First lemme say AWESOME SITE, just joined this afternoon and been reading non-stop for hours!

I apologize if I failed to find this via search but I did try! I have a cherry 1968 336RC 35rem that was handed down to me nearly 30 years ago by my grandfather. I killed once with it about 25yrs ago with it when I was 16 just to say I did, stuck it in the safe untouched and now here we are. I now hunt a logged swamp so when the weathers nice I pull it back out and desire "to take grandpa huntin with me again" (he passed in '93).

Last season I put a vx3 2.5x8x36 on it, sighted it with Hornady LEs and carried it quite a bit but my boys did the shooting with their 243s. This season my 16yr old wanted to shoot his great-grandfathers rifle during a juvie hunt in Oct. Sure enough a nice 2.5yr old 7pt stepped out 45yds away and my son put the crosshairs on it and squeezed the trigger... SNAP!!! The buck looked around while I second guessed myself (but KNEW I had put one in the pipe) The buck took off and I opened the gun to find a dimpled yet unfired primer!

(finally my question) I've got 2 safes full of bolt guns that I can tear down in my sleep but honestly I never did much internals on the 336 so I'm asking the experts... I "think" I know what happened now that I've studied the gun and a blown up diagram but want the "official yay or nay".

If I let the hammer all the way down on the bolt it presses the rear firing pin into the bolt. When I then lift the hammer back, the rear firing pin stays inside the bolt. (pic 1)


With the hammer back (half-cock, full-cock doesn't matter) I can then lower the lever just enough to move the bolt rearward, thereby "re-setting" the rear firing pin into "ready/fire position". (pic 2)


I hope I'm speaking English here, I know what I want to ask, just not sure I done so properly for the experts. Is the gun functioning properly and does the firing pin have to be manually "reset" each time like the picture shows or does the old gun have problems? (haven't fired it since the snap. wanted to fix before taking back out if indeed something else is wrong)

Thanks for any help or advice,
HL

You are lucky to have grandpas gun and even more lucky that it is a marlin. To remove the bolt, you need to remove the screw holding your lever in place. the lever will come out and then you can slide the bolt out the rear. Cant the rifle onto it's left side and hold the hammer back all the way as you start the bolt out. The ejector is loose and is held in place by the bolt, take a look at how it sits in it's position before you completely remove the bolt. When you have the bolt out you will need to remove the extractor to change the firing pin. I ruined the first extractor I tried to remove by only prying at one side. Now I use a pair of needle nose pliers in reverse to spread the extractor bands open. Once the extractor is off the firing pin is able to slide out. I may be breaking this forum policy but there is another forum Marlin Owners that has pictures and better instructions than I can provide. It is really easy. If you bend the extractor where it is even slightly out of round scrap it and get a new one.

So bird are you saying the firing pin spring is broke? (I've removed the bolt b4, as u said it is simple)

From te diagram I've seen the spring is a flat type vs coiled. Hope they are still plentyful? I think I have to remove those pressed in pins first to get the firing pin assembly out. But before I did all that I was curious if there was a consensus on the problem.

Thanx
HL

Yes it's a flat spring. The pin is a two-piece design. Pay close attention to its orientation as you take it out so you don;t have to fuss and worry when reassembling. Forgive me if I missed it, but..... are you sure it wasn;t just a bad primer?

__________________
Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

Stretch I can't say that for certain as I didn't attempt to fire the gun after that trip. But let me say that the primer wasn't struck hard enough to ignite it. Just a light mark on the primer rather than a full indentation that I would assume would've been proper indication of a failed primer vs improper firing pin operation.

I just wondered if anyone knew for sure if that pin staying fully depressed/flush into the bolt after the hammer fully presses it inward, is that normal operation or should the spring instead instantly move the pin back rearward/out of the bolt whenever the hammer is lifted into half or full cock?

Thanx again guys,
HL

I think I would flush the bolt out first before you tear it down. It could have some old dried up oil or crud in it. Anyway, just a thought.

__________________
MikeG

I saw that Hatchie in your earlier post and didn;t answer it. No, the lever must be operated to cock the firing pin. Once the rifle is fired, live or empty, just cocking the hammer back does nothing to the bolt or firing pin. You must operate the lever. If you look at the bolt where the shorter piece of firing pin is visible, there's a flat spring under there. Cocking the bolt back makes that pin ride over the hammer, pressing on the spring, and forcing the short end of the firing pin rearward...well, forcing both pieces of pin rearward I should say.

Mike's right - flush it IF you're hesitant about breaking the bolt down. Although, I tell you, it's not a complicated thing, this Marlin bolt, and the flushing is more thorough if you pull the firing pins.

__________________
Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

Hmmm a gummed up bolt/firing pin assembly... I didn't even think about that one but that DOES make sense with a 40sumodd yr old rifle. I'll pull the bolt tonight and soak it for a few days in my homemade parts cleaner out in the garage (a tub full of ATF, motor oil & Marvelous Mystery Oil that I've cleaned all sorts of reels, tools and gun parts with before).

Thanx again gents, I REALLY like this site and the more I read in the levergun section the more I want to hang up my bolt action "thunder boomers" and chase them in my west TN swamp with the ol "Tirty-Fi"!


HL

ps
This keeps up and I'll be lookin to scratch my bigbore itch with a 444!!!

I skipped a step in my earlier description of tearing down the bolt. After the extractor is removed knock out the roll pins and slide out the firing pin. should have two parts to the firing pin. if you have three you can clean, weld, and file. or order a new one recommended. If you would like pictures go to the Marlin Owners Forum under, Cleaning and Disassembly catagory, Lever Dude has posted instructions and included photographs of the steps.

I have to agree with birdshot. Take it apart, clean it, put it back together. If it's a broken pin, get another. I really don;t think there's any need for soaking. Break down, clean, and reassemble is about 15 minutes with time for coffee.

Marlin bolt disassembly.

__________________
Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

Stretch, thanks for posting the Link. If i was smarter I would have done it myself. I am lucky to find all of the letters on these keyboards.