new gun

glen ring · Post by **glen ring** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 11:25 am

I found a cherry marlin 336cb in 38-55 with a 24inch octagon barrel that I could not resist. Now that this new member of the family has arrived, can someone give me some help on how to feed it?

I'll be using it primarily for CLA shooting and just need a good accurate load.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:34 pm

You are going to have to do some serious load development work with that rifle!!

I can save you a lot of trouble: just send it on out to me and I will figure out your loads for you, should only take me a few years and there will only be a slight fee involved.

Email me right away for shipping instructions.

glen ring · Post by **glen ring** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 2:45 pm

I knew it would be work developing a load for this beauty, but what an awesome looking rifle. I can't wait to shoot it. It looks new!
Jnyork, the next time I'm in your neck of the woods you're welcome to shoot it.

Cimarron Red · Post by **Cimarron Red** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 1:28 pm

Hi, Glen,

Although I shoot a .45-70 for CLA, I usually shoot the .38-55 for CAS side matches. I like 18 grains of IMR-4227 under a 250 grain cast bullet for a mild load, and I increase that to 20 or 22 grains for a bit more velocity. I know other shooters who've had good luck with RL-7 (weight unknown) and 20 grains of XMP 5744 with cast bullets up to 265 grains.

BTW, we shot on adjacent banks for the Wednesday PCCLA and the Thursday SCR silhouettes at the Cowboy Lever Action Nationals at the Whittington Center the week before last. You may recall relating to me how you deal with potential poachers in your neighborhood there in S.E. Oklahoma.

Godd luck with your .38-55.

glen ring · Post by **glen ring** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 6:57 pm

Red
Nice to hear from you! That was my first national lever action silhouette match and only my fourth cla match period. I liked you guys so much I'm selling/trading my other guns for cowboy silhouette stuff. You guys made such a good impression I'm bringing my wife next year.

Thanks for the load data. I'm ordering bullets in the morning.

Speaking of poachers, I saw a truck pull into my oil well and before I could get to that part of the property it left. It had just rained and I tracked the guy to his "little potty break" on my land. I had a partial tag number and after photographing the pile of "evidence" and footprints I made a few calls. The culprit was located, after talking to a couple of his co-workers, and he called wanting to know what he could do. I made him come back to my place and take his stuff with him. The fun never ends after retirement!

Good shooting with you at Raton. You guys are a class act. If you're ever in central Oklahoma give me a shout (pm) and I'll treat you to some BBQ.

Cimarron Red · Post by **Cimarron Red** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:06 pm

Glen,

I'm glad you had a good time. This shoot is a heck of a lot of fun. I mentioned shooting near you at the pc and sc matches, but I recall now I was near you at the cla as well. I think you rang a few rams.

Some guys do well with a warm pistol cartridge load at the 200 meter ram, but in my experience the ram wants a rifle cartridge to topple him. You should do well with the 336. But you should also know that the early 336 cowboy rifles had oversized bores, large enough that cartridges loaded with proper sized bullets would not chamber. I understand that Marlin corrected this in later guns. Slugging your bore and doing a chamber cast should tell the tale of your particular gun.

I'm glad you nailed the unauthorized exrcretor.

I'll look for you next year, and if I'm in your neck of the woods, I'll take you up on the BBQ offer.

Let me know how the .38-55 shoots.