Two Marlin 336 Rifles - One Is A Clear Winner

On the Marlin Owners forum, I was told the 1955, Marlin 336 35Rem is a 'Holy Grail' rifle for some 35Rem Marlin fans. 1955 was the last year for Ballard rifling in the 35Rem's and the first year for a factory drilled & tapped receiver in 35Rem's. I'm not sure if the 336 30-30Win models followed the same protocol.
I found a well used 1955 35Rem 336RC c/w Lyman 66LA peep this past spring, needed some TLC, it's a shooter, I just need to get it out more often.

Great, great sights.

The ballard type rifling has a better seal on bullet to bore , this causes less gas blow by resulting in higher velocities.

I've owned an arm load of them, the older the better. Never had a bad one until I owned the newer ones with the safety. If I ever have another one it won't have a safety. The last two safety having ones jammed.

What is the reason that I have never seen a video of you reviewing a 336 in cal 30 30 ?, you only review the cal 35 or 357 mag., you don't like the 30 30?

Good video! Thanks

Is the 350 legend the new 35 rem ??? This might be the subject matter of a new video review ...

Wow, big difference on the bore diameters. I wouldn’t have expected that .

Do you have plans for a RM Marlin? It would be interesting to see how the same configuration 35 Remington RM Marlin performs next to these two with the cold Hammer forged barrel. I'm hoping that they will come out with this same configuration in a 35 Remington 24-in blued with Walnut. I'd love to see the comparison. Are you planning to get any of the other RM Marlins like this new sbl that just came out first? Thank you always enjoy your videos 👍

For those coming here much later for info, microgroove didn't start in the 336 until 1956. So there were a couple years of drilled-tapped non-waffle top receivers that had standard rifling; 1954 and 1955, if I remember correctly.

Wonderful rifles in an excellent clambering. Thanks George. I have trouble holding elevation using a bead front sight. I'm curious If you use a center of mass or 6 o'clock hold?--TPf

It oughtn't be incredibly difficult to get a mould for that large bullet. If there's none commercially available, most manufacturers will do a special size or style for a fee. I hate to think of a weapon going unfired simply because the projectiles are difficult to find. Heck, if I had a mould and bullet sizer to fit it, I would cast a bunch of them for you.

Excellent, Excellent channel. Huge help. I'm new to the Marlin game but I'm a quick study. I've found your channel to be a wonderful resource. I'm a new subscriber. Thank you very much for your submissions. They are both organized and your delivery is quite good!!

Unless your jacketed bullets are exceedingly hard, they will obturate and fit the bore. Another point I would like to make, I do not know how bad your hearing already is but if you continue to wear only earplugs your hearing will continue to degrade. The concussive force on your skull still transfers enough sound into your ear canal to damage your hearing. That is why people in the military who thought that ear plugs were going to protect them from concussive force still ended up with hearing loss. Because you have to both wear earplugs and earmuffs to fully protect your ears to the highest possible standard that we currently have. Short of being in the next County when the Firearms go off.

I had a 336 in .35 rem cal with a barrel band. It was a very poor shooter!

Additionally, I removed the barrel band and the gun immediately shoot higher. I shortened the barrel tube and only carried 3 rounds.

Deer season in Missouri it coming soon. I want to shoot one with the Marlin in 35 Winchester. I will practice in the next week. I am trying to match a handload to the Remington factory load. Except, I will load pointed plastic tipped loads thanks to Hornady.

Those groove and bore measurements on the older rifle were quite a shock to me. I am wondering what kind of varaitions there are on Ballard-grooved Marlin rifles and carbines. Are they all that way or might it be just that one? I have Ballard rifled Marlin "Supersport," or some name-like-that carbine, circa '52. It shoots very well with Remington factory 200-grain loads, my similar handloads, and also with my personal target plinking favourite, a 158-grain .357 inch diameter jacketed hollow point handgun bullet over 34 grains of Reloder Seven. If I I am creating blow-by with that load, how could I know it? If I am, then what does it matter? Should I stop?

Awesome. Really love the info.

Why would the larger bore rifle be bad for cast bullets but good with jacketed? I understand cast bullets for a given caliber are typically a thou larger diameter than jacketed, but I thought that would make jacketed worse off in a bore oversized for caliber.

I started out luckily at 16 years old to be a naturally gifted shooter. No ego, I suck at other things. When I qualified in Boot Camp in San Onofre, California I was trained to be better. Breathing, trigger pull. arm angle, distance of eye to sights. Consistency with those, then correcting the rifle (M16) is what made me the Highest Scoring Rifle expert in my platoon. I just was lucky enough to purchase a (JM) Marlin pre owned 336 REM 35 so thanks for the post and a shout out to the people with comments as I learned quite a bit and will try out some suggestions on my Micro groove rifling rifle. 🫡🇺🇸

I put a williams peep on my 1895 CB Marlin and didn’t like it. I then put it on my 336. I don’t know why, it did improve sighting on it.

Very interesting beautiful lever actions. Bore differences, is that unusual?

Put a bushel banner on my 336 in 30-30 . They drop in tracks. Also use the Hornady ammo

Hi I have one of those in 30-30 what’s up with the barrel difference on those and a typical 336 length wish and how can I find out the year model sir , thanks

This is a dam good video,thanku for sharing with us,god bless brother

Can you imagine how devastating .35 Remington would be against a bad guy!?!?

Thank you George. I was considering buying a 336 bl and you have convinced me it is a good choice. Great information.

You can say they were pretty close, but the microgroove put two bullets in the same hole twice.

Makes me wonder what a 30-30 with the older rifling would swag at.

What brand is that sight

Do you prefer williams foolproof sight or ranger point precision sight?

My 336 sure doesn’t load as easy as yours. You load smooth as butter. Is that because I have shot mine enough?

Didn't even say after all that what ammo what the?

A few years ago I had dicks sporting authority bore sight my Marlin 336 I was told it’s only accurate to about 50 yards,,is that true?

hey George , thanks for the great video. For that leaking roof- Eternabond tape-

Mine was a 336 Texan 35 which I bought in 1953 with micro groove when I was 15. Never thought of hand loading back then so it was all factory jacketed bullets.

Thanks for this labor intensive video you made for us. 👍

Years ago, my foreman really wanted my Springfield milspec 1911. Traded me a Marlin 336A 35 REM for it. Turns out it’s a 1953 model. First year of the new rifling, second year they were available in 35rem and it is not drilled and tapped for scope mount. I think I got the better end of that deal.

Did you start the new channel?

Why did you not show the last targets

Not a fan of the micro groove barrels. Ive had two marlins. One was a Glenfield model 30a and one was a 336 with the micro groove barrels, both 30-30 and neither would shoot straight. Shoot all over the place.

The bore size difference surprised me. On the off chance you and/or someone else reads this late comment...do you think the difference was common, or maybe a fluke/mistake in the manufacturing? My main question is how do you like the Williams sights?

Hi, I have a question for you friend, Wich peep sight do you prefer between Skinner sights or Williams sights?, best rewards!!

I had 336 made in 48 and i will never forgive myself for selling it. I got it for $600, what a dope

I have one with ballard rifling it jams frequently

What am I missing? The 2nd group was String that looked pretty bad to me—-so I watched it again and the first and Third were in one hole.
But what would these groups look like at 300 yards and beyond? Is the “great .35 Remington” meant to be a 50 to 75 yard gun?

What am I missing? The 2nd group was String that looked pretty bad to me—-so I watched it again and the first and Third were in one hole.
But what would these groups look like at 300 yards and beyond? Is the “great .35 Remington” meant to be a 50 to 75 yard gun?
JWC

I have a Marlin Cowboy in .32 H & R magnum with microgrooving. It’s okay with a jacketed bullet, but the lead bullets I loaded for it won’t even stay on the man sized target beyond 100 yards.
I guess I could try hard cast lead if they make such. Any ideas?
Frankly I hope they have stopped making those micro grooved barrels.
JWC

Very well done.