Case Splits Marlin 336
- Thread starter Jabol
- Start date
I will take the measurements and post back.
If the chamber is too large, is this common for 336? I always thought and most would assert that 336 are some of the best lever guns. I guess I might have been misled. I love how the gun handles but I don't want to get half of my face blown off when it goes kaboom.
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
Don't shoot that gun again, return it for refund.
Case splits
Take all the cases you have, along with any ammo you have left in the boxes, with the boxes, and take the rifle back to the place where you bought it. Show them what is happening, and ask for either your money back, or a new rifle.
As you have only fired a few rounds, and the greater percentage looks like these, then you definitely have a problem.
Be polite, but firm! If they suggest sending it back to the factory, insist on a proper functioning rifle as a replacement. You do not want this one back. You paid for a good and proper one, and you should get one.
If they insist on sending it back, ask for a refund. You can say that you have no confidence in THIS PARTICULAR RIFLE. It is obviously unsafe to fire in the present condition, and tell them that they are welcome to fire it, but you paid good money, and it is useless the way it is. It is dangerous and unsafe in this condition.
Give them only 4 or 5 of the cases. Keep the rest of them yourself, in case you have to have evidence later.
It does look like a poor chambering job. Also, there may be a burr or chip that puts a groove in the case when chambering a cartridge, creating a weak case. It seems that all your cases are failing at the same place. When you pull them out, can you locate where they are failing....eg. top, bottom, side, 4 o'clock, etc.
The Marlin 336 is a good rifle, but even with the best quality control in the world, if you have an almost impossible 99.9% rate, you will still have one rifle in 1000 that is not right up to quality standards. I think you might have got that one.
The Dealer, if he is reputable, should replace the rifle. No ifs, ands, or buts!
If he refuses to, then P.M. me. There are other ways.
Also, keep a record of everything you do. Write down things. Ask the Names of people you talk to, and document time and place. You might carry a small note book with you when you visit the Dealer, and write down his name and what he says, and what you say. That is effective, because he will know that you mean business, and you are not going to go away until this problem is solved.
.
Take all the cases you have, along with any ammo you have left in the boxes, with the boxes, and take the rifle back to the place where you bought it. Show them what is happening, and ask for either your money back, or a new rifle.
As you have only fired a few rounds, and the greater percentage looks like these, then you definitely have a problem.
Be polite, but firm! If they suggest sending it back to the factory, insist on a proper functioning rifle as a replacement. You do not want this one back. You paid for a good and proper one, and you should get one.
If they insist on sending it back, ask for a refund. You can say that you have no confidence in THIS PARTICULAR RIFLE. It is obviously unsafe to fire in the present condition, and tell them that they are welcome to fire it, but you paid good money, and it is useless the way it is. It is dangerous and unsafe in this condition.
Give them only 4 or 5 of the cases. Keep the rest of them yourself, in case you have to have evidence later.
It does look like a poor chambering job. Also, there may be a burr or chip that puts a groove in the case when chambering a cartridge, creating a weak case. It seems that all your cases are failing at the same place. When you pull them out, can you locate where they are failing....eg. top, bottom, side, 4 o'clock, etc.
The Marlin 336 is a good rifle, but even with the best quality control in the world, if you have an almost impossible 99.9% rate, you will still have one rifle in 1000 that is not right up to quality standards. I think you might have got that one.
The Dealer, if he is reputable, should replace the rifle. No ifs, ands, or buts!
If he refuses to, then P.M. me. There are other ways.
Also, keep a record of everything you do. Write down things. Ask the Names of people you talk to, and document time and place. You might carry a small note book with you when you visit the Dealer, and write down his name and what he says, and what you say. That is effective, because he will know that you mean business, and you are not going to go away until this problem is solved.
.
Last edited:
Thanks buffdog. Great ideas there.
One problem, I bought this one from Lebaron last year, could be 1.5 years ago. The Marlin just sat in my gun safe all this time as I was busy with other things. I only took her out recently, cleaned her and shot her. I think it could be past Lebaron's return policy. Mental note: shoot the gun as soon as you buy it.
One problem, I bought this one from Lebaron last year, could be 1.5 years ago. The Marlin just sat in my gun safe all this time as I was busy with other things. I only took her out recently, cleaned her and shot her. I think it could be past Lebaron's return policy. Mental note: shoot the gun as soon as you buy it.
Returns
That might be a problem, but even so, the rifle is defective. While Le Baron is only the dealer, and as such, they had nothing to do with the manufacture of the rifle, they should still help you to solve the problem. You are going to have to tell them the reason for finding out only now why the rifle was defective. Above all, be polite, but firm. Yelling and screaming at someone, while it might feel good at the time, does not really solve a problem, and creates hostility. It is better to get them to work with you to solve the problem.
You might also send an e-mail to Marlin. Explain the situation, and why you found out about it only now. Make certain to include pictures. Firearms manufacturers are very conscious of lawsuits and bad publicity in the past 20 years or so. Also, there may be a phone number for Marlin, that you can call and talk to them, especially their complaint representative. Make sure you mention and refer them to the subject and posts on Gunnutz.com, so they can see for themselves. If you have to go this route, tell them you would like to return the rifle, (for the reasons of safety), and would like a replacement (for reasons of non-confidence in the rifle.) Marlin could do this by instructing Le Barons to exchange the rifle, and send the defective one back to Marlin for a credit or replacement.
Marlin should replace the rifle. Le Baron, being the Marlin Dealer, should assist you to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Otherwise, it will generate a lot of bad publicity for both these Companies.
The last recourse is a Lawsuit. If all else fails, then check with the Clerk of the Court at your local Courthouse, about filing a Small Claims Lawsuit. The Clerk of the Court will advise you of how to proceed, and the costs. Here in Manitoba, it costs $50 to file a Small Claims Lawsuit and if under $5000, it is probably going to be heard not by a Judge, but by an Appointed Officer of the Court whose decision will be legal and binding. You can also ask for reasonable expense costs, including the costs of bringing this to the Court. These hearings are more informal than an actual Courtroom, and you tell your story, they tell their story, and the Officer makes a decision. You don't need a Lawyer to represent you if you don't want one to.
DO NOT FIRE THE RIFLE AGAIN. You have now acertained that the rifle is UNSAFE. If you continue to fire the rifle, then that is evidence against you, in that you know the rifle is unsafe and dangerous, but you are still willing to fire it, thus showing that you are not wholly convinced that the rifle is unsafe. As a new shooter, you have exercised a bit of lack of judgement in firing the rifle so many times after the problem showed up. However, now that you are fully aware of the problem, and being told about it in no uncertain terms through these posts, any further firing of the rifle on your part would greatly weaken your cause and case.
As I mentioned in the first post, about keeping the empty casings for evidence, and writing things down, this is where you might need them. The chances are it will not go to this stage, as it is cheaper for the Company to replace the rifle, than to go to Court and have it cost them more, and the bad publicity resulting from such a case. If you consider the cost of the time, money, court costs, witness fees (you could call a gunsmith as a witness), the obvious evidence against them (the split casings), and the safety aspect, along with the fact that such an event would be now on record, and could be used against them in future court cases as an example (or Precedent), then it definitely is cheaper to replace the ($500) rifle than spend $5000 and possible future lawsuits that would cost them even more.
.
That might be a problem, but even so, the rifle is defective. While Le Baron is only the dealer, and as such, they had nothing to do with the manufacture of the rifle, they should still help you to solve the problem. You are going to have to tell them the reason for finding out only now why the rifle was defective. Above all, be polite, but firm. Yelling and screaming at someone, while it might feel good at the time, does not really solve a problem, and creates hostility. It is better to get them to work with you to solve the problem.
You might also send an e-mail to Marlin. Explain the situation, and why you found out about it only now. Make certain to include pictures. Firearms manufacturers are very conscious of lawsuits and bad publicity in the past 20 years or so. Also, there may be a phone number for Marlin, that you can call and talk to them, especially their complaint representative. Make sure you mention and refer them to the subject and posts on Gunnutz.com, so they can see for themselves. If you have to go this route, tell them you would like to return the rifle, (for the reasons of safety), and would like a replacement (for reasons of non-confidence in the rifle.) Marlin could do this by instructing Le Barons to exchange the rifle, and send the defective one back to Marlin for a credit or replacement.
Marlin should replace the rifle. Le Baron, being the Marlin Dealer, should assist you to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Otherwise, it will generate a lot of bad publicity for both these Companies.
The last recourse is a Lawsuit. If all else fails, then check with the Clerk of the Court at your local Courthouse, about filing a Small Claims Lawsuit. The Clerk of the Court will advise you of how to proceed, and the costs. Here in Manitoba, it costs $50 to file a Small Claims Lawsuit and if under $5000, it is probably going to be heard not by a Judge, but by an Appointed Officer of the Court whose decision will be legal and binding. You can also ask for reasonable expense costs, including the costs of bringing this to the Court. These hearings are more informal than an actual Courtroom, and you tell your story, they tell their story, and the Officer makes a decision. You don't need a Lawyer to represent you if you don't want one to.
DO NOT FIRE THE RIFLE AGAIN. You have now acertained that the rifle is UNSAFE. If you continue to fire the rifle, then that is evidence against you, in that you know the rifle is unsafe and dangerous, but you are still willing to fire it, thus showing that you are not wholly convinced that the rifle is unsafe. As a new shooter, you have exercised a bit of lack of judgement in firing the rifle so many times after the problem showed up. However, now that you are fully aware of the problem, and being told about it in no uncertain terms through these posts, any further firing of the rifle on your part would greatly weaken your cause and case.
As I mentioned in the first post, about keeping the empty casings for evidence, and writing things down, this is where you might need them. The chances are it will not go to this stage, as it is cheaper for the Company to replace the rifle, than to go to Court and have it cost them more, and the bad publicity resulting from such a case. If you consider the cost of the time, money, court costs, witness fees (you could call a gunsmith as a witness), the obvious evidence against them (the split casings), and the safety aspect, along with the fact that such an event would be now on record, and could be used against them in future court cases as an example (or Precedent), then it definitely is cheaper to replace the ($500) rifle than spend $5000 and possible future lawsuits that would cost them even more.
.
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
Contact Marlin via The Gravel Agency in Quebec. You pay shipping, they will look at it and determine if it is repairable. You should also get on the Marlin owners forum do some research as well. It wouldn't hurt to contact LeBaron's, call and get an email address, then email your entire story in detail with pictures....keep this on file so you can forward it to The Gravel Agency.
How do I know....I had big problems with a new Marlin 39a, Gravel gave the gun shop full credit and I got my cash back, took about 8 weeks.
How do I know....I had big problems with a new Marlin 39a, Gravel gave the gun shop full credit and I got my cash back, took about 8 weeks.
Hi fellow nutz.
My Marlin 336 seems to be doing this a lot (2 out of 3 shots). This is brand new factory ammo Winnie Super X and Sellier & Bellot caliber 30-30 win. I did not test with any other ammo brand.
What's causing this? This scares me a bit.
Thanks for any thoughts.
This should scare you a bit. There's something wrong with the rifle. Don't shoot it anymore. You probably should have stopped shooting after the first 1-2 cases split.
If you bought this rifle new you need to take it back to where you bought it and see if they can repair or replace on warranty. Take the split cases with you to show them. If you can't get it fixed on warranty you need to get it to a gunsmith. Good luck, and when you do find what is wrong please post the results here, i'd like to know what is causing those splits.
- Location
- Possum Lodge.... Bracebridge,Ontario
Well said, only problem thought I won't bother dealing with Lebaron's. They won't give a dam as it's been 1.5 years. After 15 days they will not take anything back all, I've tried it before with them. There customer service lacks alot there.
Here is the info for Gravel:
http://www.gravelagency.com/index.php?option=com_alfcontact&Itemid=9
Also wouldn't hurt to also call Marlin in the US and talk to them about it. I know they'll probly tell you contact Gravel but it doesn't hurt to talk right to the company that made the gun. Let them know what is going on and they might get everything started with Gravel for you to get the ball rolling. I'm a member on the Marlin owners fourm and Marlin seems to be really good with problems happen with there rifles.
- Location
- London, Ontario
Hopfully this will get fixed up for you...best of luck!
Did you try Remington ammo? I will take my 336 to the range this weekend and try Hornady and Remington to see if cases split. But in general, I have a lot of trouble with Winchester ammo in all different calibers (lack of accuracy, fail to fire, fail to chamber etc). The bottom line is I will never buy Winchester ammo again.
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
return the gun, don't shoot it again!
Really don't think this is a rifle problem, at all. The fired cases appear normal, except for the shoulder/neck splits, right? The shoulders do not appear to have fireformed ahead of the standard position.
This is a brass problem, plain and simple. The brass has not been annealed properly. Try another brand of ammo, and I'll bet the problem disappears.
Ted
This is a brass problem, plain and simple. The brass has not been annealed properly. Try another brand of ammo, and I'll bet the problem disappears.
Ted
Really don't think this is a rifle problem, at all. The fired cases appear normal, except for the shoulder/neck splits, right? The shoulders do not appear to have fireformed ahead of the standard position.
This is a brass problem, plain and simple. The brass has not been annealed properly. Try another brand of ammo, and I'll bet the problem disappears.
Ted
Even though I still did not test with other ammo brands, I tend to agree. Still one out of 3 cases came out nice and clean and no damage. If the chamber was faulty, wouldn't it consistently produce the damaged cases with each and every shot?
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
Thought it was rather strange to happen to 2 different brands of factory ammo.
