Marlin 336 cast size question

[12DMAX]

I finally got my hands on a very nice 31141 for my 1954 336. I do however have a dilemma, This mold drops a .314 dia boolit with a .302 nose and sizing it down to .310 really reduces my grease grooves. I am going to order a .312 die and give it a go but i am a little concerned about chambering issues with a .312. I know all guns are different and you dont know till you try but what has been your experience with a .312 in your older 336?

[TCFAN]

I am using a Lyman Ideal 31141 HP that drops from the mold at .314 and I size it at .312 for two different marlin 336 and one old beat up Winchester 94 30-30. My mold only has a .300 nose and I have no issues with the way it chambers. The .312 size boolits will slip in a fired case neck with out any resistance.It shoots very good with Win 748 powder........Terry

[Mike Hughes]

I ran into a similar situation and here is what I did. I sprayed a good coat of Frankford mold release into the cavities, this reduced the drive band diameter by .002 and made the lube grooves deeper as well. If you dont have any of the spray, another thing to try is, heavily smoking the cavities with kitchen matches. Changes diameter more than I thought it would.
Mike

[runfiverun]

stick your calipers in the neck of a fired case from that rifle.
you kknow have an idea of how large a boolit will chamber.
the marlins will shoot much better with the bigger boolits any way so why ruin a good combination.

[12DMAX]

stick your calipers in the neck of a fired case from that rifle.
you kknow have an idea of how large a boolit will chamber.
the marlins will shoot much better with the bigger boolits any way so why ruin a good combination.


I have tried that with a .310 bullet and it was a snug fit.

[popper]

Try flaring a case a bit to see how big a case will chamber. Subtract neck thickness to get max CB size. Quicker than a chamber cast, not as good but may get you in the ball park. I wouldn't worry about the lube groove depth, especially if you use LLA.

[izzyjoe]

none of my marlin's 30-30's will camber any bigger than a .300 nose.

[MtGun44]

Fill lube grooves, THEN size down. Hydraulic pressure will keep the grooves as
deep as they started.

Bill

[geargnasher]

none of my marlin's 30-30's will camber any bigger than a .300 nose.

And mine will chamber .303" noses no problem. That's why we have to measure things, particularly chamber neck and loaded neck diameters. The less clearance, the better, as long as there is SOME clearance.

Gear

[12DMAX]

none of my marlin's 30-30's will camber any bigger than a .300 nose.

2.587 OAL the .310x.302 locks up nice just touching the lands so nose dia wont be an issue.

[12DMAX]

conclusion is my gun will not chamber a .312 boolit.

[mainiac]

this sounds like my 30-30 marlin. Mine is the first year production of the 336.

I have a large bore,.309 something(going by memory here!) ,,I ended up using neck turned brass,so i could get a .312 sized boolit to chamber.

This gun shoots super good now,on top of a case full of h-414, with the noe 165 boolit.

Theres more then one way to skin the cat............

make your necks thinner if you need more neck clearence.

[12DMAX]

this sounds like my 30-30 marlin. Mine is the first year production of the 336.

I have a large bore,.309 something(going by memory here!) ,,I ended up using neck turned brass,so i could get a .312 sized boolit to chamber.

This gun shoots super good now,on top of a case full of h-414, with the noe 165 boolit.

Theres more then one way to skin the cat............

make your necks thinner if you need more neck clearence.

My gun like yours does shoot superbly. I went ahead and sized them down to .310, will test them as is and see if the shallower lube grooves have an adverse affect.

[12DMAX]

all went well at the range, those BIG boolits sized down .004 shoot good but man-o-man are they ugly. I may be having an issue though with the crimp groove ( Another thread) am going to test some more today.

[popper]

Can I say FCD? Mine likes .311, FCD where I need to crimp, for OAL. 303 M expander gives good neck tension, I don't have setback problems with max loads.

[12DMAX]

Can I say FCD? Mine likes .311, FCD where I need to crimp, for OAL. 303 M expander gives good neck tension, I don't have setback problems with max loads.

I dont have setback problems, I was crowding the front of the crimp groove to much and my timing between seating and crimping was off a very little but enough that I was actually rolling lead over my case mouth. Such a small amount that I didnt know until i light the fire. I re- adjusted my die and gave myself a little more room to make sure i rolled the crimp DOWN into the groove.

[12DMAX]

I dont have setback problems, I was crowding the front of the crimp groove to much and my timing between seating and crimping was off a very little but enough that I was actually rolling lead over my case mouth. Such a small amount that I didnt know until i light the fire. I re- adjusted my die and gave myself a little more room to make sure i rolled the crimp DOWN into the groove.

Disregard all this, I was off somewhere on cloud11. This belongs in another thread. Duuugh.

The whole deal is My mold drops a big fat NICE boolit of threehundredfourteenthousands and my gun will not chamber anything over threehundredtenthousands without turning the necks and im not going there. Sizing down .004 really mucks up the boolit, although it shoots good. Its really now a decision of me living with it or trading off the mold for one a little closer to .310

[popper]

That was my reason for suggesting the FCD. I never have roll crimped any 30-30. Back off the crimp die to just put a shiny ring on the mouth or get the FCD and crimp wherever you need, i.e. not in the groove. Had to crimp some on the ogive and it worked fine. If it shoots good, I'd keep the mold, try .311 and play with seating depth - they DON'T have to be crimped in the groove, even in the tube mag. I've had a little trouble with the neck not sized right, lead shaves and then gets squished down over the mouth by the crimper. Those probably WON'T chamber. The push-thru sizer should just push excess into the GC shank and probably won't make a bit of difference. Not sure what you mean by sizing makes ugly CBs.

[12DMAX]

That was my reason for suggesting the FCD. I never have roll crimped any 30-30. Back off the crimp die to just put a shiny ring on the mouth or get the FCD and crimp wherever you need, i.e. not in the groove. Had to crimp some on the ogive and it worked fine. If it shoots good, I'd keep the mold, try .311 and play with seating depth - they DON'T have to be crimped in the groove, even in the tube mag. I've had a little trouble with the neck not sized right, lead shaves and then gets squished down over the mouth by the crimper. Those probably WON'T chamber. The push-thru sizer should just push excess into the GC shank and probably won't make a bit of difference. Not sure what you mean by sizing makes ugly CBs.

Good info popper thanks i will look at it. Well ugly may be in the eye of the the beholder but i will explain. Shoving that 314 boolit through a 310 sizer gives it very wide driving bands and very thin grease grooves, and some lead is deposited in the grease.

[badgeredd]

Fill lube grooves, THEN size down. Hydraulic pressure will keep the grooves as
deep as they started.

Bill

Figured I'd reiterate what Bill said...it works.

Edd

[FergusonTO35]

My Marlins with Micro Groove like a boolit sized to .310 seated to almost touching the lands.

[popper]

You won't run out of lube. Any lead moved into the grooves should be symmetrical and won't cause a problem. If you can chamber .311 OK, that might fill the neck and throat more and give better accuracy. Sizing won't change the nose profile.

[12DMAX]

All is well. No leading and great accuracy. I can live with the look of the boolit.

[fatnhappy]

all went well at the range, those BIG boolits sized down .004 shoot good but man-o-man are they ugly. I may be having an issue though with the crimp groove ( Another thread) am going to test some more today.

man-o-man, but how do they shoot! no leading and good accuracy you say......


Your marlin sounds like my 1955 Marlin (top rifle). Currently scoped with a Leupold 2-7X
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/lhsjfk3t/001-3.jpg

Unfortunately I'm somewhat limited with CB's in this rifle. The only CB's I can seat to the crimp groove and still chamber are my lyman 311291 HP and my lyman 311299, both of which have slightly undersized noses. I'm forced to size .310"
Not that I'm complaining. Both shoot pretty well.

The newer micro-groove rifle.... well lets just say it's one of my better gun deals. A guy I deal with at work sold it to me for $200 with 2 boxes of ammo, a hard case and sling. He only fired 16 round through it and couldn't tolerate the recoil.
I put 200 rounds of NOE 311291s through it last weekend. It will chamber a .312" boolit so I shoot my Lyman 311041, NOE 311291 and 311290 unsized. It shoots very very well considering I'm using factory irons. My intent is to set it up with williams sights after the hunting season.