I was out sighting in a new Marlin 336C this afternoon, and took along my 1976 39M to check it out. I'm going to be using it for squirrels this year, and wanted to see if the original sighting had stuck after all these years. I think it has been at least 20 years since it was fired. Also, it has been about that long since I fired a rifle with a scope, and I figured a little practice with the 39M would help in shooting the 336C.
The gun has a Bushnell Scopechief Twenty-Two 3x-8x scope which hasn't been touched since originally installed in 1976, as far as I can recall.
I also had some ancient Remington promo long rifle ammo from 12-15 years ago. and I tried some of it just to see how well it had held up. So, old shooter with an old gun and old scope shooting old ammo... nowhere to go but up, right?
First string was 10 shots of the old ammo, Remington Golden round nose solid, at 25 yards. First two shots were high, and were also the slowest and the fastest of the string. After that, though, the gun, the scope and the shooter settled down and shot a decent group with the next 8 rounds.
![]()
That string averaged 1130 fps with a standard deviation of 16 fps, not bad for 15 year-old bulk ammo.
Next string was 8 shots with new ammo, but also bulk, Remington Golden Bullets high velocity round nose hollow points, and at 20 yards. I couldn't remember if the gun had been sighted for 20 or 25 yards, so was trying both. That group was better.
![]()
The advertised velocity of these was 1280, but mine averaged 1098 from my 20" barrel with a SD of 22 fps.
I decided the gun had been sighted in with a near zero of 20 yards, and that should put the bullet 0.5" high at 40 yards and on zero again at 59 yards, so my next string was at that distance.
![]()
Looking at that group the 20 yard near zero seems right. The wind was light, but was blowing from the left. I decided to wait until another session to see if the windage needs adjusting. I'll get her dead on before squirrel season.
This gun is a little gem. I am amazed how solid it feels, how much like a big game rifle it feels. It really was great practice for my session with the .35 Remington 336.
That seems impressive performance after sitting on the bench for so long.
Spence
The gun has a Bushnell Scopechief Twenty-Two 3x-8x scope which hasn't been touched since originally installed in 1976, as far as I can recall.
I also had some ancient Remington promo long rifle ammo from 12-15 years ago. and I tried some of it just to see how well it had held up. So, old shooter with an old gun and old scope shooting old ammo... nowhere to go but up, right?
First string was 10 shots of the old ammo, Remington Golden round nose solid, at 25 yards. First two shots were high, and were also the slowest and the fastest of the string. After that, though, the gun, the scope and the shooter settled down and shot a decent group with the next 8 rounds.
That string averaged 1130 fps with a standard deviation of 16 fps, not bad for 15 year-old bulk ammo.
Next string was 8 shots with new ammo, but also bulk, Remington Golden Bullets high velocity round nose hollow points, and at 20 yards. I couldn't remember if the gun had been sighted for 20 or 25 yards, so was trying both. That group was better.
The advertised velocity of these was 1280, but mine averaged 1098 from my 20" barrel with a SD of 22 fps.
I decided the gun had been sighted in with a near zero of 20 yards, and that should put the bullet 0.5" high at 40 yards and on zero again at 59 yards, so my next string was at that distance.
Looking at that group the 20 yard near zero seems right. The wind was light, but was blowing from the left. I decided to wait until another session to see if the windage needs adjusting. I'll get her dead on before squirrel season.
This gun is a little gem. I am amazed how solid it feels, how much like a big game rifle it feels. It really was great practice for my session with the .35 Remington 336.
That seems impressive performance after sitting on the bench for so long.
Spence
