Just bought it used. It looks almost brand new. Grooves in the barrel are very clear and distinct.

I took it to the range today and at 50 yards I could not hit a dinner plate. I was using Remington 30-30 150 grain cartridges.

I did notice that the muzzle did swallow the entire bullet on a 150 grain cartridge. Should I be using 170 grain, or does the muzzle sound shot?

I looked at the muzzle carfully, but it looks really good. I also plan on drifting the rear sight.

Anyone else have this type of problem? Any advice would be apprciated.

just a quick note..
are you sure it isnt a .35 remington???

marlins are great guns...
give it the once over for issues with the sights..and try several different factory loads..

you'll be fine.

Did you hit the target at all? Did you adjust the sights?

Quoted: just a quick note.. are you sure it isnt a .35 remington??? marlins are great guns... give it the once over for issues with the sights..and try several different factory loads.. you'll be fine.

AmericanPatriot1776,
Post a pic of the area on the barrel that tells you what caliber the rifle is.

Weezgotztono, man.

Quoted: Just bought it used. It looks almost brand new. Grooves in the barrel are very clear and distinct. I took it to the range today and at 50 yards I could not hit a dinner plate.

(I'm not picking on you. ) Get a BIG target like the side of an appliance box or six feet of butcher paper . Chances are the sights are way off.  Try starting at 12 or 25 yards. Work your way out .

My 336 is very accurate also.

 When sighting in a new rifle, I start at 25 yds.

 If you don't hit at 25, move up till you get on paper.Then adjust from there.

 Peep sights also help alot if you have problems with the open sights.

 I use 170 gr. hand loads, but everybody has their own pet loads.


      Good Luck

 

I did notice that the muzzle did swallow the entire bullet on a 150 grain cartridge.

Do not shoot the Marlin again until you determine what calibur it is!   If you can drop a 150 grn 30-30 bullet down the barrel, the a 170 grainer will do the same thing.
 Look carefully at the fine print on the barrel by the front sight.   Does it say 30-30 or does it say .35 Rem.?   It says 30-30 and you are positive you are shooting the correct ammo something is very wrong.   Take it to a gunsmith or talk to the previous owner.  

Sighting in a centerfire rifle is like a first date. It can be expensive, frustrating, hopeful, and annoying. Good advice was given already, since I have a deserved reputation of never having had a gun I didn't like and immeditely want to shoot, lots of friends ask me to do the initial sight in of their high powered guns. I'm not gifted, just have spent 30+ years looking down the barrel of some kind of gun or another.  All I want to do is get five shots on a 10" paper plate at 100 yds. They can adjust from there. My recommendation is that maybe you might get someone to help. I'll aways shot someone's gun and their ammo for them and enjoy the hell out of it. Saves them money too. I have two 30-06s and two .303s in the toy room with ammo waiting for me to sight in for folks right now. Probably get around to it today. I get a lot of rifle practice in before deer season. Bet I fired 300 rounds of centerfire last year, shot mine five times. Two for practice, two deer, one coyote.

It is a 30-30. The .35 was still in the safe (brother in laws).

Quoted: Quoted: I did notice that the muzzle did swallow the entire bullet on a 150 grain cartridge. Do not shoot the Marlin again until you determine what calibur it is!   If you can drop a 150 grn 30-30 bullet down the barrel, the a 170 grainer will do the same thing.  Look carefully at the fine print on the barrel by the front sight.   Does it say 30-30 or does it say .35 Rem.?   It says 30-30 and you are positive you are shooting the correct ammo something is very wrong.   Take it to a gunsmith or talk to the previous owner.   he didn't drop a bullet all the way down the bore. it sounds more like he tried inserting a loaded cartidge into the muzzel. 30-30 bullets are wider at the base and the neck of the cart engages the muzzell before the base of the bullet. mine did the same thing.

 Beer Slayer,  thanks for the correction.  Always learn something  Going to get my Marlin out and see what happens

Shoot it at 25 yards to find out where it's printing......drift sights from there.

When I have trouble sighting in a rifle, I go get a big piece of white poster board, put a 4" sticker in the middle, and shoot a group of three to see where it is printing at 25 yards.  If it still is not on the paper, I aim 1 shot at each corner and watch where the bullet hits.  If still not on the paper, then something is way, way, way off with the gun!

To explain the 'shoot the corners' trick, if you aim bottom left and hit center of the paper, then you know the rifle is way high and right.  If you aim top left and hit center, then you are way low and right and so on for the other two corners.  This can help you zero even the most stubborn rifles.

Can anyone recommend an economical and easy to use laser bore sighter that does not cost too dang much?

Do it the easy way and bore sight it. There are instructions online I'm sure. Probably the Marlin site has a downloadable owner's manual available. But the short of it is - open the lever about 1/3 of the way. Remove the trigger pivot screw. Open the lever some more until the lever is able to be slid down and out, remove the bolt out the back. Watch how the ejector is placed in the side wall, once the bolt is out the ejector is free to fall out but no problem just be aware that it's loose in there.
Set the rifle on a rest and align the sights on a spot about twenty yards away. Now look through the bore and see how far off the alignment is. Change the sights as needed to get them to come together.
Assemble in reverse.
good luck, it's really pretty simple.
leroy

If you can't hit what you're aiming at then aim at something you can't miss:
Like the ground.

Just aim at the ground in front of the target, one shot just to know where it's hitting windage wise.
Then you'll know if you're missing the target wide, left or right. Adjust elevation from there.

 Just for kicks I would adjust the elevator under the rear sight so that it is set about three notches from the lowest setting. Eyeball the rear sight to the center if it looks way off to one side. Then take a black magic marker and make a small index mark on the barrel in front of the front sight. There should be a point at the front of the rear sight to make this easy. If the rear sight doesn't want to drift put a drop of oil under the rear sight base dovetail and let it soak in.
 Get all the copper out of the gun with Sweet's or something like that. Then bag the gun down at 25 yards and see what happens. As far as windage goes, if you drift the rear sight an amount equal to the thickness of a paper match, that is a lot of adjustment. Some levers do not do well when hot. I would shoot two shot groups to save ammo and keep the heat down.
 I have sometimes seen Marlins screwed up by the front sight not being top dead center or someone washing out the rifling at the muzzle by cleaning it wrong. They usually are fine though. I have seen many neglected/abused ones that shot great.
 I am a stone lever freak. Most levers will shoot a lot better than people think as long as you use the fundamentals of marksmanship.

Have you checked for:
a) a damaged barrel crown
b) loose sights?