Lever Action for hunting/Target shooting
- Thread starter kh1911
- Start date
UtopiaTexasG19
New member
No one said the 30-30 was not suitable to re-load. I have been casting and re-loading 30-30 for 42 years and my Marlin 336 in 30-30 is my favorite rifle. What someone above said was in his experience the 30-30 brass was not reloadable as many times as some other calibers.
whiskyrunner
Inactive
I bought my marlin 336cs in 3030 brand new in 1982, with the 15 dollar off and 15 dollar mail in rebate it was $118 out the door, reloaded my brass many times with 33.5 grs. of imr 3031 and a 170gr hornady interlock, groups about 2 and 1/2 inches at 150 yards, eyes arent very good anymore so i just put a zeiss conquest 3X9 and switched to the leverevolution ammo for this year.
1 month ago i bought my nephew his first 3030, a marlin 39a, paid $249 for it out the door blueing was 90%, stock was worn a little, and it came with a bushnell 4x scope, we hunt in the mountains near boone n.c., longest shot is 100yds and thats a long shot for there.
1 thing i have found about marlin 3030s, they can be a little picky about the ammo they shoot, mine groups well with the handload, the leverevolution, and a federal(i believe) 150gr hollowpoint, groups roughly double in size with anything else
1 month ago i bought my nephew his first 3030, a marlin 39a, paid $249 for it out the door blueing was 90%, stock was worn a little, and it came with a bushnell 4x scope, we hunt in the mountains near boone n.c., longest shot is 100yds and thats a long shot for there.
1 thing i have found about marlin 3030s, they can be a little picky about the ammo they shoot, mine groups well with the handload, the leverevolution, and a federal(i believe) 150gr hollowpoint, groups roughly double in size with anything else
I love my Marlin 336. Paid $75 for it in 1973.
Some of the Consumer Magazines rated the Ted Williams (Sears) brand better than the Winchester Models which they were based on.
The Savage has all ways intrigued me. I saw one in 308 in a pawn shop in globe AZ. Cosmetically it was in fair condition. The action was smooth and the trigger crisp. They wanted 250 for it.
Sako made an excellent lever action as did browning. The Box mag allows you to utilize pointy ammo. The 94 limits you to flat tipped ammo. I know that the Marlin tube is supposed to keep the bullet tip and the primer out of alignment. I don't trust this claim so I normally limit my ammo to flat tips. I have shot 110 grain hollow points through my Marlin. I single load the bullets. One in the chamber and one in the mag. It was a poor college students varmint rifle. I obtained good accuracy and was able to take several wood chucks at 100 to 125 yards.
Some of the Consumer Magazines rated the Ted Williams (Sears) brand better than the Winchester Models which they were based on.
The Savage has all ways intrigued me. I saw one in 308 in a pawn shop in globe AZ. Cosmetically it was in fair condition. The action was smooth and the trigger crisp. They wanted 250 for it.
Sako made an excellent lever action as did browning. The Box mag allows you to utilize pointy ammo. The 94 limits you to flat tipped ammo. I know that the Marlin tube is supposed to keep the bullet tip and the primer out of alignment. I don't trust this claim so I normally limit my ammo to flat tips. I have shot 110 grain hollow points through my Marlin. I single load the bullets. One in the chamber and one in the mag. It was a poor college students varmint rifle. I obtained good accuracy and was able to take several wood chucks at 100 to 125 yards.
Look for a Marlin lever action. I picked up a 1971 Marlin 336 in .35 Remington for $340+ tax about a week ago. I really like the rifle and it shoots pretty good. Ammo on the other hand is a bit expensive, I'm working on picking up the equipment to reload this one since 3 boxes of ammo cost me almost $100 at Gander Mtn. .30-30 seems a bit more reasonable but still isn't going to be exactly cheap to shoot. You may want to look at a pistol caliber carbine to make it a little cheaper to shoot.
Stu
Stu
musicmatty
New member
I own 2 Post 64 Winchester model 94s...a 69' and 1990. Both are superb..the 1990, has the angle eject feature for mounting a scope. Never a mishap with either weapon and they have provided years of enjoyment at the range and lots of food for the table 
Plenty of used Wins can be found at most gun shops and carry a 30 day warranty from the shop.
Plenty of used Wins can be found at most gun shops and carry a 30 day warranty from the shop.A Marlin 336 in 30-30 is one of the best rifles you can get. Buy the equipment to reload for it and you can shoot for a reasonable price. I load everything from round ball loads with 5grs of Bullseye to full power loads. As far as brass life goes if you you don't load full bore rounds brass life can be very good. Cast your own lead bullets and shoot loads in the 1400-1600fps range and brass will last for many reloadings.
Another plus to the 30-30 is its probably the most common shot lever gun round and most people don't reload for it. So they leave their once fired brass on the ground at the range where a reloader can pick up all he wants for free.
I have owned several marlins and winchesters and the marlins have always been slightly more accurate. But nothing feels better in the hand than the slender, lightweight winchester 30-30. The marlin is easier to scope and some say a scope looks wrong on a lever gun but marlins are so accurate that it is almost criminal to scope scope one and take advantage of the potential of the gun.
Here is a good site for lever action fans. www.leverguns.com Lots of info there.
Another plus to the 30-30 is its probably the most common shot lever gun round and most people don't reload for it. So they leave their once fired brass on the ground at the range where a reloader can pick up all he wants for free.
I have owned several marlins and winchesters and the marlins have always been slightly more accurate. But nothing feels better in the hand than the slender, lightweight winchester 30-30. The marlin is easier to scope and some say a scope looks wrong on a lever gun but marlins are so accurate that it is almost criminal to scope scope one and take advantage of the potential of the gun.
Here is a good site for lever action fans. www.leverguns.com Lots of info there.
If the OP had stated he was mainly using the rifle for hunting then he would likely not need to shoot or reload very many rounds per year, and the difference in economy of the calibers would not be significant.
However, since the OP stated he would also like to use the rifle for recreational purposes, to me that means a lot more rounds fired per year. The .30-30 of course can be reloaded but compared to a revolver cartridge it will not be as economical.
1) The .30-30 takes about 30 gr of powder per case and the .44 takes about 24 gr, so it uses 25% more powder. Or, you get about 233 cases loaded per pound with the .30-30, and 292 for the .44 mag. If you download each cartridge just for plinking then it would be even more dramatic at about 25 gr for .30-30 and 6-10 gr for the .44 (2.5-4 times). Of course the .357 is even more economical for reloading where it uses 5-15 gr of powder per case, and the .38 a bit less.
2) As Sierra states, "The .30-30 is not a particularly strong case, and it is easy to buckle the case shoulder during seating and crimping." So you might loose a few more cases due to loading damage than with the straightwall .44. Also, the more shallow the shoulder angle the more tendency for the case to stretch, especially since the .30-30 headspaces on the rim and not the shoulder and should be full length resized each time for lever action reliability. Stretching of the brass leads to thinning of the case above the web and the need to eventually recylce the brass. Revolver cases rarely have this case-head separation weakening and instead fail with less dangerous case cracks and case mouth splits. You may get several reloadings per .30-30 case, but it won't be nearly as many (half or less) of what you will get with the revolver cases. And the case is the single most expensive component in reloading.
3) Bullets are probably about the same in terms of economy since it is easy to find both hard cast lead and jacketed for both. But, you will find a far greater variety of bullelts for the .357 or .44. While the .30-30 shoots the hugely popular .308" diameter bullets, it is limited in lever actions to only shoot the flatnose variety. In the revolver cartridges you can find many options for plinking, defense, and hunting.
So, if you shoot a lot of ammo per year for recreational purposes, then one of the revolver cartridges will be cheaper and have more variety of bullets on average. It also opens the door to such recreation as Cowboy Action Shooting contests.
The OP did not mention self defense use, but the revolver cartridges would again be more versatile for that purpose and much greater variety of suitable bulelts for reloading in that case.
As a purely hunting rifle the .30-30 has the advantage with more range. I am not sure there is much advantage either way under 150 yds. This is what the .30-30 was designed for and has done very well for 118 years or so.