Originally Posted by
Char-Gar
Larry..
That Marlin 336A is in the back of the safe. I have no had it out in years. About ten or twelve years ago, I got interested in finding out how fast you could really push a cast bullet in Microgroove barrels. Common wisdom at that time said 1,600 was about it and after that cast bullets would roll snake eyes. I pushed 2,000 rounds down the barrel of that rifle over a five month span, probing the limits of the 30-30 MG with five or six bullets.
I had/have a SAECO 305 which was supposed to be their 303 British bullet, but it is nothing but a fatten version of their 30-30 (N. 307) bullet. It proved to have the diameter and nose size for a perfect fit in the Marlin. Using No. 2 alloy and 3031 powder (and 4895), I had no problem turning in 2,100 fps with excellent accuracy. It really wasn't much of a trick, just good fit and a stout alloy.
The rifle has an El Paso made Weaver K 2.5 on it. When Bill Weaver died and Weaver sold out, they sold off their existing inventory for a song. I got several scopes from that deal. I was living in El Paso at the time.
They buried Weaver in a large above ground crypt in El Paso. They built this crypt over about four more graves and that resulted in a nice law suit. In the end Weaver is in his crypt which is holding down some more folks under it and the families got a very nice settlement out of the deal. They got some free graves from the cemetery and the stone were moved there, but nobody is there. They are all still under Bill Weaver. I got this from a funeral director there in El Paso.