Marlin 30-30

W

Winston

New member
Just got a Marin 30-30AW. I know nothing about 30-30 or lever action rifles.

Three Questions:

1.What is the function of dropping the hammer "half-way" down" on a level Action

2. What are the general options for 30-30 ammo.

a. Cheap plinking ammo
b. Self defence in domestic setting
c. Ammo for bear (Predator defence)

3. How do I break down and clean this beast?

Thanks.
 
Winston. I'll try.
1. That is supposed to be the safety. Some people call it the "half cock notch". Newer Marlins have a rebounding hammer and a push button safety. If your rifle is of the older type, make darn sure it won't drop the hammer when in the "safety notch".
2. a)I know of no cheap plinking ammo. You'll either have to load your own or have a local commercial reloader make some up for you. Watch out for short bullets like 110 gr. as the are too short to feed from the magazine.
b)I don't consider a rifle as powerful as a 30-30 to be suitable for self defense. Too much penetration. Bullets could go through the bad guy, a couple of walls and maybe hit an innocent bystander in an adjacent house or apartment, or even out in the street. If it was all I had, I'd probably look at something like a 125 gr. bullet as being the least penetrative on walls, etc, but will definitely ruin a bad guys day. (I think both Federal and Remington may load a bullet in this weight.)
For defense against bears, one of the 170 gr. bullets. I believe one of the ammo companies loads the 170 gr. Nosler Partition which would probably be the toughest bullet in a 30-30, but I also thing any of the 170 gr. bullets will suffice. Just remember to resight in if you change bullet weights.
3. If you did not get an instruction manual with your rifle, go to (www.marlinfirearms.com) and see if they will send you a manual. I no longer have a manual as I gave it to the guy that bought my Marlin. I'm sure they will send you one, if you request it.
Paul B.
 
Paul B has covered it well, tho I'll add a few things:

1. Although there really aren't many other choices, use only soft point round nose or flat point ammo in your lever action (that info will be in the manual, but just in case you shoot it first). That rules out the Remington 55 gr Accelerator, unless you load only one round at a time. Spire point ammo can set off the primer of the round in front of it during recoil, which is a singularly bad thing to happen.

2. It's Federal that makes the 170 gr Nosler. It's a really good bullet, although the usefullness of the parition design in the fairly slow moving, low energy 30-30 cartridge may be debatable (it hasn't stopped me from using them, tho). Winchester makes a 150 gr PowerPoint Plus load, which has more energy than the std 150 gr and should do ok on black bear.

3. Among other things, one of the characteristics that makes Marlins superior lever guns (IMO) is the ability to remove the bolt and clean it from the breech end. The procedure is simple, but definitely get the manual
 
In my Marlin Federal 170 gr HiShoks are also most accurate loads. A little bit over one inch groups on 100 yards with 9 x Scope and I am not the greatest shooter ;-)
 
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