![Image](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/AJMD429/Leverguns%20etc/140-4088_IMG.jpg)
So I de-tensioned the magazine tube dovetail, and a few days later shot these groups. The first shot of the first group was the high one on the right, and I will forgive that one as the gun's 'settling in' after being worked on. After scope adjustment I shot the second three shot group seen in the middle of the target.
![Image](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/AJMD429/Leverguns%20etc/444XLRat50ydafterfitting.jpg)
I can't say I'm depressed over them, but I can't say I'm impressed, either...
The dovetail was really tight and I did loosen it up some with a file, but the OTHER thing going on was that the magazine tube's natural 'hang' was to be about 0.3" away from the barrel, so when the anchor screw was tightened snug, there was a good tug up on the magazine (and down on the barrel) relative to somewhere on the forend or forend cap (cap doesn't seem to hit the magazine tube though - lots of clearance). What I did was to put a rubber filler washer inside the hollow of the magazine end cap so the stud on the dovetail bottoms out on it enabling the screw to 'snug' with the magazine down in it's less-stressed position.
I think next I'll remove the tube and forend entirely and shoot (unsure where to rest the front of the gun in that scenario). I'm betting I need to either replace the rubber spacer I put in with a metal one, for less 'bounce' (it doesn't feel at all bouncy to squeeze by hand though), or rasp off the forend where it touches the barrel.
Of note the inside of the front of the forend had lots of splintering from the wood milling process, and some of them are over an inch long and angle away from the tube channel so they touch the magazine.
![Image](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/AJMD429/Leverguns%20etc/140-4093_IMG.jpg)
I know I could give up and send it to Marlin, but I hate that hassle, and I like (sometimes) the challenge of doing it myself.
I would expect a gun like the .444 XLR to be able to get cloverleaf groups at 50 yards; anything less than that will leave me somewhat disappointed. Of course my son suggested I could always turn it from a 24" barrel gun I'll scope (NOT with the 36x, mind you), into a .444 Guide Gun with maybe an 18" barrel and the magazine tube flush with the barrel end, and a ghost ring sight setup - I'd be willing to forgive a gun like that if it shot 5 minutes of angle!
UPDATE - I loosened it up some more by peeling off the slivers of wood impinging on the magazine tube (they wouldn't let it ride up snug to the barrel) and here's the FIVE shot group I got (no barrel cool down either):
![Image](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/AJMD429/Leverguns%20etc/XLR44aftersecondwork.jpg)
Now that's more like it! I think five shots like that at 50 yards and there is at least potential. The last three all went in the hole to the right, so I'm hoping the first two 'settled in' anything that needed it.
For those who wondered about a pic of the gun, I couldn't find my slippers, so I had to borrow my kid's:
![Image](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/AJMD429/Leverguns%20etc/XLRwithSlippersreduced.jpg)