Marlin 336C debicle

Last May I bought me a brand new Marlin 336C 30-30 lever action. Walnut stock, nicer sights, factory sling mounts... pretty nicely appointed gun.

Shown with its bloodbrother, H&R Sidekick .50cal muzzleloader.



The action was rough at the store, I blew it off as a new gun being stiff. I noticed the stock didn't match the forearm and thought it would add charactor and bought it (obviously at this point) It is has glare on it in the above picture, it isn't THAT much of a difference.

Got it home, I was playing with it and noticed once in awhile I had to give it "the death squeeze" to get the trigger to release. Just about everything I had gripewise (and I ain't all that weak) I worked the action during commercials over the summer as I watched tv and it kinda became tolerable and the "death squeeze" events became less common.

I took it shooting once, it struggled to cycle properly once in awhile. It would try to poke the live round between the mag and the chamber. Sometimes I had to hold the gun upside down while cycling to get it to chamber a round. Once that feat was accomplished and it went bang it would pull the shell out and it would just kinda bounce when the bolt came all the way back and not kick out... requiring being shaken upside down again to get the empty out (on the plus side they were easy to find )

I took it shooting again midsummer but I spent my time shooting my Mosin instead. This summer was pretty rough and I didn't get many shooting chances.

Third time out last weekend the cycling fun it got worse... I also noticed something funny with the primers on the empties. Dug out my old empties and it has been doing it pretty reliable the whole time.







So then I did an internet search for popped primers and it is either from too hot of a load or headspace out of whack. I am shooting factory ammo (Winchester in the foam blocks and Federal with the pretty blue sealer around the primer) so I don't think I can pin this on the ammo

Right after I got mine I joined a Marlin website and discovered that ever since Remington bought Marlin they have had all sorts of quality issues. They let everybody go at Marlin, moved the equipment to Ilion and are apparently trying to figure out how to make them on their own.

So sometime next week mine is going back once to see if they can fix or replace it with a workable gun. If not I am fussing for a check. The guy I talked to today was helpfull and quick to email the shipping information. If anyone has any pointers on how to pack a gun for shipping I am all ears.

Just an FYI, if you get a new Marlin look it over really good first ,don't forget to fill out the warrenty card and keep track of the receipt.

I have a marlin 336 that was made in like the 80's, it works great!

That sucks that you got a lemon

yeah, mine's a 336c and i LOVE it..

sucks man.. i'd be raising some stuff w/ marlin/remington about it.

I am trying to buy a Pre '64 Winchester 30-30. But you got to love the lever actions!

Mauser action >

I've used Winchester ammo and never been particularly impressed with it. My Mausers all hated it, and my wife's 22 pistol hates it. Federal would sometimes stick as well. It would often get stuck in the throat, so maybe try more varieties of ammo to see if that helps. I've had more than one Mauser, and a Mosin M44, and for some reason the Winchester ammo worked really well in the Mosin . I'd imagine there are more flavors of 30-30 for you to try than I had for my 8mm Mausers, but personally and among my friends, none of us like Winchester or particularly Federal, and usually use CCI or Remington ammo. I know there have been some recalls issued for overloaded ammo from Federal/American Eagler for usign the wrong propellant, but I think that was mostly handgun cartridges... good luck on whatever the issue is.

hand loads is where its at! you can load exactly what you want.

4.0B2 said:

hand loads is where its at! you can load exactly what you want.

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No arguements here! I use reloads quite often from my father in law in the Mauser (he's had them for years) and he casts for my PA-63.

I have a box of Remington too, but after what it is doing with two other brands I ain't gonna bother with trying it. I have ran four boxes through it and it has been pretty consistant on all of them. The only recall on Federal's website is for .243.

I would like to reload for it, but I want to see if I have a gun worth reloading for first.

It is going back to them to see if they can fix or replace it. I told the guy on the phone what it was doing with what ammo and he said "you might have a headspace problem" A guy on the Marlin forum said it may also be the bolt not being made right... that thing coming back in my face makes me nervous.

It needs to go back because it doesn't cycle right anyway. Even unfired cartridges and snap caps don't cycle right in it.

My Mosin hasn't been picky with anything, it is pretty much a tank when it comes to ammo. If it fits it shoots. I was just wanting something lighter/handier to cart around the farm...

85_Ranger4x4 said:

My Mosin hasn't been picky with anything, it is pretty much a tank when it comes to ammo. If it fits it shoots. I was just wanting something lighter/handier to cart around the farm...

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What kind of Mosin you have now? I had an M44 carbine and that was pretty small compared to my other rifles:

*ahem*winchester*ahem*

joking aside, my marlin and winchester 30.30 both shoot fine, i've never had any issues.

but of all the guns i've owned, the best one is a $250 Howa 1200 in 30.06. gun is like 15-20 yrs old, still shoots like new.

James86 said:

What kind of Mosin you have now? I had an M44 carbine and that was pretty small compared to my other rifles

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1943 ex-sniper 91/30, originally it packed a PU scope. With the 28" barrel it would take some doing to knock it off its perch of "the big gun"... especially with only the 30-30 as compitition as a rifle. I have done quite a bit of work on it, it is all reversable. I have a freshly rearsonalled stock that came with it that I stuck out of the way. The wood stock is rather pretty, I really didn't like the squared off steel plate being driven into my shoulder.





I stuck my muzzleloader's bipod on it for the picture and have since got a Darrell's scope mount. The bipod was shortlived because it didn't help the gun's already considerable heft.

mattc113 said:

*ahem*winchester*ahem*

joking aside, my marlin and winchester 30.30 both shoot fine, i've never had any issues.

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The reason I got this one is that it was cheaper than a used Winchester. And most Winchesters around here are pretty beat up, I do prefer the feel of them though.

For inexpensive and dead-reliable semi-auto carbine, I love my Russian SKS. From what I've heard the cartridge is supposed to be comparable to your 30-30 anyways and there are plenty around here who hunt with them, but I still think they look funny with a scope. The Yugo SKS's are hitting the market in a big way it seems and I've seen them at Cabela's for under 200.

James86 said:

For inexpensive and dead-reliable semi-auto carbine, I love my Russian SKS. From what I've heard the cartridge is supposed to be comparable to your 30-30 anyways and there are plenty around here who hunt with them, but I still think they look funny with a scope. The Yugo SKS's are hitting the market in a big way it seems and I've seen them at Cabela's for under 200.

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.30-30 LE actually has better ballistics than the 7.62x39 that the SKS and AK47 uses, at point blank ranges it shouldn't matter though.

heptofite said:

.30-30 LE actually has better ballistics than the 7.62x39 that the SKS and AK47 uses, at point blank ranges it shouldn't matter though.

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The normal 30-30 is pretty comparable out to about 200yds which is pushing it for either gun. After that the 30-30 is better with energy but is dropping like a rock the same as the 7.62x39.

I have a couple boxes of LE's but the darn things are expensive enough I was wanting to get it nailed down with the cheap(er) stuff first. $24/box of 20 would hurt to shoot much of as opposed to the $5/box of 20 7.62x39.

They had some Norinco SKS's at Cabela's in LaVista yesterday, they were pretty tempting and they even used detachable mags. I am trying to hold myself to getting a lighter/cheaper to feed bolt action first (probably Savage) I want to get something in the SKS's genre (AR, AK, SKS) it is easy to dicker back and forth on which one is better. For every good area one gun has, it also has a weakness that another gun shines in and vice versa.

i've dropped deer w/ one shot at 215 yards or so before..
shot "accurate" at the range at 250 yards, (aimed high, of course)

truth is.. i have a savage 110 30-06 for distance.. and the 30-30 i took the scope off of it, and use it in the woods for hunting now.