older Marlin 336 with pitted rifling. lead or jacketed?

[Rice-n-Beans]

Good evening gentlemen,I'm a long time lurker, first time poster on the lever-guns forum. Ive learned a tremendous amount of information through this past year just using the search feature, but this time I think I would like some of your pro input.

I have an older Marlin 336 in 30-30 that has to be at least 30 years old, its bore is pitted and there are a few spots where I can see really BAD pitting disrupting the rifling. It was my first rifle and I really neglected the poor thing, and it shows.

I'm now into reloading since I purchased an 1894c, and a few Ruger Blackhawks all in .357, and thought why not start reloading for the 30-30. So fellas, here is my question, since the bore is in not so great shape, would my rifle benefit from the over sized cast lead bullets rather than factory sized jacketed bullets? Im thinking the bigger sized lead would be better for any accuracy I can get in my bore being how bad the rifling looks. I plan on purchasing the RCBS cowboy dies if the consensus is lead, or the Lee collet dies if its Jacketed.

Your input will be highly appreciated,thank you.

[AJMD429]

Welcome to the forum.

I have no expertise on such matters, because I've never neglected a gun enough to have the barrel pitted...

I also have a Bridge and Large Statue for sale in the Classifieds...

Seriously, though - I have no answer, but will eagerly await the responses. Should be an interesting thread.

[J Miller]

Rice-n-Beans,

Welcome to the forum.

I'll stick to jacketed bullets since I've little (virtually none) experience with cast bullets in rifles.

Clean the bore thoroughly. Then go buy some factory ammo and shoot the rifle for accuracy. 30-30s are pretty forgiving and I'll wager a box of primers it will shoot better than you think.

I'm basing this on the mil surp rifles I've owned with bores like yours. Most of them would still shoot very good with proper ammo.

Once you get an idea of how it shoots with the factory ammo you'll have a basis to start reloading the nice new once fired brass you have.

Joe

[86er]

I have one with pitted rifling that shoots acceptably well with jacketed ammo. I do not recall the potential it may have had, but in the current condition it shoots accurately enough for 150 yd hunting and plinking without being concerned.

[TedH]

If jacketed bullets do not shoot to your satisfaction, or the pitting causes excessive fouling, you can have it rebored to 356 Win. or 38-55 for a very reasonable fee.

[jlchucker]

I would think that Marlin 336 barrels om 30-30, new, should be pretty easy to come by. Any competent gunsmith could swap your barrel for not too much money. You most likely wouldn't need any other parts. Check Numrich or some of the other suppliers. At one time, Marlin would have done this for you, but nowadays, with them closing their North Haven plant and moving the operation out of state, who knows?

[stretch]

Here's my not-so-expert opinion:

I'd shoot it as-is with jacketed and see:

a) How accurate it is and
b) How badly it fouls.

If it's accurate and doesn't foul, keep shootin' it.
If it's accurate and fouls, I might try polishing the bore
to see if you could get the rough edges off of the pits,
then reshoot and see if it still shoots well and if the fouling
is better. I might just try some Never-Dull or Brasso followed
by Flitz or jeweler's rouge. I'd guess you'd want to polish the
rough edges off of the pits without further destroying the rifling.

If it isn't accurate, replace or rebore as suggested above.

I think you oughta try polishing it so that the rest of us can
learn whether or not that acutally works!!

Good Luck with it........

-Stretch

[Rice-n-Beans]

Thank you for the welcomes I appreciate all the great information you all have given me. J.Miller and stretch have a pretty good idea, I have about 15 to 18 factory 170 grain Remington Core-loks in my gun safe. Ill shoot them and see how good or bad they do. Ill also check after my session and see how bad the fouling is, hopefully not horrible, but if it is really bad, ill just save my money on reloading dies and powder and cruise the pawn shops for a decently priced used 336 in better condition than mine. I think what re-barreling might cost me, a pawn shop 30-30 could come out to the same or just a lil' bit more.

I have to add, I baby my guns now that I have aged. I feel like kickin' my backside for letting that 336 get that way. HmMMMm, live and learn

Thanks again folks.

[J Miller]

Rice-n-Beans,

My current No4 Mk1 is a 1943 vintage Canadian Long Branch model with the 2 groove barrel. The bore looks OK in some places and really bad in others. This old war vet has been in the country since before they were required to have importers stamps on them, so only the good Lord knows how much of what it has fired. I've had it since 1977.

After a shooting session you could see really heavy copper wash on the leading edges of the lands. And moderately heavy elsewhere. I'd run some Hoppe's saturated bronze brushes through it to loosen up the fouling then a patch also saturated with Hoppe's threw it to really soak the bore then stand it on the muzzle on a folded rag. I'd let it sit over night. That would allow the solvent to loosen and dislodge the copper deposits. A couple good cleanings leaving it sit over night and it would be good to go.
I never ran any form of bore paste, or polish, or lapping compound threw it. My thoughts on that are this bore is already worn badly enough so I'll just let the bullets smooth it out.
Over the years the amount of visible copper wash gradually diminished.

Last year in a get together in IN 2ndovc (?) let me try some of his cast loads. I couldn't hit anything with them, but I didn't have any lead in the bore either. So, the jacketed bullets have smoothed the bore out over the years.

That is my suggestion. Just shoot it and clean it. Then repeat as often as you feel like it.

Joe

[t.r.]

A good smith can rebore the barrel to 32 Special.

T.R.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I would try jacketed first and if no joy, A replacement barrel should be an easy and inexpensive fix. Assuming the condition of the rest of the rifle warrants it. I am thinking possible wall hanger here.

[fisheadgib]

A 30 year old 336 is not really old. I'm sure it has "micro groove" rifling and many think that you can only shoot jacketed bullets in it to begin with. Cast bullets are cheaper and I have had no trouble with shooting cast in mine. I water quench wheel weights and end up with an 18 to 20 BHN. I also shoot lots of jacketed but my bore is in good shape.(mine is a 1975 model) I would say try hard cast and see how it works, and go to jacketed if you have to.

[olyinaz]

Honestly it all hinges on how it's shooting. If it wont shoot I'd favor the idea of having it re-bored since it's your first rifle. Twenty or thirty years from now you'll be glad you salvaged the old girl.

Best,
Oly

[Blaine]

Clean all the copper out of the barrel, check the crown for nicks (you can use a mouse ball and valve grinding compound to smooth the crown) and shoot it. I'll bet it shoots better than you need. Get some jacketed, or gas checked .311s and have a field day...

[CEMENTHEAD]

Shoot it and see if it's up to your standards.

You could fire-lap it.

And if those are not a suitable option, re-bore to 35-30/30. (equivalent to 35 Remington)

Thanks, Tom