Marlin's .38-55 - Long Range Cowboy Levergun

Guns Magazine, Feb, 2000 by John Taffin

Long-range cowboy shooters and hunters who desire a touch of nostalgia will love this new levergun.

Marlin recently unveiled an exciting offering of short, handy leverguns with octagonal barrels and straight grip stocks. Available on a limited basis through one particular distributor, Davidson's, these guns come in both .41 Mag. and .45-70. Additionally, two new standard catalog items are Long Range Cowboy Leverguns in both .30-30 and .38-55.

The Model 1894 Winchester was chambered in .30-30, not in 1894 but one year later in 1895, becoming one of the first, if not the first, smokeless powder rifle chambering. At the same time, the .30-40 Krag appeared in the Model 1895 Winchester.

Interestingly enough, both rifles are still in existence. The Model 94 has been made in various calibers and chamberings with millions upon millions available, while the American home of the .30-40, the 1895, was resurrected by Winchester several years ago.

Marlin's Model 336 Cowboy joins the other Marlin Cowboy offerings in .45 Colt, .44-40, .44 Mag. and .357 Mag., all of which owe their existence and great popularity to the grand shooting sport known as cowboy shooting. Quality leverguns are required for this and although some competitors use original leverguns from the last century, many opt for the newer, stronger, more reliable and less expensive modern leverguns. Probably the levergun most seen at cowboy shooting gatherings is the Marlin 1894 Cowboy.

Leverguns for cowboy shooting must be chambered in a sixgun cartridge with the most popular being in .44-40, .38-40 and .32-20. Those Johnny-come-lately modern cartridges, the .44 Mag. and .357 Mag., are also allowed with proper loads.

The most popular sixgun cartridge for competitors shooting both sixguns and leverguns is the .45 Colt, even though there were no leverguns chambered in .45 Colt prior to very recent times. It just is almighty handy to have the sixguns and leverguns chambered for the same round.

Go Western Young Man

Where do the Marlin 336 Cowboys in .30-30 and .38-55 enter the picture? Cowboy shooting is addictive and often spills over into other areas of shooting with many competitors also using other period firearms and chamberings. The addition of the .30-30 and .38-55 in a levergun reminiscent of long bygone days gives the cowboy shooter an authentically styled hunting rifle.

Second, long-range rifle side matches are becoming increasingly popular at cowboy shooting gatherings. These two levergun chamberings are perfect for this aspect of cowboy shooting.

Unless one looks at the hole in the barrel, the two Model 336 Cowboy leverguns are virtually identical with the more observant among us able to distinguish the slightly heavier .30-30 from the .38-55.

The .38-55 is a relatively straight-walled case, slightly tapered and designed for blackpowder. With the coming of smokeless, the .38-55 was trimmed from 2.1295" to 2.039" and necked down to .30 caliber. This cartridge became a real piece of Americana when it emerged as the .30 WCF, more commonly known as the .30-30.

The .38-55 levergun normally has a groove diameter of .377" to 379" while most jacketed bullets for the .375 Winchester are in the .375" diameter size range. This makes the .38-55 particularly favorable to cast bullets. Both Marlin and Lyman offer old-time designs for the .38-55, with RCBS's #37-250FN having a gas check.

The 336 Cowboy features a 24" full octagon barrel, straight-gripped stock with checkering on both forearm and buttstock, excellent wood and blue finish, and standard Marlin sights consisting of the adjustable rear on an elevator and a bead front. The front sights on both the .30-30 and .38-55 Marlin 336 Cowboys are too short for my use, causing both leverguns to shoot high.

This is now academic as the .30-30 carries a scope while Ashley Outdoors fits the .38-55 with the excellent ghost ringstyle "peep" sight. These are great sights for quick use in a hunting situation as the rear sight is very small and unobtrusive, with a large aperture allowing the user to pick up both target and front sight immediately. Also present is the now-standard cross-bolt safety that our ancestors never needed.

Both Model 336 Cowboys carry a full magazine tube under their octagon barrels. Magazine capacity in the full-length tubes found on the 336 Cowboy is eight rounds.

The Long And Short Of It

With its long, heavy octagon barrel, the 336 Cowboy, in .30-30 or .38-55, "hangs easily" on target from the shoulder in a standing position. Short barrels make dandy brush guns but long barrels are easier to shoot.

The groove diameters on .38-55 rifles have varied over the years and in different makes and models. A call to Marlin confirmed that their .38-55 barrels are cut at .378".

With this in mind I tried cast bullets sized to both .377" and .379" experiencing no practical discernable difference in accuracy. They both shoot exceptionally well.

Winchester's factory offering, a 250 gr. JFP at a very mild velocity of 1,200 fps, is a tack driver with groups of 5/8" at 50 yards.