32 caliber Marlin question...?

[j23]

I was at Cabelas today browsing the used gun rack. On it, was appeared to be a Marlin 36 or 336, older model, with "Marlin Safety" on the top of the reciever.

The caliber was .32 (then some initals.) Not, 32-20 or 32 WCF but something odd, and I cant remember what it was. ...at the time, I just put it down and didn think anything of it... now its bothering me.

Some other details...

Curved lever, similar to the more modern 336's, and over the ejection port was a full cover, i.e. the bolt was not visible... similar to a Marlin 1894. Tang sight.

What the heck was it? I wish I could remember the initials.. .its killing me.

[geargnasher]

Maybe a .32 Special (spl)? Maybe 32.40? Marlin made both in 336. Can't explain the port cover.

Just a SWAG.

Gear

[ktw]

There was an intermediary model in between the square bolt "1893" and the round bolt "36/336" called a "1936". It was only made a few years between 1936 and the early 40's. These are square bolt as you describe. The one I have also says "Marlin Safety" on the top of the receiver and has the pistol grip and curved lever.

Mine is labeled on the barrel as "32 H.P.S." (High Power Special). This is actually 32 Win Special. The explanation I heard for the "H.P.S." was that Marlin didn't want to put something referring to "Winchester" on the gun.

-ktw

[Bret4207]

Yup, I was thinking what KTW said. The other possibility is it was an 1894 in 32 CF/RF.

[BruceB]

My Model 36 (#D99xx) is stamped ".32 SPEC CAL".....in VERY fine print.

Nice rifle. It is marked "Model 36", not "Model 1936". This particular .32, and at least one other Marlin .32 Special of the same vintage of which I am aware, has undersize barrel dimensions AND non-standard rifling twist. The two rifles have groove diameters of about .318-9", and the twist is one turn in ten inches....much quicker than the Winchester .32 Specials with their twist of one-in-16". Do later Marlins revert to the standard 1-16" twist, I wonder?

The owner of the other M36 rifle called Marlin about it, and they confirmed that their .32 Specials were indeed manufactured that way in that time period. Why??? No satisfactory answer was forthcoming, and since the rifles were built fifty years earlier, the answer is almost certainly "lost in the sands of time".

On the Model 1936/36, that is not a "port cover" at all. It's the actual side of the square-section bolt itself, and it travels in a long slot which is cut right out the back of the receiver. I believe that the increased strength of a receiver with just an ejection port, rather than this long open slot, was the primary design objective when the change was made to the current M336 configuration with ejection port and round bolt.

The 36 is STILL a very neat rifle, though.

My wife gave me an early Marlin 336 in .35 Remington as a Christmas present in '07, after NVCurmudgeon and I found it on a rack just outside the Cabela's Gun Library in Reno. It needed a wee bit of TLC, but turned out to be just lovely under the crud. We were there in November, so she must have called about it almost immediately after I got home (to Winnemucca) from that trip.

[ktw]

My Model 36 (#D99xx) is stamped ".32 SPEC CAL".....in VERY fine print.

Nice rifle. It is marked "Model 36", not "Model 1936". This particular .32, and at least one other Marlin .32 Special of the same vintage of which I am aware, has undersize barrel dimensions AND non-standard rifling twist. The two rifles have groove diameters of about .318-9", and the twist is one turn in ten inches....much quicker than the Winchester .32 Specials with their twist of one-in-16". Do later Marlins revert to the standard 1-16" twist, I wonder?

Mine is marked 1936 on the tang, labeled 32 H.P.S. and has serial number of B98xx. It has the tight groove dimension (.318-9) and a 1 in 16 twist.

-ktw

[mainiac]

My Model 36 (#D99xx) is stamped ".32 SPEC CAL".....in VERY fine print.

Nice rifle. It is marked "Model 36", not "Model 1936". This particular .32, and at least one other Marlin .32 Special of the same vintage of which I am aware, has undersize barrel dimensions AND non-standard rifling twist. The two rifles have groove diameters of about .318-9", and the twist is one turn in ten inches....much quicker than the Winchester .32 Specials with their twist of one-in-16". Do later Marlins revert to the standard 1-16" twist, I wonder?

The owner of the other M36 rifle called Marlin about it, and they confirmed that their .32 Specials were indeed manufactured that way in that time period. Why??? No satisfactory answer was forthcoming, and since the rifles were built fifty years earlier, the answer is almost certainly "lost in the sands of time".

On the Model 1936/36, that is not a "port cover" at all. It's the actual side of the square-section bolt itself, and it travels in a long slot which is cut right out the back of the receiver. I believe that the increased strength of a receiver with just an ejection port, rather than this long open slot, was the primary design objective when the change was made to the current M336 configuration with ejection port and round bolt.

The 36 is STILL a very neat rifle, though.

My wife gave me an early Marlin 336 in .35 Remington as a Christmas present in '07, after NVCurmudgeon and I found it on a rack just outside the Cabela's Gun Library in Reno. It needed a wee bit of TLC, but turned out to be just lovely under the crud. We were there in November, so she must have called about it almost immediately after I got home (to Winnemucca) from that trip.

BruceB, I have a 1952 model 336,and it has a .321 groove,and a 15.5 inch twist. It also has 4 grooves.

[7x57]

I have a Marlin 93 Sporting Carbine and the caliber is marked "30-30". No mention of Winchester!

[geargnasher]

I have a Marlin 93 Sporting Carbine and the caliber is marked "30-30". No mention of Winchester!

Interesting.
I have a perfectly generic and perfectly wonderful micro-groove 336 from (I'm guessing) the early sixties and it, too, just says "30-30", funny I never noticed the lack of "Winchester" until you brought it up.
(pssst. don't tell the guys over at the levergun section we're talking about their stuff[smilie=1:

Gear

[cwskirmisher]

I have a Marlin 1936, ser no. Bxxxxx. Manufactured in 1941. It says .32 Win Spl on the barrel, followed by Special Smokeless Barrel. It is a microgroove barrel - at least 4 grooves (maybe more) and a 1-16 twist. I shoot .321's all day out of it just fine.

[BruceB]

I believe a "Microgroove" barrel has more like 12 grooves...certainly four or six grooves are "Ballard"-type rifling and not the later Microgroove

For what it's worth, Ballard rifling is generally considered to be more desirable for cast loads. even though we've learned how to put the Microgroove sort to good use.

[excess650]

I have a Marlin 1936, ser no. Bxxxxx. Manufactured in 1941. It says .32 Win Spl on the barrel, followed by Special Smokeless Barrel. It is a microgroove barrel - at least 4 grooves (maybe more) and a 1-16 twist. I shoot .321's all day out of it just fine.

Marlin didn't make microgroove until the 1950s. The first 336s were from 1948 or so and had convetional rifling. By 1956 most, if not all had microgroove. The early 336s weren't D&T for scope, so my 1950 .35 Rem 336 sporting carbine wears a receiver sight. I see that this particular model was made for 2 years and then got a grip cap and white line spacers.

According to Doug Murray's book, the Model 1936 was only made in 1936. The Model 36 ran from 1937-1947/48. The 32 Spl was discontinued in 1960.

[cwskirmisher]

Marlin didn't make microgroove until the 1950s. The first 336s were from 1948 or so and had convetional rifling. By 1956 most, if not all had microgroove. The early 336s weren't D&T for scope, so my 1950 .35 Rem 336 sporting carbine wears a receiver sight. I see that this particular model was made for 2 years and then got a grip cap and white line spacers.

According to Doug Murray's book, the Model 1936 was only made in 1936. The Model 36 ran from 1937-1947/48. The 32 Spl was discontinued in 1960.

I stand corrected on the rifling - it is indeed Ballard, my bad. But as far as the model - the model 1936 was made for two years, 1936-1937, after which it became the Model 36, however, model 1936 remained stamped on the tang until 1941, and was correctly referred to as either the model 1936, or model 36. There are conflicting references as to when the B prefix serial numbers began to be used - some reports state 1938, others 1941. There are no serial number records from Marlin to confirm either.