Retained energy at 400 yards for the 200-grain .338 ME and 180-grain .30-06 bullets are essentially the same at 1,760 ft-lbs. Actually, the .338 ME may have an edge on the ’06, as few factory .30-06 loads clock the claimed 2,700 fps. Dave insists he was careful in listing velocities for the new .33 in the 24-inch barrels to be installed by Marlin.

I got my first look at a prototype rifle in .338 Marlin Express this past summer in Illinois. My first three-shot group measured a hair under one inch. The mechanism worked smoothly, cartridges feeding as if they were designed for the magazine and carrier. Hulls flew smartly from the port. The trigger pull did not match that of a tuned bolt-gun trigger, but then most bolt-gun triggers are not tuned. Recoil was stiffer than that of my .308 ME. Still, it didn’t rattle my teeth, even in prone position with my collarbone hard against the butt.

The author fired this sub-minute group with a Leupold-scoped Marlin in .338 ME with Hornady ammunition.

At this writing, I’m planning an elk hunt with the .338 Marlin Express. The rifle is already in the rack—a standard Marlin 1895 with two-thirds magazine. Of stainless steel with a gray laminated stock, it does not wear a scope. I’ll be using a receiver sight. Oh, yes, the cartridge has enough reach to justify a scope. And it may be that I’ll get my best opportunity far from the muzzle. Still, a Marlin 1895 (a 336 with big ports and magazine tube) looks and handles best with iron sights. It hails from a day, more than a century ago, when riflemen carried their hardware in scabbards and kept their shots short.

When Marlin’s 1893 became the Model 36 in 1937, it sold for $32 to hunters emerging from very hard times. Heralded as “a new gun especially for American big game,” the 1936 carbine featured a “solid frame, 20-inch round tapered special smokeless barrel; proof-tested, crown muzzle; Ballard-type rifling; visible hammer; case-hardened receiver; steel butt plate. New design full pistol grip buttstock of genuine American black walnut… ‘Sure-Grip’ semi-beavertail forearm, rounded and nicely shaped, Silver bead front sight dovetailed to the barrel and flat top Rocky Mountain rear sight… Overall length: 38 inches. Weight: about 61/2 pounds. Full magazine. Seven shots in caliber .30-30 or .32 Special.”

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A rifle version added inches and ounces. Eleven years later the 336 replaced the 36. The transitions drained nothing from the mechanism’s sleek but Spartan profile, its slick cycling and gunny feel. Rifle and carbine versions still balance beautifully and point naturally. While Marlin has made much of the solid-top receiver that, unlike Winchester’s '94, readily accepts scopes, the 336 and 1895 both respond quicker with iron sights and seem more at ease.

If Hornady’s LEVERevolution ammo hasn’t compelled you to give John Mahlon Marlin’s classic big-game rifles another look, maybe the new .338 Marlin Express will. Wrapping your hand about a slim machined-steel receiver and the most potent lever-action round available is potentially addictive. Since my season with a Marlin .30-30 a few years ago, I’ve added several lever-action rifles to my rack. Hornady’s LEVERevolution ammo has killed cleanly for me to distances that define my normal limit. In .30-30, .32 Special and .308 ME, Marlins firing red-tipped bullets have taken three six-point elk. I’m not sure this new rifle in .338 Marlin Express is necessary. I’m very sure I’ll like it anyway.