30-30 Lever gun accuracy

J

Jhp147

New member
A friend and I were discussing accuracy of 30/30 lever guns, primarily the Marlins but also Model 94. I think that this gun will do all that is needed for most deer hunters in my vicinity, and was wondering why everyone seemed to want a .270 or something for what turned out to be mostly 75 yard shots. Bottom line: What type of accuracy do you commonly get with factory ammo at 100 and/or 200 yards with a lever gun? I would be interested mainly in knowing about factory loads, with common hunting scopes or iron sights. I'm thinking 3 inches at 100 with scopes, 6 at 200. Am I right? Thanks for the info, rifles are not my area.
 
I usually get about 3in groups at 100yds. The Marlin micro-grooved barrel is a little more accurate than the Winchester for me. Two weeks ago I had my Marlin 336CS 35rem to the range and was shooting and hitting a 2inx3in piece of paper at 100yds without much problem. All my lever guns have the stock buckhorn sights. 100yds is the furthest I try shooting mine as thats the longest distance on my range and I don't hunt.
 
My stamped out 1970 M94 with a williams Fool proof and 170 gr Winchester silvertips will do 5 shot 2" groups from prone position quite consistantly. My 1910 M94 with severe headspace problems is lucky to get 6" groups.
 
I've killed many a woodchuck with a Marlin 336, and a 4X scope. I sighted it in one time when I first got it about 16 years ago, and when it wasn't deer season, my brother and I earned extra money killing chucks. My dad had a bounty on them, cuz they'd eat his garden. We'd usually shoot them off the porch, standing, and rested against a column. Shots averaged about 40-75 yards. When deer season rolled around, we'd go to the range, and fire three rounds, and maybe have to move the scope a click or two in either direction.

30-30s drop faster than some other bullets, but within 100 yards against whitetail deer, you don't need anything more. I seem to remember hearing that more deer are killed with this round than with any other.
 
If I hadn't seen/done it myself, I wouldn't have believed it could happen. I'm taking my two sons deer hunting this year, and my good friend loaned me his Win 94, made in the mid 80's, angle eject 30-30 AE with a burris 2x7 scope. I bought a box of shells to zero it, and it had not been shot much at all. I was expecting a 3 inch group give or take, and the plain vanilla 150 gr Winchesters ought to do the job out to 150 yards or so. The first 3 shots off the sand bag put a beautiful cloverleaf 2 inches above the bullseye. So much for all you have heard in your life about the inherent inaccuracies of lever actions. I doubt I'll be seeing any in the benchrest group, but I am impressed enough to want my first one!
 
The .30-30 is inherently quite accurate. The main reason for inaccuracy in conventional lever action rifles is the binding of the magazine and barrel. When the magazine is freed up so it does not interfere with barrel vibrations, or cause the barrel to bend after a few shots, the guns will shoot very well.

Jim
 
I have a Winchester 94AE which will place first 2 shots into 1 1/2" of each other at 100 yards but the third shot is always about 3" high and to the right. I figure this is good enough for hunting within 100 yards since I never had to take a 3rd shot when hunting. Next year I plan on mounting a low power scope on this rifle due to my failing eye sight.
 
What is the best way to ensure no binding between barrel and mag? Would you simply loosen the barrel band and if so how much? What about the band at the forearm stock?
 
I have my grandfather's model 94 in 32WinSp, age unknown. I recently decided it would be fun to handload for it and took my new loads out to the range to try them out. I did get reliable 3" groups at 100yds with the iron peep sight installed.

The range I go to has a steel square set up at about 250yds, or so. It is about 12" square and you can hear it when you make a hit. I was suprized that, after a few attemps that went way high, that I had to hold just at the top of the square to make a hit. After that I made five hits in a row. That's much flatter than I ever thought it would be.

Not bad for a rifle I can remember leaning against a corner in my Grandfather's house 45 years ago.
 
Every one I've owned, Marlins mostly, shot around 3" also. But I have a friend that has a 336c that will shoot less than 1" groups at 100 yards. And no, I can't get the sucker to part with it!!!!
 
I'd obtained a mid 70s made Model 94 and asked on this forum what could be done to tighten up the groups. The responses indicated that freeing the bbl as much as possible could aid groups no end. So....

Following instructions, I removed the bbl band and forearm, and sanded,filed,and dremeled each so that they did not make contact with the bbl. Next,I backed out the screw that secured the front of the mag to the muzzle area of the bbl,and Blue Loctited it to where it barely engaged the threads but stayed in contact.

Rifle now does less than 1 1/4" 50 yard groups,and may go tighter after I reduce that egregious 6-8 lb trigger to one suitable for fine work.

BTW, that's with a peep and my aging, bifocalled eyes...
 
While in college in the early 70's, I needed a gun to hunt deer and varmits. Short on cash, the dealer sold me a used Remington 788 in 30-30 for $40. This gun never shot a deer, but it worked on countless woodchucks. I loaded, if my memory serves me. mid 30ish grains of 3031 and the 110 gr speer SPHP. I figured that it got me about 2600 fps, with my 4x scope it was good out to 150 yards with no problems, and even took a few at an honest 200. It was eventually replaced with 22-250's and .223's, but it still performed well beyond it's intended purpose.

Good shooting,

Longtrain
 
About that front screw :(

Tried it.
The gun (Winchester 94 Trapper in .44mag) now has an elongated threadless hole that needs retapped. :( From my standpoint, the minimal extra gain in accuracy wasn't worth the cost, but YMMV. If you do decide to go that route, keep an eye on the screw to make sure it doesn't work too loose, and keep a little screwdriver handy in case it does.
 
My first deer gun was a model 94 that was bought used many moons ago. Since then, I've used many rifles including my last "favorite" rifle - a Browning stalker in 30-06 stainless with boss. This Thanksgiving I hunted almost five days straight. Several days it was raining and creeks were flooded. I hunt a small box -type stand. Guess which gun I finally brought out in the woods - the model 94. It's rugged, has a relatively short barrel and has a great safety Every deer I've had a chance to shoot, I've dropped it with one shot from the 30-30. I've helped track friend's "kills" with 270's and 243's. I dropped yesterday's game at the butcher shop this AM - venison steaks will be picked up Friday. Anyway, at the range the gun will 2" group at 100 yards using off the shelf Remington 150 grain core lokt. That's what the gun can do in a gun vise - what I can do varies from week to week. Good luck - Bill.
 
DaveMcC
Thats what I did to my cheap old stamped gun too, except, the front screw, I shortenned it slightly so it made no direct contact. The improvement was well worth it, and I made those mods 20 years ago. No problems
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top