Any Experience Here with Marlin Model 36?

[PBSmith]

Recently I've been seeing a few Model 36's at gunshops. I'm familiar with and own several 336's, but have no experience whatsoever with the 36. I know it has a square bolt, and that it gave way to the 336 around 1948, but that's the extent of my knowledge on the 36.

I'm a serious shooter, mainly cast bullets, and don't want to get into 36's unless they are reasonably headache-free and unless they are good shooters.

What potential problems should I be looking for when I pick up these guns?

If the bore is good, are they good shooters? I'd be shopping for one in .30-30. Are lands/groove dimensions fairly consistent, or can I expect variations that will make accuracy a dicey proposition?

How difficult is it to find parts for the Model 36? Are disassembly and re-assembly easy, challenging, or best left to a gunsmith?

Looking forward to your comments. Thanks. PBSmith

[Scharfschuetze]

I believe that the Model 36 replaced the Model 1893 and was itself replaced by the Model 336. I think the last years of production for the 36 were in the late 40s.

As you note, it will be a square bolt receiver (reputedly not as strong as the round bolt) and it should shoot just fine if it has a good bore and hasn't been abused. Any Marlin made before 1953 should have standard rifling which should support your desire to shoot cast boolits through it.

Disassembly will be straight forward and you can follow the instructions for the 336 for the most part so you can inspect the bore from the breach easily as well as clean from that end.

Quality of the older Marlins is great so don't hesitate on that issue. Parts? These are Hell for stout rifles, so hopefully you won't need any. Our 1893 (predecessor to the 36) shoots just fine and it's well over a hundred years old.

[jlchucker]

My late father's one and only deer rifle was a model 1936 Marlin in 30-30. A very accurate rifle, but it wouldn't chamber a handload. I inherited that rifle and later passed it on to my youngest brother, whose house sits approximately on the spot where Dad shot a deer with that gun not long after he bought it way back in the day. It's still in the family and will remain so. When I got Dad's Marlin, I was new to handloading, and had not begun casting, so I never did figure out that tight chamber problem. Probably as simple as polishing out the chamber a bit. That rifle is really a shooter with factory ammo though. If I come across another 36 like Dad's old gun for a reasonable price I'd snap it up immediately. As Sharfschuetze says, these are quality rifles. Dad's gun did require a new firing pin, but that's no real problem for a good machinist/gunsmith. They may even be available at the parts vendors like Numrich and others.

[OverMax]

Have a 36 model SC. Shoots cast. Shoots paper patched pretty good too. It doesn't have that silly Micro Groove rifling. 36 has real rifling. Ballard style. Which is a whole lot better for shooting cast.
I don't shoot my 36 very often anymore. But when I did or when another tried. You couldn't help but notice its action was factory tuned to function as slick as snot. Very unlike those newer 336 models that replaced it.

[pietro]

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+1 - They handle/operate slicker than a green snake. .


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[Outpost75]

Most of the Model 36s used 4-groove barrels of the cal. .30 Government form four grooves 0.074" wide, bore .2995, groove .3075 with tolerance +0.0015" /- 0.000 in ten-inch twist, utilizing leftover blanks which had been made in WD1350 steel, Rc20 min. for Lewis machinegun production during WW1. The one I had shot lead very well using the same bullets which I used in my '03 Springfield and Winchester Model 54, most #308241 with 6 grains of Bullseye and #308291 with 18 grains of HiVel#2.

[TXGunNut]

I like the way 1893's and 36's handle. I haven't found a nice 93 I could afford and haven't seen many 36's around here but if I found a nice one I'd try to take it home. If you see a nice 94 better think long and hard, they are pretty slick, too. Those are some classy old guns!....Just don't tell my Winchesters.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Right when I started to forget about a model 36 this thread pops up.
I would love a 36. I think the lines of the receiver are way nicer with the square bolt.

Make sure you show off some pics of you do get one. Can't say I've ever seen one for sale in my neck of the woods. I would love one though. They seem to be pretty inexpensive on gun broker and the like.
Good luck! Let us know how you make out


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[kingstrider]

A few years ago I had a 36 made in 1946. Awesome rifle, wish I hadn't sold it.

[KCSO]

They work so well for cast bullets that I took the barrel from one and transplanted it to a model 336 for a friend for long range cast bullet shooting. He now has a 1/2 magazine 336/36 with a full 24" barrel.

[Michael J. Spangler]

You guys are killing me. I need a 36 !!!


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[PBSmith]

Thanks all for for your responses. KCSO, the 336 that you re-barreled for your friend - did it originally have a Micro Groove barrel?

[Jon K]

My Model 36...rifle and I vintage 1946...shoot it @ monthly shoot.