Scope on a Winchester 30-30?

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Brother10

Inactive
I was browsing through a local shop the other day, and I saw a Winchester 30-30 lever action with a VERY large scope mounted on it. What use would a scope be on this rifle? It was my understanding that the 30-30 was an intermediate range round, and you shouldn't need a scope at ranges like that. What are your thoughts?
 
My thoughts? People will scope anything and everything.

I certainly don't see a use on a rifle like this. Lever actions are supposed to be handy, a scope sorta defeats that.
 
Old man's eyes.

After a certain age (it was 44 for me...) one has difficulty seeing the front sight. I can see it with reading glasses, but that makes stalking difficult.

A scope overcomes this problem.

However, for a 30-30 lever gun, I'd go for a low power, lightweight scope rather than a 6 - 18 x with rangefinder.
 
I just tried out my first receiver sight on my Marlin .30-30. It works great, and is just about ideal for the sort of mid-range, fast-action shooting these rifles are best at. The .30-30 isn't exactly a great long range cartridge, and it seems to me a scope would make short-range shots more difficult.
 
8 or 9 years ago I was at a gun show in Hampton Va. Bought a used Marlin 30-30 with a Tasco 3-9X40 scope already mounted.
Well for $170.00 dollars it was an excellent buy. Outstandingly accurate at 100 and 200 yards. I loan it out to my friend who go deer hunting. Its picked off 7 or 8 deer so far, I usually get a nice dinner for the loan.
later
DA:D
 
I can still hit the paper ok with peeps, but picking out a legal rack in the bush at 40 yards when bambi's 7 inch ears are up ain't as easy as it was 20 year ago.

I find a scope with a 2.5 to 4x mag offers an adequate field of view for close brushwork, helps me pick my shots quicker, and improves the dead deer/dead branch ratio.

Tom
 
On my uncle's 30-30 that I borrow every year, he has a 4X scope on there that is perfect for that round. I don't think a low power scope is a bad idea on a 30-30 but a high magnification scope is a little extreme.
 
Just zeroed a 4X scope I put on my father's Marlin 336 in 30-30 Win. He doesn't hunt, just wants to shoot paper.

Off lousy sandbags with factory ammo, 6-shot grouped at about 3MOA.

Suffice it to say I was impressed.
 
Echo3mike. Next time, place the front sandbag next to the reciever with the trigger guard portion of the lever against the bag. It may feel a touch awkward, but I'll bet you'll cut your groups to close to half that 3MOA. Try it. It works. :D
Paul B.
 
I had mine scoped. I then found out that I could shoot just as well out to 100yds with the irons. I took it off, and am content to leave it as a handy carbine.
 
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