Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions We need a 336 kill thread.

Well I put my Marlin 336 to work today and killed something with my 336 30-30 for the first time in three years tody. Shot the hog at 50 yards at 7:00am and the button at 40 yards. The hog went 30 yards and the deer 60 yards.


Post some of your 336 kill pics.

Been too many years since I popped one with mine. Can't find any pics that aren't on paper to post. I can proudly say that I've done it on several occasions though. Looks like you've got a dandy mess of freezer fodder for the winter. Nice shootin!

No pics, but I busted two with my GG this year.

How many shots left in the magazine?? You had a good day with the 30-30.

Doc

I had five shots left in the mag so I was ready for the whole herd to come out.


Come on guys post your some of your own pics!

336C .35 Rem

very nice my uncle put down a cow elk at 80 yards with his I will get pics and post them

This is an 8 point killed on 10/13/09 at 40 yds w/336 30-30 hand loaded 160 gr Hornady FTX



This 10 point was killed 10/20/09 at 50 yds- same stand and gun



This 7 point was killed 10/25/09 at 20 yds- same stand and gun

Don't want this thread to die so here is another I took with my 30-30. Shot him at 100 yards with LR ammo. He was my first buck and hangs in my office now.

I got this guy in 2003
50 yards with my 336 30-30. first shot hit him in the heart and his legs locked and he swayed back and forth, so I put another one in the same place, just off by an inch and he tipped over legs still stiff. never took a step. opened him up and his heart looked like a squashed tomato. I didn't need that second shot, but it never hurts for good measure. its my biggest bull to date.
I had 9 bulls all within 90 yards and all of them fighting, only saw one cow, so I know why they were fighting so hard. 4 of the bulls were 5x5 or better, I got the second biggest one, its hard to judge them with the way they were getting at each other. I even had to chase one bull away as he was beating up on mine after he was dead as I walked up to him. talk about a hunt to remember! I wish I had a video camera, I've never seen the like before or since, including other videos.

I don't have pictures but I take at least one deer with my 336 every year. It was my Grandpa's gun and is my most prized possession!

I was 14 when I bought my first marlin 336 in 30-30. Worked all summer mowing lawns, and building fence to pay for it. It is a straight stock short barrel version, I think they call it a "Texan" model. I took my first deer with that gun, and my younger brother got his first deer with it too.
I still have it, almost 30 years later, I dont shoot it as much anymore, but it still shoots great. Maybe I will take the ole safe queen for a walk or two this year.

Share your story...

I took a 6x6 at 110 yards with my M336 30-30 and the 160 grain LeverEvolution round. Uphill and quartering away, the bullet entered behind the right shoulder, macerated the heart, on through the opposite lung and lodged in the left shoulder. He shuddered and dropped where he was standing. I was rather impressed with the rounds performance.

Your story?

I got this 10pt on Thanksgiving Day this past season, 35yd shot. I included a pic of the recovered bullet, I am switching to the 200gr CoreLokt this season from my .35 Remington.

I hunted with guns owned by my family and friends in my early years. My first experience with the Marlin 336 (that first one was actually a Model 36 with the square bolt) chambered in .32 Winchester Special.

It was owned by a family friend who lived about a mile from my house and he decided to take me under his wing and learn me to deer hunt. Although I was just 9 years old at the time I spent nearly every minute I wasn't in school or doing chores wandering the woods with a .22 rifle and he thought it was high time I learned to use a "real" gun.

Even though I've read time after time how there is no difference in performance between the .30-30 and the .32 Special, but this old timer swore the .32 hit harder and killed better. I've shot both guns and killed several deer with each and my feeling is that he was right.....the .32 Special beats the .30-30 by small, but definite margin.

I borrowed that rifle from time to time and also used a 336 in .30-30 owned by another family friend until I was 13. That summer I worked in a local saw mill and saved enough to buy my first rifle.....MY RIFLE, not one borrowed.

I figured that if the .32 Special was better than the .30-30......then the .35 Remington would be just what I needed for the thickets of East Texas and even more deadly. Was I ever right about that one!! The .35 hit harder and killed quicker than any gun I'd seen or used at that time. In the next 8 years I killed over a dozen deer with the .35 and those that didn't drop at once left a blood trail that looked like someone had walked through the woods with a blood-filled bucket....with a large hole in the side!

I had shot a Ruger 44 carbine my father owned and was very impress by the .44 Magnum fired from a rifle. If anything it was more deadly that even my beloved .35 at under 100 yards. When I came across a straight stocked Model 336 in .44 Magnum (Yes it was a 336....not an 1894. I learned later it was a rare Texan model that was discontinued after just a few years production). I had to have that rifle.....but I was young, married and broke. I reluctantly traded my .35 and a .22 revolver for the .44 carbine.

I loved that rifle and it killed several deer each year for the next 7 years. However, I was still young, broke and married....and had added two little girls. That year I was despirate for money to start the girls in private school. At a local gun show I put the .44 Marlin (which was just beginning to attract some collector's interest in the rare model) and a 3-screw Ruger Super Blackhawk together as a pair and raised the money needed for the girl's schooling.

It looked like I would be without a Marlin 336 rifle in my hands for the first time in nearly 15 years. It's not like I was without other guns to hunt with, but it just didn't seem like deer season without a Marlin.

I was lamenting my fate one evening to the friend who I traded guns with all those years ago. After 7 or 3 drinks, he admitted that he hadn't even fired the .35 Marlin in 4 years.....since he'd obtained a .270 bolt gun. After a few more drinks we struck a deal. I would get the rifle back and work on his ranch building fense until it was paid for.

That was more than 25 years ago and the .35 Remington is still in my gun room. I'm not so poor as I once was and own many more rifles now. My hunting style and the game I hunt has changed over the years so the old 336 doesn't see near as much woods time as it once did. However, at least one weekend each year the .35 goes hunting and every so often makes another kill.....just as well as I remember from those early days.

For more than 40 years now I've owned and used Marlin 336's in various calibers (including the Models 1895 and 444 I own now.....which are just 336's with an attitude). If I live to hunt another 40 years, I can see a Marlin lever action in my hands even then......the 336 is "timeless".

Pictures to go with my earlier post on page 2 regarding my M336 6x6 elk with a 30-30 LeverEvolution round.

LevergunFan, don't you know .30-30s just bounce off deer, much less something like that?

Just kidding, and nice looking Elk.

I can remember when I was just starting to deer hunt, and my biggest worry was running into a bear. I kept hoping that my rifle would be enough, because I had been ragged so hard by friends, and even people I didn't know, for carrying such a popgun.

Today, I have no doubts. The .30-30 doesn't seem to get the respect it deserves, but I have no reservations in using it.

Doesn't it most often boil down to shot placement and a reasonable distance? Besides, even with a 20mm Magnum, I cannot see that far...LOL. Would surely like a nickel for every 30-30 round fired over the years. Could then retire in comfort! Thanks for the kind words...

Some threads just start over every year or so LOL

It's a few years old , but here it goes again

Was just a few months after I lost my Dad and I was sitting in his camp kinda pharting around and just missing him being there.
I decided that even though it was way late ( like 9 am ) I better get off my azz and into the woods.
Tough choice as to which rifle to carry , but his 336 called out the loudest that morning.
Was almost sureal that day , first time carrying one of my Dads rifles , ( he had his and I had mine and that's the way the rules were )
I looked up at the sky and said a quiet prayer to him and topped off the magazine . Wierd it was , I could feel him right there with me .
Dads rifle :



So, up the trail I go . I figgure with some fresh snow I may see some deer tracks at least . Dang , still that overwhelming feeling that he is right there with me .
Urge ta slow down , not sure who's tracks I just crossed ,snow kinda broken there , I move on still feeling like my Father was right there with me.
Quiet as a mouse , a black bear just apears outta nowhere , broadside no less. Rifle to shoulder , then the million questions ran thru my head . Do I want that ? Can I drag it out from here ? .35 rem capable ? Will I be able to eat it or is the meat nasty ?
So still broadside and still walking , they are very quiet critters, front post centered in the Lyman reciever sight , Brain running 100 miles / min with silly questions lol ,
As clear as day , Like someone standing right next to me , I hear this loud voice . " If yer gonna shoot then shoot "

Then the work began , bear made it less than 100 yards and then back to my freezer

Cool story and pics, Phil, thanks for sharing!