Marlin 30-30 durability

[Southern Shooter]

I have a Marlin 336 and a Marlin Glenfield 30A. Both made in the late 1970's. The 30A I just picked up and the 336 I have had since '79. I may have shot 200 hundred rounds through the 336.

Not that I will ever put these two rifles to any type of torture test. But, I was wondering the other day how many standard/over-the-counter loads these guns could typically shoot before showing significant wear.

Does anyone have a round count of what they have put through there Marlin 30-30s?

Thanks

 

[foghornl]

Hmmm

Have a Marlin Mdl 30AW in .30-30. Round count is over 800. Not really a 'torture test', but it is still a very good shooter. Only issue is that one screw on the loading gate side worked a bit loose. Owner's manual says to "keep this screw tight."

Unless you are shooting thousands of rounds a month, it will be a LONNNNNGGG TIME before you notice any appreciable wear.

 

[mainmech48]

It isn't a .30/30, but I bought my 336 in .35 Remington circa 1972. I can't give you an exact round count but for several years while I lived and worked SW MO it was my only CF rifle and I did the bulk of my hunting with it -small game, deer, pests and varmints.

Small game was handled with handloads using the same hard cast Lyman 358429 bullets I cast for my 357 revolver. Varmints like coyotes and feral dogs were seldom even 100 yds out in the hill country I lived in, so the same loads worked pretty well on them. I took my deer with factory 200 gr. loads or the handloaded equivalents and shot quite a few of them in load development and practice.

All I can tell you is that the number has to be more than 2,000 over the thirty-odd years I've had it and nothing's broken or worn out yet.

 

[dakotasin]

my marlin 336 in 30-30 has just a hair under 2000 rounds thru it (mostly range use) and the gun could almost be passed off as new.

can't help ya on the 22 question, but don't worry about the 336 - it will easily outlast you.

 

[bcp]

You will be a very lucky person if you get to shoot a Marlin 336 enough to wear it out.

Bruce

 

[Cosmoline]

I've never seen one wear out. The pressures are low, velocities are low and there's plenty of steel in it. I doubt you *can* wear it out short of some monumental torture test.

 

[ArmedBear]

There are a lot of those guns floating around, and nobody knows how many rounds are through them, or how many miles they've been lugged. They seem to keep on working.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I agree with Cosmoline. I've never seen one worn out either. I've seen them handed down through generations of families.

 

[TnBigBore]

It will last longer than you will with just the bare minimum of care. They are tough rifles.

 

[xd9fan]

The Marlin 336 IMHO is one of those things that every law-abidding Good American shoud have in the house. Right up there with.....you know...food.....shelter....

 

[BigGunsMoreFun]

You can't wear it out

My dad bought a 336 in .30-30 about the same time you did. It was my favorite gun of his when I was younger and I used it for practice and for every deer season in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee for the better part of a decade.

I know without a doubt that it has had at least 4000 rounds through it. I always used 170 grain softpoints and whatever brand was cheapest at the time. That gun has never once let me down.

I'd say around the 3000 round mark or so, I noticed things didn't seem right. The gun felt a little loose. I took it to a local gunsmith I knew in Oxford, Georgia and he said all it needed was to be taken apart, cleaned good and have all the screws tightened. When I picked it up from him, it was as good as new. He charged me $20 and said other than cleaning and tightening he had to replace one screw.

That gun is still in my dad's safe and I still take it to the range about 3 or 4 times a year and put a hundred rounds or so through it every time I go. It still shoots great and is still nice and tight.

You can't beat one of these guns for a good all around target and medium game hunting rifle.

I'm told the new Marlins are like the newer Winchester lever guns. They are okay but they take a lot more maintenance and are not near as good a gun. The accuracy is still there but they have to be "tuned up" and taken completely apart and cleaned every 500 rounds or so.

I prefer the pre 1964 Winchester .30-30 myself. I have a couple of 1894 models and a Saddle Ring carbine. They have held up very well also. I have put about 1500 rounds through each with no problems and I bought all of them used. No telling how many rounds have been through them. You know how most folks are when they sell you a gun. "Yep, it's almost new. I bet I ain't put 100 rounds through her. Blah, Blah, Blah." When you know darn well that a gun made before 1964 and bought in the mid 1990s has more than likely had at least 500 to 1000 rounds through it if not more.

I have one new 1894 model Winchester that I bought about a year before they stopped making them (2004 I think) and it has been okay but you can tell it is a much cheaper made gun and far less accurate than the older ones. I keep it in the safe mostly. It's probably had 300 or so rounds through it. I shoot it once every 6 months or so and bring it home, clean and oil it good and put it back in the safe. I only paid $275 for it at Walmart NIB. I'm sure it's worth twice that now. A good collector item because it was one of the last ones made but not much of a shooter compared to the other Winchesters or the Marlin 336.

Molon Labe,
Joe


Molon Labe,

 

[Seafarer12]

They are about as dependable as a shovel. It all depends on how you take care of it and what you put it through as far as wear. If you get a range queen you could shoot 10k rounds and not know it. You could get a 30 year old hunting rifle that has sot less than 100 rounds that looks like hell.

 

[grimjaw]

The worst I've seen on the 336 is that some screws can work loose. Most people don't shoot them enough (once or twice a year during hunting season) to cause significant wear.

jm

 

[Shawnee]

Your 336 is probably the most durable thing you own, unless you own an anvil too.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Let's be honest. I've never heard of ANY hunting rifle being worn out by shooting. None. Now I have a 336 Texan 18 incher with Wild West rear sight. I expect it will outlast me. I reload for it and have hundreds of cases. I never worry about it wearing out.

Now it might break.. if I wack someone on the head with it, but that's about all.

Hunting guns that 'wear out' are usually just rusted out.

 

[GunDoctor]

336

The Marlin 336 has actually been around longer than Winchester. There's always a reason a gun last that long with little or no changes. It works and will keep on working. The action is actually much simpler than Winchester as well. That is why I think a Marlin will out last it's more famous counterpart. My Dad bought one in the late '50's and it still runs just as good as the day he bought it. I grew up with it as my first hunting rifle. It kicks like a mule but has brought down everything from mule deer to black bear.