Cabelas Gun Library find Marlin 32 Special

[vancelw]

On my way home from MT I stopped at the Cabelas in Sidney, NE. (I feel the same about NE as Gene Hackman in the "Unforgiven", but I was dodging bad road conditions)

Found a 1949 Marlin 336 in .32 Special. Factory D&T'd for receiver sight, never drilled for sling, never drilled for scope. From the looks of the lint in the action and barrel, it looks like somebody got grandpas gun out of the closet and sold it right away.

Guy manning the Gun Library was very personable and actually knocked 25 off what I thought was an already reasonable price. Only problem is a broken butt plate but that gives me something to search for. I see mixed reviews about the reproduction ones.

Was in a town about 100 miles away for a few days last week and found a shop that had Speer 170 gr FN and RCBS dies in stock. At a decent price, too, since they had been in stock so long.
I've got two boxes of ammo, but may buy some more just for the brass. I'm anxious to clean this thing up and shoot it.

[Chuck 100 yd]

That is a nice one. I have it`s twin sister. The shape of the front of the lever,thin hammer,the thin stamped sheet metal rear sight and waffle top are all marks of the very early 336`s. I have several of them. Good shooters all. Enjoy!

[vancelw]

This is the first time I noticed that thin hammer. Not a big Marlin fan, but these nice, originals are getting harder to find. A co-worker asked me about D&T-ing one in .30-30 last year and I begged him not to . Told him, if he absolutely needed a scope to sell it to someone who would appreciate it and buy a newer gun. He didn't realize how much it might bring.

[Streetstar]

Nice! Is that a 24" barrel too? Or an optical illusion due to the short mag

[vancelw]

Had to check...but, yes, I believe it is 24"

[Dan 444]

With the 24" barrel, I think that is a 336A model. I have a 1952 336A that is very accurate with Speer & Hornady 170g, as BTB .323"-170g cast.

Good find!
Dan

[vancelw]

With the 24" barrel, I think that is a 336A model. I have a 1952 336A that is very accurate with Speer & Hornady 170g, as BTB .323"-170g cast.

Good find!
Dan

It says model 336 - A DL 32 Special on the barrel.

[Tycer]

Pretty. By the looks of the front wood it's pregnant. Can I have one of the babies?

[vancelw]

Pretty. By the looks of the front wood it's pregnant. Can I have one of the babies?

Hey! That's my girl you're talking about....

She may be old, but she still deserves respect!

BTW, she's just big-boned.

[6pt-sika]

I had a 336SC of 1950 vintage . Never fire jacketed in the one I had but it surely liked the RCBS 32-170GC and the Ranch Dog 323-170GC . Used the RCBS bullet with SR4756 to kill a whitetail doe or two about 10 years ago . I had a Lyman peep on mine .

[6pt-sika]

With the 24" barrel, I think that is a 336A model. I have a 1952 336A that is very accurate with Speer & Hornady 170g, as BTB .323"-170g cast.

Good find!
Dan

It says model 336 - A DL 32 Special on the barrel.

Hmmm with the "A-DL" designation it should have been checkered on both the pistol grip and forend .

[vancelw]

With the 24" barrel, I think that is a 336A model. I have a 1952 336A that is very accurate with Speer & Hornady 170g, as BTB .323"-170g cast.

Good find!
Dan

It says model 336 - A DL 32 Special on the barrel.

Hmmm with the "A-DL" designation it should have been checkered on both the pistol grip and forend .

I was wondering if DL meant deluxe. The wood is definitely old, so if it was changed out, it was a long time ago.

[2X22]

A dandy rifle!

I'm a big fan of Cabela's gun library, found a couple absolute dandy's there in the last few years! Compared to GB, what I found was a real bargain at 1/2 the GB price.

Which reminds me, I need to go shopping in my local Cabela's GL....

[6pt-sika]

With the 24" barrel, I think that is a 336A model. I have a 1952 336A that is very accurate with Speer & Hornady 170g, as BTB .323"-170g cast.

Good find!
Dan

It says model 336 - A DL 32 Special on the barrel.

Hmmm with the "A-DL" designation it should have been checkered on both the pistol grip and forend .

I was wondering if DL meant deluxe. The wood is definitely old, so if it was changed out, it was a long time ago.

Look at it real close it may have been used enough that handling has worn the checkering down to where it's barely visible anylonger !

[vancelw]

It hasn't been handled nearly that much.

[6pt-sika]

Generally all the A-DL and SD guns I've seen and or had my hands on had some decent figure in the wood as well as checkering . After looking at your pictures closer the wood on your gun appears to be no different then a regular A or SC gun .

I would also doubt that the gun was factory D&T'd for scope mounts unless the gun was sent back to the factory . Marlin didn't regularly send the 336's out D&T until about 1955 I believe . They would however if you shipped it back do the work in the 50's for something like $2.50 .

[6pt-sika]

You'll find a good many of the old gun makers seriel numbered the wood as well as the metal . However I am pretty sure by 1945 or so Marlin had given up the practice .

[vancelw]

It's not D&T'd for a scope mount...if it was I wouldn't have bought it. It is factory D&T'd for a receiver sight.

A quick Google search or Marlin 336 A-DL or ADL reveals several instances of .32 Specials being marked A-DL with plain wood. The 'Experts' continually argue over whether it has an A-DL barrel and whether or not the receiver sight holes were done at the factory or not. Based on the appearance of this one, I believe it was done at the factory. There's no marks where a receiver base rubbed on the metal. If it had been D&T'd after the fact, I think the sight would either still be there or evidence of it would be there. This gun doesn't look like it's been handled in years.

[vancelw]

Marlin Advertisement lg .jpg

Marlin Advertisement cr.jpg

Looks like the only difference between the A and A-DL models was the checkering and the sling swivels.
They probably just used the same barrel for both models on the .32 Special.

[JerryB]

Looks like you made a great buy that day. A fine classic rifle.

[Dan 444]

Just as info, here list of the Marlin 336 model letters and their differences (from Marlinowners.com):

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marli ... ences.html

Dan

[earlmck]

Looks like the only difference between the A and A-DL models was the checkering and the sling swivels.
They probably just used the same barrel for both models on the .32 Special.

I have two of the plain-Jane 336A rifles made a year later than your new baby, Vance. Out of curiosity I looked at the way their barrels are stamped to see if they had any mention of DL. Nope. The 35 Remington, which would have been made early in the year by serial number (G6xxx) is stamped ---NEW HAVEN CONNECTICUT USA - MODEL 336A - CAL 35 REM ---

The 30/30 which would have been made later in the year I presume (ser. # G40xxx) is stamped ----- MODEL 336 - A - 30 - 30 - CAL ____________ _ _ _

So maybe the barrel stamping was somewhat up to the whim of the fellow doing the stamping that particular day. And I'd bet they also had a great gob of barrels sitting on the shelf and just grabbed one out when they wanted one to screw onto a newly completed receiver. Somebody just pulled out a barrel originally intended for the 336A DL and plonked it onto a receiver intended for a plain 336A.

And a big congrats on your find! That is my favorite configuration in a levergun. And though I might prefer the slim Winchester stock for carrying, for shooting I really like the fatter fore-end.

[Blaine]

[vancelw]

As I clean the dried gunk off of this I like it better and better. Gonna test fire it after this initial cleaning, then I think I need to disassemble and really get after it. The firing pin is a little sticky with all the dried oils in it.

Earl, the little bit of Googling I did seems to reveal a common occurrence of the 336 A - DL marking on the .32 Special rifles. I haven't found much on other calibers being marked in a way that appears erroneous.

I've seen multiple inquiries going back 10 years or more where folks have asked about a 32 they bought or were considering. Several have the A - DL marking but plain wood and no sling swivels. Quite a few of them are '49 models.

It would be interesting to know Marlin's production numbers for the .32 Special. They may have decided it was too much trouble to mark the barrels separately or someone simply got carried away...

It's just comical to me how many "heated" discussions and dogmatic replies I found
To paraphrase Mic McPherson...someone says it, someone repeats it, someone writes it down....now it's undeniable fact!

[vancelw]

Here's a picture I found of a true 1949 336 A - DL

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... =firefox-a

[Blaine]

Here's a picture I found of a true 1949 336 A - DL

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... =firefox-a

There were exactly 1,363 of those made, with stolen parts, on the South Side of Chicago by an outlaw biker gang.

[vancelw]

Wow....that means that 100 I spent is worth much more, right? Super rare biker guns. Whodathinkit?

[TedH]

Me likey.

[earlmck]

It's just comical to me how many "heated" discussions and dogmatic replies I found
To paraphrase Mic McPherson...someone says it, someone repeats it, someone writes it down....now it's undeniable fact!

Isn't that the truth!

That's interesting what you found about the 336A - DL mis-marking being found on the 32 Special. I'm betting some old boy was doing the barrel stamping job at the Marlin plant and just way over-achieved the day he was stamping DL - 32 Spcl barrels. And the production folks just had to go ahead and use them up however they could.

And from that ad you found I can see why Marlin got resistance selling those DL things. $15 whole dollars extra for just a carry strap and some scratches on the stock

[windy]

i have a 336a in 32ws, too; a 1950 model--no mention of "dl" on mine. you might wanta give the leverevolution 165gr ammo a try; hornady boys reported they got 2400 ft/sec out of their 24" test barrel. that's just about 300 savage performance, where i come from. mine got some pretty nice groups with that stuff; best, i think, of the factory ammo i tried. like yours, mine is strictly iron sights--a williams peep; can't even guess what kinda groups i'da shot with a scope. decent trigger, and somehow the longer barrel seems to balance better than the 20" carbine. i've filled out my limit in the 336a's; got a 1950 35 rem first, the 1950 32ws, and finally, a 1949 30-30 (that last one was d&t'd, though; it now sports a 4x redfield teevee-screener). i've danged few bolt guns that can beat 'em on paper. don't know what you paid fer yours; mine came pretty cheap, but that's bucuz of local prejudices. seems folks around here shoot kevlar deer, and need magnums.
mind yer topknot!
windy

[vancelw]

windy, I have no prior bias towards .32 Special...I just wanted one because I knew I could find a vintage one for 200- 250 less than a .30-30. I was looking for a 94, but stumbled upon this fine Marlin.

I have some Hornady FTX ammo. It's on sale right now and cheaper than buying brass+bullets (let alone powder and primers.) Once I shoot it up I will use strictly reloads. The brass is normal length.

I shot 4 rounds through the 336 yesterday. Don't want to use too much ammo until I get the receiver sight on it. I was pleased with the way it cycled. I've seen people complain of the recoil, but I thought it was very pleasant to shoot. Of course, I've been shooting .35 Whelen, 405 Win, 325 WSM, and .348 Win .

[jnyork]

I have a 336 A-DL, wood is checkered.

[Bloodhound]

Marlin made a fair number of the A-DL with non checkered wood...I don't know why but I have seen a few like that. We might also ask why Marlin chose to re-introduce the 336A as a cut rate carbine in the later part of the last century when the designation had previously indicated a 24 inch barrel with a 3/4 mag.......

But it sounds like you have a very nice find...and in .32 you would have no trouble selling it should you decide not to keep it.

Congrats!