Marlin 336 in 35 Remington Questions

[Peakbagger46]

My uncle and hunting mentor recently gave me this rifle. By the serial number it was manufactured in 1959. It has been used and carried a lot but is extremely smooth and has been well cared for.

Anyway, I am beyond excited to start playing with this weapon. I have little experience with centerfire lever guns.

What sort of accuracy can I expect to get? I intend to repurpose my Leupold 1-4X20 for this gun and use it on mule deer. How does the microgrove rifling perform? Will it stabilize the Hornady Leverevolution ammo? Looks like it would be a legitimate 200y hunting arm with this stuff.

 

[troy fairweather]

it will shoot fine for the kill range. i have marlins that will shoot under a inch at 100 but most are a 1.5 to 2.5 inch gun. the micro grove is fine with the hdy ammo, i still like the remington 200 core lokt best. i will recommend u leave the scope off and get a peep sight, the scopes take all the handyness out of a lever gun. the peep will be fast and accurate. i killed a button buck 4 or 5 years ago at 260 with a marlin in 35 rem, i do not recommend that far.

 

[horsemen61]

Love mine I had see through rings installed with mine so I could use either or the irons or scope haven’t killed with it yet so far

 

[Merle1]

Love mine I had see through rings installed with mine so I could use either or the irons or scope haven’t killed with it yet so far

Oh boy. When there finally is a perfect, almost tailor-made competition for Sako Triace in .32S&W Long I'm a few thousands of miles away.
Benelli MP90/95, MP3S or any other ISSF race gun would be an equally unfair advantage in that, too. An even cheekier alternative would be to bring a Taurus Judge or S&W Governor loaded with .410 bird shot. After 15 rounds I'm pretty confident that the center of each button has a hole in it.

personally I dislike see thru mounts - they put the scope so high that it is difficult to get a proper cheek weld.
also, depending on the scope, there may be trouble seeing the iron sights between the bottom of the scope and the top of the irons.....

 

[jmr40]

It'll kill deer at 200, but is best used at 100 or less. Adding a scope does make it less handy, but if you're going to scope it a 1-4X20 will be the best way to go. I have a bunch of lever guns, but don't hunt with them except on rare occasions. Mine are all unscoped, but if I were serious about hunting with one I'd go with a 1-4X scope as well.

If the Leverevolution ammo shoots well in your gun it is as good as anything else, and most report that it shoots well. I don't see much 35 Rem ammo on shelves anymore, and the Hornady ammo is what I see the most of so it must be pretty good. Don't let their advertising fool you though. They show a 200 yard zero with 3" high at 100 yards. I haven't done the calculations, but 3" high at 100 is probably going to be 5-6" high at 150 to get back to zero at 200. You can do pretty much the same thing with conventional ammo from anyone else. Hornady has always been a little deceptive with the way they market their leverevolution ammo as being an advantage at longer range.

 

[BigBore44]

You recieved a very nice and capable rifle in a fantastic caliber. Accuracy will vary as Troy said. You “may” get 1” or better with factory ammo. If you handload, it’s much more likely. Id recommend H-4198 as a powder to start with. My 35, 444, and 45-70 all shoot best with this powder. As Troy also said, 200gr Remington Core-Lokts are about as good as you’ll get. But you could use Hornady or Sierra’s. Scoping that rifle does hinder its handiness. But it’s VERY minimal. All my levers are used for hunting and they are all scoped. I like the ability to see through the thick trees and zoom in to thread the needle if I have to or place the bullet exactly where I want it. Stay away from see-through mounts. Merle1 is exactly right. The cheek weld is horrible and if you have the scope, you won’t use the irons anyways. Use that Leupold scope with low mounts. I highly recommend DNZ mounts.

Again, congratulations on this gift. I think you’ll really love it.

 

[troy fairweather]

i use imr 3031 for 35 and 45/70 4198 is scarce around here. i wish someone would make a nice side mount for a scope like the old days,they using the sights are like normal.

 

[brewer12345]

I have dad's from 1958. It is a nice rifle. I think these are really 150 yard propositions. You could stretch it a bit, but if you are reaching out farther you really want something flatter shooting (I use a 30-06 for that).

I have not tried handloading jacketed for this cartridge. Still fiddling with cast loads. That said, the Hornady ammo is very good. Flat shooting for the caliber and accurate. I have heard that some Marlins will hang up with the leverevoluton ammo because of the length and shape of the bullet, but I have not experienced it. I used the Hornady stuff on a couple of pigs a few years ago and they were on the ground fast (terminal performance is good).

Personally, I think the Remington core lokt stuff has gone to pot in recent years, at least in this cartridge. I would try the Hornady first. If you reload, brass, dies and appropriate bullets are available. In a pinch you may even have success with .357 pistol bullets, but you would want to pick the most stoutly constructed ones on the market if you are using them for hunting. Rifle velocities tend to make pistol bullets explode on impact.

 

[Merle1]

I have dad's from 1958. It is a nice rifle. I think these are really 150 yard propositions. You could stretch it a bit, but if you are reaching out farther you really want something flatter shooting (I use a 30-06 for that).

I have not tried handloading jacketed for this cartridge. Still fiddling with cast loads. That said, the Hornady ammo is very good. Flat shooting for the caliber and accurate. I have heard that some Marlins will hang up with the leverevoluton ammo because of the length and shape of the bullet, but I have not experienced it. I used the Hornady stuff on a couple of pigs a few years ago and they were on the ground fast (terminal performance is good).

Personally, I think the Remington core lokt stuff has gone to pot in recent years, at least in this cartridge. I would try the Hornady first. If you reload, brass, dies and appropriate bullets are available. In a pinch you may even have success with .357 pistol bullets, but you would want to pick the most stoutly constructed ones on the market if you are using them for hunting. Rifle velocities tend to make pistol bullets explode on impact.

if you intend to reload the Hornady flex tips, be advised they may require shorting the case, if it is not a Hornady case.

 

[brewer12345]

if you intend to reload the Hornady flex tips, be advised they may require shorting the case, if it is not a Hornady case.

I have a box or two of them and had heard that. Frankly, I have enough boxes of factory stuff that it may be quite a while before I get to the flex tip bullets.

 

[Peakbagger46]

Thanks all. I am pretty set on going scoped, even though a bare lever gun looks better and carries easier. My mule deer hunting out here tends to be in somewhat open terrain and I’m not great with irons.

I do reload but may stick with factory loads for this rifle.

 

[cdb1]

I’ll take mine scoped, have never felt my scoped 336 was less handy than if it were unscoped, and second the idea of not using see through rings.

 

[Peakbagger46]

Pictures:

 

[herrwalther]

The 336 is a very nice rifle. I have the same, about 25 years younger, with a Leupold VXIII 1.5-5X 20mm scope. Mine happens to love Leverevolution ammo. Except that is very expensive stuff to buy from factory. Hodgdon makes it available in a separate powder to recreate your own ammo with a recommended charge of 41.4 when using a 200gr FTX bullet. I do recommend you start lower and work up to a sweet spot. I found mine at 39.1 grains. It has been several years since I sighted it in but I shot a dime sized 3 round group.

 

[BigBore44]

Pictures:

View attachment 815756 View attachment 815757

Beautiful rifle. Looking at the grain, I’d give it a good rub down with Ballistol. That stuff is worth it’s weight in gold for gun owners.

 

[Ks5shooter]

Great firearm I love mine you will love yours too!!

 

[Salmoneye]

Hornady .35 Rem brass is not one that is shorter than 'normal', and loading the FTX bullets in .35 Rem does not require shorter brass...

 

[Walkalong]

Hornady .35 Rem brass is not one that is shorter than 'normal', and loading the FTX bullets in .35 Rem does not require shorter brass...

Good to know.

 

[Gordon]

I am quite the .35 Rem fan boy. I had many over the years since my first one a remington model 8 which I shot a lion with . I used a Remington Model 14 then a 141 with great success too, and my 336 with tang sight and my TC super 14 too over the years. I am now down to two: the TC Super 14 with 2x Leupold LER and my beloved 600 Remington bolt Carbine with a 1-4x Leupold which does well under MOA accuracy at 100 yards with loads it likes. I use this as my "apple orchard gun" to harvest the local small Blacktail deer withoutout freaking neighbors with the one shot it takes and they never seem to run more than 50 feet and decades of yearly application. The 200 Remington Corlokts are big medicine on the biggest wild boar around here to 200 yards. That load bores a 2/4" hole thru deer and boar to 150 yards FWIW. I love the .35 Remington. It is NOT a .308 or .270 or other bigger stronger , louder long range rounds. And in the Remington bolt action I can get 2400 FPS easily with the 180 grain pointy bullets

 

[cdb1]

Sea Lion, African Lion or Mountain Lion?

 

[frankmako]

When I deer hunt I use a 1960 marlin 336 in 35 Remington. Been doing so for many mango seasons and have took many deers. The 200 gr Remington core lock factory load will get the job done out to 200 meters with open sights. Forget the scope learn to use the buck horn sight or put on a Williams rear sight. If you reload you can make some good loads for the 35 rem. For some unknown reason the 30-30 beat out the 35 rem with shooters. I like both and use both. 35 rem for hunting and the 30-30 for lever action Silhouette matches.

 

[Gordon]

Sea Lion, African Lion or Mountain Lion?

Mountain lion , back when it was legal on a cattle ranch in a heavy growth draw we tracked it to. first shot hit it in middle of lungs, second shot broke the neck .
The upper gun is only picture of it I can find, don't ask about the other "thing" ... The model 8 happened to be in my truck that day with pistols so I joined the tracking with it in 80s .

 

[cdb1]

When I deer hunt I use a 1960 marlin 336 in 35 Remington. Been doing so for many mango seasons and have took many deers. The 200 gr Remington core lock factory load will get the job done out to 200 meters with open sights. Forget the scope learn to use the buck horn sight or put on a Williams rear sight. If you reload you can make some good loads for the 35 rem. For some unknown reason the 30-30 beat out the 35 rem with shooters. I like both and use both. 35 rem for hunting and the 30-30 for lever action Silhouette matches.

I gotta ask, what is a mango season? I’ve never heard that before.

 

[frankmako]

many mango season ago. just an very old south florida keys conch saying for a year.

 

[Hillbillyz]

My 336 will shoot 1" groups at 100 yards all day long. Sierra 200 grain slugs over 2015 is the set up for me. I let my son use it, he dropped two deer with it one year. I'm not sure I'll see that rifle again.