old 336A

[beemer]

I went to the gun show in Winston-Salem,NC today.One of the dealers had an old Marlin 336A in 30-30. I couldn't talk him down much but I bought it anyway. The gun has a 24 in. barrel with the old 4 groove rifling. It doesn't have the trigger saftey or the crossbolt. After some searching I found out it was made in 1949. The blue is fair on most of the gun, the usual corner and sharp edge wear.The worst is under the barrel and the end of the tube. There are some pits and ruff spots probally due to some sweaty hands On the other hand the bore is bright and crisp and the action is slick. It looked like the poor thing had never been apart or oiled inside. After taking it apart and cleaning it looked like it had not been used much at all. The rifle is in great mechanical condition. The stock is in good shape with no bad dents but could use a good cleaning. I probally gave what its worth but its the model I was looking for.

The old style rifling should work great with lead. I hope so because thats all I plan to use. My experience with the 30-30 is limited so what loads work the best. I have the lyman 311291 and a lee 170 F.

Beemer

[6pt-sika]

I have three of the 336SC's that were made in 1950-1952 . All three are ballard rifled and all three shoot cast bullets very well . In fact thats all I shoot in them [smilie=1:

In case you are unaware the SC is just like the 336A except instead of the 24" barrel the SC's have a 20" barrel . Incidently mine are 30-30 , 32 and 35 .:castmine:

[6pt-sika]

My favourites for 30-30's are the Lyman 172 grain GC mould in FN and HP configuration . The Saeco 150 grain GC FN . The RCBS 150 grain GC FN . And Ranch Dogs 160 grain GC FN design . Also have one of the RCBS 180 grain GC FN moulds , but have yet to cast a bullet in it .

I've also had decent luck with the Lee 170 , 150 and 115 GC FN moulds in my 30-30's .

:drinks:

[6pt-sika]

There's a local dealer here (central VA) that has a 336A that was made in 1951 for sale . He's asking $350 .

I would have laid it away already , but its in need of a reblue job . As it has quite a few rusted areas . Although the bore is almost spotless . It's a shame someone would let that happen to a nice old rifle :???:

[Marlin Junky]

I've got an A that was made right around the end of '49 or beginning of '50. It has a little more throat than the current 336's and loves RCBS 30-180FN crimped in the first lube groove instead of the crimp groove for a COL of 2.59". This rifle will do 2200 fps with H414 and RCBS 30-180FN at 196 grains checked. If your gun is like mine it'll handle a .301/.311" boolit cast from WW metal very well.

MJ

[NickSS]

I have a Marlin 336 SC that I bought from my Brother a few years ago and I love it with cast lead boolits. My favorit boolits are the Lee 170 FN, Lyman 311041 173 gr FN, and a lyman 115 gr 31108 PB FN boolit. I usually use either Red Dot or Unique in the 8 gr range for the first two boolits and around 6 gr for the lighter one. These are not hot loads but are really fun for plinking and target work out to 200 yards. I have killed one coyote with a lee boolit with 8 gr of red dot. For a heavier load I use the Lyman 173 gr and 18 gr of IMR 4198. All these loads produce around two inch groups at 100 yards in my rifle.

[gregg]

Few years back bought a 336A born in 1951.
Got lucky she nice one. What a sweet heart.
I passed it by . Got home and called (270 miles away)
Told them I will take it check in the mail. One of the best
moves I ever made.

[Ranch Dog]

I've got an '53 336A... Looked like hell but hunted and shot great. I decided I like the rifle enough to have in refinished and rechambered to 30-30AI. It was so rusty that the only option for the finish was to parkerize it but it sure looks great now! Robert Bose did the work...

[26Charlie]

Beemer, heres a thread with some of my loads & results.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=12653

[Throckmorton]

One thing I found out the hard way..
any jacket material left in the borre will totally destroy accuracy with cast bullets.
I mean this thing was FEET off of the target until I got serious on the cleaning aspect.Had to use a 'copper cutter' type cleaner to get it right.

Now she's a keeper.!:Fire:

[beemer]

Thanks for thr info,I have 4198 and 5744 so it looks like I'm ready to go. This is my 4th Marlin,am I hooked? About 5 years ago I turned down a nice 36 for $200.
At that time I didn't know any better but I still regret it.

I instaled a Williams FP and put a blank in the rear dovetail today. All my marlins have peep sights, they seem to be a made for each other.

beemer

[Char-Gar]

The 336A is one of my all time favorite rifles, being Marlin's answer to the Winchester 64. I do like the balance of the 336 very very much. Mine is a 1970 vintage and came with the best wood I have ever seen on any factory rifles. I paid $150 for mine in a pawn shop in Odessa Texas about 94 or so.

the 30-30 is a wonderful cast bullet round and the Marlin 335A is a wonderful platform. There are a number of fine cast bullets that will work well.. with Lyman 311291, 311410, 311407 and RCBS 180 FN coming to mind.

The fast burning powders 2400, 4759 and 4227 work well are are flexible. You can start with either in the 14 grain range for mild, target, plinking and small game loads and go up to around 18 for bigger game up to deer.

Medium burning powders like 4895, 3031 and H335 are the t icket if you want to go past 2K fps. These powders will get all the velocity the 30-30 has to give with good accuracy.

You have a very fine rifle and remember the old advise to clean all the metal fouling out of the barrel before going to cast.