Well that answers that! I didn't pursue it any futher because I was doing a rebarrel already with mine, so the old barrel had to come off anyway.
That's exactly the way I did my Marlin. Only my shop-made extension was copper
Thanks for those links!
I've settled on W748 as I have a good quantity of it and it meters through my powder thrower really well. Varget is an excellent choice too IMHO.