VikingsGuy
Well-known member
5 or 6 years ago I bought a Marlin 336 30-30Win. It was a nostalgia-buy as it reminded me of the gun I used to shoot on grandpa's farm in my teens. But I never could get this new Marlin to shoot decent. I knew going in it wouldn't be a tack driver, and since I was going to leave up at our backwoods cabin it wouldn't ever see a shot over 125yds. But despite trying a range of ammo and bullet weights the gun rarely shot less then 5" groups at 100yds, too scattered to even view it as "zeroed". I essentially gave up on it and it languished in the back of the gun safe.
I recently stumbled across this thread (http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/56371-poor-accuracy-336-a.html) where a guy blamed restriction from an overly tight forearm stock and associated barrel bands as the root cause. I checked, and my forearm piece was really tight on the barrel. I spent a half hour with some sandpaper+dowel along with a dremel polishing tip and took it out to shoot. To my surprise it now shoots 3 different ammo types at less than 1.5" at 100 yds. I am happy to say the gun will be heading north on our next trip.
I was surprised about how much a difference there was with such simple steps. I know that minimizing barrel contact is important for accuracy, but viewed it as more find tuning than gross correction. If any of you are struggling with a poor shooting late model Marlin lever gun I suggest you give the link a look.
I recently stumbled across this thread (http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/56371-poor-accuracy-336-a.html) where a guy blamed restriction from an overly tight forearm stock and associated barrel bands as the root cause. I checked, and my forearm piece was really tight on the barrel. I spent a half hour with some sandpaper+dowel along with a dremel polishing tip and took it out to shoot. To my surprise it now shoots 3 different ammo types at less than 1.5" at 100 yds. I am happy to say the gun will be heading north on our next trip.
I was surprised about how much a difference there was with such simple steps. I know that minimizing barrel contact is important for accuracy, but viewed it as more find tuning than gross correction. If any of you are struggling with a poor shooting late model Marlin lever gun I suggest you give the link a look.
