jertex
Member
I ran across this old Marlin 336 on texasguntrader.com and decided to buy it even though it had some rust issues, especially around all of the screws. What I didn't know was that this is what is called a "Waffle Top" Because of the wavy lines cut into the top of the receiver. This was only done from 1948-1952 according to my research and there is a fairly good demand for these guns among Marlin collectors. I took it to my gun club & put about 15 rounds downrange and decided that this is a very nice shooter and worth working on getting that rust cleaned off. I used a copper penny (pre-1982), household oil, & a brass brush for rust removal, with some Breakfree CLP on some of the more stubborn areas of rust. As I got into it, I decided to work on the wood a little bit since the gun was dismantled, so I went over it with some 00 steel wool, then proceeded to put on 4 coats of lemon oil (just what I had in the garage) with a light rub down of 0000 steel wool between coats. I then finished off the wood with two coats of paste wax. I tried to keep it as original as possible with exception of a stainless steel magazine spring & Ranger Point Precision aluminum, self-cleaning follower. I also had to replace the trigger guard plate support screw because I had to drill it. It would not break loose even after several days of soaking in liquid wrench. I was originally thinking about trading it but during the process, I fell in love with the gun, so I purchased a Williams FP-TK peep sight to mount to the mounting holes on the side of the receiver. I'm pretty happy with the results and I think that it has retained its vintage appeal.
Before pics (wish I had taken better ones)
After pics
Here is a pic of the top of the receiver for those who, like me before this purchase, don't know about waffle tops.
Before pics (wish I had taken better ones)
After pics
Here is a pic of the top of the receiver for those who, like me before this purchase, don't know about waffle tops.
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