# 336 Reborn (heavy graphics)



## Mojo^ (Mar 1, 2008)

Well, it's been almost one year since I walked into that dusty old pawn shop looking for a beater .30-30 to use as a truck gun. I found exactly what I was looking for and walked out with a 1970 Marlin 336 that was as crusty a rifle as I have ever seen. It looked like it had been in a flood or something or maybe just laid in the toolbox in the back of somebody's truck for 30 years or so. At some point it's previous owner decided that it needed to be painted gray. At any rate it had been seriously neglected but it wasn't a bad deal for $150 considering that it came with an older 4x Redfield widefield on top. Yes sir, this was going to be my beater truck gun for sure. Yet, there was still something gnawing at me about this rifle. I started cleaning it up a little and then decided that I would strip the stocks and paint them with truck bed liner for a tough finish seeing as how it was going to live out the remainder of it's days behind the seat of my truck. I completely disassembled the rifle and let everything soak in a bath of Kroil while I went to work on the stocks. I stripped them as I usually do with Easy-Off oven cleaner and after washing and rinsing I wiped it down good with denatured alcohol just to make sure there wasn't any oily residue leftover. It was at this point that the wood revealed itself. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. About 10 seconds later I knew what I had to do. It has taken almost a complete year but this rifle has returned to it's former glory. Stocks were stripped, sealed, wet sanded and finished with about 20 coats of hand rubbed tung oil. I replaced the Marlin bullseye in the buttstock because the previous owner used it as a marker for installing a swivel stud. I allowed them to cure several months before finishing off with carnauba wax in turpentine. While that was going on I cleaned the internals and took them to a gunsmith to be reblued. While there I had the barrel cut and crowned. I finally got everything back together last week and am very pleased with the results. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. And before anybody asks, yes, this is the same gun.

Before






After





Before





After





Before





After





Before





After





Before





After






And then there is the wood. Oh, the wood!

Before





After










Before





After





This rifle no longer wear the Redfield scope and it has been replaced with the more traditional Williams WGRS with a Merit disk. Needless to say that she is no longer destined to be a truck gun and now holds a prominent position in my safe. Somehow, I feel a responsibility to take game with this rifle. She suffered through many hard years of abuse and neglect and now it's time for her to be used for her intended purpose. Maybelle (as I call her) will be going out for field trials soon and I can't wait to see how she performs.

The wood was what blew me away. I have never seen anything like that on a factory Marlin. Not a 336 anyway. All of the metal components soaked for a solid six or seven months in Kroil which really helped loosen up the gunk and there was LOT'S of gunk. Some sort of weirdo grease (not cosmoline) was all over the internals. It had dried out and was gritty. That's why the bore looked like it was rusted when in all actuality it was just that strange grease-like substance. Take a look at these other two pictures to get an idea of just how bad this thing was inside. It took lot's of elbow grease to get it nice and clean before taking it to my smith to be reblued. It's amazing what the right amount of TLC can do to an otherwise lost cause. The only problem is that I still don't have a truck gun, but I'm looking.

Hat's off to the fine folks at Bullseye Bluing in Columbus, GA for one heck of a reblue job.


----------



## 7MAGMIKE (Mar 2, 2008)

Gorgeous, you did a wonderful job on a fine rifle.  How does it shoot?


----------



## Rabbit Hunter 101 (Mar 2, 2008)

Good Job man, that thing looks brand new now


----------



## Bruz (Mar 2, 2008)

Great job resurrecting that old rifle. It's beautiful and needs to be hunted because as we all know........"Life's too short to hunt with an ugly gun".

Robert


----------



## pdog06 (Mar 2, 2008)

Great job man, it looks awesome. You're right, the wood is really nice. The before and after pics really show how much work you put into it. Now it just needs broken in


----------



## pnome (Mar 2, 2008)

That is flat out amazing.  Great looking rifle!


----------



## SWAMPFOX (Mar 2, 2008)

*Barrel*

What kind of shape was the barrel in and what TLC was required to re-hab it? That is a nice restoration. Congratulations on a fine job.


----------



## fredw (Mar 2, 2008)

That's the best wood I've ever seen on a Marlin.  Good job!


----------



## Mojo^ (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks guys. here are a couple of before and after pictures of the bore.

Before





After





That stuff that looks like rust was really some sort of dried out grease and a lot of gunk. You can see it really good in these two pictures. 










There was some rust but it was just ,mild surface rust with no pitting. A lot of it was really just stained from something else. I don't know if what it had laid in was rusted or if it was just some of our good old Georgia red clay. It took long periods of time soaking in Kroil and plenty of picking, brushing and scrubbing to get that "stuff" off.

I haven't shot it yet but will be heading to woods soon to give it a work-out. I'm beating that this one is going to shoot cast bullets like a scalded cat.


----------



## WTM45 (Mar 2, 2008)

Great job!  Love to see an old firearm restored to its glory!  Looks even better than when it left the factory in CT, I'd bet!
Take some money from petty cash and treat yourself!  You deserve it!


----------



## SWAMPFOX (Mar 2, 2008)

How did you manage to clean the bore and get it looking so good?


----------



## whitworth (Mar 2, 2008)

*Great Work*

for someone who did a better job than I could ever do.  

I have a 336 Marlin for thirty some year, that I kept from getting into that  bad condition.  

Man has to know his limitations.


----------



## redneckcamo (Mar 2, 2008)

great job dood !!!


----------



## Mojo^ (Mar 2, 2008)

To get the bore clean I completely disassembled the entire rifle and let it soak in Kroil for almost eight months straight. Every once in a while I would take the parts out and clean them with aerosol brake pad cleaner that I bought at Dollar General, wipe them down and drop them back into the Kroil to continue soaking. Once it came out of the Kroil bath I used a product called Wipe Out foaming bore cleaner followed by homemade Ed's Red bore cleaner. I started with a regular bronze brush and then used a regular bore patch on a jag wrapped with a couple of strands of copper/bronze that was pulled from a Chore Boy cleaning pad that I bought at the grocery store. To finish it off I used bore patches on a jag with BreakFree and alternated between dry and BreakFree soaked pads until the patches came through clean.


----------



## SWAMPFOX (Mar 2, 2008)

Awesome. Again, a great job.


----------



## mhayes (Mar 2, 2008)

great job. I would loan you my 336 if i could get it back looking like that!!!


----------



## Marlin_444 (Mar 3, 2008)

Bruz said:


> Great job resurrecting that old rifle. It's beautiful and needs to be hunted because as we all know........"Life's too short to hunt with an ugly gun".
> 
> Robert



Hey Bruz:

Gotta remember that one!

NICE Marlin!

Ron


----------



## Back2class (Mar 3, 2008)

Nice job. Everytime I get a beater gun I just have to fix it up...even if its a junker. Here is what you do... Buy a ugly Mosin m44 for like $60. They are tough as nails, accurate to hunting distances and have no beauty so you may not be tempted to pretty it up.


----------



## dawg2 (Mar 3, 2008)

Wow, that looks great.  The stock is really nice.


----------



## red tail (Mar 3, 2008)

That is a heck of a job you did there!! Great looking Gun!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Wiskey_33 (Mar 3, 2008)

Holy Cow! That's a great job. Now what can you do about my avatar?

Hmmmmm........


----------



## Georgiared (Mar 3, 2008)

Great job Mojo!!!  Looks better than new!!

Hey Wiskey, why don't you try the same thing...ya know...soak in kroil for 8 months, bore rod, easy off oven cleaner...maybe that would work!


----------



## Wiskey_33 (Mar 3, 2008)

Georgiared said:


> Great job Mojo!!!  Looks better than new!!
> 
> Hey Wiskey, why don't you try the same thing...ya know...soak in kroil for 8 months, bore rod, easy off oven cleaner...maybe that would work!



I wouldn't put my bore rod through such agony.


----------



## seaweaver (Mar 3, 2008)

Man that's kicking!
that stock is awsome.
Too bad MO is down. I have a 336 .35 100 year commemorative I'm redoing. I bought it from milkman and sent the iron to marlin to reblue.
cw


----------



## Mojo^ (Mar 4, 2008)

spam4 said:


> Here is what you do... Buy a ugly Mosin m44 for like $60. They are tough as nails, accurate to hunting distances and have no beauty so you may not be tempted to pretty it up.



Uuuh, nope. I have an old M41 I paid something like $45 for and made it into real beauty, but that's another story. It was on the M41 that I learned the benefits of using Easy-Off oven cleaner to strip a stock but I eventually put a composite stock on the one I have. It turned out to be a real shooter too. No capture or import marks at all.


----------



## Speakeasy (Apr 5, 2009)

Awesome info, y'all. Markin this one as reference to my newest project. Truly an inspiration; thanks!


----------



## EMC-GUN (Apr 5, 2009)

Great Job! That wood is something! And the bluing turned out great!


----------



## Gentleman4561 (Apr 5, 2009)

great job always love to see the old guys restored


----------



## GAnaturalist (Apr 6, 2009)

That is amazing. 

How did you bring out the grain in the wood ? Sand and restain a bunch, and did you stain/treat with coats of tru oil ? Is it birch wood?

Thanks, D


----------



## choctawlb (Apr 6, 2009)

Awesome. That is quite a transformation there. The grain in the wood is beautiful, and the workmanship on your part very detailed. Nice job.
Ken


----------



## WSB (Apr 6, 2009)

Man she's sweet now! Love that wood, good job!


----------



## Auchumpkee Creek Assassin (Apr 6, 2009)

fine job on the 336, love the wood. I got one in 35...........fine weapon's for sure


----------



## bigbrannew (Apr 16, 2009)

yep i know now where i'll send my 336 30-30


----------



## clown714 (Apr 16, 2009)

beautiful job!

thanks for the write up.

clown


----------



## njanear (Apr 17, 2009)

Great job on that 336!!  That is a very nice stock.


----------



## The Original Rooster (Apr 19, 2009)

Absolutely beautiful! Have fun with that.


----------



## TAG (Apr 23, 2009)

Your 336 is beautiful.

I have one from that era, I paid $69.00 for it new in 1971 at Treasure Island, my first deer rifle.


----------

