HELP!! Marlin 336c Failure to Eject Problems

[The Bubsky]

Hi Gang,

I'm brand new to this forum....just registered to get some help with a Marlin 336c that has me totally befuddled. Here's the background & problem:

I bought this rifle new 6-7 years ago. It has digested about 75-100 rounds of factory .35 Rem from 2 different manufacturers. Until recently, it ran flawlessly, but now I am having consistent failures-to-eject. I have religiously cleaned the rifle, and most recently replaced the factory ejector with an after-market ejector. Took it to the range and fired 6 rounds with 4 failures-to-eject.

This is definitely NOT an operator error problem. It has nothing to do with the speed or force with which the lever is being cycled. The problem seems to ONLY occur after firing. It will cycle unfired rounds perfectly. What seems to be happening is that the spent casing is being extracted, but not ejected. The extracted casing seems to fall weakly into the receiver with no chance of clearing the ejection port. When the action works properly, sometimes the casing will come flying out & other times the casing will eject, but very weakly.

I know these rifles DO NOT have a reputation of malfunctioning, but I'm hoping somebody can give me a suggestion before I have to consult a local gunsmith. I've hunted with this rifle & I like it, but it's not giving me the confidence to take it out in the field when it's acting this way.

THANKS & I appreciate any input!

[Old No7]

First of all... Welcome to the campfire! Pull up a rock and join the fun!

One thought I had was if you could find a shooting buddy who has a 336, then try his ejector in yours and yours in his -- to see if the problem follows the ejector? Those Marlins are easy enough to work on (to remove the lever, bolt and ejector anyway) that you could do it in a kitchen and you would not need a gunsmith's help.

Another thought is about the chamber... Have you really cleaned it up good? Maybe the cases are sticking enough during extraction, that there's no oomph left on the ejector to toss it clear. I'd wrap some copper "Chore Boy" kitchen scouring pads (just a small piece) around a .35 bore brush and really make sure the chamber is clean. Won't hurt, could help, even if that's not the fix.

Lastly... Try another brand of ammo. Wondering if you changed brands/bullets?

I'll let some others chime in on this too, but be sure to report back with how you made out.

Oh, and some pictures would be a nice touch too -- as we all like to see pix!

Good luck, and tight groups,

Old No7

[J Miller]

Hi Gang,

I'm brand new to this forum....just registered to get some help with a Marlin 336c that has me totally befuddled. Here's the background & problem:

I bought this rifle new 6-7 years ago. It has digested about 75-100 rounds of factory .35 Rem from 2 different manufacturers. Until recently, it ran flawlessly, but now I am having consistent failures-to-eject. I have religiously cleaned the rifle, and most recently replaced the factory ejector with an after-market ejector. Took it to the range and fired 6 rounds with 4 failures-to-eject.

This is definitely NOT an operator error problem. It has nothing to do with the speed or force with which the lever is being cycled. The problem seems to ONLY occur after firing. It will cycle unfired rounds perfectly. What seems to be happening is that the spent casing is being extracted, but not ejected. The extracted casing seems to fall weakly into the receiver with no chance of clearing the ejection port. When the action works properly, sometimes the casing will come flying out & other times the casing will eject, but very weakly.

I know these rifles DO NOT have a reputation of malfunctioning, but I'm hoping somebody can give me a suggestion before I have to consult a local gunsmith. I've hunted with this rifle & I like it, but it's not giving me the confidence to take it out in the field when it's acting this way.

THANKS & I appreciate any input!

"The Bubsky",
Welcome to the forum.

Your clue is right there: "Until recently, it ran flawlessly, but now I am having consistent failures-to-eject. I have religiously cleaned the rifle, and most recently replaced the factory ejector with an after-market ejector."

Put the factory ejector back in and see what happens. If it functions properly then something is wrong with the fit of the aftermarket ejector.

Good luck with the Marlin.

Joe

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

If it is dropping cases instead of holding them until it hits the ejector then it is probably a problem with the extractor. Pull and disassemble the bolt making sure to clean the extractor groove. Check the hook to be sure it isn't worn or broken.

[The Bubsky]

Allow me to describe what I've done to address the problem in further detail - because all the suggestions I've received are excellent, but I think I've eliminated them as possible causes.

When the failures-to-eject first started, I immediately field stripped an thoroughly cleaned all working parts. I did find a VERY slight amount of rust in the throat & chamber (the rifle had been in the safe for a year, but I had cleaned the bore before I put it away). I scrubbed & polished the throat & chamber to eliminate that as a potential cause.

In addition, I purchased 100 rounds of Hornady LeverRevolution ammo to try to eliminate the Remington Core-Lokt (which I'd been using since I bought the rifle) as a potential problem. I shot 5 shot groups with each brand, cleaning after each group. The failures-to-eject still persisted - not always - but with at least once or twice with every 5 shot group regardless of which ammo I was using. I tried cycling the action at different speeds with varying amounts of force and could not find a pattern to what was causing the problem. Sometimes I would have perfect function from a very slow methodical lever throw, and other times the spent casing would weakly clear the ejection port or just fall out of the bolt/extractor and lay in the receiver. Same thing with a rapid forceful bolt throw...

Next, I tried to eliminate the factory ejector as a potential cause. I bought an after-market ejector and installed it with no better performance. In fact, the first six shots at the range produce 4 failures-to-eject with a brand new ejector!

The weird thing about all this is that when unloading the rifle, it will cycle out the entire magazine of live rounds without any problem at all. I'm only having failures on spent casings. That seems to be the one thing that's consistent throughout this whole process. This leads me to the question I SHOULD have asked in my first posting....here's the question:

Is there any chance that the casings are expanding enough that the extractor is barely holding onto them - so that even if the ejector is working properly (which it seems to be doing), the rim of the casing isn't being held well enough to eject which causes it to fall weakly down into the receiver??? That is kinda my perception of what is happening, but I don't know enough about these actions to troubleshoot any further.

Now that I've given full details.....let's chew on it again....fire away guys & THANKS!!
The Bubsky

[earlmck]

Yer a closin' in on it there, Bubsky. Gotta be the extractor not holding on firmly to the ones that don't eject. Expanding cases, though, is not it (if you got enough pressure to expand the case back at the butt end there, extraction would be the least of your problems! You'd have to be pushing 100K psi to do that ). I wonder if somehow the extractor got bent out a bit away from the bolt face and isn't gripping real good. Though I'm sure having trouble trying to reconcile the unfired rounds ejecting and the fired giving the problems...

I'm thinking if I had your symptoms, I'd be taking the extractor off and giving it a little bend inward before reinstalling to see if that helped. Along with making sure the extractor groove is real clean, which sounds like you already have done.
Hmmm....on second thought... when you get the bolt out, take a cartridge and see how the extractor is fitting in the extraction groove of the case when the cartridge sits on the bolt face. You should see something going on here if the extractor is not grabbing fully. If it is grabbing fully at this point, there has to be something in the extractor groove pushing the extractor out a bit. (At least, that's all I can think of...)

Good luck with 'er. And hey, it is good to have another 35 Rem shooter. When you get a chance, see if you can search out the thread posted by 86er last month where he shot some hogs with the 35. Way neat!

[BenT]

Earlmck is spot on. My first thought was crud or rust in the chamber keeping it from a smooth extraction. Which you later explained in better detail. The extraction is the problem. Reform the extractor like Earlmck says and play with it until you get it right, otherwise there still could be crud in your chamber. Marlin extractors have been know to need some fine tuneing right out of the box.

[The Bubsky]

THANKS Gents!
You have all been extremely helpful. I'm going to try out my amateur gunsmithing skills on the extractor and see what happens. At least now I have some confirmation that it's extraction and not ejection that seems to be the problem.
Many thanks!

[Hobie]

Yeah, I'm betting you inadvertently damaged the extractor when you had the bolt out to clean. Cleaning is good but this obsession with stripping the gun down to do so sometimes has unintended consequences. I'm thinking the mass of the bullet on the loaded cartridges gives the cartridge enough inertia to remain connected to the extractor so that the ejector gets a run at it.

[earlmck]

I've been thinking about this some more, Bubsky. Good old Marlin, much as I love their guns when they are working right, has some quality-control manufacturing issues. There is a chance (given your symptoms) that the extractor groove isn't cut quite deep enough. If this is the case, you can see it when you work the action empty: just watch the extractor as you close the action. It shouldn't move outward appreciably when you close the action. If it does move outward somewhat as you finish closing the action, it is probably an extractor groove not cut deep enough. But possibly the nose on the extractor is shaped such that it is forcing the extractor out. (that'd be a nicer thing to deal with: just a little rework with a file or dremel tool on the extractor nose)

I've been puzzled by your symptom of the unfired cartridges ejecting fine. My guess is that as you begin withdrawing the cartridge the extractor slides in and gets a better grip. This happens more easily with an unfired cartridge, with its little bit of slop, than it does with a fired cartridge which has expanded to fit your chamber. If this is indeed what is going on, then your rifle has just barely been working all along, depending on getting a better grab on the case during the withdrawal-from-chamber part of the process. Anyway, good luck with her, once again.