Marlin 336 and cast boolits

[OKLHUNTER]

I have heard tell that it's not recommended to use cast bullets in the Marlin 336 because of the micro grooving of the barrels. Does anyone out there have any experience with these? I have a 336 and a few casts i'd like to try but am hesitant.

[fishnbob]

Welcome to the site. I would slug the bore and mic the slug and also mic your casts and try to get the casts at least .001" over the rifled groove and have at it. My 336's in 30/30 and .35 do very well as long as my casts are consistent in weight. In other words if I do my part at casting.

[OKLHUNTER]

You have no problems with lead fouling?

[Magana559]

I have one in 30-30 and it's great! Very accurate with .311 180gr boolits cast with coww and water dropped.

[HiVelocity]

+1 what FishnBob said. I use 45-45-10 to lube. Just put a few together and see what happens, you may be surprised. Slugging your barrel will give you a good start.

HV

[RPRNY]

I find .311 sized boolits do fine in my 336 at 1700 fps and less. Others are able to achieve higher velocities but that has not been my experience. Mine likes IMR4227 and IMR4198 with 160 and 180 gr boolits. Slug, Size and Slow.

[osteodoc08]

And the myth of MG barrels and lead continue.

MG barrels tend to like larger boolits. Slug and size accordingly. All my marlins shot fine with lead and MG barrels. Just liked fatter boolits.

[williamwaco]

That is an old wives tale and there is absolutely no truth in it.

The Marlin 336 is one of the best cast bullet rifles on the planet.

Yes. I have done it. As have MANY other members here.

[C. Latch]

I had the same fears, but apparently they're rooted in the days when everyone sized their .30 cast bullets at .309, without slugging thier bores. Apparently .309 works fine if you have a typical .308 bore, but my marlin's bore is .3095 to .310ish, which is pretty typical.

Size them to .311 (if your bore is .310) and enjoy. I haven't shot mine any heavier than 21.0 grains of 4227 in a 30-30, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how well they shot. Roughly 1" at 35 yards, which is as good as I can do with open sights under any circumstances, and as good as my 30-30 does with jacketed factory ammo.

[TXGunNut]

It'll never work, those lead boolits will lead your bore up terribly. Don't even bother......got any pics? I live close enough I might could drive up there and take that worthless thing off your hands. ;-)
Welcome to the forum! You have a great rifle and it will do fine with the right boolit. My 30-30 336 likes a .311 boolit and my 35 Rem 336 likes a .359 boolit.

[HangFireW8]

My Marlin Microgroove 45/70 does just fine with cast. The key is understanding that you may need to cast and size a larger boolit than the nominal bore diameter.

[HangFireW8]

Oh yeah one more thing- most of what you've heard elsewhere about loading and shooting cast boolits is wrong. :)

[OKLHUNTER]

Right now I am shooting Hornady 150 grain round nose. I want to eventually get started in casting and use the bullets in m 40 and 30-30. Is there a particular hardness I should try and achieve?

[Magana559]

I do well at 12-16

[trapper9260]

I shoot cast in my 30-30 and no problem and as for the BHN match it to your load and go from there. Do you have a tester ? I use a Lee one and it have a chart for what BHN will work for what load .

[Hickory]

It's hard to expand on all of the above good advice, so I will not.
It took me a long time to aquire the above information through trial & error
and that was before the internet, you are fortunate in that you only have to ask.

[retiredPO]

This site is the bomb,... I was having fits with my micro 30-30... until I learned the above from this site... and Im cloverleafing
at 50 yrds.... with .311.... feels very accomplished to solve this kind of problem.... will this site point me toward the winning lotto ticket...>?????

[Hurricane]

30 caliber boolits usually drop from the mold at .311. Size the boolit to .311. Lube and use. It is that simple. If it gives you accuracy and no leading you do not need to slug the barrel. Leading is usually the result of a too small boolit. At .311 you should not have a problem.

[dek16001]

April's edition of "hand loader " had a excellent article on this subject. It went into detail on the alloy, sizing ect On a .35 Remington they were using..

[largom]

I have Marlins in 30-30, 35 Rem., and 45-70, all micro-groove. I cast with 50% WW + 50% lead and air cool. Let age 4 weeks and lube with FWFL. I shoot the boolits "as cast" but lubed in an over-sized die. I have never had leading in my barrels. These are my deer hunting guns with hunting loads.

Larry

[OKLHUNTER]

30 caliber boolits usually drop from the mold at .311. Size the boolit to .311. Lube and use. It is that simple. If it gives you accuracy and no leading you do not need to slug the barrel. Leading is usually the result of a too small boolit. At .311 you should not have a problem.

I read that article after seeing it on another thread. Even though they refer primarily to the 35, it has great info on casting and the MG barrels.

[OKLHUNTER]

April's edition of "hand loader " had a excellent article on this subject. It went into detail on the alloy, sizing ect On a .35 Remington they were using..

OOOP, quoted wrong post.......
I read that article after seeing it on another thread. Even though they refer primarily to the 35, it has great info on casting and the MG barrels.

[avogunner]

For at least the past 5 years, my .35 Rem 336 has had nothing but cast shot through it. I load primarily the Lyman 358315 (because I have that mold) but I've also used the RCBS 35-200 and the RD 190. That Ranch Dog is a tack driver in my rifle, the RCBS second, and the Lyman close behind in my brief testing. I size to .359 and have not had a trace of leading ever ... with any of these boolits. Get a mold and get shootin'!

[OKLHUNTER]

Well, I have some cast boolits, that were given to me. I'm gonna have to load them up and givem a try.

[blikseme300]

Well, I have some cast boolits, that were given to me. I'm gonna have to load them up and givem a try.

One of the best investments is a micrometer. Size does matter and a caliper is not accurate enough for boolit measurement.

[smkummer]

Another forum member (sixpointfive) was shooting his late model 30-30 Marlin 336 MicroGroove barrel with ranch dogs cast bullet and hitting consistently a 10" AR500 metal plate at 200 yards. His gun and load are "dialed in". Very satisfying "bang/ting".

[largom]

My micro-groove Marlins were the easiest of all of my guns to develop cast boolit loads for. My loads even shot great in son-in-laws Marlins.

[shredder]

I fell for the "micro groove barells do not shoot cast" routine too. Then I started shooting cast anyway just to see what would happen. What happened was my 336 found a load that it really liked in .35 Remington and we are living happily ever after!

I also will blow the "stay below 1600fps" advice out of the water! My loads are 1850+. I have been to 2000 but accuracy is best for me with my loads in my gun at 1850 or so. Sometimes you just have to ignore seemingly good advice and try for yourself.

[Kim]

I too heard about the Marlins not shooting cast well but I had to try it anyway. An RCBS 45 405 flat nose at .457 shot OK; at.459 it shot UNBELIEVABLE in my 1895S. I now have a 457406HP mold that comes out at 440 gr. that puts them all in one ragged hole at 50 yards and made the 2 bears I took with it look like they got hit by a train! My daughter and I are now working on a load for her 336 30-30. Micro groove barrels will shoot cast and shoot them WELL!

[trapper9260]

I never hear that marlins could not shoot cast because of the barrel .I do it and the first time I shot them out of and 44mag i got with cast that I use in my redhawk it was right on center.That is what I was looking for to do is use the same data in both the rifle and redhawk . I am also shooting it in my 30-30 now and work on the loads sofar shooting 113 lee RN with out any problems. will work on other loads next after I get some casting done.But I found out that marlin is tight chamber.I use the Lee Factory CCrimp .die

[Trinidad Bill]

April's edition of "hand loader " had a excellent article on this subject. It went into detail on the alloy, sizing ect On a .35 Remington they were using..

That is a great article. Definitely worth reading.