Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions Just picked up a 1980 Marlin 336T Texan in .30-30 Win

Danish hunter and gun collector here - I thought I would introduce myself by showing my "new" Marlin.

I have been wanting a Marlin 336 in .30-30 Win for a while - but I was not too keen on a new Remington "remlin", those I have seen has been quite scratched up out of the box and the action and trigger felt stiff and clunky.
Here in Denmark older 336's are not too common - and those who have them are normally not interested in parting with them.

A few weeks ago I paid my old boss at Jagtstuen (a hunting store in Aarhus) a visit - I usually go there when I am looking for uncommon guns. An lo and behold; this is what he had in store for me:



I did not recognise the model - but the price was right and I liked the fact that it was a pre-safety version, so I went for it.
Arriving back home a quick google search revealed that it is a 1980 model 336T Texan - apparently a sought after model and (even in the rough condition mine is in) worth a lot more than I paid for it. It is hard to complain about that

The rear sight is special, it looks like a standard rear sight with a small piece of metal, with a small hole, inserted between the horns. I have no idea what a sight like that is called, I will post some photos of it asap.

The overall condition of the gun is sound, yet slightly rough - especially the wood. I'll have to get that refinished. I'll propably leave the metal parts alone, aside from cleaning and oiling them.

Any thoughts or recommendations on the gun?

Your new rifle looks fine to me, Wait to refinish the wood once you have some field time into the rifle.


What is 30-30 ammo availability like for you in Denmark?

Doc

.30-30 ammo is available here, but it is unfortunally not that commomon.

At most hunting stores you can find Remington Core Lokt 150 g - and at some you can get S&B SP 150 g or Barnes Vor-TX 150 g.

Some of the larger stores have started carrying Hornady Leverevoulution 140 g - but they are far and few between and it is expensive here! More than twice the price of regular .30-30 ammo.

Sometimes one can be lucky to stumble upon a store that has a stock of military surplus .30-30 ammo (mostly Remington, but it varies), dating from the cold war where the Danish army kept huge stocks og ammunition for almost any known modern western caliber. But even those are depleting rapidly, as the .30-30 and leveraction rifles are gaining in popularity here.

I have bought a Vortex Optics Diamondback 2-7x35 (V-plex) scope for this rifle - and managed to find a pair of old stock Weaver see-through mounts, matching the age of the rifle.

Dane,

Many old marlins bought here in pawn shops and from old timers will have the Weaver see thru mounts on the rifles. Almost all are removed and replaced with low rings to place the scope as low as possible for a proper check weld on the butt stock.

The times have changed regarding scope mounting on Marlin 336's.

Your choice or the 2X-7X scope will allow you to mount the scope lower on the receiver than a 40 mm front scope objective.


Doc

I appriciate the advice. But for this rifle (which will not be my only 336), I am going for the "grandpas' rifle" look.

If it doesn't work for me, I will change it - that is one of the luxuries of working at a hunting/outdoor store; though we do not sell guns, we have plenty of optics and mounting hardware in stock.

Congratulations on your find. Even here in the States the Texans are not that common. I have owned several and they are one of my favorite hunting rifles for whitetail deer and wild boar. You might want to consider outfitting it with a Williams FP receiver sight and 1/16" brass or ivory bead front sight. You will be amazed how handy and easy to shoot quickly with a receiver sight.

I have been quite lucky with my gun purchases lately, the other day I picked up a 1979 (october) Remington 600 Mohawk in .243 Win. w. a Mannlicher stock. Used but in good condition. Another not too common gun to find here in Denmark.

As for the 336; I'll go with the scope option for this one, But the Williams FP reciever sight may come into play as soon as I find a nice pre-safety North Haven produced 1895 in .45/70 Govt.

Welcome to the 'fire. That looks like a nice example of a 336. Congrats. I've never heard of war surplus 30-30. That said, I'd be careful of corrosive powder in that ammo. Other army surplus ammunition from yesteryear sometimes has corrosive powder and/or primers and they can play havoc with your weapon, especially its bore.

Thank you.

I learned that shooting original German wartime ammo in my 1944 98K - luckily I was adviced about the issue beforehand, so I made sure to clean barrel and action thoroughly after shooting. But, thank you for the warning though, being safe is always better than being sorry when it comes to taking care of our prized vintage firearms.

It is interesting to see folks from your area so interested in American arms, especially a Marlin lever. That is a nice gun, I also would like an 1895, but kept getting tightfisted at the wrong time. Since the Remlins hit everybody wants big money for the older ones. Hopefully the quality improves on the new ones.

Generally brands like Winchester, Browning and Remington are big here in Northern Europe. Marlin not to the same extent though.

Here in Denmark leveraction rifles are most often associated with Winchester - Marlins are mainly prefered by Danes who have lived and/or hunted in the US or Canada.

I learned about Marlins from an elderly couple who used to live in Colorado. I used to attend the same black powder shooting club as them - as well as occasionally joining them on re-enactments in 18C. French-Canadian trapper costume

I am still waiting for my permit for the 336T (usually takes 10-30 days here). It should be on the way.

I thought with movies and other media Winchester would be popular. Kinda funny you all are interested in our stuff and many here are enamored with the Northern European brands. There are a half dozen or so Sako and Tikka rifles in the safe here, and only 1 Marlin. Ironic.

Tikka T3 rifles are excellent value for money - though as far as I can gather, they are a lot more expensive in the US than here. But I guess it is the same with Remington 700, just the other way around.

Sako makes excellent high-end rifles, I would very much like a Sako 85 Grizzly in 9.3x62 Mauser.

I liked your post, given that my father's mother was danish and lived in southern denmark, till the german's annexed it. I bought a danish Kraig a few years ago. It had been sporterized. I contacted someone at the time in denmark about replacement wood for it, but could never get it finalized with them.
I think from memory it was a first year production rifle too.

I'd remove the butt plate and toss out the white line spacer. Then re-install the butt plate. I'm no fan of white spacers.

Sherwood

There is such a thing as "military surplus" 30-30? What army ever used it?

I picked a 100 of the surplus 30-30 Win cartridges when I picked up the gun, they are regular Remington 170 g Core-Lokt.

The Danish army kept huge stocks of almost any commercially available western (and some eastern) made calibers during the cold war. The idea was to distribute the ammunition among hunters, in the event the Russians invaded, so that they could form partisan groups (here in Denmark we have mandatory national service - I am personally not fan of that, but during the cold war it actually made sense).
During WWII, where the Danish government collaberated heavily with the German occupational forces, Danish hunters and shooters had their rifled weapons confiscated by the Danish police, who handed the weapons to the Germans(!) After the war several laws were passed, making sure that hunters' weapons were protected against such mass confiscations in the future (though in the recent years, a lot of these laws has been changed - and not to the better).

During the late 90's the Danish army started liquifying their stocks of ammunition. In the beginning they sold from it to commercial civillian suppliers - now they destroy whatever stock there is left. It was deemed imoral, by the powers that be, for the army to sell ammunition to civilians(!) Rather, instead of making a little money for the state, they prefer to decomission and destroy the surplus ammunition

Just snapped a few photos, before dissasembling the rifle, this morning:





Overall condition of the gun is fair. Though everything - including the forward barrel band - was heavily set in dried up gunoil. It took a little persuasion with a wooden mallet to get everything apart.

The barrel has some shadows in the bore unfortunally, right now it is soaking in a cleaning agent - fingers crossed it is mostly just dirt, copper and lead.
Aside fromt that everything seems to be intact and in working order.

The bolt is engraved, with what I assume are the initials of a previous owner:

Here she is, taken apart, cleaned and oiled:



The amount of rust, both on the inside and outside was manageable. There were a few very small rough spots in the bore, but they have cleaned up nicely (i can see a few tiny tiny pits, mainly because I know where to look). Nothing that should interfere with either safety nor accuracy. The rest of the bore stands very sharp and clean.

Overall the mechanical condition of the rifle is, considering it's age and the fact that it has obviously been shot quite a lot, quite good. I will not have to order any new parts.
The screws looks like they have been screwed (pun intended) by a gorilla with parkinsons (not my doing, I only use dedicated gunsmithing bits), that is a bit sad - I may replace them one day.

Overall I am happy about the gun. Now I just need to get the stock done (I'll pay someone to do that for me ans I do not have the time and working space to do it atm.), assemble everything and mount a Vortex Optics Diamondback 2-7x35 (V-Plex). I did try the see-through mount on before disassembling the rifle, as forseen by Doc it doesn't work for me - so I have ordered a Weaver rail and some medium Weaver Lever-Lok rings for it, that way I can still fairly easily get to the iron sights in the field.

Just got a few photos from the guy who is working on my stock:







A big improvement I must say

Cool gun and congratulations.

Thank you

Final photo of the stock, showing the colour better, before it was packed up and shipped to me:

That's going to look real nice.

Indeed

I really like picking up classic well used guns, giving them a second life.

Normally I would do the stock myself. But I know that the laquer on the old Marlin stocks can be pretty vicious - and I am rather busy atm.

The white spacer had not shrunk btw, it was simply mounted the wrong way.

I would really wish I could find a pre remlin 39 to work on - but they are rare as hens' teeth here in Denmark.

Congrats on finding a nice vintage rifle. The stock work came out nicely. I found the history you shared on gun confiscation and ammunition stockpiling to be interesting. It certainly was a new piece of history for me.

The first rifle I ever shot, not counting the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, was the very first Model 39. It was produced in the early 20's with octagon barrel and with the action and lever case color hardened. I still have it. I have a few of the latest Model 39A's. They are pre-remlin. They are nice, but I prefer the original model. It is much lighter and livelier in the hands than the newer ones. The same can be said for my 1965 Marlin 444 vs my 444 Marlin purchased new in 2005. I attribute this in large part to the slimmer stocks of the older models. I attached a pic of my original 39 below.

WWII is a very dark piece of Danish history - even today some families have substantial emotional scars from the war, especially the families of the relatively large amount of Danish Waffen SS volunteers.
Right after the war an official "this is how it went" story was agreed upon, by the same authorities that colaborated with the Germans - that version of the events is what has been taught to school children ever since. It is only within the last 10 years or so that the true history of Denmark during WWII is emerging, and it is not a nice story at all.

The strategy of having the army stockpiling ammunition in civillian calibers was highly supported by the US as part of the military aid bestowed upon Europe during the cold war. I don't think we paid a lot for these 170 G .30-30 Remington Core-Lokts
Atm. the store where I bought mine has a few thousand in stock. I will be picking up a few hundred more next time I pass by. It seems to be the "go-to" cartridge for many .30-30 owners?

Your 39 is a beautiful piece. But I guess that a piece like that is rare, even in the US?

I have even considered a recent production remlin 39A - some of the ones I have seen recently looks fairly good. They are very popular here right now, as is the 1895G in .45/70 Govt.

Is reloading common/legal in Denmark?

I see original 39's come up on gunbroker regularly. But the asking price is always well upwards of $1,000 when they do. There are a few listed on it right now in pretty good condition for $1500 and up. So yes, it's fair to say they are rare even in the U.S. Mine has seen a lot of use. It was my father's before he passed it on to me. The older models are not supposed to have high velocity 22LR shot in them. Apparently the older bolts sometimes crack under that pressure. They are fine for regular velocity. Having said that, I only learned of this about ten years ago and have run a lot of high velocity through mine. I guess mine happened to be on the positive side of production process in that regard. After they revised the original model 39, the bolts were beefed up so high velocity is safe in all of them from then on.

It is legal. But you will have to pass a course in order to get a permit - and you have to dedicate a room, which will have to live up to some very strict standards, in the house for reloading and storing the powder. You will never get a permit in an apartment like the one I live in currently.
If you have a reloading permit, the police is - by law - allowed to inspect your reloading room and powder storeage, without a warrent, anytime and as often as they please.

For the reasons above it is not really that common. But with ammo prices increasing, it is becoming more and more so.

I have a few friend who reloads for me.

An annoying side effect of the legality of reloading here, is that all ammunition and components thereof, including spent brass and shotgun shells, has to be kept in a licenced gun safe. Another factor making reloading impractical and expensive here.

Ironic being forced to keep powder/primers in a safe. Here it is advised not to do that due to the contained pressure/bomb effect in a fire. It is interesting to talk to you and learn about cultures that are so similar, but yet different from mine. I enjoy lurking on the Canada and Alaska forums for the same reasons. The things faced by my neighbors and cousins in the far north are interesting and often not forseen.

All the constraints placed on shooters there would seem to limit your ability to wage war against an oppressive govt. Just a coincidence I'm sure...

It gets worse; even black powder has to be kept in a safe - which is ridiculously dangerous!



Things are very different here in Europe, for us weapon ownership has never been a right - always a privilege. But, a privilege that was, never the less, very much less restricted in the past.
We also have a very different traditions as to how much power we allow our government to wield over us - and as to how much responsibility the individual person has to take for him-/herself.
Even though our way of doing things have certain advantages - I, for one, belives that the obvious disadvantages are beginning to heavily outgrow said advantages. Had I the oppertunity to get a job at an outdoor-/gun store in the US, I would pack my bags immediately. I would very much like to experience living and working in the US.

Finally, photos of the finish project:


Marlin 336T Texan by Jakob Elbæk Egegaard Pedersen, on Flickr


Marlin 336T Texan by Jakob Elbæk Egegaard Pedersen, on Flickr

I am quite happy about the result! I belive this rifle will serve me well for years to come now. I am also quite glad I went with the lower mount instead of the traditional see-through mount. Even though the scope is mounted as low as the back sight allows, it is stille pretty high, I may have to get myself a leather cheek rest for this rifle.

Nice rifle. I really like that.

Though, the see-throughs would have gotten you free pass to the south-eastern states and the nickname "Bubba".

Without question. (grin)

Sounds almost too good to pass up... People from the south-eastern states are among the nicest people I have ever talked to. I could even live with the nickname.

Fine looking rifle.

great thread and great job restoring a working piece of history.


hope you enjoy the rifle immensely.

Excellent. That's one to be proud of.

Dane: the number electric penciled on the bottom of the bolt should be the last 4 or so numbers from the guns serial number-this makes sure that the correct bolt goes into the gun it was fitted to. also, the rear sight can be removed or on the newer guns - the "V" can be folded down for more clearance. have fun, Mel Chung

Thanks everyone

The back sight is not the original sight, but some kind of peep sight, it does not fold unfortunally - and the apeture is way too small for my eyes. But, I am leaving it on, as it is part of the rifle's history.

Great job of acquiring and managing this fine old rifle! Thanks for your post. The ammunition topic is fascinating-govt. issued 30/30 ammo certainly appeals to me.

Thanks, too, for your informative remarks re post WW11 history.

Nice find!!

"... as it is part of the rifle's history."
There's a lot of that gets killed off. Too bad, swords can sing the stories if you listen.

I have collected weapons - mainly bladed - most of my life. On top of that I hold a BA in archaeology.

In my minds eye, one does not truly own objects like this rifle, one merely gets to be the custodian of it - for the reward of shooting and hunting with it - for the time one spends here on this Earth.

Most of my rifles and shotguns are pieces like that; 1937 BSW Suhl 16 gauge (the model is known in Denmark as the infamous "Hitler gun" as it was presented, as a reward, to Wehrmacht and SS officers after the BSW factory was taken over, from it's jewish owners, by the nazis - mine was taken from a German officer, by a Danish partizan, after the German surrender in 1945), 1944 Steyer-Daimer-Puch 98K (probably taken from a Latvian SS regiment, by the Russians, on the most eastern of Danish islands; Bornholm - and afterwards stolen from the Russians by Danish partizans), 1968 Ernst Thälmann Suhl 12 gauge (made in the DDR on machines captured after WWII by the Russians) and a 1979 Remington 600 Mohawk (Mannlicher stock) in .243 Win.

Why can't they all look that good?
That's near perfect as far as I am concerned.
Great job!
I've been contemplating another .30-30 and this may have just pushed me over the edge!

What sort of hunting opportunities are available within Denmark?

Meine Deutsche Frau is always trying to get me to give her the nod to move back to Deutschland. I remind her I will have to give up all my current 2nd Amendment freedoms, to which she disagrees. We all know it is very much limited and pretty much a rich man's game in Europe. Salutations to you, RedBeard- I got married in Aero Denmark.

WOW! What a wonderful Texan! Marlins are perhaps the finest values in lever actions! I also think Husqvarna makes a good value bolt. Good luck sir thanks for sharing. Once again I think you have done that Texan proud with your efforts!

Nice job! And a very nice rifle there!

Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

The 336T has yet to bag me any game, but that has mostly to do with me having too little time to hunt atm.



Most commonly buck, roe deer, fox, hare, rabbits (on the smaller islands), various specieces of duck and geese, pheasants, dows, etc. Most common european game species actually. Hunting is a very common pastime here - and rapidly growing in popularity.