Hi everyone. I'm new not only to your forum here but to guns in general. I have inherited my fathers guns and have a few questions about two of them. The first is a 1971 Marlin 336 chambered in .35 Remington. The second is a Savage 99F chambered in .308 Winchester s/n 916xxx. It has been over 20 years since either has been fired and visibly, they are in great shape, both scoped. I have fired both, but it was many years ago. My first question is: What should I do, if anything, before firing these weapons? I have no idea about cleaning or dismantling either one. Should I find a gunsmith to take a look at them or just find a shop I feel I can trust? Secondly, I also recieved a fair amount of ammo to go with them, not sure if it's factory ammo or reloads as he did do some reloading as well. Any problems that I should know about concerning this ammo, age etc... Thanks for all help and replies!

Your Dad left you 2 fine rifles - make sure you hang on to them! They are both great deer guns and the Savage will take elk if you care to go there.

I wouldn't worry about taking them to a smith unless you suspect your Dad would have abused or modified them. I would just give the bore a good cleaning and take them to the range. You can shoot the old ammo without worry too. Usually the worst the old stuff does is just not fire and it has to be awfully old to do that. Shoot them and enjoy them.

Of course if you want to convert them to cash, send me a private message here and I will help you out.

WesternWa, If you're anywhere near my neck of the woods, Between Everet and Bellingham, PM me and we may get together for a shooting session. I own both a 336 and a 99. 30/30 and .308 respectivly.