A friend was getting rid of some rifles owned by his dad. I wound up buying 2 of them, a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington and a Winchester 94 in .30-30. They are older rifles 1955 and 1953 respectively and were in tough shape, but after several hours of work with 0000 steel wool, hoppes and break free, they cleaned up pretty nice. I still have some work to do getting the rust off but I am happy with the way they are coming out. I'll leave the stocks as is because I love the old patina.

I brought them both to the range this morning and they shot very well. I've never had a lever gun before so I must admit I was a little unnerved by the lack of an external safety. I was impressed with their accuracy, especially using open sights and 50 year old ammunition (flattened noses and all). I had no problem putting all shots on a paper plate at 50 yards. I'm looking forward to seeing how accurate they are from the bench with "lever-evolution" ammo in them.

I don't think they are "collector" quality, just good honest New England hunting rifles. I'll make sure these classics hit the New England woods again this fall! I'd love to take a bear with the Marlin and a deer with the Winchester.

Some pictures.

Winchester 94 .30-30 (1953)










Marlin 336RC .35 Remington

Good purchase - you should have fun with both of them.

Just like crshelton, good buy but I can’t believe you have the same carpet I do.



Browning 86 in 45/70 and a 94/22

welcome to the addiction! It only gets worse.

Marlin 1894 in 44 mag. It's 1962. And a Win. 1894 in 30-30, 1954.

Win. is bare/grey metal and solid wood in a nice grain, oil/wax finish. Great patina to my mind, and they're not making any more of them.

I stripped the wood on the Marlin because someone did s Varithane job on it. Stripped, rubbed w/ Tung oil and hardwood floor wax. Metal is near orig. on this one.