Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General 356 value as a hunting rifle

IIRC, there were only about 2500 of the 336ERs made, so they should increase in value, but like most rifles the future value will be based on condition, condition, condition, and how common or uncommon they are.

I've owned a couple of Nonneman conversion from 35 Rem to 356 and can use either rimmed 356 brass or rimless 358 brass as long as I stick to the 356 COAL.

Jeff

More like 2200.....

I have one now and also 500 pieces of brass courtesy of another 'Fire member. Had one in a 94 but like the 336 mo' better

Mine is a safe queen. Been a while since I looked at it, but it is near mint, I think. I usually reach for one of my 348s or my 444 when I want a big lever gun. My 88 sees a lot of deer hunting. I have PLENTY more to choose from.....grin

Wow, those are some sweet lever guns buddy! Very nice!

Jesse Ocumpaugh out of Oregon will rebore a Marlin 30-30 to 357, 375, or 444. I think he recommends the models with a forend cap versus the ones with the barrel band for conversion.
The Marlins are a lot rarer with a little over 2400 of them made.
More winchesters were made but they are not that plentiful either. I've had 2 winchesters in 356 and one in 307.
I had a Marlin 30-30 rechambered to 307 by Nonneman but factory loads tended to stick in the chamber but reloads worked just fine. I think thats why Marlin never brought it out in 307 and the newer 308 ME case is shorter and works at lower pressures than the 50K 307 ammo.
Kinda moot point with the 308 Marlin Express out but remington/Marlin is not making any more of those along with the 338ME. The connecticut built guns bring a premium over the Ilion guns.
I would have gotten one of the Winchester's in 375 but have yet to see one in an angle eject model and I put scopes on all my rifles.

I got a Marlin 336 ER in .356 Win along with plenty of brass and some factory ammo between 15 to 20 years ago. I bought a Win 94 AE in .356 Win a couple of years ago to compare them and I also prefer the Marlin which I totally ruined as a collector by removing the gloss wood finish, making all the metal matte blue and putting on a Decellerator pad, a Lyman peep sight, sling swivel studs and an aftermarket front sight. It will be one of the last firearms I ever sell and I am very pleased with the modifications made. However the Win 94 in .356 is available now for a very attractive price if there is any interest.

I shoot the 180 grain Speer FP for deer and the 220 grain Speer FP for anything bigger or tougher. I shot 1 deer, that I can remember, with the 356 and 220 grain Speer combination and the bullet appeared to have expanded very little, but it went through both lungs and the deer staggered off for 30 or 40 feet before it went down for good.

Jeff

I have had similar experience with the 220 grain Speer bullets and now use 200 grain on deer. Maybe I will try the 180's. Any idea of velocity on teh 180's?

I ran the 220 Speer in my 358 around 2400 with Varget. It acted about the same way you all mention, but the deer didn't run very far. Plus, it put a ton of blood on the ground too. That is one of those bullets that really works nice in the 358 Win /356 Win.

I imagine that 180 Speer is better yet on deer, but man, that 220 was pretty accurate as well.

The 180 grain Speer FP is 1 of the fastest, drop 'em in their tracks, deer bullet that I've used.

Jeff

When the marlin 336 came out in 356W I bought 2. One each for my 2 sons. They have each shot an Axis here in the Texas hill country with them. They both used the Speer 180 grain bullet. I got the load from one of the 1st articles about the cartridge
(?John Wooters?)...40 grains of H-4198 w/ a Fed. LR primer. We recovered one of the bullets and it looked like an ad. It must have mushroomed to at least .60 caliber. Both were 1 shot kills on pretty big bucks. I've got one of the rifles with me and some of those 220 grain bullets to try. Incidentally, it also LOVES the Seico 200 fpgc. I'm also trying to get the Seico 245 fpgc to shoot well with it. Yes, it will cycle thru the marlin action if I keep the cases trimmed. Load suggestions for the 220 gr. Speer and 245 gr. Seico would be appreciated.

I'm interested in this round, but only with 250 grain bullets. Such data seems non-existant, so I too would be interested if anyone has any ideas.

Maybe this will help. This was ran with the Hornady 250 RN.

Cartridge : .356 Win. (SAAMI)
Bullet : .358, 250, Hornady SPRN 3525
Useable Case Capaci: 40.777 grain H2O = 2.648 cm�
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.555 inch = 64.90 mm
Barrel Length : 20.0 inch = 508.0 mm

Predicted Data for Indicated Charges of the Following Powders.
Matching Maximum Pressure: 51500 psi, or 355 MPa
or a maximum loading ratio or filling of 110 %
These calculations refer to your specified settings in QuickLOAD 'Cartridge Dimensions' window.
C A U T I O N : any load listed can result in a powder charge that falls below minimum suggested
loads or exceeds maximum suggested loads as presented in current handloading manuals. Understand
that all of the listed powders can be unsuitable for the given combination of cartridge, bullet
and gun. Actual load order can vary, depending upon lot-to-lot powder and component variations.
USE ONLY FOR COMPARISON !

86 loads produced a Loading Ratio below user-defined minimum of 90%. These powders have been skipped.
Powder type Filling/Loading Ratio Charge Charge Vel. Prop.Burnt P max P muzz B_Time
% Grains Gramm fps % psi psi ms
--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Alliant AR-Comp 106.9 38.9 2.52 2208 100.0 51500 5659 1.140 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Bofors RP11 TZ ~approximation 106.3 38.9 2.52 2208 100.0 51500 5659 1.140 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Hodgdon BL-C2 105.7 43.4 2.81 2204 95.5 51500 6445 1.147 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Lovex D073.6 109.1 42.3 2.74 2201 97.6 51500 6208 1.154 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Accurate 2520 109.1 42.3 2.74 2201 97.6 51500 6208 1.154 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Winchester 748 102.6 41.5 2.69 2199 96.6 51500 6269 1.145 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
IMR 4895 110.0 41.3 2.68 2189 93.9 50406 6431 1.161 ! Near Maximum !
Nitrochemie A/S 0300 94.3 36.4 2.36 2184 100.0 51500 5673 1.156 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
IMR 3031 110.0 38.7 2.50 2180 99.2 48036 6088 1.174 ! Near Maximum !
Hodgdon H4895 106.9 40.2 2.60 2178 94.8 51500 6240 1.160 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
SF033 fl, russ. 5,45x39 98.1 37.7 2.44 2177 100.0 51500 5395 1.164 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Norma 202 108.1 40.0 2.59 2175 98.3 51500 6016 1.159 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Hodgdon H335 97.3 39.9 2.59 2175 98.2 51500 6010 1.155 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Somchem S321 102.0 41.3 2.67 2170 96.0 51500 6161 1.162 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
ADI AR 2219 96.8 37.6 2.43 2169 99.0 51500 5837 1.153 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Hodgdon H322 102.9 37.6 2.43 2169 99.0 51500 5837 1.153 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Vihtavuori N540 110.0 41.8 2.71 2168 97.9 50746 6109 1.162 ! Near Maximum !
PB Clermont PCL 507 103.9 40.7 2.64 2168 95.7 51500 6107 1.158 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
ADI AR 2206H 107.0 40.2 2.61 2168 94.0 51500 6197 1.163 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Ramshot TAC 101.0 40.7 2.63 2168 95.8 51500 6100 1.158 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
SNPE Vectan SP 10 96.7 38.8 2.52 2168 98.2 51500 5957 1.162 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
PB Clermont PCL 508 (PCL223) 96.6 38.9 2.52 2167 98.2 51500 5949 1.162 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
SNPE Vectan SP 9 107.7 41.8 2.71 2163 93.8 51500 6144 1.157 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Ramshot X-Terminator 94.6 38.1 2.47 2161 98.8 51500 5842 1.164 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Bofors RP11 ~approximation 110.0 41.3 2.68 2159 92.6 49416 6274 1.175 ! Near Maximum !
Raufoss RA11 110.0 41.3 2.68 2159 92.6 49416 6274 1.175 ! Near Maximum !
Alliant Reloder-15 110.0 41.3 2.68 2159 92.6 49416 6274 1.175 ! Near Maximum !
Vihtavuori N530 102.5 38.8 2.51 2155 95.8 51500 6000 1.163 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Accurate 2460 101.1 40.8 2.64 2153 96.7 51500 5924 1.177 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Lovex D073.5 101.1 40.8 2.64 2153 96.7 51500 5924 1.177 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Accurate 2495 110.0 39.1 2.53 2153 99.5 46028 6062 1.229 ! Near Maximum !
Norma 201 103.7 39.8 2.58 2151 95.8 51500 6019 1.177 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Norma 203B 110.0 41.3 2.68 2150 93.2 48278 6262 1.185 ! Near Maximum !
Vihtavuori N140 110.0 40.5 2.63 2149 98.4 51014 5774 1.163 ! Near Maximum !
Alliant Reloder-10x 100.1 35.5 2.30 2148 100.0 51500 5491 1.175 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
PB Clermont PCL 516 107.6 43.1 2.79 2147 90.7 51500 6118 1.159 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Rottweil R901 106.1 37.9 2.46 2147 98.1 51500 5863 1.191 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
IMR 8208 XBR 104.6 39.3 2.55 2146 95.6 51500 5918 1.165 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Somchem S341 105.8 42.8 2.77 2146 93.4 51500 5964 1.159 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Alliant Reloder-12 102.4 39.2 2.54 2144 98.9 51500 5688 1.162 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Are there any sane 250 gr loads out there?

I would start low with RL15 or Varget. Both could be loaded wherever you want.

I haven't found any 250s to load so can't say, but the factory 250 I chrono'ed went 1950 fps from mine with 20" barrel.

If you want to cut to the chase, just load some Hawk 250gr FN over some 4198. 2150 fps is easily doable. Several other powders will produce about the same velocity, but you will use a lot less 4198. More bang for your buck......

These bullets are weighted the most consistently, shoot better than good, and flatten $hit. Trust me, this is the stuff. Once you use these you'll never buy a different 356 bullet again....

Can you show us a picture of the bullets?