T

[mac60]

Having read quite a bit about the decline of the Marlin 336, I chose to ignore every bit of it. I bought the thing at Wally world - price out the door was $403 + some change. Don't get me wrong here, the intent here is not to bash Marlin/Remington - just to detail my experience. First thing I noticed is that they aren't blued anymore. I can live with the finish though. Next thing is the care taken in the manufacture of the parts is atrocious. Absolutely nothing is polished, machine marks and burrs on everything on the inside of the gun. It wouldn't feed from the magazine. Shining a bright light through the loading gate I could see that the rim of the cartridge in the magazine was hanging up on the carrier. That was easy enough to correct with a few different sizes of round files and sandpaper. While I was at it I went through and deburred everything and put it back together. Much better! It feeds 100% now and is much smoother to cycle. One more thing I noticed is the dovetail for the rear sight is crooked. My plans are for some kind of receiver sight, so this won't be an issue. All in all, after voiding the warranty(?) and "making it mine" I'm satisfied with it. The model 336 is a fine design and I hope it's not allowed to die on the vine, but Remington needs to tighten up a little. I own 3 other Marlin lever action rifles (all JM stamped) and the quality of all 3 of them is far and away better than current manufacture.

[rking22]

Sounds kinda like a gun "kit", preassembled to make sure all the parts are there but unfinished! I can live with that when the price is comensurate and I expect it, now to foist that on the unsuspecting public is a disgrace. I like Remingtons, always have, but I tell my friends to buy a nice USED and vintage Remington, not a new one. Too bad it has become so :(

[mac60]

Ha - Kit gun. That's pretty much it. I was determined to correct whatever was wrong myself instead of sending it off - only to have to possibly do it again. My Brother in law bought an 1895 that had the exact same malfunction. It had to go back twice before it was right.

[rking22]

I am the same way, I'm not sending anything back for the same folk that did'nt do it right the first time to try and "fix" it. Lots of people complain about 10-22s. They are the same way, they work out of the box but can be so much better with a little hand work to the fatory parts. Nice that they are priced accordingly. Time was that the folk building the guns were craftsmen and knew how to hand fit parts and did so regularly. Today we cannot afford to pay the prices for that type of work. CNCs can only do so much, the design has to be "designed for manufacturing" for it to work well. Remington 870, works well but it was designed for a manufactiring process that was designed at the same time. Marlin Lever guns (like Win M12s and many other designs from the golden years) were designed for the hand fit process. Remington is trying to hold a price point by not doing the fine fit that ( I feel) is needed for that design to work well out of the box. Thats what happened with the R51. Peterson designs are very reliant of the fine relationships between parts and tolerance stack will cause problems.
Glad you got your Marlin running, it will be a good one and now you really know "how it works" !

[bedbugbilly]

The sad part is, it should't be that way - whether it's Marlin/Remington or any other manufactured firearm.

I have never owned a Marlin - bypassed a 336 the other day - was an older one but had a scope and I didn't want a scoped one - plus it was rather "pricey" for what it was (IMHO). I ended up with a Winchester instead. But I can well remember the older Marlins, Winchesters, Remingtons of years ago and they were all well made - good fit and finish, closer tolerances, etc. What gets me is that in this day and age of NC machining and improved manufacturing processes . . . the products are often times a "work of shame". Poor wood to metal fit, poor finish, etc. But it all boils down to the "bean counters" and the "bottom line". Too bad . . .in particular on the Marlin and what things you noticed on yours . . . but (and I say this just as a statement and not snarky) . . . I guess it isn't surprising for Remington . . . look how well their R51 9mm worked out for them.

The important thing is that I hope your new Marlin will shoot good for what you got it for . . . I've decided I'd like a 30/30 Marlin but after seeing some of the new ones . . . I'll keep looking for a decent vintage one and pay more for it if I can find a good one.

[mac60]

rking22 - I agree. Thing is though, there was just no "fitting" at all. I had my older JM stamped 336 apart - comparing parts trying to see what I could see and there's a big difference between the two.
bedbugbilly - The older JM stamped guns are getting kinda pricey. The quality is much better on the older guns. I haven't fired it yet. I really hope I can get it to shoot cast well. I'm gonna shoot it this weekend. Wish me luck.

[Tatume]

Next thing is the care taken in the manufacture of the parts is atrocious. Absolutely nothing is polished, machine marks and burrs on everything on the inside of the gun.

My Marlin rifles are older, but my brother has a newer one. It was made by Marlin, well before the Remington take-over, and the fit is horrible. There are grinder marks on the receiver and many of the parts. The gun works fine, but it looks like it was made in the former Soviet Union. He's killed a lot of deer with it though.

[pietro]

.

OTOH.................

I've bought at least 8 Marlin leverguns, new/ordered, since the late 1960's - and every one of them needed smoothing !

I hate to think of what it would have added to the cost if the factory had to do that work before the rifles were wholesaled out to distributors.

I "smoothed" every one of mine via (after first double-checking that they were not loaded) constant lever cycling, every evening for a week, while watching TV.

Which, of course, drove my family wild. :dung_hits_fan:



.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Ha - Kit gun. That's pretty much it. I was determined to correct whatever was wrong myself instead of sending it off - only to have to possibly do it again. My Brother in law bought an 1895 that had the exact same malfunction. It had to go back twice before it was right.

Mac: I have done this same thing to every Marlin I have owned and all of them were JM Marlin guns with the newest one my 1895 CB .45-70.

This gun had no deburring on any of the parts and literally would cut you if you ran the lever without gloves on. I had to rework it before I could shoot it! That gun was made in 03! So the "QC problems had been there for some time. That gun now runs so smooth it is criminal, and so does my 1894 CB in .44 Magnum. These guns also got a complete wood refinish and look and run so nice I get complements everytime I take them to the range for a Short Range Silhouette Shoot.

I also installed Lyman 66 LA's on both guns and had to drill and tap as neither one had the holes for mounting those sights.

On another note: What I did notice when going thru my 30-30 made in 1958 was that the Interior Machining was not as nice as the later guns, but the Exterior Finish was better on the earlier guns. More Hand Work was put into the earlier guns than the later ones.

My M39A made in 1995 took me 6 very intense hours to make run right, all the other guns take me about 2 hours to go thru from beginning to end. I got the instructions on how to do what from www.levergunscom (http://www.levergunscom).

The wood usually takes a few days to refinish, and it will surprise you what can find under the paint that Marlin sprays on their wood.

If you look at Marlin Rifles as kit guns, you are definitely on the right track. I have seen exactly none that couldn't benefit from a good disassembly and deburring process. But the good thing is that they are not expensive guns so if you know that going in and can look at the gun as a project instead of a purchase you will be able to end up with something that is far beyond any other Levergun that is currently offered below $1500. Only when you get up in price do you start to see the nicer finishes on Leverguns.

Even those still need some TLC !

More bang for your buck with the Marlins or even the new Remlins than any other Levergun out there. You just have to work it a little to extract all the hidden value there.

Randy

[Wayne Smith]

Mac, what does the inside of the chamber and barrel look like? I assume from what you have said there is adequate metal to do the polishing? That is, parts aren't undersize?

[mac60]

Wayne - As far as I'm able to tell the chamber and bore look fine, as does the crown. I don't have access to a bore scope so this is just what I'm able to see with a bright light. There is certainly adequate metal to do a little deburring and polishing. The main area of focus was the carrier. In comparing it to the carrier in an older model 336 I could see I had PLENTY of room to make some er um "modification" to make it feed correctly. At any rate I accomplished what I set out to do, which was get it to feed reliably from the magazine and to smooth up the cycling of the action.

W.R.Buchanan - First of all thanks for the link. I'll have to digest all that when I get a chance. Those are really two nice looking rifles. I'd like to have one of those Lyman sights, but the drilling and tapping may be beyond my skill level .The new 336 isn't drilled and tapped on the side of the receiver, but of course is drilled/tapped for scope mounting on the top. Like I said I have 3 other Marlin lever actions, a 444ss, an older 336 30-30 and a Golden 39a. I guess it's just luck of the draw, but all 3 of them are slick as grease on glass.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mac: I have a Williams Receiver Sight with target knobs that is designed to go on the top of a Marlin. I don't need it any more, PM me if you're interested I'll make you a deal.

Randy.

[Artful]

What's the part # of the William Receiver Sight, Randy?

[mac60]

Mac: I have a Williams Receiver Sight with target knobs that is designed to go on the top of a Marlin. I don't need it any more, PM me if you're interested I'll make you a deal.

Randy.

Randy - PM sent.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Art: I have no idea what the # is.

Mac here's a pic of the sight.

Randy

[mac60]

Randy - I'll take the sight. PM sent.

[mac60]

What's the part # of the William Receiver Sight, Randy?

Artful - I believe it's code 70223 model FP-336-TK.

[FergusonTO35]

I actually like matte metal finish and laminate wood for a working rifle but almost every Remlin I examine has the barrel indexed to the left. If they could at least fix that nagging defect I might give them a chance.

[mac60]

I actually like matte metal finish and laminate wood for a working rifle but almost every Remlin I examine has the barrel indexed to the left. If they could at least fix that nagging defect I might give them a chance.

I can live with the finish. The stock on mine isn't a laminate - I don't know what kind of wood they use, maybe birch(?). I don't see the problem you mention with the barrel on mine. Was planning on shooting it this weekend, but I might not get the chance. I'm anxious to see how it shoots.

[runfiverun]

wow.
just wow.

I'd send them a bill for a little more than the purchase price of the gun if I had to do all that work
I just bought a western field in 243 that shoots groups in the 1" range at 100yds with nothing more than sizing some brass I found on the ground and putting some bullets in them seated to the cannelure.
well I did run a couple of patches through the barrel.
it even come with sights that were on the barrel straight and a scope mounted on it.
I know sounds expensive right.
o.t.d. was under 270 bucks.
there was also 2 actual marlins there, one a waffle top and another little bit newer one, both in the same price range as your new kit gun.

[hpdrifter]

I am the same way, I'm not sending anything back for the same folk that did'nt do it right the first time to try and "fix" it. Lots of people complain about 10-22s. They are the same way, they work out of the box but can be so much better with a little hand work to the fatory parts. Nice that they are priced accordingly. Time was that the folk building the guns were craftsmen and knew how to hand fit parts and did so regularly. Today we cannot afford to pay the prices for that type of work. CNCs can only do so much, the design has to be "designed for manufacturing" for it to work well. Remington 870, works well but it was designed for a manufactiring process that was designed at the same time. Marlin Lever guns (like Win M12s and many other designs from the golden years) were designed for the hand fit process. Remington is trying to hold a price point by not doing the fine fit that ( I feel) is needed for that design to work well out of the box. Thats what happened with the R51. Peterson designs are very reliant of the fine relationships between parts and tolerance stack will cause problems.
Glad you got your Marlin running, it will be a good one and now you really know "how it works" !
fix this:157727
157728

[mac60]

wow.
just wow.

I'd send them a bill for a little more than the purchase price of the gun if I had to do all that work
I just bought a western field in 243 that shoots groups in the 1" range at 100yds with nothing more than sizing some brass I found on the ground and putting some bullets in them seated to the cannelure.
well I did run a couple of patches through the barrel.
it even come with sights that were on the barrel straight and a scope mounted on it.
I know sounds expensive right.
o.t.d. was under 270 bucks.
there was also 2 actual marlins there, one a waffle top and another little bit newer one, both in the same price range as your new kit gun.

I gotta admit I was a little bit bent out of shape when I took it out of the box and it wouldn't feed from the magazine. Now, when I finally get around to shooting it and it won't shoot straight I'm gonna be down right upset. I kinda wish I'd have taken my $400 and looked around for an older JM stamped gun.

[W.R.Buchanan]

wow.
just wow.

I'd send them a bill for a little more than the purchase price of the gun if I had to do all that work
I just bought a western field in 243 that shoots groups in the 1" range at 100yds with nothing more than sizing some brass I found on the ground and putting some bullets in them seated to the cannelure.
well I did run a couple of patches through the barrel.
it even come with sights that were on the barrel straight and a scope mounted on it.
I know sounds expensive right.
o.t.d. was under 270 bucks.
there was also 2 actual marlins there, one a waffle top and another little bit newer one, both in the same price range as your new kit gun.

Your "Western Field' gun was made in the 60's as Western Auto has been gone since about 1970! or if it was Monkey Wards that had Western Field it was about 1980. in any event there was a lot more hand work put into guns back then.

"All that work" takes less than two hours. So $400 + two hours of work = a pretty good deal.

Randy

[runfiverun]

the point was there are good well put together used ones out there for the same or less money.

I might be a bit biased as I don't trust nor buy anything [but brass] from Remington anymore, I have had too many problems in the last few years.
I don't buy Taurus either, which totally sucks because I love the rossi model 92 lever guns.
if they would have made them in more calibers I'd have bought more of them, and not have so many duplicate caliber guns.
but since Taurus took them over I refuse to be their QC department.
guns should not come with a 'buyer beware' sticker attached.

it's a pre-monkey ward rifle, you can tell the two apart by their fit and feel of the action even though they are basically the exact rifle.
the older western ones are smoother and not as hinkey their inletting is also a better fit.
I have messed with a number of them and will buy them when I see them versus buying a new low budget rifle with all their plastic parts.

[rking22]

That is exactly what I think! I like many Remington designs, but my newest was made in the late 80s. I cannot remember the last time I bought a new firearm, most likely my GP100 in 1985! I see no point in paying for a new gun that might have issues when I can buy a used gun that "might" have issues for 1/2 or less of new. Also have a hard time buying a rifled gun without having it in my hands to check for bore damage/defects and/or bludge or rust. If the shop won't let me check it out to my satisfaction they can keep it. I can't "fix" the bore and it goes back on the rack, but damaged/worn parts or finish are negoitiating points! As far as a new "kit gun" , I would probably take an R51 if the price was right just to see if I could make it work right. Leverguns, no, too many classics out there needing some attention and shooting, but that's just my personal perspective:)
As I said, foisting an unfinished product on the unsuspecting buyer just ain't right! And plastic... YUCK

[W.R.Buchanan]

it's a pre-monkey ward rifle, you can tell the two apart by their fit and feel of the action even though they are basically the exact rifle.
the older western ones are smoother and not as hinkey their inletting is also a better fit.
I have messed with a number of them and will buy them when I see them versus buying a new low budget rifle with all their plastic parts.

I would take an older one over a new one anyday, but it's because the old ones have character and new ones don't . I have only seen a few Western Field Marlins at gun shows the only thing that kept me from buying the last one I saw was the fact that the guy was from Sacramento and wouldn't allow a local FFL in Ventura to broker the deal. I wasn't about to drive 400 miles to pick it up ten days later.

It needed the full treatment including action and wood refinish but the blue was still good and it would have been a good looking and running gun when done. It had that Fat Fore end that so many of the Marlin guns from the 50's and 60's had.

Randy