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talk me in/out of a marlin 336

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I've been interested in acquiring a lever gun for some time now and after seeing the marlin 336 in 30-30 on sale for $350 (after $50 mail in rebate) at dicks sporting goods this black friday I'm considering purchasing it. This rifle would be used for range use only, not intending to hunt with this rifle. I'd prefer to have a lever gun in 38/357 but options are limited. My main arguments against the 336 are cost of ammo (about 80c per round). My thoughts being that after purchasing about 250 30-30 rounds it would pretty much be the equivalent of purchasing a lever gun in 38/357. However I do plan on reloading at some point in time which will lessen the overall cost of 30-30 ammo.

What are your thoughts on the marlin 336 in 30-30?

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I have an early 1970's 336 in 30-30.  I really like the rifle. Now that I am in a rifle hunting state it will get some real use.  The 30-30 is very soft shooting and accurate enough for deer hunting.  The rifle handles really well.  I am not sure about the newer models.

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I had a new remlin 336 in 30-30. Sold it and never looked back. ever since remington bought them out quality went to shit. action was very rough and I had to send it back to the factory, after buying it new, to time the barrel because the front sight was canted. your better off with an older marlin (pre-remington) if you can find it. if you want a 38/357 you can't go wrong with a henry big boy.

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I've read about the reports on quality control but from what I understand that may have been remedied as of now. Plus being that this would be a local purchase I could inspect & handle the rifle before making a handing over money to purchase.

 

Options in 38/357 would be rossi m92, henry or marlin 1894c. I wont buy another rossi firearm (especially when American produced rifles can be had for about the same price), henrys don't have side-loading gates (tube loaders seem weird to me) and the i'm not entirely sure what the current production status of the marlin 1894c is, can't seem to find them anywhere and won't pay gunbroker prices. Decisions, decisions.

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You can get a used 30-30 lever action at any gun show in great condition.  I would not give Remington the time of day on their Marlins.  I also would not buy a 30-30 caliber as a range gun.  Your original thought was correct, get a 38/357, you'll enjoy it a lot more.  Rossi makes a decent model 1892 that can be smoothed out with a little work or just save up and get a Henry, problem solved.

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I just got a Henry big boy silver in 44 mag, action is smooth as butter and can hardly feel the recoil due to the heavy polygonal barrel. in 357 mag you probably would feel no recoil. Yes, the tube loading is a pain but the loading gate on the marlin killed my fingers after about 30 rounds, and with the 20in barrel you have 10+1 capacity.

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A buddy has the Rossi 38/357. If you have something else that shoots 38/357 go for it. You'll need to Dremel the loading gate area a little to smooth it out but it is a good, inexpensive piece.

 

I have never shot a Henry, but working the action I can confirm they are smooth as silk.

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If you want 38/357 cheap reliable can't beat a Rossi they have aftermarket trigger kits if you want a smoother trigger, you can upgrade to a Henry sweet out of the box usually. The big difference is Henry's are tube fed only the Rossi has a loading side gate.

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When we suffered the pistol ban in the UK in 1997 many of us went to pistol caliber carbines. Semi-auto centerfire rifles had already been banned so many of us went with .38/.357 underlevers. Winchester, Rossi and Marlin were the common ones. The Rossi was just way too short in LOP for me.

 

The Winchester frequently failed to feed if you were racking it too fast. The new round would stand up and jam similar to a stove pipe.

 

The Marlin, having a top strap didn't suffer from the feed issue and was also much easier to mount an optic - pre-drilled and tapped.

 

My advice is get a used Marlin.

 

ETA: We used to shoot a version of the Police Pistol competitions. In one major match I scored 300, 20x with my Marlin. It was a 30 round CoF.

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