Marlin Model 336

About the Marlin Model 336

The Marlin Model 336 is an American lever-action rifle introduced in 1948 as an evolution of the earlier Marlin Model 1893 and Model 1936. Designed by L.L. Hepburn and chambered primarily in .30-30 Winchester, the 336 established itself as one of the two defining North American deer rifles of the 20th century alongside the Winchester Model 94. Its defining innovation is a solid-top receiver with side ejection, which allowed hunters to mount telescopic sights directly over the bore decades before Winchester responded with its angle-eject Model 94. The rifle combines a 20.25-inch barrel, a six-round tubular magazine, and a robust hammer-fired action with a traditional American black walnut stock. Chambered over the years in .30-30 Winchester, .35 Remington, .32 Winchester Special, .375 Winchester, and .444 Marlin, it has served generations of whitetail, black bear, and brush-country hunters. Production paused in 2020 during the Remington bankruptcy and resumed in 2021 under Sturm, Ruger & Co., which reintroduced the rifle as the 336 Classic with improved fit, finish, and modern CNC-machined components.

The Marlin 336's great unfair advantage over the Winchester Model 94 was ejecting its spent cases sideways instead of straight up - a seemingly small detail that let hunters bolt a scope directly over the receiver decades before Winchester caught up with angle-eject. When Remington collapsed into bankruptcy in 2020, Sturm, Ruger & Co. bought the Marlin brand and tooling for roughly 30 million USD, shut the lights off on the old North Haven plant, and relaunched the 336 as a modern CNC-machined rifle that many reviewers agree is the best-built 336 ever made.

Marlin Model 336 specifications

Specifications reflect the current production Ruger-made 336 Classic in .30-30 Winchester: 7.5 lb (3402 g) empty, 38.625 in (981 mm) overall, 20.25 in (514 mm) barrel with 1:12 twist and 6 grooves, approximately 5 lb (22.2 N) trigger pull, six-round tubular magazine. Marlin Firearms was acquired by Remington (Freedom Group) in 2007, production quality declined through the 2010s, and after Remington's 2020 bankruptcy, Ruger purchased the Marlin brand and assets for approximately 30 million USD. Ruger relaunched the 336 in late 2023 after first restoring the 1895 lever-action line. The side-ejection design and solid-top receiver are considered the rifle's signature engineering advantages over the top-ejecting Winchester 94, which drove its dominance in the scoped deer-hunting market from the late 20th century onward. Estimated lifetime production of the Model 336 across all configurations exceeds 6 million rifles.