[back_woods_4life]

hello again folks! im looking for open, honest opinions about a Marlin 336, lever action 30-30 i picked up in a trade today!! everyone has an opinion, im ready to hear them all! .... let me explain..

this gun was advertised for sell or trade and only mentioned that the original finish (the bluing) was coming off, and it had a crack in the wood.. a crack in the wood that some "professional" gunsmith drilled pilot holes throuh and ran screws into the stock to pull the crack together... it worked pretty well, the stock is tight and you cant hardly see the crack, but you can see the screws shining a mile away.

i snatched it up, made him a trade offer and got the gun. after researching a little i determined that the first two numbers of the serial number would tell the production date... this one dates 1972...
- the rifling inside the "40+ year old" barrel looks great!! and the action is as smooth as glass, shes a real survivor, and an excellent shooting gun.

_this is where i need the opinions ::: Ruining vs. Improving
this gun is over 40years old and still functions amazingly well and seems to have a lot of life left in it. im thinking about cleaning up the cosmetics and switching out the stock.

- ive been told that changing the stock and having a gun re-blued will kill the value. BUT with no original finish left, and a busted up stock, full of cracks and Screws, i dont think its holding any kind of value anyway. not to mention these guns are still in production to this day...so would it be worth it to have this gun refinished and replace the broken stock. or should i ignore the looks and leave it be? is there any value to it in its current form? will the "improvements" drop the value or would it help to make it look like new again??

 

[Country101]

My thinking would be that given it's condition, you wouldnt be hurting the value any to put a new stock on and reblue it. If you plan on keeping it to use anyway and dont plan on selling it, I would definately fix it up and make it good to look at. Screw the value unless you are planning on selling it and not using it.

My opinion is based only on my perception and I have no idea as to the book values here, so listen to somebody else that may come along with a better sense of the values.

 

[goofy]

A "professional" gunsmith would have not fixed it that way.So I would say you have a gun fixed by a Gunsmith want-to-be.
If the gun is worth very little in it's present condition then restoring it wont hurt it's value.
Mike

 

[Twicepop]

Most Marlin 336s don't have a lot of collectors appeal. The ones that do are the 336s in .44mag, .375 Win, .219 Zipper and a few others. Sounds like you have a good shooter and not a collector. For my 2.5 cents worth, I'd make it as reliable as possible. Replace the damaged wood and maybe go with one of the spray on finishes as opposed to re-blue, cheaper and more durable. Brownells is a great source for the metal finish products, and possibly the stock also.

 

[wolfdog]

Shoot it like it is. Some times its fun to have an uglyfied firearm just to mess with people.

 

[soundguy]

good truck gun.

good boat gun.

 

[Helix_FR]

With a repair job on the stock as you described, the value is done gone.

 

[bushrat]

Fix it up any way you want and shoot it, then shoot it some more. Enjoy!