I am looking at getting a new Marlin 336 in 30-30. Anything I should lookout for as far as quality wise?

Reason I ask is I’ve been looking at lever guns – mostly the Winchester 94’s for the past 6 months or so and have been disappointed in what I’ve seen. Gaps in the receiver to frame fit, rusted bluing on the barrels and loose handguards are what I’ve seen on NEW 94’s. And of course now 94’s are hard to come by, but it’s just as good.

So besides the obvious, anything to watch out for?

My next question is on the microgroove rifling. I plan on shooting mostly lead loads and I’ve read conflicting reports saying it is not as accurate with lead bullets. Any truth to this? It probably won't see a lot of shooting as far as hunting, mostly plinking targets, but I'd like a fairly accurate gun. Any idea on the kind of accuracy I can expect with lead handloads?

Any help is appreciated.

A nice trigger on a box stock Marlin is pretty rare but the Wild West Guns trigger kit fixes that problem in a few minutes. Otherwise, when it comes to finding an affordable treinta-trienta Marlin is fast becoming the only game in town.

Visit www.marlinowners.com then go to the 336 fourm. Plenty of reading.

For quality, Marlins are pretty much "what you see is what you get." Like any gun, check the bore, look for cracked stocks around wrist area, and just settle for the amount of wear that suits you. Marlins have forged steel workings. They wear out from the outside in, not inside out.

Seldom do you find one that shoots over 2 moa, and many are in the 1.5 moa or less class.

Microgroove will work for cast bullets. Typically, cast them hard, keep MV to 1600 fps or lower, and use a design with a long bearing surface

You may be able to find an 336A (24" bbl, 1/2 mag tube) with "Ballard" rifling. This means "conventional" or "deep cut" / non-microgroove rifling. There are something like 6 lands/grooves for "Ballard"rifling, and ~ 12 L/G for "microgroove" rifling. The deeper, "non-microgroove" rifling is said to "grip" the cast bullets better.

Microgroove barrels do handle cast bullets well. A cast bullet at 1600 fps-1800fps may do all you want, and be just fine with microgroove rifling.

http://www.grafs.com/metallic/918

Marlin is a good gun to get. You'll like it.

Ah ha! I just checked marlinowners.com

You've BEEN there already with the same question. You are on the right track then.

Try bullets sized .309 and even .310 if you can find them. Gaschecked will probably be more accurate than plain lead ("naked") bullets.

Buying quality cast/sized/lube/gas checked bullets willm run almost as much as "cheap" jacketed bullets. The 150 grain copper washed bullets by Berry's is about as low priced as you will get. http://www.grafs.com/fc/browse.php?q=&v=125&s=az&p=928

If you want a cheap shooter, you can get a Marlin 1894 in 357 Mag.