The Marlin 336 Lever Action Rifles: Side ejection perfection
Just after the Civil War, the most advanced rifles known to man were lever action carbines with tubular magazines. These ‘cowboy guns’ ruled the West for generations, proving the go to deer gun for 150 years. And perhaps no other modern lever action rifle has stood the test
of time better than the Marlin 336.
From its inception, the lever-action rifle just made sense. By pulling a cocking handle downward from the trigger guard, this action could
both extract a spent shell casing from the breech of the rifle, while at the same time pulling a new round from a tubular magazine under the
barrel. Pushing the same handle back up, would eject the spent casing, chamber a new round, and cock the hammer, making the gun ready
to fire. One simple motion performing five tasks—that’s still mechanically impressive.
Henry and Winchester hit the market hard with these lever-guns in the 1860s. Then the Marlin Firearms Company of New Haven,
Connecticut came on the scene with their Model 1881 a generation later. By the 1900s, Savage had replaced Henry while John Browning’s
Winchester Models were every bit as popular as anything Marlin could make. These Browning Winchesters in particular, namely the Model
1886, 1892, 1894, and 1895, were the bee’s knees for nearly a half century. Nevertheless, by the 1930s an inescapable design flaw on all
of these guns was coming into sharp focus—they couldn’t take a scope.
And that’s when Marlin took the lead from behind, capitalizing on this hard to anticipate bonus courtesy of a clever new design with some
benevolent side effects.
Read the rest in my column at Guns.com
