Problem with my Marlin 336w

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wannabepl47

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What is it that holds the handguard in place on this gun?

The handguard on mine suddenly began sliding freely up and down the magazine tube today which for obvious reasons renders the gun basically unuseable.

I first looked to the barrel band but the screw on mine is already snug and provides almost no help in securing the handguard in place. At first inspection is looks like maybe the back of the handguard attached to the reciever in some way?

I have not taken the gun apart yet as it has seen very little use so I am hoping this is something that can be easily fixed and doesnt mean something is broken.
 
I'm pretty sure that Gary will be able to help you, he is an expert with Marlins. He'll be along sooner or later. I'm not a Marlin fan, so I can't help, but only wish you good luck and I hope it's an easy fix. ;)
 
Handguard? You mean the forearm (wood used to grip in front of the receiver) I have not taken my new one apart, but it seems to be pretty snug in there. I disassembled an older one I owned back in the early 90's and it seems to be identical. To me, it seemed like a very tight friction fit starting with the rear band and screw. when loosened, you had to give it a bit of a whallup to loosen it once one gently pried a little under the bad to loosen it from the wood. It did take some effort.

In looking at my brand new 336W, the wood is trimmed and grooved to fit into a channel in the receiver. The forearm looks like it fits pretty snug in it. One idea I took from a gunsmith with my 1894 C (the magazine dovetailed connector was not fitting snuggly, so I peened it and the dovetail, put some JB Weld in it and PRESTO) with no problems in over 1,000 rounds and counting. You would have to take some pretty precise measurements, but that ought to work. Either that, or if (like at Cabelas) the store has a warranty, take it back to the store for an exchange (Gravels takes too long).

I Bought mine at DeSelins here on Gunnutz. They gave it the once over and it is an awesome rifle!
 
Another thought, if there is not any warranty, is to use an industrial adhesive - like a durable compound cement - on the magazine portion, if it fits fairly snug. If not, then use a doublesided tape.

The best though, is to try the warranty thing first.
Best of Luck.
 
Yes I suppose I mean the forearm. And that appears to be exactly how it works upon further inspection, it looks like it slid into a channel in the reciever.

Mine appears to have come out of the channel somehow, however it looks like a snug fit might still be possible as now that it is out, it will not slide back in at all, it is too large. Do you think there is some way to disassemble the reciever and fit the forearm back into the channel, reassemble it (maybe with a touch of JB weld) and then tighten everything back up again with the forearm now snuggly in place?
 
No, the channel is formed as part of the receiver. The way I got mine back in - again, it was a number of years ago, was that I had angle it in - starting at the bottom, and gently tapping with a rubber mallet (yeah, I have two for hubcaps and such). Then the forearm is tapped into place. Mine was tight, so there was no issue - it was a good friction fit onto the magazine tune. Then the band held it in place.
 
Glue? Seriously?

Some understanding of how it's put together may help:

The pin through the barrel band is what keeps the band and therefore the forestock from moving forward. It passes through a divot on the underside of the barrel thus securing it in place fore and aft. There's also a corresponding divot in the mag tube whereby the pin prevents fore and aft movement of the tube.

The pin must be missing, bent or broken to allow the assembly to slide forward. You mentioned that the pin is snug so maybe it's bent. I don't think there's room for the pin to slide between the mag tube and the barrel so perhaps your mag tube has come out of it's recess in the receiver and the gap between the barrel and tube has increased enough to allow the bent pin and band (and forestock) to slide forward. This might explain why you can't get the forestock back into it's recess in the receiver.

I can't imagine what would have happen to cause this however, and if this is indeed the case then there must also be issues with the front band which also secures the mag tube with a similar pin and divot arrangement.

Maybe hold off on the industrial adhesive, JB Weld and double sided tape (WTF?) until you figure out what's wrong? There should be no need of using extra materials to put it back together correctly, just fix what's wrong. It would also be beneficial to you to be able to disassemble it in the future.

Dear God...f:P:
 
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I'll add that if the forestock is sliding freely up and down the mag tube and the mag tube is seated into it's recess in the receiver then something is wrong with the barrel band pin. You're going to have to get it out and have a look at it. Sliding freely as you mentioned sure sounds like the pin is broken or missing. If it was bent there should be a lot of resistance from the pin sliding on the underside of the barrel.

You should be able to see if the mag tube is seated when the forestock is slid forward.

You say the pin is snug so this seems very strange. Try unscrewing the pin as a starting point and let us know what happens. It's only threaded for a short section. Once unscrewed all the way you can tap it out with a punch. If you get a pin out that isn't in pieces and isn't bent you then need to get the mag tube out and remove the forestock so that you can look at the divots in the barrel and magtube and see if they're in order.

To take off the mag tube you need to take the screw out of the front band and pull the mag tube out the front. This will release the forestock. Make sure you don't lose the follower at the receiver end of the mag spring.

Let us know how you make out. (if you haven't already glued / taped / JB Welded it together).
 
WHOA - Hold On There Cowboy!

Me-thinks you may be having a wee bit of an over-reaction here.

I am very familiar with the 336, but not an expert by no means. When I first read the post, my first thought was that the pin was missing. Knowing how snug my forearm was to the magazine tube and how tight the barrel band was, I thought that this scenario was not possible. I still don't quite frankly, unless - as you pointed out correctly that the pin is broken. My experience has been that the forearm barrel band is quite a tight friction fit and takes a bit of effort to remove. Certainly not enough play to allow the whole forearm assembly to "slide" forward - at least with the experience I have with my rifles. I took the pin out of my new 336W and confirmed this, by the way.

The OP clearly stated that the rifle is a 336W, which I understand is a fairly newer model. My older 336 had a divot on the barrel (not sure about a corresponding one on the mag tube though, I don't remember anyways) and the pin was about 50% larger than the space between the mag tube and barrel. So there was no way that thing could move forward. Period. I have not disassembled my new 336W, but it appears to be the same. I also note that the mag tube and barrel has a noticeable cant from the receiver forward to the front band. You also stated the perhaps the mag tube slipped out of the receiver slot - yet with the front band secured, this too is impossible. On a 336 - it is not possible for the forearm to move forward, yet the OP is emphatic that it is doing the impossible. That was my basis for my posts.

Perhaps, we BOTH should have instead asked to see pictures of the rifle firstly before we wrote our replies because it may be entirely possible that the rifle may not even be a Marlin. I know for a fact (because I owned one) that the Henry has a noticeable gap between the receiver and the mag tube. If the dovetail is not affixed properly, the entire assembly will move forward, just as the OP describes, and fall off! The receiver, bolt and action look identical to the Marlin 336.

The JB reference was solely for the purposes of illustrating that a competent gunsmith provided advice to fix my specific problem with my 1894. That solution could also be applied to this case with peening (again assuming that the pin was intact).

As to the adhesive comments I provided, again, I go back to my older rifle, where the forearm fit quite snug to the mag tube. Using a contact cement or a double sided tape, that situation can be replicated. My rifle functioned fine without any issues, so that was the basis. It will assist to hold the forearm in place for the insertion of the pin. My experience with the pin is that it too, has some friction to overcome to secure it, but it does not tighten the band in any way, shape or form. With the pin in place (as evidenced by seeing it resting inside the barrel band, opposite the threaded end) there is no way, none, nada, zip that the assemble can now move forward. If it does, I need to see pictures of the rifle.

You will also note that I was also clear that the first option should be warranty and that any solutions after would be if none was available (again - assuming a new rifle).
 
Sailing,

Yup...but shoulda looked at the Marlin Manual. I just did because I felt kinda stoopid after reading your post. Right there on page 11 of my manual, with a blue cover. Part #25, your term forestock - their term forearm.

Either way, glad we all understand it to be the same part.
 
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