new marlin 336s quality
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FrankenMauser
New member
If it has an MR or MM serial number, and the gawd-awful digital serial number engraved on the receiver, the only way to date it is to contact Marlington.
You may be able to get a rough idea of when the barrel was made, if the Remington barrel date code stamps are visible and cleanly applied. But there's no guarantee that the barrel isn't older than the receiver.
Only the pre-Remington rifles can be dated to a production year (or better) by serial number or external features.
And for the record, yet another piss-poor example of Remington's quality control was brought to my attention recently.
A brand new Marlin 336 was picked up by the buyer, only to find that the receiver had been milled, drilled, and threaded off-axis. Not only that, but it made it all the way through assembly, inspection, and packaging, without anyone noticing that the muzzle is nearly an INCH to the left of the receiver, and the fore-end is twisted all to hell and very ill-fitting, because of it.
...Just another in the heaps and heaps of stories I've heard or read, or examples that I've seen personally.
If I was given a choice between a Remington-built Marlin 336 or no rifle at all, I'd use a slingshot.
If you want a GOOD 336, hit the used racks. Pretty much anything made 2007 or earlier will be good (and far better than what Remington is putting out). Just make sure it functions properly -- something you'd have to do with a Remlin, anyway.
You may be able to get a rough idea of when the barrel was made, if the Remington barrel date code stamps are visible and cleanly applied. But there's no guarantee that the barrel isn't older than the receiver.
Only the pre-Remington rifles can be dated to a production year (or better) by serial number or external features.
And for the record, yet another piss-poor example of Remington's quality control was brought to my attention recently.
A brand new Marlin 336 was picked up by the buyer, only to find that the receiver had been milled, drilled, and threaded off-axis. Not only that, but it made it all the way through assembly, inspection, and packaging, without anyone noticing that the muzzle is nearly an INCH to the left of the receiver, and the fore-end is twisted all to hell and very ill-fitting, because of it.
...Just another in the heaps and heaps of stories I've heard or read, or examples that I've seen personally.
If I was given a choice between a Remington-built Marlin 336 or no rifle at all, I'd use a slingshot.
If you want a GOOD 336, hit the used racks. Pretty much anything made 2007 or earlier will be good (and far better than what Remington is putting out). Just make sure it functions properly -- something you'd have to do with a Remlin, anyway.
My point exactly. Thats the good thing about Marlin. When they decided to build guns they built a boatload of them. There is no real reason to settle for a new made inferior gun when the world is full of used guns. Think the old guns are too expensive? Suck it up. You are getting the best of the best. And you only have to buy once.
Old Bill Dibble
New member
There are a lot of them languishing on pawn shop racks for cheap in my area. I bought a 20 year old 336C in about 90% shape for $225 last year. It looked like it had not been fired much at all. I see them in that price range all the time.
In fact just about any "hunting" rifle and shotgun is going for little down here.
Just as with any other Remington, the Marlins can be dated by the barrel date code:
http://www.remingtonsociety.org/manufacture-dates/
FrankenMauser
New member
Salmoneye, that was mentioned in the sentence just prior to what you quoted.
But, the stamps must be legible; and many that I've seen are partially or completely unrecognizable.
But, the stamps must be legible; and many that I've seen are partially or completely unrecognizable.
The quality of my 336 purchased new in 2014 does not compare to my dads 336 purchased new in the 70's. I fully disassembled both. As an example, his bolt is heavy, mine feels cheap and light. His trigger is not sloppy like mine either.
My gun shoots great no complaints but definitely not the same quality as the older Marlins
My gun shoots great no complaints but definitely not the same quality as the older Marlins
Old Bill Dibble
New member
Other than you being mistaken there is nothing to explain.
Sheikyourbootie
New member
I bought my 30-30 model 336 last year. It had a lot of problems. Fit and finish were ok. The biggest problem was the carriage was almost 1/10" out of spec, and I had to file, re contour into a forcing cone and polish it to a mirror finish to get it reliable.
Here is the video I put up last year after I fixed it up and got it reliable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdSJ_UomhJ8
The carriage on my grandfather's 1949 Marlin was hardened. The new "marlin" was pretty easy to file, and the only thing I can figure is that it may have warped during the milling process??? I don't know. Here is what I had to do to it:
then polished...
Now, it is reliable and slicker than snot. Couple hundred hand loads with no hiccups, and tagged this little 250# black bear 2 weeks ago with it.
Here is the video I put up last year after I fixed it up and got it reliable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdSJ_UomhJ8
The carriage on my grandfather's 1949 Marlin was hardened. The new "marlin" was pretty easy to file, and the only thing I can figure is that it may have warped during the milling process??? I don't know. Here is what I had to do to it:
then polished...
Now, it is reliable and slicker than snot. Couple hundred hand loads with no hiccups, and tagged this little 250# black bear 2 weeks ago with it.
A co-worker received a new 336 for Christmas 2014. He mentioned that the finish looked 'painted' and that he like some help getting it zeroed. The gun had a finish like I'd seen on no other new lever action, almost like it'd been sandblasted and then cerakoted... weird. It was functional, albeit rough operating, and it shot just OK. Not something I'd plunk down my money for.
Like Deaf Smith I have been spoiled on old Texans and anything else from Marlin is a distant second place.
Like Deaf Smith I have been spoiled on old Texans and anything else from Marlin is a distant second place.
Sarge said:
I'm with Sarge and Deaf.
Top to bottom:
1895 - 45-70 Govt - 1979
444 - 444 Marlin - 1965
444 - 444 Marlin - 1969
336 - 35 Rem - 1955
336 - 30-30 Win - 1972
336 - 44 Mag - 1965
1894 - 45 Colt - 1981
1894 - 44 Mag - 1977
1894c - 357 Mag - 1982
39a Mountie - 22 LR - 1967
FrankenMauser
New member
Two more examples of this just popped up today over on the MarlinOwners forums.
October 2015 barrel date code.
Unhardened cartridge carrier.
Unfired.
Fed a few rounds during initial testing.
Then wouldn't let anything past the front of the carrier.
The same person had exactly the same mode of failure on an early 2015 production 336SS that Remington was never able to fix, and had to offer a refund on. It worked initially, but failed after a short time, due to the butter-soft, unhardened parts.
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For the record:
I do WANT to see Remington shipping out good Marlins. All they need to do is get back to early-'80s quality levels, to be satisfactory (not the best of times, but better than what Remington is doing). From there, they can slowly improve and attempt to approach the quality seen in the mid-2000s (2003-2007 was the last of the good modern Marlins, in my opinion, before Marlin slumped and dug their hole that resulted in the Cerberus/Remington buyout).
...But wanting to see good rifles, while continually being shown garbage (in person, online, by word of mouth, etc.), is not inspiring confidence and has gotten me fascinated by the repeated disaster. It's like watching a train wreck that never ends.
My own (current) Marlin lever action workhorses and projects bear serial numbers indicating 1969, 1970, 1970 (Centennial), 2001, and 2007. There have been others that went on to other owners ['79, '99, '03, and more], but that's what I have now.
Three of those rifles came to me as neglected, rusted, Bubba'd, malfunctioning basket cases. But $20-50 in parts got each of them back in working order, and turned them back into higher quality specimens than what Remington makes, for under $300 apiece. One of them was returned to 100% function and ready put meat in the freezer for $245, in under a week - plus I had leftover parts, a scope, rings, and bases for the parts box.
(Even if I paid a gunsmith to do the repairs on the 'basket cases', it still would have been under $350, each, for a quality rifle.)
They are all good rifles; and far superior, even when malfunctioning, to what Remington is kicking out the door.
The 2007, in particular, had one round fired by the original owner (couldn't handle .444 Marlin
), and is a great example of a time when the name Marlin meant you weren't playing the lottery when forking over money for a 336/444/1895.I think it's a shame about Remington and what happened to Marlin after their buyout. Growing up in the 60's and 70's Remington's were top notch rifles and Marlins were a decent alternative to any other lever gun being made at that time. I had a 6mm 700BDL Varmint Special that was as beautiful to look at as it was to shoot. My Uncle's 700BDL, my best friends dads Remington Woodsmaster 30-06 and a hunting buddy of my Dad that used a really sweet Zane Grey 30-30, all top notch guns. Now a Savage 110 is discussed in the same topic with the 700 Remington. I have an old 110 and an similar age 700BDL, while both shoot very well the Remington looks like an old Mk V Weatherby next to it, (the Rem did cost twice as much though). These horror stories about newer Marlins are pretty depressing, guns that in the past while not the sexiest were very, very functional. I really hope they both get back on track. I have heard recent ones (Marlin) are back to being a top quality gun again.