Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions Buy a 338 MX or convert to 375 WCF

I really like hunting and carrying lever action rifles. I have Marlins in 30-30, 35 Rem, and 444 Marlin. I have recently been thinking about an in between caliber. I am looking for something more than the 30-30 but not as big a boomer as the 444 or 45-70.
There is no shame on the 35 Rem but something with a little bit more(???) I am thing about a 338 Marlin Express but ammo availability has been been too exciting. My other thought is to buy a used 336 and have it re-bored to 375 WCF. I still see ammo on shelves, it is used somewhat by the T/C crowd, and there are numerous donor rifles out there - here in PA you could probably build a blue steel & walnut picket fence arounf the state borders with Marlin lever actions and Remington 760/7600's. ---NOT SAYING THAT IS A BAD THING! Any thoughts?

375 WRA is really a rewarmed 38-55. The 338 ME is a far superior cartridge and ammo can be bought mail order from many places.
The resale on the 375 will be poor and reboring is not cheap.
Folks have taken Elk at over 200 yards with the 338 ME, something that the 375 WRA would be hard pressed to do given its ballistics and trajectory.
If you must have a 375, you could buy a Winchester 94 for less money than a 336 + rebore and the 94s keep appreciating.

Get the 338MX or MXLR. Long range ballistics blow away the 375 or 358 Win
Read these

Coyote at 370 yards

338 MX on a bull moose at 338 yards

338MX on a bison This is a 100 yard shot, but lets you know how hard this rifle hits.

Mike Martin of Marlin took an antelope at 400 yards with a Marlin Express. Dr A on Marlin Owners took a deer at 405 yards with a Marlin Express. These would be much more difficult with a 375 or 358 Win because of the drop due to the weight of the bullet and ballistic coefficient.

As for ammo, you can easily get it via mail order.

Have you considered picking up a used 35 rem and having it rebored to 358 win?

I see the 336s on the used rack for less than 300 and sometimes as low as $250. Rechambering is pretty reasonable.

The 358 winchester is a rimless cartridge built on a 30-06 head size. To get it to work in a 336 would be a chore far beyond worth doing and might not be safe. A rebore would not be necessary as they are both .357 bullets but feeding, extraction work, the danger of some dofus loading factory ammo with pointed bullets ..... nope.
If you want a lever 358, buy a Savage 99, it's a much nicer rifle.

Or buy a Browning BLR in .358 and you'll have a lever operated bolt action which can handle the stoutest reloads. Not that the Savage 99 can't.