The 336 Club

A few pages back I mentioned the fact that a respected friend of mine was suggesting that I use hollowpoint rounds in my 336C for deer on a hunting trip this coming fall. He is now reccomending Hornady Leverlution instead. When they first came out I sampled a few of these in the 165g variety and they shot a little high at 25 yards, but grouped well in my rifle.

Any comments or suggestions about loading up duplicate loads for practice would be appreciated.

I have ordered a box (500) hardcast 150g LFP to start messing around with recipes. I plan to keep velocities around 1600 fps or less to keep leading down. Even if these 150g lead rounds can't be made to replicate Leverlutions, they will still be fun to practice with, especially since they were only $24 plus shipping.

I'm thinking of buying one of the Mossy Oak ramline stocks off of ebay for my 336. Does anyone have one of these stocks already installed and a pic of it. Or a pic with a black synthetic stock?

I'm not sure I want to commit to a new stock, but I'm definitely thinking about it.

-John

Possom,
One of my hunting buddies has the black ramline on his and he realy likes it.

Just my 2c.

e'trode

Possom, I explored synth stocks a bit before I bought my 336A, thinking I was going to get a used one and put a synth stock on it. When I couldn't find a used one fast enough for my instant-gratification gene, I bought a new one.

Click to expand...

One of my hunting buddies has the black ramline on his and he realy likes it.

Click to expand...

I'm kinda on the fence about it. My wood furniture isn't the greatest, so I'm redoing it. But, I think I'd like to have a synthetic set for hunting season to beat up on, or maybe I'm just crazy about keeping nice things nice.

did an ammo run today

told the lady at walmart " 150gr winchester .30-30 softpoints" she handed me 1 box that was correct then i said 3 more.........i got home and checked.....2 BOXES 150 2BOXES 170:banghead:

I have a '94 in Win 32 Spl and love it, its a hand me down. I also have a 336 in 30-30,l love it also. I don't do pressure I keep and use both

My 336 with my 1894 and my newly acquired 1895 Guide Gun in .45-70!

Grunt Out!

That is sweet! A 39A would make it a complete set!

I put the black stock on my rifle...

I will try and post some pixs. It fit well and I really like it. I made the rifle really light. I filled the stock with some of that expanding insulation foam last night. Worked like a charm. No more hollow knocking noise and it did not add any weight to the gun. All you have to do is remove the butt plate and filler up. I taped the end of the stock to prevent over flow from spilling, but this was not a problem. The foam went off real slow and I just removed the excess as it flowed out of the back of the stock.

Hope this helps.

Matt

The stock makes the gun much lighter...

It is a dream to carry about now. I wish I had something like this earlier in my life. I am going to shoot it this weekend. I will try to post some pixs soon.

Thanks

Matt

Hello all!

Im new to this sight and quite honestly it was my interest in the 336 that brought me here! What a thread!!!! Thanks Nem and everybody else that contributed!
I have the chance to pick a 336cc up for $350.00 at the local pawn shop. It is in good condition, no rust. Just have a few questions for you experts out there.
1. what should I look for when buying a used gun.
2. Is the price right?
All advice and comments are welcome.
Thanks again!
Josh

Welcome hotlead!

$350 is on the high side around here for anything other than the rarer or less common versions of the 336 (ie. Cowboy, Marauder, Texan...) I don't know anything about a 336cc so can't help you there.

A close look can tell you a lot about the 336. Look at the wood for cracks, especially around the wrist and both ends of the fore-stock. The action should be operate smoothly, the ejector intact, half cock operational, Sights should be "square" to the action and not loose. Bore should look bright and rifling distinct.

The only thing I've ever had wrong with a used Marlin was a broken firing pin. It's a fairly simple fix with the right sized punches and the mechanical aptitude.

Unless that variation is rare I'd say look around some more. I've purchased a few from gun broker and been happy. They are very ubiquitous and yours will show up for the right price and like someone else said, so will another at an even better price than the first one... If you're like me, you'll buy it too.

how how much will 170 grain drop compared to the 150gr

i have ny scope set for 1 inch high at 50 yards with 150gr will 170 drop that about even at 50yards?

Paint: The Remington site shows that at 200 yards the difference in their ammo is less than an inch and at 300 yards the 170 is only 1" lower (-16.1" vs -17.1")

Factory ammo I've shot over the chronograph shows there is less than 100 fps difference in velocity between the two weights.

The gap widens in the handloads I've tried. Using the max published load for IMR 3031 / 150gr my 24" 336CB spit them out at 2529 fps avg. Which was higher than expected and a good deal faster than my 20" 336's. Accuracy was not good at that level, my 20" 336's shoot 150s better closer to 2000 fps using PapaJohn's (club member) IMR 4895 load.

Conversely my 336's shoot the 170's better at faster velocities. Most factory stuff shoots 2100-2200 fps and 170 gr handloads do best in that range.

Hi,

New to the site, thought I’d just say hello and tell you how I got here…

When I was just a kid (long, log time ago – we’re talking 1950’s now), 10 maybe 11 years old, I saw a movie on TV. I don’t remember the name or much about it other than that the plot revolved around two brothers that lived and worked on the family ranch. I think their father was either dead, real sick or something else had put him out of commission. In any event, the ranch was having a problem with a mountain lion – it was killing their stock. They didn’t know what to do about it and everyone was upset. The two brothers were young – the younger was about 12 or 13 and the older was in his late teens. Maybe it was the ages that made it so easy to relate to but I got real caught up in this movie (I saw it several times) . The younger brother decides that he is going to be a hero and rid the ranch of the mountain lion once and for all and he sneaks out to kill it. As he leaves, he grabs a rifle from the rack on the wall (to the best of my recollection it was Winchester – it was definitely a lever gun) and heads out into the mountains. Later in the day , the older brother realizes that his little brother has left (maybe the little guy left him a note – I don’t remember) and looks to the wall and sees that a rifle is missing. The older brother panics because he can see that the missing rifle was a 22. He tells his mom that he needs to go rescue the brother because you can’t stop a mountain cat with a 22 and little brother will get killed if he finds that cat. He then says “I’m taking the 3030, everything will be okay”. Well, that was it for me. As a child, the thought that “a 3030 could make everything okay” was something that I could easily understand. It was simple – get this gun and you would be okay. It had the power to keep you safe. I never forgot the impact of that movie and as a result, I’ve always wanted a 3030.

I bought one this year – a brand new 336W. Not a big investment, nothing fancy, but I love this gun and have enjoyed shooting over the last few months. I’m not a hunter – I just target shoot – no mountain cats out here on Long Island but I love finally owning this rifle – it’s a kids dream come true (just 45 years later).

Does anyone here use the 336 as their primary self defense rifle?

Welcome Manny. GREAT story. Thanks for sharing.

Shane: I'm going to say probably yes should I need a rifle in a SD situation. Can't think of many scenario's that I would need a rifle for SD short of disasters though.

I am most comfortable and experienced with leverguns. I hunt, target shoot and plink with them getting thousands of repetitions every year. When we're out at the property it IS often my primary SD rifle as it is the only centerfire rifle I have with me. Its more likely to get used to dispatch a coyote that is tangling with my dogs (happened a while back) and give my family a feeling of security knowing it is available should an unforeseen need arise.

Manny, that is an awesome story!!

I love it.

I have always owned at least one .30/30 since I was 20 or so. I just love them.

I have to admit that if I need to grab a rifle for SD it would probably be my .30-30. It is so low key looking and non-tactical that I would feel safe using it just about anywhere.

Matt

Range Report- two 336's

I took two of my 336's out to the range this week for some side by side comparisions. The conditions were perfect, 45* F, very slight breeze and SUNNY!!!

This was the first real testing I've done with my new to me 1965 vintage 336. I tested it with two commercial brands, Remington Core-Lokt 170gr (avg'd 2097 fps) and Federal Power-Shok 170gr (avg'd 2132 fps). Both brands shot reasonably well, with <2.5" open sight groups at 100 yards.

I tested a variety of handloads using jacketed Hornady and Sierra 170gr bullets over IMR 3031, IMR 4895, Varget and IMR 4198. The accuracy was equal to the commercial ammo -- I was hoping for better -- and the velocities using published data were nearly 100 fps slower.

This rifle also showed some ability to shoot 150 grain bullets. I used some bulk Remington 150s over IMR 4895 "PapaJohn load" for the best groups of the day and also had promising accuracy with Varget and IMR 4198 at levels that pushed the bullet around 2025 fps.

I also played with some reduced cast bullet loads using data from gmdr.com for the Laser-Cast 170gr bullet over SR 4756 and Red Dot powders. Using the same sight setting the point of impact was slightly lower and slightly to the right of the jacketed bullet groups out to 50 yards. The Red Dot loads had the most consistent velocities (lowest extreme spread) and both produced very promising accuracy out to 50 yards. All shots touching at 25 yards and around 1" at 50 yards. I put gas checks on some of the bullets loaded over the 4756 and found that the same load with a gas checked bullet reduced the velocity by 50 to 100 fps. Velocity for the reduced loads was between 900 & 1100 fps. Both loads shot very clean with no powder zombies left in the barrel. NO leading was evident during the subsequent cleaning of either rifle.

Additional notes:
The first shot from a cold barrel when using jacketed bullets always printed the highest of the group in both rifles. I'll test further to see if that was something I was doing or if it's the rifle.

The 1976 vintage rifle had very similar results but produced a higher velocity -- between 25-100 fps-- even with the reduced loads. With the commercial ammo the Rem did 2141 fps and the Fed did 2161 fps

The 1965 shot the 150 grain bullets better.

Thanks

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the welcome. It’s true (what I wrote about that movie) – I really wish I could remember the name – if it is available on VHS or DVD I’d love to see it again. So if anyone has seen this and remembers the name, please let me know.

Lots of info in these threads and it’s all fun reading. I’ve learned quite a bit already (model info, history). I’ve had a gun for many years – a 12 gauge pump and solely for SD. It’s nice to have the 336 for the pure fun of it. My girlfriend (yes, even at my age - a girlfriend) enjoyed shooting it but wanted something a bit tamer, so we got her a Henry Golden Boy – a very pretty gun, she looked at the 39A as well but the Henry was just too pretty to resist. It shoots real nice also.

So,I’ll just keep on reading and enjoying the posts here – thanks!