Almost dream come true1951 Marlin 336 .32 Win Spcl

[peterso]

I found what I thought was my dream come true a Marlin 336 in .32 Special with Ballard Rifling. The barrel looks new and smooth as glass with four lands and grooves. The only problem is that it appears to slug out at .318. The mold that I have is a Lee 170gr .323 with the gas check step removed. Is it feasable to size this bullet down to .320 or .319 or is there another bullet that will cast out at the correct size for this bullet? I will only be shooting cast lead bullets out of this rifle. Why would they make the bore .318 and not .321? I have a more modern 336 in .32 that has micro groove rifling that I have been working with that is .321.
Owen

[ammohead]

It might be best if the boolits were already sized and lubed. The lube will help it into the sizer without bending and it will keep the lube grooves from flattening. Guys on this board have sized boolits alot more than .005 so go for it.

[BruceB]

You're not the only one. My late-'40s Model 36 (not 336) is also bored undersize, as was that of another now-departed member here. The barrels are NOT surplus, nor were they made with left-over war tooling.

He asked Marlin about it, and was told that was the way they did it in that era.

My rifle shoots the RCBS 32-170 just fine at both .319" (custom sizer die) and .321". Surprisingly, IMR4350 has given best results to date.

[jtaylor1960]

I also have a waffle top with Ballard rifiling.Much to my suprise it only slugged at .318.I have shot bullets sized to.323" in it with no problems.321 sizers are common and should work well in your rifle.I used the bigger size because the other rifles I have in that caliber have a bigger bore size.

[johnly]

I have a pair of 336As with Ballard rifling and shoot the RCBS 32-170 sized to .321" with excellent results. I've had issues with RCBS molds dropping small diameter bullets, but in this case it works out perfectly. Molds for 32-40 are also made for .319" bores.

John

[TXGunNut]

Pics?

[Guesser]

My 1949 336A in 32 W.S. shoots the .319/.321 really well, never a problem.