I picked up a used Marlin 336 TS from a pawn shop a few years ago, and it was going to be my deer rifle this year.  I put a Weaver 1-3x20 Classic V scope on it with Weaver QD rings, so I could still use the iron sights if I wanted.



Cooked up some handloads with Leverevolution powder and Horndady 160 gr FTX bullets, looking for a 200-yd rifle out of this setup.

I took my rifle and handloads to a friend's house to get the scope sighted in and do some ladder testing on the powder charges, and could absolutely not get anything to group.  At 50 yards, my best group was more than 3".

I was shooting from a fully rested position and while I'm not the best shot around, I wasn't causing this much variance.



Got some work to do to figure out what the hell is going on.  The Weaver scope was brand new, and the rings/mount are tight.  I've got to try some factory loads to eliminate my handloads as the problem, and try to find another scope to mount (or even just use the irons) to try to eliminate my Weaver as the problem.  

If neither of those adjustments show improvement, my only other idea is that the barrel crown may have an imperfection.  Any other ideas??  I know this gun should be more accurate than it showed me.

I'd start with the simple stuff first.  Factory ammo first.  Are your rings tight enough?  
I also had one of those Outer's rests in the past and did not like it.  I found good old sand bags much more steady. I quickly regulated it to just cleaning guns....no range work.
Maybe have a real gunsmith check the bore and crown if those do not fix it?

Yeah my 1st next step is to try factory ammo; I just didn't have any on hand with me bc I wasn't expecting to have this problem.

The rings and scope base are tight; I don't know how that could be the problem.  Although if it's shooting poorly with factory ammo, I'll swap scopes and see if that is the problem.

The gunsmith is my 3rd option, bc I don't want to have to spend money until I have to.  Just wanted to seek other opinions as to if I'm missing another possible cause of the inaccuracy that I could self-diagnose before paying a visit to a gunsmith,,,?

That Outers rest is OK for me; the only real issue I have found is that the side to side movement isn't as locked down as I'd like.  But I have found that if I use my non-trigger hand to sort of secure the rear of the rest, it doesn't swivel laterally and does a pretty good job of holding still.   At least much more still than any movement that would cause these groups I got.  

All this, plus clean the bore well.  The previous owner may have shot lead or let it get fouled.

I don't know that I would expect much better than 3" groups at 100yd with that rifle and that scope, even on bags instead of the (relatively) flimsy rest.
Are you getting a consistent cheek weld?  Could be parallax error in the scope if you're just letting your head float over the rested rifle.

Yeah, cheek weld was consistent.  I might could stomach 3" at 100 yds, but the BEST group I got was a little over 3" at 50 yards.  Which equates to over 6" at 100, which is 12" at 200, which is unacceptable.

And this was with the FTX bullets, which are supposedly the "most accurate" for leverguns do to the spitzer shape, so...

I would definitely pick up a box of factory 150 grain rounds and then shoot some 5 round groups at 50 yards.  Do you have a bore sight tool?  Again as said, make sure and check the bore for leading, I had to just clean a new to me Model 94 because, the barrel was leaded up, once I did that, it is shooting great, I can get 1" at 75 yards with it, which normally about how far are shots are around here.  It came with a scope, but I took it off and will just use irons on it this year.  Once you get it shooting well with factory ammo, then start with the hand loads.

That said, I have never liked hand loads in lever guns, no matter what combinations I tried, I just could not get them to shoot acceptably for me..One of my favorite rounds for lever guns in 30-30 has always been the 150 grain silvertip, it was a good shooting round with predictable results.  I just looked them up and they have got expensive these days and I notice they are not same anymore, they are poly tips on the Ballistic Silvertip.

What I am shooting right now is PPU 150 grain Flatnose exposed lead rounds, I had never heard of them but caught them on sale and they are nice rounds and accurate.

Good luck.

Here is one thing I did not see mentioned. Are you using a good solid crimp on your reloads? Kinda important in tube feed guns. Bullet setback can wreak havoc with distance to lands, pressure spikes, etc. All of which can have a negative effect on ammo consistency. +1 on the shooting rest. Personally I use a Caldwell Rock Jr. and a rear bunny bag. This allows for a very solid rest and easy repeatability on gun position on the bags. Further it allows me to minimize the amount of pressure put on the barrel as that can affect bullet impact as well. Lastly, once you have settled your hash with the problems and gotten the source of your inaccuracy sorted out try this. Load a full magazine and shoot from your rest, and from offhand. Do this several times. What you are looking for is if there is repeatable degree af bullet dispersion that can be attributed to the different barrel harmonics that occur as the weight of the ammo in the tube changes. You will, of course nedd to have all your other sorces of inaccuracy addressed before exploring this variable.

For me, that is part of the reason why I am a gun crank. I like the challenge of working with a gun that should shoot better than it is, and seeing if I can find and fix them. Ya win some, ya lose some.

I have nearly the same setup as you, a Marlin 336 with Weaver 1-3 scope.  I had terrible luck with the FTX bullets and was getting maybe 4"-5" groups at 100 yards.  My most recent load is with the Sierra 170 grain flat nose and H4895 powder.  I just sighted it in last week and my first 3 shot group was 1.1", and the following 5 shot group 1.55".  Sometimes it's just a process of finding the right load.

Yeah I had crimped all of the rounds well and also measured the total cartridge length to keep them consistent.  I only singly-loaded the bullets into the gun.  So I didn't have any changing weight of ammo in the tube throughout the testing.

I may try some other bullets (like when I shoot some factory loads through it), but my intention for this rifle was to be able to reach out to 200 yds or so, which is why I really wanted the FTX bullet to work.  I will be disappointed if the FTX is inaccurate in this gun, while some flatnose bullet turns out to work much better.

I agree with pretty much everything folks are saying.

Step away from the hand loads for the time being.
Clean the snot out of it with a good strong copper solvent. I like Butch's Bore Scrub or Sweets 7.62 . Not just powder solvent (like #9) , real good stinky stuff .

Doesn't take much of a nick on the crown to mess things up , lever guns tend to get buggered there because folks are cleaning them from the front.

Years ago I was given a 94 Winchester in 32 win spl that was similar to the results of the OP. Didn't look too bad but when I did a quick job on the crown groups shrank like crazy. I took the rubber coated ball bearing from a computer mouse , coated it with polishing compound and with just my hand twisted it around the crown for a couple of minutes until there was a nice bright even ring showing. Don't think computer mice have had a ball in them for 20 years so you are on your own with that. Maybe a glass marble?

Lever guns are not the easiest things to shoot tight target groups with but with a solid scope mount and a decent rest (even a rolled up jacket or whatever) you should be able to get under 3" at 100 if you throw out a flyer here and there.

Hit Wall mart or whatever and grab both 150 and 170 , you might find one works better than the other.

I will assume you understand the rest should be under the handguard and not touching the barrel.

I would suggest you try cleaning the barrel and different ammo before you mess with the crown.

Is this a regular barrel or Micro-grove? Either should work fine but I believe micro groove will be more fussy about a copper fouled bore.

Good luck

Ok you later said Other factory loads shoot ok, I was going to say take the scope off and shoot the irons at fifty.

That would let you know if it was the scope and mounts.  

Sometimes your chosen bullet just doesn't want to work.  I built up a custom.260 and wanted to shoot accubonds.  I tried theee powders and adjusted seating depths up and down to no avail.  Switched last minute to sierra game kings just before the season started and got good accurate loads in my first workups.    

My match gun didn't like the latest smk 142 but loved 140 smk or 139 Lapuas.    I tried lots of things with the 142s.  Even discussed it with a good guy on SH who ran a commercial loading operation and personal tuning service.    I worked through the common nodes with no joy.   5 powders, three primers, 2 brands of brass.   Sometimes it just isn't gonna work.

No I haven't shot factory loads yet so I don't know how they'll group. That's my next step.

If they show no improvement, I'll shoot with the irons, but my eyes aren't great and that could just introduce more error into the mix. Might have another scope laying around that could work.

This is a Micro-groove barrel.

I cleaned the barrel really well tonight. Once I round up some factory ammo, I'll see if the groups tighten up.

First, on a new set up, if you don't have witness marks on the scope, rings, screws, and bases, you really don't "know" they aren't moving.

If its grouping as bad as you say, either the scope is broken to your mount is.   Only way to tell is witness marks.


Then Id check the crown.  But it'd have to be butchered to be that far off.

When in doubt I start from zero.
I would strip the gun down to barreled receiver.  Check the bore clean every thing lube and reassembly. I would even remove the scope and mount and reinstall. Start with factory ammo and go from there. I stop try to figure shooting issues out till I know the basics are perfect. It always cheaper and faster that way for me.

Get rid of the "quick detach rings".....sometimes it doesn't matter if everything seems "tight"....if its quick detach it will move...as stated before, take of the scope and shoot the irons. By the way, if you are gonna use the scope, put good rings on the scope and leave it... just my 2 cents...Shrps74

Has you cleaned it ? start with the easy stuff.  Is the scope staying zeroed ?

I've had the same issue with my JM stamped 336. Tried the FTX160 and levrevolution? powder. Tried 170 Sierras. Tried 150 corelokt. Tried 3031. No luck. Torqued the mount and bases. Tried 2 different scopes. Nothing seems to work. I'll try some factory ammo as suggested here. For the time being I just stuck it back in the safe and gave up on it out of frustration. Looking forward to see what works for the OP.
I could get 2 touching and the next 1 might be 3 inches high, then without changing anything, 3 inches low or to 1 side or the other

There was a series of articles in the now defunct Precision Shooting magazine about the steps taken to make a lever rifle shoot accurately.  

What I recall was it involved a complete re-working (rebuilding) of the rifle.  There was a surprising amount of metal work required and a lot of it involved the barrel band, refitting the wooden forearm, etc.  It seemed to be about making things not touch that shouldn't and touching only where they should.

I gave away all my magazines many years ago, otherwise I could recap them for you.  I don't know if you have access to those or if similar procedures on line.

Like others said, first stop check muzzle, especially on a microgroove.  Never found lever rifles to shoot accurately off a hard rest. Perhaps something to do with forearm attachment. Might consider using your hand up front lightly gripping forearm, with back of hand resting on a sandbag.  Any accuracy you do find, may not last through too many rounds.  The most accurate levers owned have heavy for caliber, or larger dia  barrels.

if you are reloading, another possible check is undersizing (usually setting shoulder back too far) the brass for the specific chamber.  This can introduce a huge jump to the rifling, depending on bullet ogee (spelling).  Prefer Lee dies for levers, RCBS/Redding seem to operate like small base dies.

No reason to get away from handloads unless the loaded round has a lot of bullet runout. Check that. I'd try a conventional flat point bullet too.

On two of my leverguns that had problems, both had issues with the magazine tube or the fore end putting pressure on the barrel. My Marlin 1894 was the worst. I found that the bottom side of the barrel was not clearanced enough for the magazine tube, and the tube had to be forced upwards to get the barrel band on. I relieved the barrel with a die grinder and a 120 grit polishing roll, and the gun tightened its groups about an inch at 50 yards.

I had to relive pressure on my 94 today, the screw magazine tube screw was pushing way to much on the barrel throwing the groups off, so I milled a small relief hole in the bottom of the barrel and it tightened the groups at a hundred yards up quite a bit.

I can't speak on FTX bullets in rifle rounds, but my experiences with FTX bullets in handgun ammo has been awful. I could never get .44 Mag or .357 Mag rifles, lever or bolt, to shoot  those slugs worth a damn. The type of powder, amount of crimp or power level didn't matter. They just wouldn't work for me.

To check the crown, take a Q-Tip, insert in barrel and see if it pulls/holds any strands.
That gun is micro groove so it may be bullet finicky.
My partner's 336 did not shoot as good as his Win94 with some loads...the Winny is like a fat kid at a buffet.
I'd try bags instead of that rest, I'm a former BR shooter so I may be an elitist in this area.
Is the barrel cooling sufficiently between groups?
Also, not to offend but are you using a consistent aiming point for the entire group?
I like a 1" grid target with a 2" Casey red spot for low power scopes.
Some guys will try to "steer" the follow up shots into the first hole.

That's a classic .30-30 combination.

I have to agree with both these posts.  Besides ruining your brass for any other bullets because you have to trim the brass too short, I can't make their 160grn FTX shoot worth a darn in my 30-30, my 300 Savage, or my .308 Win 88.  I also couldn't get their 140grn 357mag or the 325grn 45 Colt FTX bullets to work in my leverguns either.  Total was of money.  Groups looked more like shotgun blasts.

Any updates yet?

I just ran into the same exact issue with my 1895GBL this past week. I started off with my own handloads ( 300gr Hornady JHP, 37gr IMR4895 ) and it shot worse than any gun Ive owned in the past 20 years. Absolutely horrible at 100 yards. I ended up backing off to 25 yards with my reloads and they finally would group but I didnt have enough elevation adjustment to use so tossed it up to they are to slow. Factory 300gr Winchester was better, 405gr Cor Lok was worse and the 325gr Leverrevolution was best. Ill be be going back out this week to try and zero it again at 100. Marlins have to be the most picky rifles Ive owned when it comes to ammo.

Tried some Winchester Super X 170 grain power points and it seemed to shoot a little better. Relieved the fore end under the barrel band also.
Last weekend I tried some 170 grain Sierra  and IMR 4064. It did well enough that I loaded up 20 to try next weekend.  Making  a little progress.

I read in a magazine (anyone remember those ) years ago that Micro Groove rifling tends to favor heavier bullets.

So I've stuck to 170gr Core Lokts in factory form and my reloads of that bullet and IMR 3031. If I do my part, groups are under 2 inches

at 100yds. sometimes better. I've had my 336 since Christmas of '77 (that's 1977 for you wiseguys lol). It wears a M8 4 power Leuplod

in Weaver Pivot Mount rings and base.

I recently bought a '72 336 from a coworker for a steal. Tried 4 different kinds of factory loads through it.

Hornady American Whitetail 150 grain: Didn't group worth a damn and was shooting high with rear sight at lowest setting.

Hornady Leverevolution: Had high hopes, but also didn't group well. Two shots landed on top of each other, and the other 3 were flyers in different directions.

Winchester Power point 170 grain: Grouped at about 4.5 inches. Wasn't pleased.

Remington Core Lokt 170 grain: Shot the best at about 2" which is what I was hoping for.

Shot all these with with factory irons FWIW.

Shitty rifle??

Update from the OP:

Well either my rifle doesn't like FTX's, or I suck at reloading rifle rounds.  I finally had a chance to pick up some Federal 150gr flat nose soft points and get back out to the range, and the damn gun shot about 1" 3-rd groups at 50 yards.

I only had one 20-round box so after getting the scope zeroed at 50 yds, I moved back to 100 yds and rang steel with both shots. So at least it is now hunting accurate at 100 yds. When I have more time and ammo, I'll fine tune it at 100+ yds.

I guess I must really be doing something wrong with my rifle reloads. I have no idea why they grouped so poorly, but the factory Power-Shok loads clearly shot much better for me.

Sometimes a gun doesn’t like a certain bullet.

A few years ago I built a custom rifle on a FN SPR action (Winchester model 70).   I planned to shoot Nosler accubonds.  I tried three powders, varied seating depths, changed primers.   Even called up Nosler asked if they had heard any QC accuracy complaints.    No was their answer and they sent me another lot box to try.  In the end as soon as I changed to a Sierra game king the gun shot like it should.   sometimes your choice isn’t the gun’s choice.

I have seen it mentioned before that a lot of lever guns don't behave when rested too far out on the forearm.  On the Marlin forum they recommend placing the front bag below the reciever if possible.  I'm trying that on my next range trip with my 1894.

OP here again. Well lo and behold, turns out it was worth the effort with this $250 pawnshop rifle. I've been hunting for over 25 years with probably 8 different rifles. I took this 30-30 Texan out yesterday for the first time ever and it turns out it is the luckiest of my hunting rifles.

Got this big boy right before dark. He was about 100 yds away and I was using the Federal Power-Shok 150 gr factory load.