My 1911 fund just became a lever gun!

S

stagpanther

New member
There I was quietly minding my own business at wally-world--but what did I see? a new marlin 30 30 336 for $380. No--must resist I told myself, you're saving up for one of the last "American classics" you've wanted forever--a quality 1911. However, that little devil that sits on my other shoulder said "yeah, but no true gun collection is complete without a 30 30 lever gun--which you've never had you chump--and besides this is too cheap to pass up."

So now I'm a proud new owner of my second marlin (my first being a 17hmr). Any particular recommendations on ammo/reloads etc?
 
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You said "new marlin", I presume it's a "remlin" ? What are your impressions about its quality? (Fit, finish, sights straight, action smoothness, etc.)
 
a 30 30 lever gun with selected hand loads is a far more versatile firearm than a 45. just saying, bobn
 
Jeff Cooper called them the "Brooklyn Assault Rifle" because they're legal just about everywhere, but can be one hell of a fighting rifle if you know how to run one. Also I hear they're good for hunting. :D
 
You said "new marlin", I presume it's a "remlin" ? What are your impressions about its quality? (Fit, finish, sights straight, action smoothness, etc.)
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yes it's a new remlin--but rumor has it they're not as bad as they were a few years ago--I know the 17hmr I bought last year shoots very well.

The action works a bit on the stiff side--compared to something like henry or older win/marlins. As far as manufacturing quality--it looks pretty good--I've only found one obvious foobar so far--the underside of the forend in front of the metal retaining band has obvious dents in it--my guess from an automated process whereby the wood piece is jammed into the band in the process of assembly/adjustment. The infamous "marlin flop" slack in the trigger is a bit annoying, but hopefully has no effect on shooting. The stock irons look barely adequate to me--but my eyesight is bad anyway and I'll likely replace them with something like williams peep/firesight. I may even commit heresy and slap on a loopy scope for initial break-in just to see what kind of accuracy I can get out of it. If I can get consistent 2" or less at 100 yds I'll be happy as this would likely see service as a dense woods hunter where shots longer than 50 yds are rare.

All I care about is that the barrel is good--the rest can be fixed over time. And it's a 30-30; arguably one of the most historically significant centerfire rifle cartridges there is. :)
 
Trying to figure out the ballistics of remmie's core-lokts is tough--a cartridge they've made since the 1930's has no data on either the cartridge box or their ballistics charts on their website. Wonder what's up with that. Federal fusions seem to be the most potent common factory ammo I've found so far.
 
Ah,
I thought you said Marlin. :)
Good luck with that thing, you will probably find it's not too picky about what it is feed. The 150gr HP Winchester and 170gr HP Remington Core-Lokt withstand feeding and cycling better than the lead soft points and are excellent medium game bullets. The old Silvertip was like this also. The 125gr HP Federal that is loaded with the Sierra 125 HP bullet can be pretty nasty on smaller stuff, would be a pretty fearsome self defense round. Core-Lokt bullets are good stuff.
 
Slapped the scope mount, rings and loopy scout scope on this morning. This will hopefully only be temporary while I look for replacement peep and irons.
 
I'm hearing some reports that the "remlin" quality is improving, it's good to hear that your rifle passed the initial inspection.

Last fall I saw a 45 70 in Walmart for that price. I thought about it for a day and decided, heck, how bad can it be. When I went back to get it someone else had swooped in. Now you're making me regret I hadn't been more decisive at the onset.

Congrats on your purchase.
 
Congrats on your new Marlin 336. I know that like most things Remington screwed them up for a while but the quality is coming back. I just got a 1895 26" Cowboy and the quality is very good especially for a gun at its price point. It shoots great as I expect yours will too. I hope you get out soon to see for yourself.

As for ammo it should not be picky at all and should cycle just about everything. I will say that I'm using LEVERevoluton in my 30-30 Winchesters and love it. A link is below

http://www.hornady.com/store/leverevolution
 
I understand the OP exactly! Back in 2012, I had saved up for a 1911 myself and then I got a look at Mossberg's 464 with a walnut stock and said the exact same thing, "Everyone has to have a thudy-thudy, don't they?" so I succumbed and got a new one. I'd had a '94 some 40yrs before but had to let it go when the kids were small and money was tight. Even though it's just a plinker in my collection with my reduced power handloads, I have a blast with it.

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However, later that year I did scrape up the funds for a nice Springfield Mil-Spec much like my sidearm in the Army back in the 60's. Not surprisingly, my son 'appropriated' it soon after for his WWII arms collection and so I got myself a Springfield Range Officer. Both are super reliable, accurate shooters that haven't choked on anything we've fed them.

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As you're probably aware, I'm not a fan of the Remlins.
However, the barrels are generally pretty decent. I have a few of them on older "JM" receivers and they're just as good as the reports I've seen from other owners.
So, if all else works out and it doesn't wear out prematurely, you should be satisfied.

As for the Remington ammunition... I've chronographed a lot of it (150s and 170s) for before-and-after comparisons of a few custom projects.
In barrels from 16.25" to 22", it's usually within 20 fps of comparable Winchester Power Point loads. ...Which is good, because they're advertised at exactly the same velocities.
And the point of impact is nearly identical to at least 150 yards with same bullet weights (I haven't done much past that). So, I assume the ballistic coefficients are fairly close.
 
Started breaking in the barrel (yeah, I know lots of people think it's unnecessary--I do it anyway). I was shooting mostly for brass harvesting and getting used to the rifle--and wasn't really paying much attention to accurate shooting. Got some preliminary groups to compare--but between the barrel warm-up and not re-zeroing for each change in ammo I don't think I can really draw any meaningful conclusions. I know it should loosen up over time--but I had a hard time holding the rifle still with the trigger pull--I'm not sure what it is since I didn't measure it but I'm guessing at least 6lbs--possibly more. 100 yds with loopy 1.5 x 4 scout scope

The worst results were from core lokt 170's--though it could be from the barrel being warm



150 federal fusions were pretty good--also the fastest of the factory ammo I tested.



150 winchester power points met my expectations for decent.



170 power points seemed even better.



scope and trigger need adjustments--I hope to improve on this as it usually takes me a while to adjust to shooting a new weapon well.
 
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This will hopefully only be temporary while I look for replacement peep and irons.
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Great plan. I have the Williams "FoolProof" receiver sight mounted on several of my rifles and recommend them highly.
 
thanks for the info franken--I sure hope the barrel doesn't wear out fast--but who knows. I just ordered a WW trigger happy--hope that improves the accuracy a bit--along with starting reloading--but I don't have bullets or dies yet.

This might give hope to revival--notice the interesting "revivals" soon to come out.

http://www.shotbusiness.com/marlin-makes-comeback/
 
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By wearing out prematurely, I was referring to some of the internals that have had issues in recent years. (Unhardened carriers and toggles, in particular; with the odd breech bolt and/or locking bolt being too soft.)
If you get 150 or so rounds through it and don't see premature wear, galling, increasing headspace, etc., it should be fine.

The barrel should last several lifetimes. I wouldn't waste an second of brain power worrying about it.
 
...I wouldn't waste an second of brain power worrying about it.
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That's good--I only have two or three to spare. :)

If you get 150 or so rounds through it and don't see premature wear, galling, increasing headspace, etc., it should be fine.
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So do you do a full disassemble as part of your cleaning?
 
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