Early this year, I acquired a 336 in .30-30 that had never been fired ... it's from the early to mid 70's, and is a fine little rifle. I have it scoped, and have installed the front bbl band and rear stud for the sling ... she's all ready to go, and I've been practicing with her a bit here and there. I'm still more a fan of bolt guns, but the "lever bug" is around and about, and I'm thinking that she'll be my close quarters, ground hunting deer rifle...

except for one small thing ...

What can I do to get the trigger pull adjusted so that it pulls light (approx. 3lbs) and breaks clean, little to no creep or overtravel, etc ...??? Or, is that even possible with this rifle, short of having a smith give it a complete overhaul?

I have several of these rifles with 2lb triggers. To do what I wanted to see ala my IPSC 1911's I had to make fixtures to address the hammer hook angle and sear breakaway angle as well as the sear face itself. The parts are not very hard and their factory machined finish leaves something to be desired. In my opinion you'd be wise to spend the money to get it done right. Of course you can just bend the trigger spring to get your 3lb pull and live with the creep.......

Scott

Scott ... I am the last person I want working on a "non-adjustable" trigger ... ie: stoning, bending, polishing, etc. ... I have neither the tools nor the experience. I figured that it would need to go to a gunsmith with experience on this particular matter ... the only thing is, I don't need it to be tuned to the degree that I have my bolt rifles, but I wouldn't mind it at all if it turns out that way. I guess I was just hoping that it could easily be adjusted by a novice, to a more "accpetable" pull ... guess not. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

How far are you from Clark Custom Guns? Bet they can fix you up.

Scott

not sure where Clark Custom Guns is ...

I saw a drop in trigger at Wild West Guns a while back.Not sure how good they are but it might be worth a look.

A replacement trigger may be worthwhile, but the factory sear notch geometry is incorrect. The sear notch is cut with negative angle such that the sear has to cam the hammer back against spring compression in order to release it. To get a really good pull, one must recut the sear notch so that it lies in a plane that intersects the middle of the pivot point.

To accomplish this, I simply clamp the hammer in a vise so that the notch face is slightly above the vise jaw, and the pivot point is centered on the vise jaw. Then I file the notch with a WELL USED file which cuts slowly and very smoothly, right down to the vise jaw. This will correct the faulty geometry of the sear notch.

Once again, I'd love to be able to do that, but I have neither the tools, nor the "know-how" do perform this type of work. The rifle will end up in a real smith's hands to do the work ... and while there, I'll have him do everything ... trigger, smooth the action, ease up the tension on the mag loading (right now, it's harder than hell to feed that mag) ...

Thanks guys ... the info you gave me, is what I needed ... I now know that it is NOT an adjustable trigger, and there is plenty or work that can (needs to) be done in order to smooth this rifle out...

Thanks.

Get ahold of Regan Nonneman (660-927-3401). He does a great trigger job on the 336. May take some time - he's a busy guy.

Several people on the Marlinowners forum have installed the Wild West Gun "happy trigger" and are really impressed with it.

My wifes 336 is with the gunsmith right now, awaiting the installation of the 'Wild West Gun -happy trigger'.

If I'd been able to find a set of instructions, I might have given the job a go myself (as it's just part replacement), but I could just see the Marlin in pieces, and me wondering how to put it back together.

I found directions on the internet to tune up my 1894 including the installation of a Wild West trigger. I also took out that dumb azz safety and replaced it with a blank screw. I dint spend $150 on all the parts and its a whole new gun. The WW triggers are very nice. Certainly worth the $$$.

I just had a Wild West Happy trigger installed into my wife's 336. Result is very good indeed. Nice and crisp at 3.2 lb.