Help identifying an inherited lever action

2228 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by steelframe7, Mar 18, 2021

ddaytona1

Discussion Starter · Mar 14, 2021

Hi from Atlantic City NJ. I just inherited a Marlin Lever Action. I can see no identification markings on the barrel. They might be there but extremely light or barely scratched in the barrel. Maybe the barrel was re-blued? My father would refer to it as the .35 Marlin. So - any ideas how to identify this? Serial number is R34123

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steelframe7

· #2 · Mar 18, 2021

ddaytona1 said:
Hi from Atlantic City NJ. I just inherited a Marlin Lever Action. I can see no identification markings on the barrel. They might be there but extremely light or barely scratched in the barrel. Maybe the barrel was re-blued? My father would refer to it as the .35 Marlin. So - any ideas how to identify this? Serial number is R34123

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Looks like a Marlin 336 SC-Sporting Carbine. The R prefix indicates 1957/1958 date of mfr...could be either year, but leans to 58. The sporting carbine is a premium model and is a really nice rifle. Value is going to depend on condition, which is hard to tell in detail from the pictures, but overall it looks good from here. Look for undamaged screw heads, clean bluing without worn spots, pitting or rust on the barrel or receiver and in the bore. It would be valued at a premium over the standard model regular carbine and is sought after by Marlin fans. .35 is a great caliber in my opinion and also adds value, although could be an issue in these days of low ammo inventories. It is a hard hitting round that seems to outperform the expectations of the ballistics numbers in the field. Very nice rifle. Take good care of it.

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steelframe7

· #4 · Mar 18, 2021

ddaytona1 said:
Thanks for the reply. Yes I'm having difficulty finding ammo for it. As for condition, it looks like the barrel may have had work done on it. Factory stamping is missing, but looks like an attempt to engrave/scratch the model and caliber into the barrel was made. I plan on using it. Never fired a lever action before.

You'll enjoy it...more power and less recoil than a 30-30, for example and that configuration handles very nicely. I had one, a while ago.
That barrel observation sounds a little fishy though. If you cannot find out what happened there, it would be a must to ask a gunsmith to look it over. Barrel replacement, which is what it is if the factory stamping is missing, can be tricky....and what you describe does not sound like a factory job.
A gunsmith can tell you what's going on there, but you want to make sure that it is correctly installed and is safe to fire. Bad things can happen if it's not. In this case you should probably check to make sure that the barrel itself is correct and is chambered properly.
For example, most new barrels will come with an unfinished chamber so that it can be properly machined for head spacing after installation. If that has not been done, or has not been done correctly, it would be a serious problem.
You are likely in decent shape since it was in the family and if you know that your dad was using it, but it's quite common for strange things to happen when people work on guns.
You should definitely have that one checked out.

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