i'm considering to buy a Marlin 336 .30-30 Win.
but i have never even held a lever gun.

*are they difficult to take apart for cleaning?
*what kind of accuracy could i expect(170gr 3 shots)?
*are they rugged and reliable?
*are there anything i should be aware of?
(i already know i can't use spitzer bullets)

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen:
i'm considering to buy a Marlin 336 .30-30 Win.
but i have never even held a lever gun.

*are they difficult to take apart for cleaning?
*what kind of accuracy could i expect(170gr 3 shots)?
*are they rugged and reliable?
*are there anything i should be aware of?
(i already know i can't use spitzer bullets)

The Marlins are very easy to take down to the point where you can clean the barrel from the breech. Remove one screw, and you can take out the lever, the bolt, and the ejector, leaving an empty barreled action and stocks.

I currently own more than half a dozen Marlins and have owned at least double that number in the past. I have never had one I couldn't get to shoot 5-shot groups of an inch or slightly smaller at 100 yards with some appropriate handload, IF scoped. Without a scope, I do well to average about 1-1/4" at 100 yards, and that is only possible for me if I add a receiver sight.

They are absolutely as reliable in ordinary field use as any other gun I have owned, and that includes literally hundreds of others.

One thing you need to be careful about with the Marlins. When you remove the lever and the bolt to clean it, DO NOT tip it to the right before you remove the ejector from its little slot in the left wall of the inside of receiver.

If you don't take it out and put it somewhere that you will know where it is (like the watch pocket of your pants), it will undoubtedly fall out sometime before you get the bolt and lever back in, and will be lost forever. I can't think of anything I'd less want to try to find in the Scandahoovian woods, than a spare ejector for a Marlin lever action.

Alberta Canuck

Good Post, Spot on.

spot on post there.
to learn more go to.
http://marlinowners.com/forums/index.php

To go a bit further-- I mounted a scope on a 30-30 marlin for my cousin last fall. In sighting in Blue Box Federal 170 grain ammo shot under an inch at 100 yards consistantly. This is the least expensive ammo readily available here, plenty good for deer and black bear and the gun shoots them unbelieveably well.

i wonder where the levers are inaccurate rumour comes from.

i will not scope mine, but its good to know that the guns is not to blame if i miss.
i mean, 1 moa is as good as any gun out there.

as to ammo:
the first year i will use 170gr federal power-shok, but when i find another place to live i'll put up my reloading press and load rounds with 170gr remington core-lokt.

quote:

Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
To go a bit further-- I mounted a scope on a 30-30 marlin for my cousin last fall. In sighting in Blue Box Federal 170 grain ammo shot under an inch at 100 yards consistantly. This is the least expensive ammo readily available here, plenty good for deer and black bear and the gun shoots them unbelieveably well.

That is good ammo. Two years or so ago I bought a well-used Mossberg lever action 30-30. I wanted something cheap and quick to try in it, so I bought 5 boxes of that Federal blue-box stuff (170 gr.) at a bargain price from a store which had a "desperation" sale going on. It shot nice tight groups in the old Mossberg, which really surprised me.

quote:

Originally posted by Steffen:
i wonder where the levers are inaccurate rumour comes from.

Times have really changed things in the last 20-30 years. I suspect many of the 30-30 shooters 50 years ago never shot more than 5-10 rounds a year....2 or 3 to make sure it would still hit a target the size of a hay bale, and maybe 2-4 more for a deer or two. If they lived on a ranch, they might shoot a bit more....half a dozen coyotes, maybe some other edible target, and perhaps a rabid skunk or a fox that was raiding the hen-house.

The lever carbine was a working tool for them, not a piece of sporting equipment on a par with Ping golf clubs (Ooooh, such a pun).

Too, most of them didn't use either scopes OR receiver sights either. The factory sheet metal sights were crude enough that even when I had good, young eyesight, my AVERAGE groups with those things probably wasn't better than 2"-2-1/2" for 5 shots at 100 yards. And factory ammo wasn't expected to shoot particularly well, so it wasn't made to do so. It has to be accurate now or the manufacturers really catch Hell. It was that history which yielded the bad rep for accuracy.

Anyway, if you don't scope your rifle, then expect groups more like 1.5 to 1.75 MOA until you and your gun get to know each other. When you do, and you begin finding handloads it likes, then things should sharpen up considerably.

i was at a gunstore today to see one in real person.
they didn't have it, but they did have a 1895 XLR(the one with stainless steel and laminated stock) in .45-70

although the magazine doesn't go all the way to the muzzle, like on the 336, i figured they should feel and handle the same way.

and i REALLY loved it, short, handy and fairly light.
and operating the lever didn't feel awkward in any way...30 sec after the guy in the store handed it to me, i stood in the corner and operating that lever at the speed of lightning, while the guy was helping another customer.

when i drove home i met a camping car/mobile home(or whatever its called)and above the windshield it stood MARLIN(probably the brand of the car) which i of course took as a sign from god.

I have an 1895 XLR and it's rapidly becoming my favorite rifle. Like the one you handled in the store, it's chambered in .45/70 and does a wonderful job on just about anything you'd care to hunt. Everything I've shot with it has fallen with one shot.

The rifle is reasonable in weight, and even in the recoil department, is reasonable. The price isn't outrageous and they're surprisingly accurate providing you do your job properly.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:


Anyway, if you don't scope your rifle, then expect groups more like 1.5 to 1.75 MOA until you and your gun get to know each other.

as long as i can consistently hit an orange at 150m, i'm happy.

Steffen,
As to "pointy boolits" I have had good results with the Hornady LeverEvolution 160grs.

fps/Ft/lb
muzzle 100 yds 200 yds 300 yds
2400/2046 , 2150/1643, 1916/1304, 1699/1025

Trajectory
muzzle 100 yd 200 yds 300 yds
-1.7, 3.0, 0.2, -12.1

I have also been loading some of the Barnes TSX (FN) 150gr.

Both are very good performers.

I am sold on LeverEvolution ammo!!!

I have been getting consistent sub MOA accuracy out of my two 336SS rifles, but neither of my older 336's will shoot it any better than 1.5" at 100 yards (which will kill any deer in my neck of the woods).

I love my new to me 1961 model 336 in 30 30. Shot it once a week since i bought it earlear this month, and I am getting a hang of those open sights.
W.