My kids are both expressing interest in starting to hunt with me. I have been drooling over the 336 Dark rifle for a while and figured maybe I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone with this rifle. Satisfy my wants, while at the same time getting a rifle the kids can start hunting with. Has anyone used it in the field and can share some insight into the pros and cons, especially with a 12 year old handling it in mind. Thanks!
Hunting with the Marlin 336 Dark 30-30?
- Thread starter JadedFF
- Start date
I don't have the dark, but every tacticool lever gun I've handled was heavy and typically pretty front heavy with the m-lok aluminum handguard. Is your 12 year old big and strong enough to carry that and handle it properly with the weight?
Mark
He’s a strong kid, so I don’t think carrying the weight will be an issue. I was thinking more about the shooting experience for him. My rifle is too much gun to start with for him as I don’t want him developing any pre ignition movements in anticipation of the kick.
In that case use a cushy recoil pad (I use a limbsaver slip on for milsurp rifles and that helps tremendously when shooting off the bench) and soft loads to keep the recoil down. When my oldest started hunting he was quite recoil sensitive so I loaded some soft rounds that were still adequate to kill deer within any range he was going to shoot at and it helped him get used to shooting the rifle without fearing it.
30-30 works well with cast bullet loads and those might be a good place to start and work him up to full power loads for hunting.
Lots of practice with .22lr to fine tune the skills is also a good idea so he has a good base before doing much shooting with the 30-30. I am not one of those people who thinks you need tons of practice with your hunting rifle. Shooting is shooting regardless of the gun in your hands. If he shoots it enough to be familiar with it and sight it in then almost all of his other shooting can be with rimfire and other easier shooting guns.
Mark
