Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions 336 .35 Rem Caliber Bullet Issues

Hello
I recently Picked up an older model 336 hown. It is in great condition as shown ansd along with the deal I got a box of the new Hornady lever revolution ammo. I sighted it in yesterday at my local range and had some of the Bullets key hole at the 50 & 100 Yard line distances. Has anyone else had this issue with this ammo in this model rifle ? Thanks, Thegeneral.

I have the same model as yours. I tried the Hornady ammo as well. Not very accurate in my rifle. I didn't have any bullets key-hole and my groups were around 2 1/2 inches at 50 yards. My reloads will print 2 bullets touching at 100 yards. I'll stick with what works for me.

Ken

I also shoot an older 336. I've always shot factory Remington 200gr. Core-Lokt's or reload the same. For the range and use of a 35 rem. they're the only bullet you really need. Mine will keep those 200gr. bullets in a 2 1/2" circle at 100yds. For this rifle I've never needed anything more accurate than that.
I did buy some 338 Federal for my model 88 that I had rebored into a 338-08 and found I got terrible accuracy with them vs. my handloads. Don't have anything against Federal, great company with some great ammo, they just didn't work this time.

Marlin lists the twist of the standard 336 in .35 Rem as 1 in 16. The twist of the 336XLR designed to be used with the new Leverevolution bullets is 1 in 12. That may explain a few things.

Hello jim
Is the Carbine Marlin 336 Barrel at the same rate of twist ? Thanks, Thegeneral.

.

I have the same model 336 in 35 Rem. and it does not like the Leverevolution ammo. My gun loves the Remington factory Core-Lokt 200 gr. RN or handloads using the same bullet. So, I have no need for the LE bullets.

.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you, I just looked these up on the Marlin website. It doesn't explicitly state the rate of twist for the regular 336 in .35 but 1 in 16 has been the twist rate for the .35 Remington as long as I can remember.

But longer pointy bullets not shooting well in a slower twist would sure make sense. For a carbine I guess you could always do the old cleaning rod and a tight patch technique and determine the actual twist.

BTW, nice rifle and nice pictures overall. You sure do post a lot of eye candy here.

Hello Jim
I am a member of The Marlin Forum as well, and a Nice Member over there told me this rifle was made in 1974. Not all that Old for a Marlin as I once had an original Model of 1936 and they haven't changed all that much over the Years but this one is Nice for one found in the Humid South. I suspect it has Lived elswhere and was transfered in as most from here do not look this nice. Thanks for the Kind words I appreciate it. life's Too short to own Ugly Guns...Thegeneral.

I have a 336RC I found work-worn but certainly sound. After a little work on the crown, it puts 3 Remington 200 gr. CL's into about 1.5"@ 100 yards. It also does well with Speer's 220 gr. FP. I've used the former to put deer in the freezer. The latter settled things very quickly with a smaller black bear in September.

Anyone interested in the .35 Remington cartridge owes it to themselves to look up the incredibly thorough work of the fella who goes by "35Remington" on the Marlin Owners Forum.

PC

Hello
I took another box of The Hornady lever revolution Ammo that Hornady Sent me to replace the first Box that was so Inaccurate, top the range yesterday.The second Box proved to be justa s Inaccurate out of my Marlin 336 Rifle, But this time I had along some hand loads for testing. I am Pleased with the hand loads as the Targets below showed not a thing was wrong woth my Marlin, it just did not like the Hornady Ammo. I Plan on Getting a hold of Hornady and telling them my results as well. Thegeneral


Here is the Hornady Loads at the 50 Yard line. As you can see, I could not get it to group Consistent at all here








I Then took the same ammo and fired it at the 100 Yard distance. Notice the two Real High hits on the target. That is where the P.O.I. started out after I got it close to the center of the target at the 50 Yard line.This ammo really made me wonder if something was wrong with my Rifle, My mind was set at ease when I fired my hand loads shown below, it was not the Rifle nor me, it was the Hornady Ammo that my Marlin did Not Like here...












Here is the target I shot with my Hand Loads at the 50 Yard line. It showed the P.O.I. Real low after adjusting the scope to suite the Hornady ammo, but once it was Zeroed in, The results speak for them self's. This is a Six shot Group fired.












Here I shot Six more rounds at the 100 Yard range with my Hand loads again. Given the fact I Only have a 4-X scope on my rifle and seeing this target at that range was abit of a challenge, I was Pleased with the grouping at this range. I will stay with this hand Load of mine for the remainder of deer Season..Thegeneral.

You want to share that load. It sure looks like you have a winner in the rifle and that load.

.

Excellent results by any standard! I have decided that the LE ammo is just an overpriced marketing gemmick. (because it doesn't work in my guns). VERY nice rifle for it's age.

.

I just bought a brand new Marlin336c .35 back in October and had trouble with the Hornady LE at first. Cleaned the bore real good, went back to the bench and printed 1 1/2" groups at 100yrd with the Hornady ammo. I'm anxious to try my own handloads with the FTX bullets when they come out. I think some of the problem lies in the powder that they use. I've done quite a bit of reading about it, and Hornady uses the same powder they use in their Light Magnum rounds for the Leverevolution ammo. My personal opinion is that the burn rate of that powder is not suitable for the .35? I've switched to Varget for my handloads using the 200grn round nose. When I get some 200gr FTX bullets, loaded with Varget, I'll bench test and post the results here. Be watching for that post. The FTX bullets aren't available yet, but they should be out soon.
PS- The FTX .35 ammo isn't an overpriced gimmick. It's actually cheaper than the Remington core lokts. At least here in Mo.

BTW-Real nice looking rifle. My older brother has one that looks exactly like it. I've always admired his, that's why I had to have one.

My rifle was made in 1971. I just measured the twist and it is 1 in 16 as suggested above. Could be that the 1 in 16 twist is too slow for the Hornady LE ammo.

.

generalstuart:

I see that you used IMR3031 for that nice accurate load. Good choice of powder. I've also had excellent results with IMR4064.

It does sound like the barrel twist rate is too slow for the Hornady LE ammo.

Hello
I used 34 Grains of IMR-3031 Powder under a Sierra 220 Grain Flat Point bullet and standard W.W. Primer with a factory crimp die for this load..Thegeneral.

I have a newer model basic 336 in .35 rem and I've had mixed results with the LE ammo. When the bore was shiny new the LE didn't group at all. After I put a few hundred rounds through it the LE groups tightened up quite a bit. I even printed one under an inch at 100 yards, but that may have been a fluke. It certainly surprised me because I'm not a very good shot.

I have a 1955 336 in 35 remy and the LE stuff shoots great in it. 1 1/2" groups at 100 yds and 3" groups at 200 yds. I have killed several hogs with this rifle and ammo.

I have a 336 35LTD with Ballard rifling. LE ammo does not keyhole from my rifle but there has been a jamming problem that was also documanted by others. The problem occurs when the plastic bullet tips get stuck between the inside of the mag tube and the rim of the cartridge behind it in the magazine. That condition becomes more likely each time the cartridges are loaded and unloaded from the rifle, so the condition is rarely seen during range sessions and is more common in the field - not good! It has been speculated that the cause of the problem is that using the same diameter mag tube as the rimmed 30-30 for 35 Rem cartridges with rebated rims allows cartridges to wobble in the magazine enough to cause the jammed condition. Otherwise, the 35 Rem. LE ammo shoots fairly well (~ 1.75 MOA) but not quite as good as my best 170 gr. handloads (~ 1.25 MOA).

I have also seen discussion of a keyholing problem with LE ammo on the Marlinowners.com forum and there was speculation that the plastic tips on LE ammo may deform enough in flight to destabilize the bullet. However, I believe that discussion was about 30-30 ammo and not 35 Rem. ammo. Personally, I have had very poor accuracy (~ 6 MOA) with 30-30 LE ammo, but no apparent keyholing.