Marlin 336cs Review

Well, well, well.

Well.

This past weekend I made some swaps. I bartered an extra shotty for a splendidly broken-in Marlin 336cs in 30-30, the consummate backwoods gun.

In every pawn shop and gun store in my area, there is usually one or more of these levers on the rack, not to mention in the gun-safes of mountain folk. A couple years ago, after reading Mad Ogre's review of the weapon, it got me thinking: I need a Marlin lever action. One day, I thought.

Fast-forward to the present and I can whole-heartedly say, I am not disappointed. The AR-15 I sold off was awkward and gangly to me. The 336, however, snaps to attention, ready for duty. Placing the vintage irons on target is easy and smooth, and the gun's natural ergonomics lend itself to a backwoods environment, where a mixture of serious shooting and play are pretty much the same thing.

I inaugurated the gun by taking aim at the assortment of inflated toy balls that had become trapped in the forest out back. Watching them ping 20 feet in the air was the highlight of my gray day and made the potential disturbance of one set of neighbors totally worth while.

Felt recoil was very manageable. Powerful, but not bad, and the lever was perfectly worn in for fast follow-up shots. It is easy to see why this gun is a legend among levers. A unique blend of grace and utility, it's everything you need, and nothing you don't. I suspect this is how it feels with other lever actions that serve as primary weapons.

For my part, as discussed with my compadre, Martin, I don't feel under-gunned with this in the least. Hammering targets 75 yards out off the irons feels like child's play. I simply didn't feel the same way about my AR-15, not that they suck. Simply put, the Marlin shines in ways I simply had not expected years back: they are innocuous to behold but deceivingly deadly, light, very maneuverable, and wonderfully accurate.

In the hands of the right hill-billy, the Marlin is a force to be reckoned with, not something to be taken lightly. And I can honestly say that I feel much comfort adding this to my standard battery of arms and making it my go-to long rifle/everything gun.

Over and Out,

--Nick-Dog

Thoughts on End Game

This post/rant has been percolating on my mind for a while. Read at your own risk.

We are now entering the End Game of the status quo of life as we know it.

While more people continue to wake up to the Matrix, plenty more continue to swallow the blue pill. Nothing is wrong. Things will get back to normal. Or, what do you mean "get back?" Things are normal. Socker moms still have their SUVs and non-believers go merrily on their way.

For some, that is true, but the paradigm has begun to shift. It is happening now, as the powers that be position themselves the best they can for planned economic upheaval on a global scale.

In Japanese war strategy, it is said that timing is everything. If you are too early to the party, you may pay the price by telegraphing your move, giving your opponent(s) intel they don't deserve. If you are too late, chances are you're already punished. The idea is to hit the sweet spot sometime in the middle.
 
With that in mind, the timetable for mega-collapse is a question mark until it happens. My hope is that going forward, our family systems of personal self-reliance--chickens, firewood, garden, water catchment, security, etc.--will already be in place the way I want them to be at that time. Hopefully, it will be more of a question of maintaining systems rather than starting new systems of self-sufficiency when the balloon goes up. The idea is not to be in a position to have to start EVERYTHING right now. I wish I could say that is how I've lived these past 5 years or so, but if you know me, you know that it's been more a case of learning the hard lessons first than getting it all right out of the box.

In any event, I think if there has ever been a time to say, "Get your final shit in order because there may not be much time left before we are forced to live with what we have," I think that time is now. I hope that time is, in reality, a long, long way off, but all my best instincts tell me its not.

I could be wrong. But if you are late to this party, you aren't just going to miss the good drinks and the prom queen, you are going to get a punch in the face and then thrown in the Octogon. I am expecting things to suck pretty hard, but I am hoping that I can make it suck less by playing this game on my terms, that is, by opting out of as many systems of dependence as possible as time allows for as long as I can.

The times ahead of us will be a time for daring and discipline, for hard calls and self-sacrifice. For relying on instinct over intel and being forced to do the basics well. In the end we can only do what we can do. The rest is up to God.

The time is always now.

Over and Out,

 --Nick-Dog