Scope for .30-30?
- Thread starter Sea Buck
- Start date
Nope.
1st bad assumption - 30-30 recoils light. Not always so. In a lever-action, the shape of the stock results in more apparant recoil than in a typical bolt action of the same caliber.
2nd bad assumption - Simmons scopes can handle recoil. Even the Simmons centerfires scopes have a very poor reputation for holding up. The only exception is their Aetec line which seems to be fairly decently made. That rimfire scope is definately not made to handle recoil.
1st bad assumption - 30-30 recoils light. Not always so. In a lever-action, the shape of the stock results in more apparant recoil than in a typical bolt action of the same caliber.
2nd bad assumption - Simmons scopes can handle recoil. Even the Simmons centerfires scopes have a very poor reputation for holding up. The only exception is their Aetec line which seems to be fairly decently made. That rimfire scope is definately not made to handle recoil.
Stevie-Ray
New member
I wouldn't do it, either.
L_Killkenny
New member
It's a $50 rimfire scope, I wouldn't trust a $50 centerfire scope either.
Honestly, if you want to stay cheap, Bushnell has a bubble pakage 1.5-4x shotgun scope that holds up to 12ga's fine, much better than the 22mag scope and a better magnification range for .30-30 too.
Other than that go for something in the $100-$150 range. 4x is fine.
Honestly, if you want to stay cheap, Bushnell has a bubble pakage 1.5-4x shotgun scope that holds up to 12ga's fine, much better than the 22mag scope and a better magnification range for .30-30 too.
Other than that go for something in the $100-$150 range. 4x is fine.
steveNChunter
New member
Best scope for the money is a Burris fullfield II. Get the 3-9x40 for $150 bucks and dont look back. Your .30-30 will thank you for it 
Look on ebay or Gunbroker. Find an old Weaver 2.5 power fixed. Make sure it's in reasonaly good shape. They run from about $65 up to about $165 or so. The scope was made for that 30-30. I have one and it works great. You don't need or want any more magnification. You can throw it up and fire fast at a moving target or take your time and shoot with precision easily out to 150 yards. Those scopes are iron horses. Have one I got used at a pawn shop in the 1980's. It is still clear as a bell. You won't find a better scope for that rifle.
I have a old bushnell fixed 4x on my Marlin 30/30. I would suggest going with a brand that has a better reputation than simmons and drop the price back by going to fixed 4x. 30/30 is a fantastic brush gun easily capable of killing a whitetail out to 200yds. 4x works well within those parameters. Nikon, Burris, Leopold, Redfield, Weaver all have value lines that will hold up to a 30/30.
True. Some 30/30's due to stock design and light weight of the gun will kick harder than a 30-06 bolt gun that has a straighter stock and more weight.
I disagree.
I've got a 3x9 Simmons that been working just fine on my .270 WIN for 30+ years and thousands of rounds. Nothing wrong with them. The scope I have can be found on e-bay for less than 50 bucks.
I agree with this.
There is no need to put a large magnification scope on a gun that will not be used at ranges requiring that. No upside, and it has the downside of messing up the fast handling qualities of the 30/30 levergun, and restricting the shooters peripheral vision.
We put a 2X Burris pistol scope on my daughter's Marlin 30A, on an XS scout mount. She killed 2 deer with it (on consecutive days in the same field) last November. Seems to work pretty well.
Thanks for all the response. The Simmons will come off the mounts.Good thing I haven't put lock tight on it yet! I have an old Weaver K4, El Paso,Tx with a P in a circle(Patented?),that must date to the 60's or earlier (small bells) in decent shape that I'll put on.It should be cleaned, anyone know where I could send it to have it cleaned?
L_Killkenny
New member
Good choice on the K4. Even though I reccomended something else, I actually used a El'paso K3 on my last lever gun. Hard to like scopes on lever guns but when you need em you can't beat the looks of the old Weavers on em.
Yet there are people telling me that a bargain basement scope of today is SO much better than a top of the line scope from 20 years ago, due to improvements in lenses and coatings.....
I'll keep what works, until it doesn't.
+1
Just make sure that you get the scope mounted low enough (or the comb raised enough, or some combination of the two) to get a good sight picture AND good, repeatable contact with the stock- that will lessen percieved recoil, increase practical accuracy and speed target aquisition.
I see so many older guns that were originally set up for irons out there with large belled scopes (which necessarily have to be mounted pretty high, so the objective bell clears the barrel) ...... and the shooter can't look through the scope without raising his head up off the stock ..... then he has to search around to get his eye centered behind the scope so that the target is centered in the scope (assuming the target, if it's a game animal, has not moved!) ...... and then when the gun moves rearward in recoil, his head is momentarily stationary, until his neck pulls it down into the stock ...... 'smack' ....... causing him to have to repeat the whole process of finding the spot in space where his head needs to be to see through the scope all over again...... and find the target again...... bad plan.
You're right - clarity and light transmission are much better today in even the bottom barrel scopes. The problem though is retical gearing. In order to save money, the cheap scopes use retical gearing that just doesn't hold up. You can look through them and see the target clearly but your groups will look like a shotgun pattern because the reticals move with each shot.
Of what value is a riflescope that allows you to see every hair on your quarry in perfect clarity, if the crosshairs move randomly?
Col. Cooper said it decades ago:
"Of what value is redoubling your efforts after you have lost sight of your goal?"
and
""What is it FOR?" ....... Why, to SELL, of course!"
Col. Cooper said it decades ago:
"Of what value is redoubling your efforts after you have lost sight of your goal?"
and
""What is it FOR?" ....... Why, to SELL, of course!"
Sea Buck
I have three lever guns that wear scopes (two Marlins and a Winchester). Make sure the scope you use has enough eye relief for the gun. That is the measured distance from the eye to the lens on the scope. A scope with decent eye relief will allow the scope to be mounted far enough forward to make for a comfortable shooting position. It will also prevent the eye piece on the scope from hitting your head when you shoot. I ran into this problem with the first scope I mounted on my Winchester M94. I finally purchased a shotgun scope to get the eye relief I wanted.
Cary
I have three lever guns that wear scopes (two Marlins and a Winchester). Make sure the scope you use has enough eye relief for the gun. That is the measured distance from the eye to the lens on the scope. A scope with decent eye relief will allow the scope to be mounted far enough forward to make for a comfortable shooting position. It will also prevent the eye piece on the scope from hitting your head when you shoot. I ran into this problem with the first scope I mounted on my Winchester M94. I finally purchased a shotgun scope to get the eye relief I wanted.
Cary
Cary has an excellent point. The shape of a lever-action may dictate a scope with longer eye relief than you would need with a rifle stock shaped differently.
For the original poster, my favorite scope for a rifle such as a lever-action is the Leupold VXII - 2-7. It is the lightest 2-7 in the industry. That light weight is really important in that you have to be careful not to let the scope "over balance" the rifle. Both the Marlin 336 and the Winchester '94 are easily over balanced by large/heavy scopes.
For the original poster, my favorite scope for a rifle such as a lever-action is the Leupold VXII - 2-7. It is the lightest 2-7 in the industry. That light weight is really important in that you have to be careful not to let the scope "over balance" the rifle. Both the Marlin 336 and the Winchester '94 are easily over balanced by large/heavy scopes.
Stevie-Ray
New member
Now you're talking. Here's my old Winchester 94 .30-30 with Weaver K4 atop a Williams offset.
