The 336 Club

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AStone

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"Clubs" - threads dedicated to discussion of a particular make and model of gun - seem to be growing in popularity on THR. It's a tiny movement so far, but up and coming, I predict.

I'm currently participating in two clubs: The 642 Club (devoted to the SW 642 snubbies, and one of, if not the, longest running THR threads with 1650 posts now) and the newly formed 686 Club (devoted to SW 686).

The 642 club is a great source of information for that particular model, a clearing house for info about rnds, sights, grips, holsters (in the case of handguns), shooting tips, upgrades, repair issues, images, etc.

A long gun club could be the same, adding the topics of stocks, slings, scopes, etc.

I just got a new Marlin 336A about a week ago, and have only had it to the range once so far, but already love it. It's one of five guns in my optimal minimalist tool kit. (870P, 336A, 39A, 686+, 642)

Despite my user name (I do dearly love my 870P), this 336 could become my main long gun. (Yes, I also just got a Marlin 39A. Hmmm. Another club?) I plan to learn as much about this 336 as possible. I think of it as a project.

I have yet to decide on sighting options (apertures, ghost rings and/or scope). I've just begun to explore various ammo options. There are a dozen other questions that come to mind as well.

So, I thought, hmmm, why not a 336 club?

It may fly, it may not, but it's worth an experiment.

Over the next few months, I'm going to try to collect information about the 336 from archived THR threads and other web links and post them here. (I've got an entire bookmark folder devoted to 336.)

We'll be focused mainly on .30-30, I suspect, but open to posts about .35.

What say you? Anybody into it?

Nem

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I've got a 336A as well. I have yet to fire it.

I bought it after I had (and sold a Winchester 94 Trapper when I needed the dough a few years ago). I've only had the 336A for a few months and have yet to fire it.

The 336A feels good so far, but I still like the straight stock and short length of my old Winchester 94 Trapper.

The plusses of the 336A is the solid heft and feel. The plusses of the Win Trapper is the sleek design and straight grip.
 
I look forward to following this thread. I was fortunate to inherit a very fine condition Win 94 from my Grandfather. However, it's too valuable for both sentimental and financial reasons to beat around in the brush with it.

I've been looking into lever guns and the Marlin comes up time and time again. Prices locally seem decent as well.

Hope the thread catches on.

Jim
 
It's one of five guns in my optimal minimalist tool kit

I'm really intereted in this concept, as I have always strived for the exact same goal. Maybe a thread about this topic would be good too? Perhaps not as long-lived as this probably will be, but I'd be very interested in it.

I ended up selecting a Yugo SKS instead of a 30-30 Marlin but it fulfills almost exactly the same role.
 
I guess I'll finally have to take pictures, find a place to host them, and post them to THR. I knew I couldn't dodge that massive time suck forever, but I didn't think it'd happen so soon!

One crazy 336 question I've had for a while seems to have vanished down the memory hole. Ten or so years ago, I seem to recall reading at least one write up of a company that was doing up 336's as patrol rifles, with synthetic furniture and ghost ring apertures, etc, etc. I want to say it was Scattergun Technologies before Wilson bought them out, but apparently that's wrong. Anyone remember such a thing?
 
Welcome to the club, folks.

I hope it catches on, too, Jim. Could be an interesting ride.

VMIRat, I hear you on that "solid heft and feel". The 336 just feels right. Nicely balanced and solid. We're in a different space about pistol grips though. I'm a pistol grip guy through and through. I respect that a lot of you like the straight grips, but I'm a pg person. Guess it's what we grew up with (?).

Waywatcher, glad to hear there's at least one other who resonates with the idea of an optimal minimal kit. As a quasi-nomadic type, I was looking for a kit with a few guns (didn't want to tote around many) that would take care of most tasks, mostly hunting (small and medium game) plus SD. Yeah, maybe I'll do a thread on it. I've been discussing the concept with some friends who've helped me develop mine. It's been an interesting process. I probably won't discuss it much in this thread, though. But I could share some of my thinking with you via PM.
I seem to recall reading at least one write up of a company that was doing up 336's as patrol rifles, with synthetic furniture and ghost ring apertures, etc
Logan, check out this thread on "Cowboy Assault Rifles". Not exactly what you had in mind, but similar, and a very interesting concept. I originally thought I was going to buy an older beater 336 and do that to it, but now, I'm not sure. This new one has very nice wood furniture on it. I may keep that for at least a while.

There are some neat synth stocks for 336 out there though. Wild Dog has some of the most interesting to me, but unfortunately, I don't think they're going to make one for the 336A right away. It has a fore end cap; the ones they're making are for the 336C, 336W and others with barrel bands.

Nem
 
The 336 is a very cool rifle. I have been wanting to get one but I haven't got the spare cash and it would be hard to justify as I've already got a Winchester '94 in .30-30.

I hope this thread does well because I am interested in the 336.

I've seen some nice options from XS sight systems for lever guns but would never put them on my Winchester because I think that ruins the lines and classic look.

I think the Marlin appeals to me because it would be something that I wouldn't feel bad about messing with, to me it isn't as much of a classic as the Winchester with a straight walnut stock and its top ejecting action. But that is a pro instead of a con for the 336.
 
The 336 is a great rifle.

If I could only have one, I would pick the 336. It will do anything I might need a rifle for and has proven to be as reliable as anything you can name.

Back in the early '90s, I bought a brand new 336. It was the prettiest Marlin I ever saw. The wood had a really nice grain to it and it was beautiful.

I got into a money jam, and it went away.

A year or two later, I "rescued" this short barreled .30-30 from a pawn shop. It was ugly, and had rust pits, and somebody had put pickup truck bed liner on the wood!

It was so ugly, the pawn shop sold it for super cheap.

I bought it thinking it would hold me over until I could buy something nice.

I cleaned it up as best I could and painted it with flat black Crylon spray paint.

marlin3030.jpg

This rifle has earned my respect. the action is tight, the bore is bright and it will shoot just under an inch at 100 yards with the right ammo.

It is as tough as some old boot leather, and I have no fear whatsoever of taking it afield in any weather imaginable. What is it going to do, rust?

It is the most sensible rifle imaginable, and the gun grabbers have no interest in it at all (Even if it is black!)

I will keep it regardless of whatever else is in my safe.

I have rifles that cost ten times what I paid for this one, but none that I like more.
 
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I have a 336 in 30-30 that I just had out shooting yesterday. Early on I had problems with accuracy and it took me awhile to figure it out.

I contemplated selling/trading it...

I then discovered that the micro groove was copper fouled, and on this particular rifle, copper fouls quickly. Hit the bore with some Sweets 7.62 and haven't looked back. Shot a sub 3" --> actually lets say a slightly 2+" group yesterday in 30mph winds @ 100 yards. I don't handload. My Marlins favorite round is the Federal 3030B 170gr soft point. Even with a clean bore it will not group 150gr loads very well.

So glad I kept this rifle. :)
 
Nice to see continued interest in the club. Thanks to all for coming by.

OregonHunter, beautiful Model A. Very nice sling for it, too. Source?
Also, which scope is that, and how do you like it?

Frank, I've read several threads where the bed liner approach to stock protection is discussed (and discussed it directly with a few who advocate it). It seems extreme, yet I've considered it before I bought mine. (But then I thought I was going to buy a beater and fix it up, but wound up buying new instead.) I originally considered going to add a synthetic stock and get the barrel cut down. I may ultimately do something like that, but have decided for now, at least for the next period of time, just to get to know this rifle as is (sight modifications notwithstanding), then make a decision about what to do with it.

Uga, I agree with Matt: those Yost-Bonitz mod packages are very impressive.
But at $1600+ (and that's with my gun provided), that may have to wait a while. :what:

N4Z, I've been reading a lot of discussions about the differences between 150's and 170 gr. It seems that individual guns have a preference between the two, some liking one better, some liking the other. I'll see if I can dig out a reference.

Keep it up folks. I see an interesting, informative thread in the making here.

Nem
 
Nema,

Thanks so much for starting the 336 Club! In 2004, I bought a 336 from a co-worker ("Cliff") who has since retired & moved away. I sent the serial# to Marlin, and they sent an owner's guide and told me it was manufactured in 1974. I don't know how long Cliff had it (he said he killed a few deer with it), but Cliff was a perfectionist in caring for his guns (he had many!), and it is in excellent shape with very few scratches on the wood and a mirror bore.

A lever action and a revolver just seem to suit me, but my lever action knowledge is not what it should be, until now. I'm sure this thread will be the perfect resource for the Marlin 336. I'll have some questions, but I mainly just want to be a sponge--enjoying the pics and soaking up the wealth of info.

Here's a couple of pics:

DSCF0522.jpg


DSCF0521.jpg


My first question--
Since my 336 was manufactured in 1974, it does not have the hammer block safety. The owner's guide states that the hammer should be put in the half-cock position any time the rifle is loaded and that the hammer should never be allowed to rest on the firing pin when a round is chambered. Of course the best safety is between your ears and you never ever violate the 4 rules, but is there anything else I need to know about this since I don't have the extra hammer block safety?

Thanks,
fiVe (proud member of the 642 Club and the 336 Club)
 
Nematocyst- I got the rifle from a used gun shop for an exellent price, that scope and sling came with it neither have a name on them but the sling is an impressive real leather design that is very comfortable and probably worth more than I would pay. I am replacing the scope with a leupold 1-4x I have at the house. Thanks for the comments.
 
Differences between 336 models

So, as I mentioned in the first post, I hope that the 336 Club will become a clearing house for information about 336's, including links to archived threads and other info on the Internet. Here's an installment, focusing on how to distinguish between different models and their predecessors. (Which took me weeks of research...)

Note: this list is FAR from complete. I've only included threads here back through 2006,
and then it's only a sample. An archive search will yield more.

The Marlin company web pages for 336 begin here.

Over the last few months, while researching which 336 to buy,
I started two THR threads that helped me sort out the various models:


Of course, there are other models (SS, XLR) and some that are no longer in production (see below). But I didn't want stainless for this gun, and was focusing on current models to start. (And wound up buying one.)

The new 336XLR, with a 24" barrel designed specifically for Hornady LeveRevolution, is in a class by itself in terms of 336's. I handled an XLR, and may eventually wind up buying one :rolleyes: but I wanted a shorter, more traditional model to start with. I have little knowledge of the XLR, so I'll leave that for others to discuss. In this post, I'll focus more on traditional 336's (although discussions of the 336XLR are welcome in the club).

There are also several relevant threads in the 336 section of the Marlin Owner's Forum (of which I am a member; it's a great forum with a fine bunch of folks, even though I spend most of my time on THR because I can learn about and discuss my other guns here, too).

Those links have a lot of useful info on 336 other than just how to distinguish A, C & W,
but the summary of the differences is (please correct and/or add if necessary):

  • Caliber: .30-30 AND .35 Rem (C) v. .30-30 only (A, SS & W)
  • Metal finish: blued (A, C, W) v. stainless (SS)
  • Stock: American black walnut (C & SS) v. birch (A & W).
    Birch is harder than walnut, but walnut is "prettier" (at least according to some).
  • Fore end barrel attachment: barrel band (C, SS & W) v. fore end cap with stud from barrel (A).
    There is still debate among owners about whether one or the other is better in terms of handling and accuracy, but a majority feel that there is no substantive difference other than cosmetic (at least in 336; in more precision rifles, it may indeed matter). Based on images on Marlin's lever guns, the large majority of their current production models employ fore end caps.
  • "Rubber rifle butt pad" (recoil pad): Yes (C & SS) v. No (A & W)
  • Sling as original equipment (only on W)

As far as I can tell, the materials and workmanship of A, C & W are ostensibly equivalent with no differences in quality. (I'm still seeking definitive information about that, however.)

I wanted a birch stock because - after reading a lot of threads, reviews and web pages on wood, and talking with a woodworker friend - I learned that birch was harder than walnut even if not as aesthetically pleasing. (That said, I think my birch stock is beautiful with rich color and subtle markings.) I also wanted the fore end cap type barrel connection (in part to match my 39A, in part because so many of Marlin's current production lever guns are using that technology now), and in part just 'cause I liked it. :eek:

But it's clear from a thread entitled "Best Marlin 336 Model" that most still prefer 336C.

How about older models, no longer in production?

* 30AS (reportedly, the former is the "ancestor" of the current 336A)

* 336AS

* 336CS

* 336SC (sports carbine)​

For those wanting a 336 with a straight stock.

Also, here's a thread specifically on Marlin 336 in 35 Rem.

More to come about dating (determining the age of :rolleyes: ) 336's; stocks; sights and scopes;
repair issues; modifications; ammo choices; ballistics; and other topics.

But right now, I gotta go to work for a while. :(

Nem
 
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I'd like to join if you'll have me.

I purchased my 336 for similar reasons, but didn't limit myself to one rifle caliber gun... Though, if I HAD to just pick one all purpose rifle, the 30-30 would be right at the top of the list. As close to a perfect general purpose rifle as I can imagine. I admire and respect the minimalist mindset. I just don't have the discipline or financial nessesity to do so.

I've had my 336 configured in a few variations. Scouted with the XS/Leupold scope and traditionally mounted scopes. I've also used the Williams peep and the as it came old style "BB gun" sights (mine's a pre semi buckhorn version). For now I settled on the stock opens that work well enough for me for anything I'd shoot with a 30-30. If I re-scope it (for open country) I will use the scout mount again as I very much like having the back-up sights available. I think the rifle balances better with the scout scope, no hammer spur is required and my best ever rifle groups were shot with this configuration.

On ammo; Factory 150s were more accurate than factory 170s in mine. Handloads performed well with both 150 & 170g. Hornady's offerings have been the best performers for me. With the huge variety of 308 caliber bullets available the possiblities are limited only by imagination. Even pointed bullets can be SINGLE loaded.

Another load that adds to the versatility of the 336 ( or any 30-30) is a cast 170gr bullet (I used Oregon Trail Laser Cast) pushed by a pistol powder. My best success has been with Red Dot but the others I tried did very well. This gives you a less noisey round for discrete vermin eradication and plinking and very low recoil. Accurate out to 50 yards (probably farther but I haven't tried). Lots of load data available at www.gmdr.com
 
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I'm looking forward to participating. I'm researching 336's now. The info you have comparing the different models was very helpful. I'm thinking about the SS model, but a standard, no frills model A just seems to fit better.
 
Happy member of the 336 [strike]cult[/strike] club here. ;)

I don't have any pics yet, but back in the Fall I picked up a pre-1981 .30-30, pre-hammer block safety. I added a Williams receiver sight and Firesight front bead. I also added an Eagle Industries stock pack to carry a few extra rounds of ammo and maybe a small cleaning kit or survival kit. (The main reason I went with the Eagle pack is that it's available in LH persuasion.)

Finally, it wears a British surplus L1A1 sling using Uncle Mike's 1.25" sling swivels.

My primary use for this rifle will be for deer hunting in Penn's Woods, but with a secondary SHTF role.
 
Happy member of the 336 [strike]cult[/strike] club here. ;)
LOL! :D

Oh, good one, Dave. Thanks. Best laugh of the day so far.

Welcome to you, fiVe, .45Guy, mgh, xd9fan, and 'Mo.

(Sorry, Scrat. :( We're not trying to be mean. Someone should start a Win 94 Club. That fine, venerable rifle deserves a club of it's own. But you're still welcome to hang out here and learn about 336's. Who knows, you might even wind up buying one to go with that 94. :D )

OK, now I've really got to go to work. :uhoh:
 
Dave, where did you get the Williams/Firesight set up? I've looked around the OKC area but have never found one on a shelf. Did you order it?

I assume it works well yes?

I ordered it from MidwayUSA. I have yet to shoot it with this setup but the sight picture is very good.
 
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