The new Marlin 30/30 isn't on my buy list!

W

William T. Watts

New member
I looked at one of the new Marlin 30/30’s in a local Walmart store, the stock is hardwood, the finish is some sort of mat finish, I gauged the bore which measured .3022 from land to land. I don’t recall ever measuring a 30 cal barrel that over sized before, as a curiosity I asked the clerk to let me check a Remington 700 if he had a 30/06. He had one on display and allowed me to gauge it too, the Remington 700 bore measured .2998 which is what I would expect from a well made barrel. I know the tooling (cutter) is over sized to allow the tool to be sharpened several times to allow additional barrels to have their rifling cut to reduce costs. How can a manufacture justify allowing a poorly cut barrel to be installed on a new rifle, this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered an over sized bore on a new rifle but it does reinforce my reluctance to buy any rifle unless it is a 30 caliber that I can check the barrel before purchasing. William
 
It just occurred to me these barrels have micro grove rifling, would that change the normal .300 grove to grove for a 30 caliber barrel?? I believe these barrels have 12 lands instead of the usual 4 or 6 lands?? I have found very little that covers micro grove barrels! William
 
Buy a Henry. Costs more, but you get what you pay for. Plus they are 100% made in USA.
Click to expand...

....

....and Marlins are not?

I was under the impression that Ilion, NY and Mayfield, KY were still in the USA..... has this changed?
 
Spotted at Walmart last night

A Marlin 1895 in .45-70------not an economy version but a full on walnut stocked one with all the frills

I thought it was strange seeing it amongst the 783's--Express'---Mossy 500's--Maverick--Axis--Chipmunk and Mini-14.

I checked---and of course they didn't have any ammo for it in stock-----they did have .300 Blackout---but no rifles for that cartridge.

Just thought it was weird and wanted to share.
 
Last edited:
I just bought a 336c in 30-30 and I'll post an updated review on it when I get back from a trip I'm about to leave for. Overall I got it cheap (by Commifornia standards) and had to do a little gunsmithing on it to get it reliable.

That being said, it's all metal/wood, 100% made in the USA (Just wish they would get their collective crap together on the quality control) Anyone with even a tiny bit of mechanical aptitude, emery cloth, files, a gunsmithing set of bits and a dremmel should be able to get a smooth action 100% reliable gun.

Fit/finish was good, not great.
Trigger...TERRIBLE at 16# until I replaced with a "happy trigger" now light and crisp
The action needed smoothing
Lever would drop and not stay locked (replaced plunger...problem solved)
carriage would intermittently fail to let a round into the receiver (this problem was solved when I took 7 hundredths inch of meat off the side and re contoured and polished the carriage.
 
My self I wont buy a new marlin 336. I have a 1958 336 and a 1941 model 1936. When you can buy a better used rifle for about the same money or less.
Why????

I do have access to a 2012 year 336 in 30-30 that I have at my place while the kid is in school.
ummmm all I can say is. They are NOT the same rifles.
 
If you don't mind my asking, what kind of tool did you have with you that allowed you to measure the .3022 and .2998 inches?
 
Fit/finish was good, not great.
Trigger...TERRIBLE at 16# until I replaced with a "happy trigger" now light and crisp
The action needed smoothing
Lever would drop and not stay locked (replaced plunger...problem solved)
carriage would intermittently fail to let a round into the receiver (this problem was solved when I took 7 hundredths inch of meat off the side and re contoured and polished the carriage.
Click to expand...
I picked up a 336Y awhile back, and had similar issues.

Fit and finish were "OK", and the best of the three I looked at. After shooting it a couple of times, the stock did loosen up, and it turned out, they had over inletted the wood, and really reefed down on the screw to get it tight. I ended up having to shim it.

Its sights were straight, while the other two were not.

The action also needed smoothing, but from what Ive seen, they all do, good or bad. Winchesters, Marlins aint, in that respect.

They never tuned the extractor at the factory, and must have never tested it, as the gun would not function with ammo in it, right out of the box. It was an easy fix, but still.

I also had to contour and polish the carrier to get it to feed properly.

I also have a 1895G that too, is from the Remington era. I wasnt aware there were issues at the time I bought it. I lucked out with it though, as, other than the normal rough action, it seems it was assembled properly, and has been fine.

I didnt send the 336 back, simply because I was seeing all sorts of horror stories about their CS as well. One boy said his came back worse than it went.
 
If you don't mind my asking, what kind of tool did you have with you that allowed you to measure the .3022 and .2998 inches?
Click to expand...
Indeed.

I'm not one to frequent big box stores starting with the letter W, but last time that I was in one, I didn't see anyone with ten-thousandths (0.0001") resolution pin gauges at the gun counter...





I looked at one of the new Marlin 30/30’s in a local Walmart store, the stock is hardwood, the finish is some sort of mat finish, I gauged the bore which measured .3022 from land to land. I don’t recall ever measuring a 30 cal barrel that over sized before, as a curiosity I asked the clerk to let me check a Remington 700 if he had a 30/06. He had one on display and allowed me to gauge it too, the Remington 700 bore measured .2998 which is what I would expect from a well made barrel. I know the tooling (cutter) is over sized to allow the tool to be sharpened several times to allow additional barrels to have their rifling cut to reduce costs. How can a manufacture justify allowing a poorly cut barrel to be installed on a new rifle, this isn’t the first time I’ve encountered an over sized bore on a new rifle but it does reinforce my reluctance to buy any rifle unless it is a 30 caliber that I can check the barrel before purchasing. William
Click to expand...
A: Typical bore diameter for .30 caliber rifles is not .300". It is 0.302" to 0.304".
B: As you brought up in a subsequent post, Marlins use different rifling methods (not always Micro-Groove, though). Typical Marlin 336 .30-30 barrels measure 0.304" bore / 0.308" groove.
C: A .30 caliber bore with a 0.2998" bore diameter would be considered under size by the majority of knowledgeable shooters. It's great for accuracy, according to some people; but still well below the norm (and SAAMI standard).
D: See items A through C. Marlin's barrels don't meet the "poorly cut" presumption. Some people may not agree on the usefulness of "Micro-Groove" or Marlin's other 'shallow-groove' rifling, but it is quite consistent and rarely does any deviation come to light.
 
Last edited:
Marlin is back.

They have solved all of their previous issues, and they are now better than ever. The fit, finish and materials of the ones I've seen rival any Marlin I've seen in the past 40 years.
 
Last edited:
I have a new production 336 that shoots Factory Federal flat noses sub minute at 100. I refitted the stock, put a custom trigger in it, slightly modified the barrel band. Nothing to complain about with that rifle. I have never seen an old production that shoots any better than it does.
 
Marlin is back.

They have solved all of their previous issues, and they are now better than ever. The fit, finish and materials of the ones I've seen [rival] any Marlin I've seen in the past 40 years.
Click to expand...

Ha. Don't suppose you have any evidence for that claim. Sure hope it's true.
 
I bought an 1894 in 357 and the finish is good, the fitting is good and the accuracy is good. It's not a high polish like my 336 from 25 years ago. The only place where the fit is a bit sloppy is where the stock fits the receiver on the top side there is 1/8" gap. Nothing I can't live with. Other than that the fit is good. Shoots about 3" at 100 with irons. Action is good. Tight, not as smooth as my 336. Overall I'd buy again.
 
Marlin is back.

They have solved all of their previous issues, and they are now better than ever. The fit, finish and materials of the ones I've seen [rival] any Marlin I've seen in the past 40 years.
Click to expand...
Unless the shops around here are still trying to unload stock they have had sitting on the racks for the past couple of years, Im not seeing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top