.30-30 Range Report

C

ckpj99

New member
So after a slew of posts about Marlin 336 levers and tang sights and Armslist, I finally bought a .30-30.

It's a Western Fields branded 740A 20" model with a walnut stock. The serial number starts with AD, so if the serial numbers for the W.F. guns are the same as the actually 336 guns, it was made in 1968.

It has a great bore, and a pretty smooth action, though it suffered from "falling lever syndrome" until I cleaned up the lever plunger.

I took it out to the range today and ran about 20 rounds through it. I shot some Winchester 170gr Super-X. I'm not sure if it was just me warming up up to the gun or something, but the Super-X did not shoot well. I was checking out the rounds and the seating depth varied quite a bit. That being said, I only ran 10 rounds.

I switched to American Eagle 150gr and put down this group at 50 yards from the bench with open sights.

336_target1.jpg


I brought the target in to 25 yards and shot another group offhand.

336_target2.jpg


Maybe the gun likes 150gr, I'm not sure. I'm really impressed with the accuracy. The sights seem really crude, but they seem to be working for me. I'd like to install a Marbles at some point, but given the accuracy I'm getting at the moment, I'm in no rush.

Seriously guys, buy a Marlin 336. What are you waiting for.
 
Glad to see you got out, and that the lever is staying closed for you...

Not bad shooting for your first time with the gun...
 
This tight group was fired at 150 yards using Remington 150 grain ammo. Rifle is Glenfield model 30GT with professionally reworked trigger. This South Dakota buck was taken in rough country at approx. 125 yards. Marlin's are keepers!

Jack



 
150 grainers......

For some reason, I have always gotten better accuracy out of my various 30/30's with 150's than 170's.....

J
 
I'd started getting together some ammo months before I bought I the gun. I have some Remington, American Eagle, that Win Super-X, and a box of Lever Revolution. I don't want to get in the habit of shooting tons of rounds through the gun every range trip. So I kept it to 20 this first time out. The Super-X were my first batch because the seating depth issue and all of that. That being said, I had never shot the gun before, so who knows.

I have a tendency to want to shoot heavy for caliber. My handgun of choice is .38 special, and while most people run 125gr +P rounds, I stick with the old 158gr.

I figured I'd like the 170gr better than the 150gr, but if the gun doesn't shoot them well, I'll let it go. I still have a lot of testing to do.

The weird thing is the point of impact at 25 and 50 yards seems essentially the same with both rounds. I figured there would be more a difference.
 
I really don't think there's much value added using heavier bullets in the .30-30.
I'm sure you could work up a load that would shoot 170gr well but if you're getting good accuracy with commercial 150gr, why bother?
 
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