What to do with a beat up Marlin model 36

Levon12345

Levon12345

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I adopted several family rifles and among them was a model 36 from 1947 in .32 special that is missing the butt stock and has a loose barrel but a very smooth running action. The .32 special is a cartridge I'm not overly keen on as that niche is already filled by a 30-30. Loving pistol calibre lever guns as I do (I have a .357), I planned to have it rechambered to .327 federal mag until I remembered that .32 reloading components don't really exist up here because of the prohib status of every handgun for it. Also, to screw that plan, .32 special has a .321 bore instead of being the .312 bore found in all the .32 pistol calibers. So, now that I'm facing a rebarrel anyway, I thought I'd ask for suggestions on how I should set this rifle up. So what's your dream lever calibre/barrel combination? This would likely be a loaner gun for mountain hikes when my companion is of the demographic of non-gun owner and possibly cowboy shoots. This rifle is in rough shape and never leaving the family so I'm not worried about value.

And does anyone have a beat up marlin stock they'd like to get rid of?
 
While I think the .32 special is a dandy cartridge in its own right and a great proposition for cast bullets lending its self to CAS you have already stated your dislike for it so I won't dwell on it. The 36 is rumored to be not quite as strong an action as the 336 so I would avoid the .35 Remington or .45-70 or .444 Marlin, but there are still plenty of other options, particularly if you reload. .30-30 is an obvious option, then we have .25-35, .32-40, .35-30, 38-55 and some more modern options like 7-30 waters and .44 magnum. I also believe 336 wood may fit it since the receiver was primary change between these models.
If I were going the rebarrel and rebuild route you seem to be considering I would would have to 2 preferred chamberings either .25-35 WCF or .38-55. Either way the rifle would sport a 22-26" barrel pistol grip rear stock (I know I am lever gun heathen) and as far as sights go I would probably choose a folding rear leaf sight for 100 yards and a tang mounted peep. I personally really like hex barrels on levers so that would probably be my choice as well, or a light weight contour round barrel and enjoy. But this is far from a loaner gun for wildlife protection and more of a hunting rifle of a by gone era. .38-55 loaded as stoutly as safe with a hard cast flat nose bullet from a 18-22" tube sporting a ghost ring or large diameter peep rear sight would do a decent job in this role too.
 
GMC403 said:
My vote goes to 357 mag with a 18.5 to 20" barrel.

Western gun parts for a stock
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I like this idea, one of the big pro's to that is you can plink with the cheaper shorter 38 special handgun rounds, should be fun for shooting pop cans on a sunny saturday afternoon. The other pro is the ammo availibility.

brybenn said:
I like to be different and one doesn't see the 375 big bore lever guns much any more
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I looked into buying a .375 winchester, there is one really big downside to that caliber unfortunately. Ammo availibility. I called a dozen places, none of the shops in town have any ammo, and apparently winchester only builds a pallet of ammo every few years for stores to stock their shelves, it's kind of a special order deal almost.

Conclusion: if you plan to use it for hunting deer and black bear, 38-55 has better velocities for shooting critters over 100 yards and is a neat round with plenty of stopping power, the 375 winchester is similar and probably just as effective but just a bit too difficult to find ammo to feed it.

But if you don't think you will use it primarily for deer and bear hunting, but more for plinking with the kids or maybe grand kids and perhaps the occasional deer hunt, then .357 would be a good caliber for that and hiking in the bush, and can use the cheaper 38 special and be pleasant for punching paper or pop cans.

As for the stock, boyds is pretty cheap, or make one yourself, one of the easier to stocks to replicate with simple wood tools.

I have an early 336 reciever and barrel in 357 that i would like to find parts for one day and build a stock for as well.
 
The 38-55 is an interesting choice. It seems like a good all round cartridge. I hadn't really thought of wildcats. My mind is spinning with possibilities.

I keep flip flopping from a pistol/varmint calibre and a general purpose deer or protective cartridge. I already have a .357 for shenanigans and for actual hunting I've got bolt actions. This is really just an excuse to have an oddball calibre to reload and have fun with. Keep the suggestions coming.
 
Levon12345 said:
The 38-55 is an interesting choice. It seems like a good all round cartridge. I hadn't really thought of wildcats. My mind is spinning with possibilities.

I keep flip flopping from a pistol/varmint calibre and a general purpose deer or protective cartridge. I already have a .357 for shenanigans and for actual hunting I've got bolt actions. This is really just an excuse to have an oddball calibre to reload and have fun with. Keep the suggestions coming.
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.38-55 is a personal favorite for targets and hunting, but really shines with cast lead and reloading. I would personally avoid pistol length cartridges as the may require replacing or modifying internals to get it to feed right. There is a whole plethora of under rated or overlook cartridges and wildcats based of the .38-55/.30-30 case as I am sure you are discovering. Check out Marlin owners.com Lots of interesting folks doing different stuff with lever guns
 
Rebore to 38-55 with a .375" bore instead of the usual .377=.379 for bullet availability.........Harold
 
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