Marlin 30-30 mod 336

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Robert Baker

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I have a Marlin 30-30 Mod 336 I bought 20 plus years ago. I got it out about a month ago to sight in for hunting since my other guns are to big for where I live. The fireing pin was lightly making a mark in the primer so I changed the front and rear fireing pin and the spring. I also changed the hammer spring and it is still only making a little dent in the primer. Does anyone have any suggestions.

Thanks
Rob Baker
 
What kind of ammo are you using? Reloads with military primers perchance?
 
My old Mossberg bolt action 22 RF began to misfire after years of storage. I changed the spring & the misfires were reduced but they still happened. It turned out that the main problem was the gummy substance that had developed inside the bolt. Taking it apart & cleaning it well did the job. If your rifle was shooting fine the last time you used it & it's doing this after 20 years of storage I strongly suspect that you have the same issue I did.
 
My old Mossberg bolt action 22 RF began to misfire after years of storage. I changed the spring & the misfires were reduced but they still happened. It turned out that the main problem was the gummy substance that had developed inside the bolt. Taking it apart & cleaning it well did the job. If your rifle was shooting fine the last time you used it & it's doing this after 20 years of storage I strongly suspect that you have the same issue I did.
I will disassemble and reclean to see if that will work.
 
Have you ever fired it before? You never indicated in the OP, rather it was only implied.

Pull the firing pin spring and put the firing pin back into the stripped bolt. Use something to push against the rear of the firing pin and measure the firing pin protrusion. I cannot remember the spec for Marlin but it should be around 1/16" (.063") If you don't have the means to measure it then just look and try to guess. If it doesn't come out far enough then there might be a burr on it. Check when you disassemble the bolt again.

Try different ammo. There might be a bad batch that has the rim thickness out of spec.

Headspace might be so loose, the cartridge is pushing forward upon being struck with the firing pin. One field expedient method is to chamber a factory round (better to use a dummy round or a full length resized case). Then with the bolt fully forward and the hammer cocked or much safer to be half cocked, try to move the bolt back and forth with your fingers. I had this problem on my 1894 44 mag. Gun still fired though. Another way is to use pieces of tape of known thickness and place them on the back of the cartridge case and try to close the bolt fully. If it closes add another piece of tape until it doesn't close. The measurement of the number of pieces of tape before the bolt would no longer close and the measurement after the bolt would no longer close will give you a headspace range. If it is more than maybe .008" it needs the headspace fixed. My 1894 was something like .016".

The locking block needs to be in the fully upward position upon the round going into full battery. If it is not then the rear firing pin plunger may be hanging up slightly.

Some folks say the extractor can be the problem if it is worn and not holding the cartridge tight against the bolt face.....this would sound like bad head space to me but it may be worth a try. Marlin extractors are consumables in my book.
 
My Dad gave me an older 1100 .410 , it probably hadn’t been shot in 25 years like your Marlin. It quit firing for me after shooting three shots last month, the unfired rounds I popped out of the action were showing very light primer strikes.

Upon disassembly. the issue was old caked up gun oil on the bolt and in the firing pin channel as was earlier suggested.

I had to disassemble the bolt completely and clean out the firing pin channel pretty good to get it back where it should be. Even if you cleaned it after a solvent soaking check again, it may need some work to allow the pin to engage and fully travel it’s length.

Stay safe.
 
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