[Bastogne71]

First day at the range with my 336CS with a Leupold 1.5-5X. The rifle worked well - no problems firing or feeding but the accuracy was a very disappointing 6 to 9 MOA for 5 shots. This was off a solid bench & bags and I checked to make sure the mount & rings were tight. So my question is how good does a typical 336 in 30-30 shoot or, in other words, what should I expect from my 336? I'm not asking what's the best you have ever done but what is a typical Marlin 30-30 on average capable of?

 

[rbyham]

What ammo? With rem 150s that is how all the 30-30 I have shoot with 170s around 2".

 

[Pard]

2-3 inches easy, at 100 yards. If your not getting that, either there is a problem with your ammo, our your sights

 

[FredT]

I would say with a scoped rifle I would expect 2.5 inches. If I could not do that good after trying everything to make it shoot good, the rifle would get sold or traded off.

 

[hub]

Agree with Pard. something is wrong. Just a suggestion. You might get yourself some of that wal-mart eleven dollar federal ammo and try it. It is pretty accurate stuff and don,t cost a lot. I just shot two great 3 shot groups with that ammo yesterday. moa without a scope. Another thing I would do before using up a lot of different ammo is give it a try without the scope. Good luck with trouble shooting.

 

[LuckenbachTexas]

1 1/2" or less at 100 yards

 

[me]

My 336 likes win 170 the best,the best i can tell ya is 2" @ 50 yds with iorn sites. it doesn't care much for remington and did ok with 160gr leverlotion. I don't think it your scope being Leopold. and I know you will cut a group in half with reloads but you know shooter can be the weakest link.I have taken a second gun to the range just to keep me honest.

 

[wreckhog]

If one can shoot a low end iron sight .22 with garbage ammo into a group at 50 yards blasting away, it is reasonable to do the same group with a scoped 336 at 100 taking your time. Really depends on how good you are, what your target is, etc. Some guys can shoot a 6-9" group at 100 yards with just the bead sight of a shotgun and a smoothbore. Just my opinion.

 

[Gunjunkie]

A lot of things come into play with lever 30-30.. bands being too tight on barrel is one.. like the others above some prefer one brand of ammo over another.. Federal Blue Box shoots well in mine.. 170's.. 150's are like shotgun pattern for some reason.. .. using bags you still move and 1 /16 of in makes huge difference .. hot barrel does too..

make sure you have the bags close to the reciever as you can never touching metal of the tube.. .. loosen the bands and just snug till they feel tight.. not even any effort..

Try different ammo .. A caldwell lead sled is the best for determining what a rifle is capable of and it eliminates 99% of human error on every shot..

2'' is acceptable from most rifle manufactures but as you will see on here we all strive for much better and most get it.. with lead slead and the right ammo you should be able to do under 1'' at 100.. 2" is very good for hunting rifle . the first shot from the cold barrel is the money maker.. .. only shoot three shot groups and let rifle cool at least 15 min between series .. I take a 22 along to play with while rifle cools..

 

[TMan51]

I'm not asking what's the best you have ever done but what is a typical Marlin 30-30 on average capable of?

Hmmm,

I've been shooting Marlins of various types and calibers on and off for about 45 years.

My current, and possibly last 336/.30-30, will shoot several variations of factory and handloaded ammo into 1.25 - 2.0" for five at 100yds, from a rest. It's not the best in the family, and it's not the worst. It wears a peep sight, and scoped it does better.

Your rifle:
Is it brandy new?
Has it been cleaned to bare metal in a while?
Are the barrel bands placing tension due to tight screws, or just as bad, is everything loose?
Some Marlin triggers came through WAY heavy. How is yours?

Seriously, I like Marlins, but I'm not a tatooed fanboy. It's a pretty rare 336 that won't do 2" or better at 100yds.

 

[Halwg]

1 1/2" or less at 100 yards

That's what I look for, but I'll accept 2" in a rifle that I have zeroed for 150 yards. If it's a 200 yard zero, it has to do under 1 1/2" for 100 yards. Anything worse than that and I get rid of the rifle

 

[LuckenbachTexas]

"and I get rid of the rifle"

Thats a sad reality but one I believe in. I don't keep any rifle I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a head shot with at 100 yards if I wanted.

 

[gb_in_tx]

For me, I want 1.5 MOA or better. I can live with 1.5, but being the handloader I am, if that's all I'm getting then I'll be tweaking the load to try and get it tighter.

If I was positive that I wouldn't be hunting at ranges out past around 125 yards, then I could see backing off of that accuracy requirement somewhat. The practical difference between 1 inch and 2 inches at 100 yards isn't all that significant when you are hunting deer at about that range. It is when you are trying to stretch that range out to 200 yards or so that it becomes an issue.

Seriously, I like Marlins, but I'm not a tatooed fanboy. It's a pretty rare 336 that won't do 2" or better at 100yds.

Pretty much true, as long as it hasn't been abused.

2'' is acceptable from most rifle manufactures but as you will see on here we all strive for much better and most get it.. with lead slead and the right ammo you should be able to do under 1'' at 100.. 2" is very good for hunting rifle . the first shot from the cold barrel is the money maker.. .. only shoot three shot groups and let rifle cool at least 15 min between series .. I take a 22 along to play with while rifle cools..

Yep. I also only do 3 shot groups on a cold barrel. I also bring along a boresnake and give it a quick cleaning after each group*. And I do bring along a .22 for entertainment and practice while the 336 cools. The only exception to that rule is when I'm shooting lightly loaded lead bullet plinkers, those I treat just like .22's. Well, except that they don't make an acceptable substitute for a real .22 between jacketed load groups. Cooling means cooling.

*I know that other people do just the opposite -- always shoot on a dirty barrel. I say: pick one -- clean barrel or dirty barrel -- and stick with it. Personally, I feel that it is better to clean your firearms after shooting at any rate, thus mine are clean by default. So, when I'm hunting, normally my barrel is clean and cold, at least for that first money shot. If you are going the other route, you'd have to clean it and then fire a "dirtying" shot afterward. In my situation, that is kinda awkward, they don't allow cleaning (other than running a patch through the bore, or a boresnake) at the range where I shoot (the range is in a wetlands area, thus they have to worry about run-off). So I'd have to shoot, go somewhere else to clean it, and then go back to fire the dirtying shot. Meh, I'll just assume that it is clean, and swab between goups while at the range.

 

[jpickar]

I would listen to Gunjunkie, Barrel bands too tight, forearm too tight. I have a 336 that does 4-5" at 100 yards. I have yet to work on it. All Marlins should shoot at least 1 1/2" at 100 yards if the front end is first cone over.

The 2/3 mag tube guns like the 336A or the Sporting carbines are good shooters generally because of the way the mag. tube is attached.
Here is what my 1978 336A does with factory Rem 150 gr. core-locs.

John

 

[Bastogne71]

Update

Thanks Hub. I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way to the range and picked up a box of Winchester 150gr. They shot into sightly less than 2" at 100yds so it looks like I might just keep this rifle after all. Ordered a set of dies today so I can try some handloads with a few different powders I have on hand to see what works best.

This is the only rifle I have with bands so I never even considered the barrel bands might be a problem. Thanks for that advice. Once I get a fair load developed, I'll have to tweek that as well. It will be a a couple of weeks before I can get back to the range but that will give me time to do some reloading once the dies arrive.

I'll keep you posted on the 336 saga! Again thanks for all the replies.

 

[hub]

Good for you. Sounds like things are all better. I learned about that barrel band thing by hanging out here on MO.

 

[Gunjunkie]

Update

Thanks Hub. I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way to the range and picked up a box of Winchester 150gr. They shot into sightly less than 2" at 100yds so it looks like I might just keep this rifle after all. Ordered a set of dies today so I can try some handloads with a few different powders I have on hand to see what works best.

This is the only rifle I have with bands so I never even considered the barrel bands might be a problem. Thanks for that advice. Once I get a fair load developed, I'll have to tweek that as well. It will be a a couple of weeks before I can get back to the range but that will give me time to do some reloading once the dies arrive.

I'll keep you posted on the 336 saga! Again thanks for all the replies.

Well try this then.. loosen the bands and just barely snug them do a three shot group with ammo it likes like the winnys.. ( in all honesty 170's seem to group better in most but not all rifles) then just a quarter turn at a time on one band after a 15 to 20 min cool down.. try again you can change the harmonics of the barrel using the bands to gain accuracy sometimes to perfection.. not all the time.. .. if it makes it worse.. back it off and try the other one.. I use a pencil to mark it so I know starting point and when I get the sweet spot found I use clear fingernail polish on it to help hold in position..

 

[hub]

Thankyou for that info Gunjunkie. I was not aware of all that. All i did is tighten the front barrel band to just snug and that already made a big difference. Now I will play with it some more. Thanks again. ;D ;D