My father's only deer rifle was a Marlin Model 1936, pistol-grip carbine, 20 inch barrel with full magazine, and a solid bolt like the 1894 series now has. The color case on the receiver is mostly long gone. My brother has this rifle now. Wide v-notch rear sight, bead front dovetailed into the barrel. this piece still shoots dead-on at 100 yards, providing Dad's non-bifocal wearing sons can still see out that far. I inherited it, then passed it along to my youngest brother, who lives in a house on the old family farm where Dad lived at the time he bought this rifle. Aside from sentiment, this is a very accurate 30-30, but for some reason has a chamber so tight that it will only chamber factory ammo--not handloads. This could probably be fixed with a little polishing, but Dad's rifle will stay as is. For those gun-control fanatics that may be lurking, we grew up with that rifle placed in a corner behind the cellar door. We grew up taught to never touch that rifle without permission, and never even tried, even though it was never locked up out of out reach. Later, as adults, we all hunted with it at one time or another. When I see that gun in my brother's cabinet, I still feel a bit like I should ask Dad, now long gone, if it's OK to pick his old 30-30 up and shoot it or hunt with it.
