Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Marlin 336 in 30 WCF-- What to do?

Cut the barrel to 17", slim the wood and convert to end cap for end. Trigger job, action job, low power heavy duplex scope and enjoy.

If you want to rebarrel it, consider a 219 Zipper, but improve it. Improved dies are readily available on Ebay and you get the benefits of less case stretch, greater capacity, higher velocity, and a 30/30 parent cartridge for both improved or standard.

A standard Zipper is a hoot as well. My factory Marlin 336 Zipper has the microgroove barrel. It's the later, heavier version. I've read the earlier lighter weight barrels did not produce the accuracy Marlin was after, just an FWI, YMMV. Bullet selection in a tubular magazine is very limited. I shoot a 34 gr. Midway/Nosler HP Dogtown bullet, but would rather shoot a BT. I've daydreamed about how to grind a pencil sharpener into a bullet rounding device to smoothly round over the plastic tip on a BT to safely use it in a tubular magazine rifle.

Sell that 336 and buy a Savage 99.

thats sound advice too. i love my marlin shorties. i've got them with 16.5", 18.5" and 20" and the 16.5" is like a toy. since its a CBS gun, i'd chop it, put a nice little scope in it and drag it around the woods once in a while. i prefer the CBS guns. it just takes some practice to get used to. and to me, they are a lot safer and more versatile. especially for little kids.

Play it or trade it... I think it's a mistake to try to make one of the old-time classics something it's not. That means sticking with 170 grain bullets in the .30-30, not trying to "gain" with another few fps by going to 150's. In the final analysis there's less difference in the actual performance of calibers than there is in the people who use them.

I can't remember how many deer I have taken with a 30-30 of one make or the other. I have taken 3 black bear and 1 elk. my older sister took her moose with my 336 loaded with gummie tips. one shot went 25 feet. I have never had to use more than on shot on any game with the 30-30. that said I don't use it much anymore. have other sexier loads to try. none kill game any deader.
if you want to rebarrel think about the 375 Winchester.

I've always had a soft spot for the .30-30, Probably because I killed my first deer with one years ago. Quite a few more followed and all were killed with plain ol' Federal 150 grain loads.

As I got older I thought I needed a more powerful caliber. Heck, All the writers in Field & Stream said so! Over the years I've used various calibers and most worked just fine but I don't believe they did anything out to 150 yards or so that the .30-30 couldn't do. Whitetails just ain't that hard to kill.

I'm probably just missing my younger days that I wasted so carelessly, But the .30-30 only gets carried slightly less these days than my much loved .250-3000.

I just bought a Model 99 in .30-30 so I'll have my favorite caliber in my favorite rifle. Sierra Pro hunters,Speer Hot-Cors or Rem. Cor-Lokt bullets over Winchester 748 will kill anything in my part of Arkansas.

I am in the minority...leave it as is, buy a couple molds for it, and shoot 'em up. Lee makes a 113 RF that is right at 120 w/gc cast from ww. Easy to get it to 2600 for varmints. There are plenty of good molds in the 150-180gr range for 'big' game. The great thing about cartridges like the 30-30 is that, with their long necks and moderate pressures, they are ideal for cast bullet shooting. Some have had problems with cast bullets in microgroove bores, but certainly not all. Keep it, shoot it!

Had it not been a cross-bolt safety model, I would say keep it. Since it is a cross-bolt, I'd put it on gun broker and let the "JM" er's have a bidding war.

Mine shoots great, even beyond 200 yards.

Don't ruin a good thing.