I posted this on Page 126 of the lever guns thread, but I think it warrants a post of its own because it deals with my first gun. Warning, I just returned from the eye doctor with dilated eyes, so the proof reading of this one will be very iffy.
My first gun was a Marlin 336C in .35 Remington. I was 14 when I got it. It was the late 1970s and I lived in NY State at the time. I chose the gun and a family member bought the gun at the gun section of a Morsan's, a sporting goods store that was part of a chain in the NY/NJ/CN area. It was a big grand sporting goods store that everything from snowshoes to camping goods to canoes to fishing gear, coasts, balls, and any type of sports equipment. They even carried some martial arts books which I bought. They had a single gun counter with maybe maybe 50 rifles and shotguns behind it. The most tactical gun behind the counter was a chromed commercial made M1 carbine.
Me and my family had bought a wide variety of sporting goods from it, including BB guns, snowshoes, hiking boots, outdoor coats, etc. I will try to dig up some pictures.
The guy behind the gun counter knew us since I had bought some BB and pellet guns and was always looking at and asking about long arms. This was a time when the guy behind the counter wore a sport jacket with a tie.
I selected the Marlin 336C in .35 Remington at the advice of a family friend who was a NYPD cop who owned one and hunted deer with it. He assured me that the .35 Remington would do a better job of "brush-busting" than a 30-06, and would go through a tree that the 30-06 would either divert right or left upon hitting. I really liked that gun and felt that with it I was ready for anything that I could possibly face in NY State--be it black bears or burglars. There is a special feeling in getting your first gun. Years later I wound up selling that gun and got a .270 which took over the role Of a medium game gun. At this time I had a Remington 1100 which filled out the home defense role. This was a time when owning a 30-30/.270/30-06, a shotgun, and a .22 was considered a complete long arms battery. In recent years I came to regret that sale. I'd heard bad things about modern Marlins mechanically wise. The wood on the stock and forearm of the 336C that I owned was far nicer than any of the stocks on the modern Marlins.
I had looked on GunBroker and seen some modern versions of the gun in the local gun store that I frequent-- Jackson Armory of Dallas Texas. I handled the newer Marlins but I still longed for an older one like I had as my first gun.
The other day, I was going to a nearby restaurant and decided to stop in to Jackson Armory which was in walking distance Of the restaurant. I walked in and said hello to the guys working there glanced around then went into the sporting rifle room, not expecting to find much, and low and behold I found an older Marlin 336C in 30-30. It had no rear sights and came with a scope mount. I figured I would remove the scope mount and put rear sights on the gun so would be exactly as it was when I first bought one. A guy at the store ran the serial number and estimated that it was manufactured in the late 1960s. I figured that 30–30 would be a much better caliber to own than .35 Remington because the ammo would be far more available in a wide variety of places. I was also concerned about future ammo availability for the .35 Remington. But if Ithe gun had been chambered in .35 Remington I would have probably bought it as well. I bought the gun, quite happy with myself. Then got home and discovered that there was no 30-30 ammo available anywhere, or the prices were astronomical.
Here is a picture of the gun. The stock and forend is in superb condition
It has no buckhorn rear sight. For now I am going to get a new buckhorn rear sight to install and remove the scope mount. Eventually I will get some ammo and shoot it. I might even look into mounting a rear peepsite if such a thing is available,
Shortly after I got the Marlin, I got a Marlin/Glenfield bolt action .22 that had a detachable magazine and a cheap scope. I selected that .22 without even looking at any of the other .22s in the store because I wanted a bolt action .22. I had a book titled First Rifle by noted children's author C.B. Colby. For those of you old enough to remember, C.B. Colby he wrote 100s of books geared toward young boys on diverse topics like military, police, aircraft, transportation. His books had a lot of pictures and anywhere from a sentence or two to a paragraph or two about the pictures.
I am glad to have the the 336C back. Now maybe I will find a bolt action Glenfield .22
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