ballistics question? *pics added*

[Texgunner]

I recently bought a 1949 Marlin 336SC in .30-30 cal. I shot it for the first time yesterday. The rifle only has the original sights and the rear is the buckhorn-type with elevator. I was shooting from a rest at about 40 yards, holding right on the center of the bullseye. To get the rounds in the bull at that range I had to completely remove the elevator from the rear sight and let the sight rest on the barrel. With Winchester 170 gr. Power Points, I had a group of four clustered around the bull at about 1 1/2". Can someone tell me how this might work out at around 100 yards? The old gal functioned beautifully and I'm really tickled to have my first lever gun. Thanks for your help, Gary.

here's a pic:

[1886]

Welcome to the forum and "The Club". Assuming 2200fps muzzle velocity and striking approx. .5" high at 50yrds, your rounds should be dead on at 100yrds. The round would drop approx. 8.2" at 200yrds. 8" is approx. the size of the heart lung area of the average Whitetail. Regards, 1886.

[Texgunner]

Thanks for the welcome and the info 1886! That's good news to me; my place consists of about 35 acres of pasture and my part of 12 or 13 acres of a huge postoak and blackjack oak woods area. There are lots of whitetail deer and I did shoot a 7 point buck of about 110 lbs. a few years ago. I used a Maadi AKM with a Kobra red-dot sight, so you can see I'm not really a hunter, lol. But, seriously, 100 yards would be about as long a shot as I'd have out there. I would like to get different sights in the future. Do you know much about the Brockman Generation 3 aperture sights? They are nice looking but expensive. Again, thanks for the nice welcome.
Gary

[1886]

You are most welcome sir. I do not know much about the Brockman but other members will/do. I have heard very positive remarks about that sight. Is the top of the receiver drilled and tapped to accept the Brockman unit? Regards, 1886.

[Texgunner]

No 1886, the top is not drilled and tapped unfortunately.
Gary

[salvo]

Welcome!
I have a set of Brockmans on my Guide Gun, top quality sights and I love the sight picture with the winged front sight. The front post was rather wide I narrowed it down a bit to give me a finer sight, Top notch sights, may even be worth it to D&T but since it has the holes for a receiver sight I think a nice vintage Lyman would be perfect for that rifle.
My first levergun was/is a 1949 336A that my Dad bought new. He put a set of King's full buck-horns on it, I don't have the hart to change em Great old rifles and still shooting tight groups.

[Griff]

Generally speaking, the top of an iron front sight would be ¾" above the centerline of the bore. If your's is lower, you might just need a slightly taller front sight to mate up with the factory rear. Variables include weight & contour of the barrel. If at 40 yards you needed to remove the lifter, @ 100 you might be just about right by using the bottom step, depending on just what the graduated steps are spaced at.

Welcome to the forum. And thanks for postin' pics of that gorgeous ol' levergun!

[Bruce]

A Marlin dated that age should have the non reflective waffle pattern on top of the receiver w/o any screw holes. I would not have it D&T'd. It does look like it has the srew holes for the side mounted receiver sights, which is the way I would go.

[1886]

That rifle looks to be in nice shape. It also appears to be drilled and tapped for a side mount receiver sight. If it is original, I would not D&T the top of the receiver. You did not asked, just my .02 cents. Take Care, 1886.

[Hobie]

Dude! That is one cooooool rifle. PLEASE don't drill and tap the top. Just get a classic side mount receiver sight like the Lyman 66LA and you probably won't have to replace the front sight (especially if you zero to attain maximum point blank range).

[RKrodle]

Welcome aboard Texgunner. That's a nice old Marlin. If your near the Greenville area in Texas let me know, I have a 200 yd range at the house and you can see exactly where your hitting at 100 yards. Also have rifle's with a couple of different types of peep sight that you could look at and try.

[rjohns94]

thats a beautiful rifle. I wish you much success with it.

[O.S.O.K.]

Hey Tex welcome to the board!

I will add my two cents here - please do not drill and tap that rifle for a scope. It is an old collectible rifle. If you really want a scoped Marlin, you could easily trade for a newer one here in the classifieds that's factory drilled and tapped. There are a lot of members here that would love to have that rifle!!

And you mention hunting with an AK - did you come over from gunsnet? If so, there are several gunsnet members here already.

If you're intent on keeping your nice rifle, but want better sights, I'd follow the advice already given and install a Lyman or Williams side-mount aperture sight. You will like the improved accuracy that it will give.

Keep posting!

[kimwcook]

Don't tap that rifle.

[Texgunner]

Wow, thanks for all the great comments and compliments! Okay, please don't worry, I WON'T DRILL AND TAP that receiver. I'd never really even considered that, since it does have the side mounting screws already there. I do respect these old guns too much to do that, so a side-mounted sight is for sure in her future. I also noted that the front sight is missing its sight hood for some reason and I may replace that as well.

RKrodle, I live in Milam county, 30 miles SE of Temple. Thanks for the invitation, I'd love to shoot on your range. Someday, I may take ya up on that

O.S.O.K., I am registered over at Gunsnet(as well as many other boards, lol) but I hang out more at the FAL Files and Surplusrifleforums.com.

When I started thinking about getting a Marlin lever gun, I thought that I might get one parkerized, just for a different look. Then I came across this rifle and the owner told me he'd painted it with WalMart flat-black spray paint(!?!) and had "thinned" the fore-end some. Well, his pics were sort of dark but everything else about the Marlin sounded good so I took a chance. And, I'm glad that I did; I cant stop pulling her out of the safe and "fondling" her, lol. I hope to post here often and I'll be picking your brains for valuable info I'm sure. I'd love to find a nice old 336 in .35 Rem too, hopefully set up with a scope and still in its original finish. Time and money are all I need
Thanks again, Gary

PS. I guess it's just being kinda silly but when I first got my C&R license and started buying milsurps, just for grins, I'd give them girl names that were appropriate for their country of origin. Then, along came this fine old American rifle. And, now, her name is Deborah, "lil' Debbie" for short. So, Lil' Debbie, meet the guys!

[Texgunner]

Oh, I did forget this question about the Lyman 66LA sight. I shoot left-hand, so will this sight work for me? I noticed that Midway's catalog says that some rifles might still need to be drilled even with the existing holes in the receiver side.

http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/116045

I suppose the good folks at Midway can address these for me. Thanks.
Gary

[Nath]

A proper Marlin with the correct amount of wood up front

Take that camera into them woods of yours come the time

Nath.