 22/250 is 28 degrees If it was the other way round then it would fireform I tend to go with the reamer job as it looks feasible looking at the case specs. The Savage 250/300 is their parent case .
to use a die from Bill Marden means full-length resizing all my 22/250 shells to obsolete case size and not having a factory ammo option, and having to handload everything There's a local Gunsmith with a 22/250 reamer 120 km away! Regards Terry XKKAT

[xkkat]

HI GUYS I rang Simplex A couple of days back and Bill Marden answered the phone Just figured out why this rifle I just bought off used guns is soo clean and tidy with the exception of a few safe bumps (hardly visible) Its a 22 Varminter and there is no ammo available these days So it was a safe Queen till the old mate died and he never used it

[Billo]

HI GUYS I rang Simplex A couple of days back and Bill Marden answered the phone Just figured out why this rifle I just bought off used guns is soo clean and tidy with the exception of a few safe bumps (hardly visible) Its a 22 Varminter and there is no ammo available these days So it was a safe Queen till the old mate died and he never used it

Hey xxkat I took about 5 thou or so off the bottom of some Lee RGB 22-250 dies, this enabled me to bump enough of the shoulder back so that I can chamber tikka 22-250 brass in my 22 Varminter.

Made by the same gunsmith with possibly the same reamer.

[straightshooter]

Billo
It would have been easier and better to take the necessary 10 or 20 thou off the top of the shell holder in small increments to suit your Lee die as it has a lock ring that moves too easily losing it's setting between loading sessions.

[Gamerancher]

The lock ring problem is easily solved by replacing it with one that has a grub screw, simples.

[xkkat]

Hi, guys By modifying Either a die or shell holder to bump the shoulder. Then I end up with a bastard case and a rifle with a bastard chamber -- I lose the option of using 22/250 rem factory ammo and am stuck with modified 22/250 dies But hopefully resizing the chamber may cure the problem. regards to all Terry xkkat

[Gamerancher]

Taking 10 thou off the bottom of a die so it will size a shorter case won't affect it's use on the original designated case when set up correctly.
You have a "wildcat" chamber, the very nature of which means you can't buy ammo "off the shelf".
If you want to get the chamber recut to a standard .22-250 do it. It's your rifle, do what you want with it.

[Billo]

Billo
It would have been easier and better to take the necessary 10 or 20 thou off the top of the shell holder in small increments to suit your Lee die as it has a lock ring that moves too easily losing it's setting between loading sessions.

Funny you should say that, I took 10 thou of a shell holder earlier this year when I was trying to form some 25-35 brass from 30-30 brass.

Completely FLS brass was still a bit sticky in my martini so I did your suggestion and the Shell holder opened up and failed and I ended up with a stuck case in the press

Was a Lee shell holder so maybe a diff brand might handle thining

[straightshooter]

Billo
Just out of curiosity I measured a couple of Lee shell holders to see what the thickness of the upper part is.
Both were about 75 thou.
If one removed 10 thou then that would leave 65 thou which is about equal in thickness to a 30-30 rim.
It is curious that the steel in the shell holder failed before the brass in the rim failed given their roughly equal thicknesses.
The tensile strength of heat treated steel, which one would expect to be in a shell holder, should greatly exceed that of brass. Even mild steel would be much stronger than brass.

[Billo]

Hey straightshooter I may have removed a little more than 10 thou to be honest, It was probably more like 20-30 thou, I wasnt actually measure it as I was going, plus the heat from the angle grinder would have de tempered it. I had to abandon using 3030 brass and I managed to find some new 25-35 brass, modern 30-30 brass was just a pooftenth to thick n the rim and the neck when sized down fr the 25-35 chamber I had.