Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions Marlin Glenfield 30A 30-30

I know condition has a big part in it.... gun seemed OK... light freckling on the receiver, with scope 4x32, $230 OTD. Is that a decent price? Thanks!

That's a good price.

Neil

I wouldn't sell my Glenfield for $350.00...my bestest....favorist... Marlin !

In my experience any Marlin with the forend cap and barrel stud is going to be more accurate than a double barrel band model. Now "accuracy" in a lever action is a relative thing, and not saying the barrel band models won't shoot, but tying the barrel to the magazine presents problems to be overcome that aren't as present in those models sans bands.

Have had 5 or 6 Model 336 .30-30's over the last 40 years and probably a dozen or more Marlin lever actions altogether and the most accurate ones by a noticeable margin were the ones without barrel bands - a Model 336AS .30-30, 336 SC, a .444 and a little 1894 .45 Limited.

How do you know how tight to tighten the screw in that barrel band near the muzzle? Is it supposed to be tightened to a specific ft. or inch /lbs.?

It should just be snug enough to not come out. I would screw it in until it just stops and go no further, kind of like the middle screw on Model 70's if you are familiar with those. Loc-Tite blue works well here.

Optimally the barrel bands should not even touch the barrel or just barely touch it. You can take them off and with a dowel and sandpaper grind them down on the upper inside surface so they are a very easy slip fit over the barrel. On Winchesters you also do not want to overtighten the screw that holds in the magazine plug and goes up into the barrel. I think that involves grinding on the end of it but haven't had a Model 94 for several years so don't rightly remember. If all this ends up with the magazine tube just loose enough to wiggle ever so slightly that's not a bad thing. Doesn't have to wiggle and if that bothers anybody then don't go that far, but it won't hurt either.

I could get into a lot of theory here which someone would question and then I'd have to defend it, but basically you want to keep the magazine from interfering with the barrel.

Even the forend cap/barrel stud models can have problems. The mag tube should be an easy slip fit over that dovetailed stud in the bottom of the barrel - again the idea is to keep from tying the barrel and magazine together tightly. Also, the forend cap is held in place by two screws. If these are too tight or tightened unevenly they can adversly affect accuracy.

Finally, even with messing around with the mag attachments some rifles respond and some don't. Oh, well.

Most lever rifles won't be put to any use which needs that kind of fiddling anyway. We all like accurate rifle but it takes a special nut to put a 12X scope on Marlins and Winchesters and grind on them to get a 3" group down to 1 1/2" and feel triumphant about it.

I am trying to find a Gun Digest article from a few decades ago where they took Marlins and Winchesters and saw exactly what they needed to shoot accurately. Thought it was the 1971 edition but that's not it. Have to start at 1960 and work my way forward, I guess.

IIRC they took the mag tubes and forends completely off so the barrels were free floated. They may have cheated and used custom barrels too. Anyway, they were able to prove that lever actions were capable of some very impressive groups. (For the time period - nowadays everybody has a 1/4" All Day Long rifle )

Yes!

Great price on an excellent gun. Most of my Marlins are very very accurate. I recently out shot a Howa .308 with a 4-12X40 scope on it using my Glenfield 30 topped with a 1.5-4.5X32.

Have a Glenfield that looks pretty much as this one but the forend cap does not have the sling attachment slot and has light blonde wood. It is a model 36g...is there anything else different between the 30a and 36g? My 36g has a 20" bbl what is the length on the 30a?