Well I got a scope for my Marlin and took it to the range last weekend to sight it in.  Finally got it on paper at 100 yards and started doing some fine tuning but could never get it to group very well.  By the time I called it quits the best I could do was about a 9" group.

I was using 150 grain American Whitetail ammo and was not using a bench rest, just sandbags.


Today I took it to another range and gave it to the gunsmith to sight it in.  I knew something was up when 30 minutes later he hadn't come back yet.    After about an hour, he came back and explained that he tried 3 different types of ammo and weights and could not get it to group properly.  The Remington Core Lokt 170 gr ammo grouped the best, but he couldn't get it to do anything better than 6".  This was with a laser bore and bench rest held over the bullseye.  He said it was just spraying the target, nothing uniform.


Sooooo, I went back to the store I bought it and am having their gun smith look at it.  I have used this gun smith before and know he will figure out what was going on.  He said that the new Marlins are very particular with ammo and will try various types of ammo to see what he can do.  If that doesn't work he will dig deeper.



Has anyone had any issues like this with a gun?  This is the first time i've experienced a rifle that is this difficult, hopefully its not something wrong with the barrel / gun itself.  My Savage 25-06 was pretty finicky with ammo but it could still group better than this at 100 yards regardless of the type of ammo.

I understand a 30-30 isn't a tack driver, but Im fairly certain it needs to be more accurate than this.



Info is greatly appreciated.

My .357 1894 never grouped well with a scope. Was a combination of paralax and bad scope mounts.

Have you tested it with the open sights at 50 yards?

I shot it a few times open sights when I first got it and had issues with it as well.  had to have the front sight post moved way over to the side in order to get on paper.

im concerned it might be a bad gun / barrel or something. never had an issue like this before, what would be the next step?  do you send a gun back to the manufacturer?

OP, did you buy the rifle new ? If so I would send it back to Marlin and let them sort it out.
In the recent past Remlin has been having major problems with the Marlin line of guns.

And I would suspect you got a bad one.Did you check the rifling? It might not have any! I'm serious.


I f you want to see about asking more and different questions, go to http://www.marlinowners.com/ and sign up. Great site for Marlins.


It sucks that your having problems, but Marlin owners might help you sort it out faster the ARFCOM.

Hopefully you have checked your mounts and tried a different scope. If not do so. Che I the crown of your barrel for nicks, dents etc....

Yep; since irons are giving you the same problem I'd send it back and pray, knock on wood, cross all your fingers etc. for good results. I had a pre Remlin 1894SS that keyholed new out of the box, sent it back and they replaced the barrel. After careful load development this one rewarded me with a best "group" of 7-8". I'm to the point where I won't touch a Remlin and even the last of the marlins give me concern.





 

yes rifle was new.  

I'm going to let my gunsmith give it a good one over to see if he can figure anything out then I will start the process of sending it back to Marlin.


Speaking of that, how do I even do that? I've never had to ship a gun anywhere, much less back to the manufacturer. Does it have to go through an FFL?  Should I expect the gun store I bought it from to step up to assist with this or am I SOL on that matter?

The store you bought it from should help you out. If not I would think you have to give Marlin a call or email and request an RMA before you ship it back.The gun shop or Marlin will let you know how to ship if you ask.

Just thinking while typing .....ask the gun shop to see if they will give you another rifle and let them deal with Remington with the crap rifle. I feel you pain as I have had screwed up guns from brand new, and had to send them back to the manufacturer. All my screwed up guns were pistols that were sent back,a Colt 1911,  Beretta, and a Walther PPK/S.

All gun company's have screw ups unfortunately but Remington has been having more ever since they bought Marlin.

Well that sucks I hope you get it fixed. I was looking at the new Marlins the other day and they looked much improved.
I had the exact same problem with mine. Then I tried 170 gr and the groups shrunk to 1-1.5 inches. I tried the lever evolution 160 gr and it didn't shoot well either. My particular rifle will shoot any factory or reloaded 170gr great but nothing else. Also when the micro grove barrel gets dirty my groups also start opening up.


 

-----update ------


my gunsmith called me today and told me my rifle is all set to pick up.  when I got there I asked him what was wrong with it and he said he couldn't find any issues at all.  he said he started from scratch, took my scope and mount off, then remounted them all.  bore sighted it then shot several types and weight bullets through it, all of which grouped at around 2" at 100 yards once it was sighted in.  

he showed me the target that was marked with the different ammo and weights (federal and remington) and the groups for each.  

he said that after shooting about 4-5 rounds the barrel starts to heat up which makes the barrel band expand and will make the groups get larger.  the barrel band is the band at the end of the barrel that loops around the magazine tube.  

so, pretty standard stuff I guess.  like most hunting / high caliber rifles, after shooting multiple rounds in a row the barrel gets hot and the groups start to spread out... that makes sense, b/c when I was sighting it in I literally shot 30 rounds in about 15 minutes. and the other gunsmith I took it to at the gun range shot at least 15 rounds trying to sight it in.


soooo, long story short, I think my gun is ok. I didn't have time to shoot it today but I am going out to the ranch this weekend and I will take a few test shots to see how she shoots, hopefully this is all taken care of. I really like the look and feel of the gun so I am hoping it is reliable.

If you would have said in your first post that you shot a lever action until it got hot [any brand insert here, except browning which uses a very different system to fasten the forend and the fact there is no tube under to also fasten] we could have told you right off what the fricckin problem was.

my bad...

so I guess this is common knowledge with lever actions? just a few shots then let it cool down?

Most only shoot 3 or 5 shot groups with any sporter; bolt action or lever. Try some Federal 150 grain flat points as well as limiting your groups to 3 rounds and your groups should shrink to around 2" or less. Some Marlin levers can be picky with certain brands of ammo, but most will shoot the Federal well and many times exceptional.