I've had a few guys comment and ask about my rifle in the pic with my deer I shot this year, so I thought I would tell you about it.
I traded for this 1955 Marlin 336 in .35 Rem back in the spring. I was looking for a project gun to make my own and I lucked into this deal.
The original gun was very well worn with bluing mostly gone and stock cracked, broken and missing pieces. When I received it I shot a few shots thru it and made sure it was functional which it was. Shot great with several loads and was butter smooth. Just looked bad.
I know some guys say to leave an old gun as is but not me. Its not really a collectors item or anything special, just an old worn gun.
So I stripped it down and had it cerakoted in tungsten grey and graphite black then added a Boyds stock, paracord sling, Leupold scope, etc.
It did have a rifling issue by the bore so I cut it to 18". Someday I may put the front sight back on.
Turned out great and shoots awesome. I lucked out as this one has Ballard rifling and was drilled and tapped for a scope. Only year that combo was available as far as I know.
Last pic is of an RCBS 35-200 fngc bullet on left cast of wheelweights with a little tin shot into some water jugs. Stopped in jug 5 after destroying the first two completely. Load is 35.0 gr IMR3031 going right at 1950 fps. It is the same load used to shoot the deer in my other post and dropped him in his tracks with a low neck shot. The two bullets on right are Lee C358-200 (RCBS copy) but were cast softer and shot faster. They didn't hold up as well and the one on the right over 2000 fps went thru all jugs but shed a lot of lead in the process. the one in the middle was shot at 1800 fps and faired a little better but is still too soft.
old gun
I traded for this 1955 Marlin 336 in .35 Rem back in the spring. I was looking for a project gun to make my own and I lucked into this deal.
The original gun was very well worn with bluing mostly gone and stock cracked, broken and missing pieces. When I received it I shot a few shots thru it and made sure it was functional which it was. Shot great with several loads and was butter smooth. Just looked bad.
I know some guys say to leave an old gun as is but not me. Its not really a collectors item or anything special, just an old worn gun.
So I stripped it down and had it cerakoted in tungsten grey and graphite black then added a Boyds stock, paracord sling, Leupold scope, etc.
It did have a rifling issue by the bore so I cut it to 18". Someday I may put the front sight back on.
Turned out great and shoots awesome. I lucked out as this one has Ballard rifling and was drilled and tapped for a scope. Only year that combo was available as far as I know.
Last pic is of an RCBS 35-200 fngc bullet on left cast of wheelweights with a little tin shot into some water jugs. Stopped in jug 5 after destroying the first two completely. Load is 35.0 gr IMR3031 going right at 1950 fps. It is the same load used to shoot the deer in my other post and dropped him in his tracks with a low neck shot. The two bullets on right are Lee C358-200 (RCBS copy) but were cast softer and shot faster. They didn't hold up as well and the one on the right over 2000 fps went thru all jugs but shed a lot of lead in the process. the one in the middle was shot at 1800 fps and faired a little better but is still too soft.
old gun
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