Whitetail with Marlin 336ER

[Ranch Dog]

Not a cast boolit kill but I just had to show you guys this picture of my 17 year old nephew. Yesterday evening, Sunday 11/05, he killed this 8-pointer with my 336ER chambered in 356 Winchester. He had seen this buck a total of 3 times before the Sunday evening hunt but was holding out for a larger buck. On his last hunt and just before dark he shot the deer at 80-yards from an elevated tower blind overlooking a mesquite and oak thicket. The deer died where it was standing! This was his first buck deer!

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Hunting/2006/Lil%20Rock%208.jpg

My dad and I where hunting about 500-yards away and had heard several shots in the distance. Right at sundown we heard that 356 bark... no mistaking the sound of that flat bullet with lots of powder smacking something. I told my dad that Rocky just killed his first buck! In a few minutes my cell phone rang and I took off like a shot as I just had to give this young fellow a congratulatory hung!

The unfortunate thing is that I've turned my nephew into a Marlin Junkie. This young fellow will wade into anything I suggest he shoot and has shot all the cast boolits... including designs not offered in group buys yet. He has been my primary tester for the TLC460-350-RFB & -450-RFB and heavy loads in both the 45-70 & 450 Marlin. I found a 100 round lot of ammo cheaper than I could buy 356 brass for so we are cycling that PowerPoint ammo on targets and game to get on with the TLC359-180-RFB...

[JDL]

Well, tell him I said he done real good! That's a nice buck for a first one and I can tell your're kinda proud also. :-) -JDL

[MT Gianni]

Nice going. If it was jacketed was it the speer 180 fn? that thing really talks from my 356 when it hits something. Gianni.

[9.3X62AL]

EXCELLENT HARVEST! Well done, indeed.

[MtJerry]

Good lookin' lad .. nice deer too

[Ranch Dog]

Nice going. If it was jacketed was it the speer 180 fn? that thing really talks from my 356 when it hits something. Gianni.

200-grain Winchester Power Point. I've thumped a number of critters with this bullet and they it folds them up pretty quick.

[Uncle R.]

Ranch Dog:
Well done all around! You're passing it on to the next generation and that's a good thing!

[Dale53]

RanchDog;
Good to see that your nephew has "made meat". I bet you are just about to bust your britches (I sure would be).

Tell hime we all say, "Congratulations!". He now knows how to truly "Bring home the bacon!"

Dale53

[Four Fingers of Death]

Dang! Well done, nice cartridge, I've just about given up trying to get a big bore in 356, Might have to settle for a Murlen, :-). Must be good taking the boy out and watching him develop. Mick

[6pt-sika]

Congrats on a fine deer to your nephew :drinks:

And me being the heck of a nice guy I am , I'll take that old clunker Marlin 356 off your hands . I'll even give you $200 for it , don't try and talk me out of it cause I know it ain't worth much over $100 [smilie=1:


All BS aside nice deer , young man and oh yeah rifle :-D

Tried your cast design in the 356 yet ?
Would like to try it in mine this year , but don't think I'll have time . Probably just shoot factory this year:???:

[Ranch Dog]

It's amazing how many people try to talk me out of that worthless rifle. I would feel bad taking any money for that clunker and worry about the liability if I gave it to anybody :roll:

I have tried the TLC359-180-RF in the rifle and it shoots very well. 37.0-grains of H4198 gave me 2280 FPS with great accuracy. I'm shooting up 100 rounds of factory ammo so that I have some brass to continue my work. What shooting I did with this boolit convinced me that the 356 is going to be a heck of a lot easier to work with than the 35 Rem. That caliber has got to be about the toughest one of the lever calibers to work with cast boolits.

The last couple of days I've been working with the TLC379-210-RF in my Marlin 375. I'm going to work through this boolit before I return to the 35's.

[Pilgrim]

The RCBS 35-200 (WW = ~215 gr. lubed & GC'd) works well in both my .35 Rem (model 141 pump) and my .358 (rebarreled BLR). I've not heard of any complaints from anyone re: that boolet. Give some a try.

[6pt-sika]

What shooting I did with this boolit convinced me that the 356 is going to be a heck of a lot easier to work with than the 35 Rem. That caliber has got to be about the toughest one of the lever calibers to work with cast boolits.

.

Like Pilgrim said before me ; I've also had very good results with the RCBS 35-200 mould in my 1952 vintage Marlin 336SC in 35 REM caliber.

[6pt-sika]

Dang! Well done, nice cartridge, I've just about given up trying to get a big bore in 356, Might have to settle for a Murlen, :-).

Mick , it might be easier to find a Big Bore in 356 then the Marlin 336ER.

Marlin only made 2,441 of them . They are kinda like hens teeth in the good old US of A . Most in decent shape are over $750 .:(

[TedH]

Heck, I'd pay $750 for a decent one if I could find it. The ones I've watched sell have been well over $1000!
Those of us that don't have one should rally Marlin to make a limited run of new 336ERs. Surely they would sell out fast.

BTW Great job with the nephew Ranch Dog! Sounds like you got him hooked!

[Poohgyrr]

:drinks:

Very good!! Congrats on the .356 and on your nephew..

[Marlin Junky]

Ranch Dog,

Would you mind elaborating on:


...the 356 is going to be a heck of a lot easier to work with than the 35 Rem. That caliber has got to be about the toughest one of the lever calibers to work with cast boolits.

The only thing that made load development in my 30-30 'G' gun (336A) a little time consuming was finding molds that dropped fat enough boolits. I don't have much experience with the lighter boolits from its 10" twist but I do have a feeling my old Winchester will out shoot my old Marlin with boolits shorter than 311041.

So, in your experience, what made the .35R hard to work with?

MJ

[Ranch Dog]

Sure will... short throat of the Marlin chamber and short neck of the 35 Rem case. Two negatives that make bullet selection tough. Try to find a boolit that doesn't extend down into the case on the Marlin... any boolit doing that robs this cartridge of a lot of powder capacity and that makes this marginal caliber even more so. I've owned a number of Marlin's chambered in 35 Rem and own two now, a 336D and a 336SC, all have not allowed a boolit with a LFN or WFN profile to be seated at the SAAMI OAL of 2.525". More like 2.30" to 2.34". That's a lot of boolit stuck further down the case. My Savage 170B does not have this problem (and is one of the finest rifles I found chambered in 35 Rem).

I've never found boolit diameter a problem . I slug each and every barrel, decide if I want to lap it or not and then special order a mold from Lee that fits. I don't mess with stock or cataloged molds from any manufacturer. Cheaper in the long run just to pay the setup fee at Lee and get exactly what you want.

My stepson was visiting me for the first time while on leave from the Navy. He had never been introduced to shooting outside of the military or hunting. I started him with my Marlin 39A (22RF) on the afternoon he arrived and then moved him into my Marlin 1894CL (218 Bee). From there he took to the Marlin 336ER (356 Win) like a fish to water so we headed to the woods. The first afternoon we did not find anything, a very slow afternoon/evening in the woods. We were both too tired to hunt yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon we where in the right place and time to kill this outstanding feral boar hog with the ER. David did a fine job with a one shot double-lung kill at 80-yards only one day after being introduced to shooting and hunting!

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Hunting/2006/Davids_Hog.jpg http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Hunting/2006/Davids_Hog_B_319x425.jpg

[TedH]

That's a big ol' hog! Good job!

[C1PNR]

Oh that's a NICE hog! There's a lot of good eating there. Nice job and quick learning on his part!:drinks:

[Four Fingers of Death]

Mick , it might be easier to find a Big Bore in 356 then the Marlin 336ER.

Marlin only made 2,441 of them . They are kinda like hens teeth in the good old US of A . Most in decent shape are over $750 .:(


If they are that rare, I'll definetly have to snap one up if I see one (which is unlikely).

Thanks for the head up.

Mick.

[carpetman]

Is there a reason that 2,441 were made? Does that figure represent something? In 1987 Benjamin Air Rifles celebrated 100 years and made a Centennial model 87. They only made 6086 of these. The reason was there are 3043 counties in the U.S. and they figured only 2 people per county would be able to own one.

[Ranch Dog]

Hmmm... I've never questioned the number, just figured that was all they sold over the years in production.

[sinister soul]

I Just got a marlin .356 for $500 maybe had 50 rounds fired out of it did i get a good deal or not???