Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions 336 Nonsense....

My father gave my brother and I each a 336 last year, as his office used to be next door to a pawn shop and he just couldn't help himself when it came to bargains on solid guns (still can't for that matter). Mine is a pre-safety 336 in .35Rem, and that's really about all I know about it. I scrubbed a few decades of goop out of the bore, mounted a 2-7x33 Redfield Revolution as low as I could get it, and bought some LeverEvolution ammo. The first and only 3-shot group I shot at 100yds was about an inch. I was hoping for 2MOA or better, so I was pleasantly surprised. My uncle likes working on these rifles, so I had him do a trigger job for me and he returned it at a crisp 3lbs. I took it back to the range and put 3 on paper this weekend.






That's a shade over 1/2MOA at 100yds. Color me impressed.

Now my dad and uncle both have older 336's in 30-30 that have good triggers and both shoot between 1/2 and 1 MOA at 100yds for 3-shot groups, one with handloads and the other with factory ammo. This is with the factory barrel bands and all. None of us can explain why we've never heard that these rifles can shoot like this, as good or better than some of our bolt actions. Have they always been this accurate?

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Yes as far as I know. I’ve shot a literal ton of marlins from the bench and they pretty commonly shoot an inch or better. Caliber doesn’t seem to matter either, I’ve seen them shoot like yours in 30/30, 35, 444, 45/70, as well as the Marlin Express cartridges. Had one guy call me a liar when I sent him a test target from his 1895 conversion to 50AK. He’d sent it back claiming 4-6” groups and I shot 3 consecutive groups of 1”-1 1/4” for three at 100yds. He refused to believe his shooting and the brutal recoil may have had something to do with his large groups.

Great accuracy with a great bullet for the .35 Remington which will put a deer down...DRT.

LOL, great shooting, I have one too, have put two rounds on 200 yard steel less than three inches apart, Twice. congrats on the rifle, I'm going to use mine for all hunting this fall, if I can get game inside 200 yards they're smoked, I'm using the 220 gr Speer hot-cors over a max charge of leverevolution powder for a velocity of 2175 fps.

That sounds like a potent load with the 220 Speer. I chronographed the FTX loads at 2,150 from my 20" barrel.

Try the 180gr Speers, they are hell on deer. The 220's can be a little stout.

And yes, Marlins shoot.

My 336 .30-30 shoots neat little 3/4" triangle groups repeatedly with 170 gr. Federal factory loads.

That's the same ammo my father's rifle likes. Cheap 170 Federals.

Yes, it's a good +P safe load, beretzs gave me the hit on the powder, talked to an old lever bud of mine about that, he says they rechamber Marlins to 358 Winchester quite frequently, plus they made a Marlin in 356 Winchester as well, both miles above my load pressure wise.

Steelhead is right on the 220 Speers, being as I'm going to use this rifle for all game hunted this year, I'll have to leave it be, deer running into the rattling horns will be shot in the chest or quartering in shoulder shots, deer sneaking out will be shot up through the ham or last rib headed for the shoulders and hopefully exit wounds, cow elk in Colorado and Nilgai bull in SE Texas are also on the menu, may be some S Texas pigs in the Spring of '19 as well.

It's going to be a hell of a fun hunting fall with this old lever rifle, I do not expect to have many recovered bullets for weights and measurements.

I am rolling 220 at about 1950/1975 fps

Yes, the 336 is definitely not afforded the respect it deserves.

Gunner500,
Have you ever hunted hogs at the Boars Nest in Kenefic , OK?

Below is my biggest ever taken there.



Headed back there next Saturday to run the boars with dogs- good sport.

That is huge. Looks more like a beef. What did you shoot it with?

my glenfield shoots 150 grain federals into a 1/2-3/4 inch at a 100 regularly. 200 and under schitt is in trouble

CaribouJack,
Nothing very interesting, just my old .308 Model 70 deer rifle. Still hunting down a little ridge looking for an eating pig and Shazam, this big baby dwarfed all in the field. So, I shot it and broke the spine.
No scales, but ranch folks estimated between 500 and 600 pounds, so I went the bigger number - 600. Took three men to wrestle it into the front end loader of the farm tractor. I paid the staff to clean it and doubled their usual fee. I have actually seen similar sized hogs taken along the Red River up north of Wichita Falls, and 500 pound show boars in FFA, so 600 sounded OK.

WE had all but tenderloins and back strap ground into breakfast sausage.

PS Gun Note - taking my .45-70 double rifle this weekend to pop a boar over dogs - good sport!

No Sir, have never hunted there, never heard of them either that's a monster, being a sow should have made for some pretty good eating, from the looks of her milk nozzles, she's never been breed or had piglets.

Bring that 30-30 to the pig hunt this year Bobby, if I get to go I'll bring mine, maybe EdM and DVD will bring theirs too, we can leverize some bacon!

Double barreled 45-70 hogging, you dang right fun, you're going to have a blast!

i have a bunch of marlins and they all shoot really good. my davidson's limited editions like the 336D and 336 SS LTD are MOA or less. someday i'd like to temporarily mount a good, big scope on them and see how they do at 200 but i have 1-4x20's on most of them so that makes 200 yards a little tough for tight groups.

That does sound like fun. Only ever seen one of those double rifles in 45-70. Got to be a hoot! Have a good time. Don't forget pictures.

1969 336C

them ole Marlin's are keepers !

will do jerry or my 22-250

I have a dozen or so Marlins. Mostly old ones including one like yours. They all shoot. Groups of an inch or better are common, Half inch groups are not out of the question.

I have two Remington era Marlins that are solid guns too. Remington appears to have figured it out now. Some of the early Remington Marlins were a wreck.

Man Remington sure uglied up the 336 W version they make for Walmart.

This young forky was felled with one bullet through the chest organs. 170 grain Power Point ammo is a keeper!

I'm the guy with the red shirt. My older brother made the shot with his Marlin.

Sherwood

This is from a 336 30/30 that I've owned for about a dozen years at 100 yards

Steelhead, factory open sights?

XS sights, offhand. I've never fired one from a bench.

I have a 336C in 35 Rem. My son has a 336C and 336Y both in 30-30. None of them shoot LeverEvolution ammo. My 35 Rem. has a hard time cycling them. My sons 336Y won't cycle them at all.

With regular Remington, Federal or Winchester ammo they all shoot really well.

NYH1.

I got the same rifle and use the same ammo and get similar results. Expect it to put down what you point it at! Nice shooting!

I'd never shot a 336 until a buddy wanted me to zero his rifles, the other rifle was a Remington 742 .30/06. The Marlin shot factory CoreLokts into an 1.2", the Remington was lucky to hit 4 inches. I took his rifles back to him and told him to put the 742 back in the closet and use the Marlin.

About three years ago, I bought a 1960 vintage 336SC and it will likewise shoot just over an inch with factory PowerPoints. I can live with that, I've hunted with worse, for years. Deer cannot live with it, either. I'm not a rabid fan, but I do like the one I have. I'd rather it had been a Texan, but it's a nice little carbine, regardless.

I own over two score Marlins and I agree, they are typically very accurate rifles. My favorite 336s are the old ones, pre-1955 - especially the old 336As.

As for re-boring 336s to 358, those that know will tell you the strengthening of the steel improved over the years of production. Thus, the later models would be a better choice for re-boring to higher pressure rounds.

Regarding the flextip bullets (Hornady Leverevolution), some of the older models cycle them fine and some do not. An after-market magazine tube follower is available to address the pointed bullets.

T.S.

I appreciate any and all attempts (that was a sheitload of A words in a row) to 'improve' stuff and I'm thrilled that older cartridges are still being looked at, especially by Hornady.

That said, a FP do smack stuff and I'm not one to go away from them in tube feed levers.

I agree. I prefer the FPs in most "lever rounds" Also, reloaders should take a look at the brass Hornady uses for its Leverevolution ammo. Hornady's 444 Marlin Leverevolution cartridges use shorter brass to accommodate the longer bullets. That's swell if your going to reload using the "gummy tips" but the case is too short for the FPs. You can make it work but it's not ideal. I'm not sure about the other calibers.

T.S.

I have always liked Marlin lever actions and have owned a few since buying my first, an 1894S 44 Mag around 1992, a 39 Golden, 39 Mountie, 1895 and 1895G, but this is my favorite centerfire by far. A dirty and neglected 336A that I refinished a while back and carried last year but had no kills.

I settled on Speer 200's after a few years of looking for boxes of CL's and accuracy is reasonable for a 200 yard rifle.

There are before and after photos in this thread https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12392227/all/finished-336-project

Nice coloring on that wood. Well done!

I've read several times that 170 gr usually shoots better than 150 gr in the 336. Unfortunatley, I read that AFTER I bought 10 boxes of 150 gr.

I have been hunting with the Marlin 336 in 35 Remington since I bought mine in 1971. Don't use it as much now as I should. The Hornady Leverevolution ammo takes the 35 Remington to a whole other level. I have made one shot kills on deer out to 218 yards with that combo. Unless you are looking at long range stuff the old 35 Rem. in that lever action will do just about anything you want to do for deer and hogs. Probably good for Elk with a tougher bullet.

I've owned Marlins in 444 and 35 Rem. Both were very accurate. Some years back when I was shooting Hi-Power matches, we had a few 100 yard three position "sporter rifle" matches.to round out the season. Most of the shooters brought scoped bolt rifles. One of the higher ranked shooters, brought a M336 30-30 w/Leupold compact of some sort.

Claimed he hadn't shot it in years, had stopped at Walmart on the way to the shoot and picked up several boxes of 150gr Core Lokts. Most of his buddies made fun of him for bringing a lever rifle to a sporter shoot.

He cleaned our clocks with that Marlin. Not only outscored the rest of us, had more Xs than anyone else. The boys (and one girl) proclaimed it to be the National Match Marlin. He came to the next shoot with a bolt gun, said he didn't want to be a hog ;o)

Scott,
When I went to primary school across the big puddle, we were taught that a row of words beginning with the same letter was called "Alliteration".
That can be your useless information for the day.
John

On this side of the "big puddle" we were taught that alliteration is a string of words beginning with the same consonant sound. This is not an example of alliteration.

David

Here is a tip undeserving of a separate thread so Ill drop it in here:

If you install a Williams Reciever sight on a Marlin, you will require a new, taller, front sight. Everybody knows that. Now, if you guess wrong on the height and your rifle still shoots high, one of those plastic swizzle sticks for coffee can be cut to length and split lengthwise and slipped over the bead of the front sight to make it taller. A dad of clear nail polish will hold it in place.

The Convenience store where I swiped mine had them in green color so I’ve got a Hi Viz sight. 😀

Nice one. Got that remembered.

Had a Williams on my ancient M336SC in 35 Rem. for years. My solution was to remove the aperture insert and use it as a "ghost ring" sight.

Original full front bead @ 6 o'clock, dead on at 100 yards. Bead centered in the ring, pretty much dead on at 150.Took several deer with that critter, never an issue with the sights.

Did replace the front sight on my M64 Winchester that has a Lyman rear sight. Put a slightly higher Sour Dough front sight on, mostly so I could see it better in low light. The dinky little bead on that original sight was useless at dusk, or cloudy days.

If you have trouble seeing the front bead put some whiteout correction fluid on it. Works when you are getting more mature eyes. Rusty

Dang, looks like a MOA big game load for sure. You might even have a "stalking" varmint rifle, if your shoulder can take it.

Mine too. That ammo performs consistently well.

I've got a .30-30 that will shoot right at an inch with my loads .

It's killed a pile of deer too.

Nice shooting

-Jake

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My 45 Colt handloads in a Marlin at 100, 24 inch octagon barrel. 5 shot groups.

That's a huge sow.

We run them off the creek, when the come out of Red Rived; down here in the SW corner.

Could not find Federal locallys, So I bought some Win 170gr (30303). My 336 seems to like them! 3 shot 1/2" groups at 50 yards. Significantly better than the 150 gr results of 1 to 1 1/2" at 50 yards.

Why 50 yards for range work? My eyes are aweful and my 9X scope does not present much of an "orange dot" at 100 yards.. Plus, 30-30 is my brush gun for which ALL my shots are less than 75 yards.

My 336 shoots very well with both Fed blue box and Win Power Point 170s. I’m going to try a box of Rem Core Lokt 170s to see if maybe it just likes all 170s.

I read this thread a while back and soon thereafter stumbled upon a well-worn 336SC on the rack at the local shop. It had some junk scope and mounts, but had a super slick action and perfect 1.5lb trigger. I turned the tag over and saw the price. $285. What could I do?

It followed me home, of course. I pulled the scope off and cleaned it up. Serial number dates it as a 1951. Good honest wear on the metal and wood. I mounted an M8 4x long tube and headed to the range.

First trip I sighted it in with some Winchester 170’s, but ran out of time before I really got to play with it. Back out today, but with some Federal blue box 170’s. First 3 out of the cold bore at 100 yards:



Adjusted the scope to get it 2”high at 100, then 3 more:



I was gonna buy some 30-30 dies, but I think I’m done.

My first rifle was my grandfather’s Winchester 1894. I’ve always been a Winchester guy. Picking up new Marlins, I had never really understood why anyone loves them.

Now I get it.

I’ll give you a $10 profit on that one!

You have bought the mother load of 30-30's.....congratulations. I am on my 4th Marlin 30-30 that shot well enough to stay put. I had a 1973 336-A which I had high hopes for in the accuracy department which turned out only to be a disappointed.

I agree. I have not had the good fortune to come across a very accurate 336. My current JM stamped 336 is a solid 3 MOA shooter

I fixed one of mine by relieving the barrel band tension.


https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/609231-let-s-get-vertical.html