Good day,

I recently got a new Marlin 336 in 30-30 as my first lever gun. It's a blast to shoot but now that I'm starting to handload for it I'm not getting the groups I think I should be.

So far I've tried 160gr Hornady FTX and 150gr TSX bullets and have only been able to get 3.5-4 inch groups at 100 yards using an aftermarket peep sight and front blade sight. I'm in the middle of working with 150 gr Hornady RN bullets, but so far the best groups are a little over 3 inches.

I'm working off the bench here to eliminate as much human factor as possible so I feel like I should be getting better groups. Is there any simple tweaking of the rifle I can try or any recommended powders/bullets?

Or should I be happy with 'minute of deer' and just enjoy the gun?

Sounds like you have a bedding problem with the gun. Most problems result from the hanger screw going through the tube magazine and into the hanger on the barrel, the forend cap or barrel band putting uneven pressure on the barrel or a place where the wood forarm 'rubs'. Start looking at these points and my guess is your group size will improve.

By the way, rest the wood fore end on the bag and not the mag tube--- the mag tube on the bag gives unwanted pressure and will shoot different than off hand.

Your barrel is 1in 10 twist try heavier bullets .

Both my 336s shoot better with 170 grainers. That doesn't sound terrible for irons though.

Uneven pressure from the wooden forarm makes sense, how would you adjust uneven pressure from the barrel band?

Also sounds like I need to get some 170 grain bullets. Though I would have thought the 150 grain TSX and 160 FTXs would have been close to the same length as regular 170 gr bullets.

Folks generally mark the inside of the band with dye or a marker, then shoot it, take it apart to see if it is pushing on the barrel. If it is, touch up the 'high' spot with a file, cold blue or repaint as needed and reinstall.

Try the very aerodynamic Speer 170s and Win 748 powder. Also be sure your barrel is free of copper fouling, which can be hard to see.

Since your rifle is new you have do all of the break in of the bore. Some barrels may take 100 to 150 rounds smooth up the rifling.
Don;t get in a big hurry . Just shoot it 5 to 10 rounds. Remove the lever screw, pull the bolt, catch the ejector and clean it a little. If the rifling looks furry from the fouling use a bronze brush on it. Re-assemble but do not tighten the lever screw more than just snug.
Keep shooting and keep cleaning. If motivated to speed it up you might use a little JB Compound. Then clean it again to get the J-B out. With some shooting the bore will quit fouling quite so much. Then try some groups.

I don't think I can shoot a 3", 100-yard group with iron sights anymore. I would recommend a low power variable scope, even a shotgun scope with parallex adjusted for closer range shooting.

Marlin rifles are generally known to be accurate and I would bet that the 170gr loads will show marked imporovment. Previously owned/shot both Marlins and Win. 94's and the 170's were the ticket for them. Just a suggestion.

Marlin lever guns have sweet spots in velocity due to the barrel bands, various dovetail cuts, etc. When you are in a sweetspot, you'll get your best groups. You have to move up and down in small load increments to get centered in a sweet spot.

You can also try loosening the bands a touch. And for bench rest tuning I would use a scope. If not a scope then an 8" solid dot on a white background so that your eye can center things at 100yds. Personally, I work up loads at 50yds first when using iron sights.

Have you shot any factory ammmo in it? If so how did it group?

Those groups are respectable for iron sights. The best I can do with my 1894 in .44 magnum with a similar sight set up is around 3"

If you really want to see how well the rifle can group, you'll probably have to put a scope on it.

That is not a hard recoiling rifle and as such does not require a very tough scope.

I currently have about 20 lever rifles (pretty much all of the current different smokeless powder chamberings) and a few of the ones originally introduced with black powder loads.

I think if you are interested in finding your rifle's true accuracy as is, the cheapest and quickest thing you can do is buy an inexpensive scope of a good brand name, get some Weaver mounts, and tie the two together. Then I'd buy some factory ammo, such as the cheapest Federal 170 grainers available and go to the range.

After 100 rounds or so, to let the barrel break-in and let the metal settle into the buttstock, and get you really used to the rifle and its trigger pull, I'll be really shocked if you don't get groups somewhere in the 1-1/2-to-2 MOA area, without putzing with anything else. ALL of mine shoot that well or better, and i think your's will too.

I believe the two very best accurizers are good target vision (a scope?), and as many rounds downrange as you can afford the time and money to shoot.

Good luck,

AC

Thank you all for the recommendations.

I have tried factory amme from Remington and Winchester, both in 150 gr. The Core-lokts grouped about the same as my handloads, the power-points looked like a buckshot pattern.

I have yet to find the 170 grain ammo at the local stores, so I've got some 170 grain rounds on order. That and 4x scope borrowed from another rifle will hopefully help with load developement.

Might get a good smith to give it a once over.
Have you slugged the barrel?
If that clears then try some premium match grade bullets like the 130 grain Cutting Edge Bullets 308 Raptor sans tip.

When all else fails with a lever gun then glass bed it.