Marlin 336 30/30 front firing pin length?

[ba_50]

Anyone know how long it is? Still having misfires and don't want to by one if not necessary. Thanks.

[AJMD429]

Somebody here likely can find out before I'd get a chance, but if nobody responds before long, send me a PM to remind me. Probably be a week before I'd get a chance to measure mine.

[TedH]

If your firing pin isn't obviously broken, which has been known to happen in Marlins, it's a good chance it's just gummed up in the bolt. I have had two Marlins over the years that were prone to misfire when I got them. A bolt disassembly and cleaning out of years worth of crud remedied the misfires. If you don't know the history of the rifle, you may want to check and make sure the hammer spring hasn't been tampered with in an attempt to improve trigger pull.
A firing pin that's just too short doesn't seem like a very likely problem to me.

[AJMD429]

Good point. There's also the 'two-piece' thing going on with newer Marlins. The lever locking bolt has to lift the rear portion upwards so it hits the front portion. It can get dirty there.

With the bolt out can you manually push the front pin forward enough to protrude from the bolt face? If not it could be broken or dirt in the firing pin channel may be obstructing forward motion. I forget if there is a spring in the channel to retract the firing pin but it could break a chunk off if so and clog things. If you can make the pin protrude manually it is probably ok.

While waiting for someone to get a measurement for you maybe tell us more symptoms.

Also not a bad idea to get a spare even if you find out you didn't need it.

[ba_50]

The main spring, leaf spring, and rear firing pin, and ejector were replaced. The rear pin and top of loading block were polished. The bolt locks into position normally. I tried neck sizing brass. So far lots of misfires, 4 in a row when smith tried it. He didn't fit the extractor, so the cartridges went in cockeyed and wouldn't cycle, so the original was put back in when I took it back. The front firing pin protrusion measurement looks good, so maybe I don't need to measure the pin? The gunsmith tried to figure head space using caliper on one backed out primer and told me the barrel might have to be set back and a new front pin replaced.

Keep in mind this a 1968 model and looks like new.

He told me it wouldn't cost more than $40 plus parts. After polishing the pin and loading block he said he couldn't find anything wrong with it and blamed the reload primers not seating enough. He fired two rounds .The second time I told him I thought it was a lemon. He said a lemon could be fixed, they were simple to work on and still wouldn't cost more than $40. He took it all apart and checked it again. He used a caliper and measured one backed out primer and said the barrel might have to be set back and a new front pin might be needed. It would cost $300-350 to fix. It misfires on factory loads too.

I asked for a refund since he didn't fix anything and he claimed the $40 was just for labor to find out what was wrong with it. He wanted to buy the rifle for was I had in it. I got $20 back and won't ever use him again.

If he would have checked the headspace the first time it wouldn't have cost me anything.

I still don't know for sure what it wrong. I read where a new loading block can be fitted instead of setting back the barrel. He didn't mention that.

A good smith is hard to come by.

[Chuck 100 yd]

What do the fired cases look like? Do the shoulders look normal ? I am wondering if someone has rechambered it to AI ! Ackley improvd? If so it should be very obvious.
Marlin never offered different thickness breech ocking bolts to adjust head space like Winchester did. The headspace was adjusted be the location of the barrel only.