Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions The allure of the Marlin336/.35 Remington

I know I am not old but I am not as young as I once was. As I age I find that I am far more prone to hunt with guns that have that "right feel" about them. I currently have ten guns that I classify as deer rifles. They range from stainless/synthetic bolt guns to my Marlins and a BLR in 358. For several years I thought that a real deer rifle had to be a bolt gun with the ability to reach out across a clearcut or down a gasline for several hundred yards while shooting as flat as a string. The passing of time has brought me back into the woods and creek bottoms where shots are more likely to be well under a hundred yards. It is this love of the close range woods that has driven me back to the lever actions that I once considered out dated and to cartridges I once thought of as anemic and barely able to take a deer. I had a wonderous affair with the BLR in 358 that brought me back to the lever gun. It is a TREMENDOUS combination that I have used to kill between fifteen to twenty deer. But even with such success I have found some thing that just feels better in my hands. My Marlin 336 in 35 Remington is now my favorite deer rifle. I have only been able to kill seven deer with it but the results have been very predictable and satisfying. The average distance traveled has been less than 25 yards after taking a 200gr Core-lock from a handload that includes AA2230. This combination simply works! I finally realised that a gun is carried a lot more than it is shot and the Marlin carries well. Since I now have acknowledged that my least expensive deer gun IS my favorite I have upgraded the scope to a Leupold VX-III 2.5 -8x scope. I realize that the top end magnification is more than is necessary but I have three more of these on other rifles and find that they are just about perfect for my style of hunting. They can be turned up for sesions at the range or left down low for hunting in the woods.I wish that eveyone who hunts had a combination that worked as well for them as this does for me. The 35 Remingotn hits with authority without a large dose of recoil . And when properly applied behind the shoulder a deer is not long for this world. What more could I ask for?
Goat

There is a certain satisfaction to be had with using a classic gun for hunting. I plan on bear hunting with my 35 this year................Scott

Bought my 1st 336 in 35 last weekend. plan on taking it hunting this year.love the feel of the ole gun.

Good post Goat; well written and an interesting viewpoint.

I have had a few guns but I will admit that when I go into the woods where close shots are going to be within 100yrds. I always take my Marlin 30-30 . Like you said it just feels right and carries right. I have never fired a Marlin 35. Does it kick much harder and is it a better round or am I just fine with the 30-30? If there is a big advantage I may just upgrade.

Good info and well said. Truth told I could probably deer hunt the rest of my days w/ a .35 Rem lever gun and not at all be disadvantaged, or need any more range or firepower. However, I like variety and trying new rifles & cartridges too much to limit myself to just one gun.

Goat,

Your post on lever guns, and the Marlin 35 Remington in particular was interesting and well done. My first real deer rifle was a Marlin 444 and it worked well in the hunting terrain you describe. Years ago,in a fit of insanity, I traded it away. At the time, I was into the bolt gun only mentality. Since then, I have come to appreciate the qualities of other action types, including lever guns for hunting. While I still carry a bolt action rifle much of the time, I have returned to my "roots" and have several suitable lever actions ready for the hunt.

Good writing...Long live the 35



Picture with vintage ad and music.
http://thefergusons.us/john2/35/35.htm

At $1000 or better, I don't know about the least expensive.

Thanks for the kind words! I do love the 35 in my Marlin.
Goat

Got my 336 35rem somewhere around 30 years ago. It has taken more deer than any rifle in my safe. I always take it to camp for a back up. Invariably, one of my hunting partners will take it out with them as its the camp lucky rifle.....it always gets the deer!

While I don't have a 336 in 35 Remington, I do have a Remington 7600 carbine in 35 Remington topped off with a Trijicon Accupoint 1.25-4 scope. It is by far my favorite rifle, even more than my 7600 257 Roberts. The caliber kills way out of proportion. Mine loves 200g Remingotn Core-Lokts. I can get 1.25" groups if I do my part. The trigger spring has been lightened to about 2.5 lbs. I reach for this rifle more than any other now. My dad laughs at what he calls my $1000 200 yard deer rifle. My 87 year-old great-uncle thinks I should shoot a 7mm Rem Mag like he does. He don't really care for my little pop gun. Oh well, I love the rifle and really like the caliber.

I have a rifle exactly like yours and know just what you mean. But...dont ever get a Marlin Guide Gun (18 barrel) in 45-70 because you will need to rewrite your post to include it.

But you are right, bolt actions are not even remotely needed for the woods you are hunting in. It is funny how some things go full circle before you see things clearly.

RAS

when something is perfect,there is nothing more to say about it because it's all been said before.

My son has my fathers Marlin 336 in 35 remington, we shot it tonight. He is getting ready to bear hunting with it. My father bought it new, but we are not sure what year it was, maybe the late 50's? I bought it and a 264WM model 70 from him when I brought them home he fell in love with the Marlin so I gave it to him. I dont think it has been hunted with for at least 35 years, I am so excited that he is going to use it!

I've been wanting to get a 35 Rem as a companion to my 35 Whelen. Starting to like these 35s

Joe Kidd,

Next is the 358.

RAS, I have tried the 45/70 in a Marlin Guide Gun...twice! I got one the first year thy were available and later sold it. Then two summers ago I was leaving a Gun Show when a guy walked in with two lever guns. One was a like new 45/70 Guide gun that I got for $275. I sold it this past year and made a little to boot.I never really fell in love with the gun or, dare I say it, the caliber. I really like short barrelled rifles and Marlins in particular but I could never warm up to the Guide Guns like my .35. I have never even hunted with my 38/55 and already like it more than I ever did the 45/70. There is something that is definately subjective to the way a gun "feels." It is something that words cannot define but you know it when you feel it. Thankfully we still live in a nation that allows us to keep trying new toys until we find what we like and then find more of what we like.
Goat

Here ya go... I also have an Aimoint for the really close work...

Funny how you mentioned getting into the creek bottoms. I was scouting my ranch today and looked at one of our culvert crossings.

I had dragged the roadbed two days ago. (Not for hunting, just regular maintenance) There were no tracks on the high roadway, but the deer had walked down into the creek bed to cross. They were closer to cover there, lower and less visible.

Years ago I used my Marlin 336 in 35 Rem within 20 feet of that spot to take a nice buck in a torrential rain at dusk. I would have lost him without the great blood trail of the 35Rem.

Thanks for reminding me of a great hunt. Good Luck this year.

I've shot two deer and both times got absolutely no blood trail. The blood trail I used to get with my 270 win was much more pronounced.

one shot was throough and through and took out the top of the heart and the lung and one shoulder. NOT a single drop could be found. Even though I could see where he ran by the dragging of the legs and the leaves all kicked up. The second was shot through and through just behind the shoulder and got both lungs. ZERO hair and ZERO blood. ANYWHERE. I just happened to see which way the deer went and went in that direction. Only blood was a drop the size of a 50 cent peoce where the deer finally died.

I bought this gun for the "massive blood trails a blind man could follow". But I have to say 2 of 2 deer I killed I found zero blood.

Similarly I read all over about dead right there (DRT) with 35 rem. I've never hardly seen DRT deer. Nor have my entire hunting party over decades using 308 win, 30-06 270 Win and 35 Rem. 99% of the deer run. Only deer shot in the head, neck or from our experience straight on in the chest have dropped deer DRT. For the most part I have come to believe that most of those DRT stories are just that. Stories!

Having said all that. I've fired it at exactly 2 deer and I have found them both. And I love hunting and carrying my Marlin 336 in 35 Rem than any other rifle and won't use anything else come deer season this year!