Marlin 336 RC discovery
I think I accidentally stumbled into a diamond inthe rough with this one.
Here's my story:
in the early 90's I was cruising the hock shops around Houston when I saw a Marlin 336 with a cracked stock. After argueing with the guy behind the counter about value vs cost to repair, I left the store with it @ $75. Took it home & put it in the safe & simply forgot about it.
This weekend I decided that I needed to thin the herd & decided to see what it would take to patch up that Marlin to sell. Took it out and looked it over to see that:
1) Damn, the stock is broken through the tang all the way back to near the butt with a diagonal break that was poorly patched up
2) Damn, both of the ears that insert into the receiver are completely broken off, had been poorly replaced with a coupleof peices of pine that also broke off.
3) Damn, the inside of the tang is seriously messed up with some kind of pooky from the repair (it must have been a kid doing the work after breaking the stock)
4) Damn, all of the metal surfaces have been spray painted with black paint. No wonder it looked so good at first glance.
5) Ok, it seems mechanically sound & I don't see anything that I can't repair & make look good with a little careful craftmanship (ok, a lot of craftmanship)
6) Hummm, the wood is a very nice chunk of Black Walnut rather that the butt ugly birch/beech.
7) Ok, the forearm is in nearly perfect condition & is the old style wide beavertail used on the RCs ... nice!
I look some more,
1) Hummmm, it has a dovetail bead front sight and simi-buckhorn rear sight, that's a bit unusual as they look to be original ...
2) It isn't drilled & tapped for a scope or receiver sights ... kinda odd, that, they started drilling all of them for scopes in the mid 60's or so,
3) The top surface of the receiver is textured with an weird wavy pattern ... what's up with that? Kinda of a neat anti glare treatment though.
4) Damn, its got a three digit serial number (285) with an "F" letter code pre-fix. Damn ... Marlin quit doing that in the early 70's with like AC or AD, "F" will be kinda early.
5) What? 4 wide groove barrel ... !!! pre Micro-Groove"!!!???!!! The bloody thing was made before the mid 50's! And the bore looks very good!
I start to get a little excited & go online for some research ... It may not be a part of the herd that I cull ... because,
1) F285, that means it was made in 1949 ... WOW, Second year of manufacture!, Made in first quarter of the year!
2) Cool, that wavy pattern is called a waffle pattern & I was right, anti-glare
3) I was right, pre Micro-groove, "Ballard" rifling for lead bullets ... Outstanding!
4) 4 grooves rather than the normal 6 grooves. Kinda rare/unusual ... I dig unusual.
I think its time for a very careful restoration project & that I will end up with something to be proud of. So much for thinning the herd.
Just goes to show that you never know what you'll find in a hock shop or hole in the wall gunshop. You just got to stop & check it out.
MLG
post some before and after pics so we can all see your progress of your 1949 find.
