The 336 Club

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Apple,

You will be assimilated.

:evil:

I bought my 336A from my local (~30 blocks from my studio) gun shop for ~$340.
They've been in business since 1980; I wanted to support them.

But whether from Wally or another shop, just do it.

;) :cool:
 
Thank you, Nematocyst. I really have been planning on buying one for some time now, but this particular year was a rough one fiscally speaking. My grandfather has a 336 that he has owned since the early 60s and I've always thought it had a beautiful profile. It's fun to shoot too. It's his favorite deer gun. Over the years, he has tried switching to other rifles and different calibers. He always switches back. I've always loved lever-action rifles and I'd take the Marlins over the Winchesters anyday.
 
On this matter:

I confess: if (no, probably when) I buy another lever gun, it'll probably be an 1895G in .45/70.
(If only they had a pistol grip...maybe they will by the time I'm ready to buy, just before a move to Alaska...)
Click to expand...

I have done this conversion. It is not hard, but it takes a little hoofwork because the parts are scarce. I'll see if I can post a picture of my "converted" 1895. I replaced the forend and thinned it out. I replaced the finger lever and trigger plate with a pistol grip set, replaced the buttstock with an uncheckered PG buttstock and installed a Limbsaver pad. Between the pad and the pistol grip, IMO, recoil and rifle management in general is greatly improved - but not everyone would agree and some don't like the resulting appearance. Different strokes...
 
The Marlin 336 has to be one of the most loved american rifles ever built. The 336 fits me like no other rifle I have ever owned and I have owned most everything out there without exception. When I grab it my eyes just fall into the sights and right on target it's so natural to carry and use. The accuracy of the 336 is on par with many bolt action rifles. Many users get 1" or better groups using factory ammo. The 336 is 50 states legal and does not call unwanted attention to the person who carries it. As a self defense rifle the 336 holds seven rounds of potent ammunition. The 336 can be loaded on the go as you shoot and is always at the ready. Try doing this with an SKS, garand or bolt action with an enblock clip. While the 336 will never replace the M4 for our military it is a fine rifle to defend your home in LA or farm in Texas against anything that walks. As a hunting rifle the 336 has taken all north american game and many african game animals. Yes deer, elk, moose and bear were taken before the invention of the super magnum rounds. And before you flame me yes there are better rounds for big game these days the point remains that the 336 did it then and can still do it now. Out in the country any mom-n-pop store has a couple of boxes of 30-30 on the shelf. There will be no shortage of 30-30 ammo based on an import hold up like there is with the communist block ammo. The LE ammo from Hornady has opened the door even more for the 336 and it's potential is still to be discovered as hunters take it to the field. Yes the 336 is alot of rifle.
 
I have no strong feelings either way about including the 1895's in the 336 club. I have three 1895's (GS, CB & the plain 1895) myself and I'm a complete big bore addict. I even have a big bore blog... http://bigbored.onfinite.com/

Care and cleaning is essentially the same. Sight systems are interchangeable.

That being said, one of the defining and most desireable characteristics of the 336 is the ammunition it uses. The 30-30 and the 35 are GREAT general purpose rounds capable of taking a wide spectrum of game ethically at ranges within the skill of the average rifleman. The ammo (and the rifle) are very portable, versatile and ecconomical to shoot.

There is a lot of overlap with the big bore 1895s but (lack of) ecconomy of the ammo and it's weight are not shared.

For hunting I prefer the 45-70, the 1895GS is THE perfect hunting rifle in my (not so humble) opinion. If I was outposted on the frontier and could only have one, I believe the 30-30 would be a more versatile choice.

PG 1895's; Marlin did make a 444 called the "Outfitter" in a pistol grip guide gun configuration. I've always wanted one... A member at our club also prefers the PG and simply had his barrel shortened on his plain Jane 1895... Wow is that a great looking carbine and he said the cost was very reasonable as no magazine shortening was required.
 
Transporting your 336

I posted this over at MO but it might be a good reference for those who carry leverguns in the field while wearing a pack. I will delete if this is off topic.

Last year during Elk season I had a sling malfuction that resulted in me carrying the rifle without it. Luckily the 1895 GS guide gun is about as easy carrying rifle as they make.

This year I've decided to seek an alternative and I just might have found it. The Kifaru Gun Bearer (KGB) ( http://www.kifaru.net/GUNBEAR.HTM ) is a product that allows hands free carry while wearing a pack. I recently aquired one and have only briefly tested it here at the "Wet Dog Ranch." My first impression is favorable.

Details:
The product is VERY well constructed with the heaviest duty velcro I have ever seen. The velcro belt and shoulder strap attachments allow for a wide latitude of widths and angles of attachement to your pack(s). The shoulder strap quick release is a plastic clamp that the nylon webbing feeds easily and holds securely. It releases quietly (not silently), easily and quickly. Rifle pulls free of the stock cuff easily. There are no unprotected buckles or edges to mar your rifle.

I started out with the Gun Bearer on my right side, lever back, rifle angled slightly forward 15-20*. It carried well, securely without interference while hiking or crawling. Sitting required adjustment or rifle removal just as it would with a sling.

I switched the Gun Bearer to the left side and found it more comfortable and didn't obstruct my vision as much (I am right eye dominate). Again I carried the rifle, lever back. I belive with a bolt rifle the bolt handle may restrict your choices and comfort to a bolt outboard position but I have yet to test it. The levergun seems ideal for this set up as the contact points are all on the wood, stock on side of hip and forarm along side of chest inside the arm.

I am still tweaking the adjustment as to height and angle. More testing will be required to find the optimal. At this time I'm finding that I like the butt sleeve to be attached at or very near the bottom of the shoulder strap and the forarm/barrel end strapped tight to the shoulder strap, the rifle angled sightly forward.

So far this has proven to be a very secure method of transporting a rifle. Standing while glassing, hiking and crawling the rifle it held fast and hands free. It did not interfere with other tasks.

The left side carry did interfere with my normal crossdraw pistol carry. I will have to address that later.

I have not tested this yet but I suspect it will work well while riding a mountain bike. One of my favorite hunting tactics is to find a gate that blocks motorized access and then ride my bike beyond the hordes of hunters. I stash the bike and then begin my own hunt with little contact with other hunters. I had used this technique while handgun hunting as I had not found a satisfactory way to transport a rifle. I believe the Kifaru Gun Bearer might be the solution.

As for muzzle control (ALWAYS keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction) I believe it is at least as safe as a sling. A traditionally carried rifle, slung and muzzle up mitigates (accidentally) sweeping your hunting partners except for when traveling inline down a steep trail. The KGB will sweep your hunting partners when traveling uphill in single file though.

The Pack I have used for this test is a Camelbak Striker. A very basic but highly functional pack. I have not tested with a frame pack yet.

I have only tested lever action rifles so far with barrels up to 20".
 
336 club

I could go for a 336 club. I bought a 336A this year myself and I love it. I had to replace an older Marlin 30-30 I sold 15 years ago since I was unemployed and needed the money. I have kicked myself ever since. Now I am looking at customizing it out with a camo stock, XS ghost sights and a scout scope. Hopefully when I get done it will be even a sweeter deer gun than it is now.

By the way I LOVE the new hornady ammo.
 
Marlin 336A

I have a Marlin 336 A. I love it as is but I am looking at a couple of changes to tweek it a bit.
Has anyone removed the stock sights and installed the XS ghost ring sights?
Also has anyone installed the scout scope base and scout scope on the barrel-just front of the receiver?
Finally I am looking at geting a ram-line camo stock to finish the look out. The factory stock is perfect but I go deer hunting with this gun and I don't want to mess up the wood stock if I happen to drop it. Plus I like the look of a camo stock on this particular gun.
 
Mo said:
one of the defining and most desirable characteristics of the 336 is the ammunition it uses. The 30-30 and the 35 are GREAT general purpose rounds capable of taking a wide spectrum of game ethically at ranges within the skill of the average rifleman. The ammo (and the rifle) are very portable, versatile and economical to shoot.

There is a lot of overlap with the big bore 1895s but (lack of) economy of the ammo and it's weight are not shared.
Click to expand...
Mo, you make a good point there.

I actually woke up this morning thinking about this issue, in terms of what I wrote last night about the suggestion to open this thread to discussions about 1895's since the latter are based on the same action. At the time, I said I have no objection.

On some reflection after sleep, I'm second guessing myself on that.

I just added the following by edit to my post #69 on page 3:

"Let's hold off for a while on discussing 1895's too much before we decide whether it's appropriate or not for this thread. As [Mo] points out on [this page] page, one of the defining characteristics of 336 is the caliber: .30-30 (and of course, .35). It may be too much of a divergence to explicitly try to include a lot of 1895 big bore discussion in this thread, particularly with respect to using this thread as a clearing house for information for 1895's as is our goal for 336. I'm NOT saying that 1895's shouldn't be mentioned, or even involved in stories in this thread. Personally, I think that's fine. I'm just not sure that we will serve the focus of the thread by opening up too much discussion on 1895's. But this is a club thread, not just mine, so let's see what members' opinions are. Thanks."
_______

Just to be clear, I'm still open to the possibility of including 1895's in this club, but I don't think we should open discussion of them too fast until we evaluate whether its a good idea.

Maybe there should be a separate 1895 club dedicated to that gun specifically. I'd almost certainly join such a club since I have interest in them.

OK, I'm off to the range for a while :) before the rain starts again.

Nem
 
B.D. Turner said:
The Marlin 336 has to be one of the most loved american rifles ever built. The 336 fits me like no other rifle...........The 336 can be loaded on the go as you shoot and is always at the ready..............The LE ammo from Hornady has opened the door even more for the 336 and it's potential is still to be discovered as hunters take it to the field. Yes the 336 is alot of rifle.
Click to expand...

B.D.: post #79 ("summarized" above) is spot on. I could not have said it better myself.




Nem: I'm really likin' it here. This thread is destined to become a great 336/.30-30/lever resource.

Happy member,
fiVe
 
First 336ss?

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=46507&d=1161127502
On the right, the other two are 1894s in .45
attachment.php
 
electrode1998-
Yes -- as I've mentioned above, I have the XS Ghost Ring sights on both my 336C and 336XLR. They are easy to install, well made, and visible in most light conditions.

By the way, there are advantages to the scout setup but low-light visibility isn't one of them.
 
Z,

I'm still considering a set of XS GR's (mostly as backup; I'm betting a dollar that I'll scout scope it, too).

But, how do you find the accuracy with the ghost rings at, say, 100 m? I understand that they are superior for fast shots in close (maybe 50?), but am wondering how good they'd be at 100 or over.
 
Hello, my name is KMBRTAC45 and I am a 336aholic. I last used my 336cs in 30-30 w/a Tasco 3x9 scope to shoot a whitetail in northern MI in november '06. I've been a 336aholic for 21 years(14th birthday, so I got addicted early. Stepdad is my enabler:evil: ) and have NO plans to cure my addiction any time soon.

Thank you for helping me thru my addiction.:D
 
Nem, with my shortened 336C it's pretty easy to keep my shots in the black on a typical bullseye target at 60 yards. I wouldn't hesitate to take a shot at deer-size game at 60-70 yards off-hand, and a little further with a good rest. That rifle is ideal for quick shots out to 50 yards or so.

The XLR is a bit easier to shoot accurately out beyond 75 yards, and I think it's the result of the rifle's inherent accuracy combined with the longer sight radius. I would say a 100 yard shot at a deer would be well within reason with a good rest or sitting position.

For anything beyond 100 yards or so I would rather use a low power scope mounted in the traditional fashion. I have a scoped .30-06 bolt gun for that. The XLR will certainly shoot accurately well beyond 100 yards, but the reason I like lever guns is mostly for their handling characteristics so I've decided not to scope mine.
 
Nem, If your ghost ring is threaded you can simply screw in a smaller sized appeture to meet your accuracy needs. Alternatively you can unscrew your peep sight appeture and make it into a ghost ring.

As an example you could use a small(est) apeture for target work and load development, a sligthly larger (mid-sized) for most field work or remove it completely when your hunting black bear in scrub alder thicket.

Don't you just love how versatile this rifle can be?
 
Z, Thanks for the info on XS sights and scout scopes. It looks like Nem and I are planning some of the same modifications to our 336A's. I'll let ya'll know how mine comes out. Right now I am planning or leaning twords a nice set of XS sights and probably the leupold 2.5 28 scout scope since it has a 9+ inch eye relief.
 
The short one or the long one? The long one is the 1894 Cowboy Limited, the short one is an 1894ssLtd. The SS was a short limited run of stainless 16", black laminated stocked 1894s that came in .357, .41, .44, and .45. They also came with Williams Firesights on them.
I have not shot the 1894ss much, but its plenty accurate so far at 25 yards and I am supirsed each time I heft it how short and sweet a gun it is and how "quick handling" that short barrel is.
 
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