Marlin 336 Year of Manufacture Date Codes

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A common question asked about the popular Marlin 336 lever-action rifle is “What year is my Marlin 336?” or “When was my Marlin 336 manufactured?”. Unlike many firearm manufactures Marlin Firearms made it easy to determine date of manufacture. The early 336 models had serial numbers that started with one or two letters which indicated the year the rifle was built. The following chart correlates date code with year of manufacture through year 1972.

Date Letter Date Letter Date Letter
1946 C 1956 N 1966 AB
1946 D 1957 P 1967 AC
1948 E 1958 R 1968 AD,68
1949 F 1959 S 1969 69
1950 G 1960 T 1970 70
1951 H 1961 U 1971 71
1952 J 1962 V 1972 72
1953 K 1963 W
1954 L 1964 Y, Z
1955 M 1965 AA

For Marlin 336 rifles manufactured in 1973 and after, the first two digits of the serial number are subtracted from 100 to yield the date of manufacture. For example my Marlin 336SS has a serial number beginning with 93 indicating a 2007 year of manufacture. The chart below shows the manufacture dates for rifles made in 1973 to 2009 when Remington took over production. For Remington manufactured rifles after 2009 the serial number system changed. For the “RemLin” or Marlin 336 rifles manufactured by Remington in the llion, New York plant, the serial number begins with MR and is located on the left side of the receiver.

The first serial number digits shown in bold
Remington built Marlin dates in RED

C-1946 W-1963 22-1978 05-1995
D-1947 Y-1964 21-1979 04-1996
E-1948 Z-1964 20-1980 03-1997
F-1949 AA– 1965 19-1981 02-1998
G-1950 AB-1966 18-1982 01-1999
H-1951 AC-1967 17-1983 00-2000
J-1952 AD– early 1968 16-1984 99-2001
K-1953 68– late 1968 15-1985 98-2002
L-1954 69-1969 14-1986 97-2003
M-1955 70-1970 13-1987 96-2004
N-1956 71-1971 12-1988 95-2005
P-1957 72-1972 11-1989 94-2006
R-1958 27-1973 10-1990 93-2007
S-1959 26-1974 09-1991 92-2008
T-1960 25-1975 08-1992 91-2009
U-1961 24-1976 07-1993 90-2010
V-1962 23-1977 06-1994 MR-2011

8 thoughts on “Marlin 336 Year of Manufacture Date Codes”

  1. Thanks again for your reply. I know what you are saying is correct and can’t be explained but I bought the 35 Marlin brand new in 1962 from a gun shop. I have long since misplaced the bill of sale for the gun otherwise I would refer to it.

    I know you will enjoy your 35 Marlin as I have taken several deer with it over the years and the knockdown power is awesome.
    Sincerely,
    Jim Bova

  3. Thanks for the feedback… The serial number is on the tang and it reads. 71 two digit space then 6 more digits of the serial number.
    Thanks,
    Jim Bova

  4. Marlin 336 rifles manufactured from 1946 through 1968 use a letter code. The first characters in the serial are letters. Starting in 1969 the first digits are numbers. The serial is located on the tang. I checked several other sources and came up with the same info. Out of curiosity, where is the serial number located on your rifle?

  5. I bought my Marlin .35 336 new in 1962… The first 2 digits of my rifle is 71XXXXXX.
    The charts do not make sense as to the manufacture date of my rifle. I need help to understand.
    Thanks,
    Jim Bova

  6. THANKS FOR THE REPLY AND GOOD TO KNOW THERE ARE MORE MARLIN FANS. IS THERE A ANYONE OUT THERE THAT WORKED FOR MARLIN THAT COULD SAY MORE ABOUT THE CORPORATION? ANYONE THAT WORKS FOR REMINGTON THAT HAS ANY INPUT TO THIS COMMENT? I WOULD REMAIN A MARLIN FAN DO TO THE PRODUCT MADE IN THE USA.

  7. The first few years after Remington took over Marlin production the horror stories of ridiculous quality, fit, and finish prevailed. I own 4 Marlin rifles and made sure they were original Marlins. Very happy with them. I would suspect that Remington got the quality control issues fixed by now. The Remington produced Marlins have a different serial numbering system. No way to determine date of manufacture without contacting the factory.

  8. Remington used cnc machining instead of the old milling machines that marlin was using.This increased accuracy and higher quality ,lowered costs and pricing followed. As far as my resources go the marlin company stopped putting money into tooling which created the so called artisan or craftsman per say, not saying that many workers where craftsman in their own right as you would have to be a true machinist to make something with nothing. In using cnc technology your quality increases and scrap decreases (no haste= no waste) . Things change and sometimes for the better, lets see if this is for the better.

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