Why are 30/30 rifles so expensive??

G

Gulfcowboy

New member
I've been looking for another 30-30 to add to my collection. But the prices on the rifles are outrageous. I have a j.m. stamped 336 which I gave four hundred for a few years back. I thought that was fair. What is driving the prices up so high. Yellowstone? Lack of materials, or political reasons?
 
Longmire, not Yellowstone. Really, a combination of things. Not as many 30-30s are being made, everyone wants black plastic guns. Even if Ruger gets a 336 out it will cost $1000. You can get a Mossberg 464 (their version of a Winchester 94) for under $500. I don’t know if they’re any good. Then there’s inflation. Everything costs more.
When Winchester quit making 94’s, the used ones went up to $800 - $900, but they’re back down to $500 again. The Miroku’s are probably better guns than the late New Hartford ones.
 
Lever actions are expensive across the board now. Rossi 92s are going for $700 plus, and new Henrys are $800-1k.
 
They're out of production.
The entire firearms market has gone nuts.
Inflation.
Inflation.
Inflation.
Stupid people impulse buying at high prices has re-'stabilized' the market at an artificially high level.
Inflation.
They aren't being made any more.
 
Some years back, I was at a gun show looking around and the news came out that Winchester was closing its last US plant.

The very next show (the next week, with the same sellers) had the price of everything marked Winchester raised by $100.

People paying supidly high prices, in order to get what they want, NOW, is one of the reasons things are so expensive. Another is, of course, the value of our dollar isn't what it was...

It's sad, but that doesn't mean I'll turn down $800 for the .30-30 I paid $200 for 30 years ago...:rolleyes:
 
I never warm up to the idea of lever action. I think the design is limited and out dated, like break action revolver. My hand hurts working the thinger lever. Good its price goes up as there will be less competition where I want spend money on.

4x in 30 years is less than 5% per year. I can certainly do better in investment return. But it is decent reture considering I get to use and enjoy the gun for 30 years.

-TL

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Gulfcowboy said:
I've been looking for another 30-30 to add to my collection. But the prices on the rifles are outrageous. I have a j.m. stamped 336 which I gave four hundred for a few years back. I thought that was fair. What is driving the prices up so high. Yellowstone? Lack of materials, or political reasons?
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The prices have been steadily increasing for many years. As has been said, supply shortage is the problem. Production from Marlin, who used to be the major supplier, has been sporadic and very limited. Winchester discontinued affordable levers.They now only make high-end reproduction rifles and they tun them in tiny batches. Not sure what Mossbergs deal is, but never see them on shelves. Rossi, but I don't care for them. Henry is your only real choice I can think of.
 
They really did shoot up fast. It was really only five or six years ago that they were everywhere in the 300 to 500 range. Now they're through the roof.
 
When I started deer hunting, $200 was a high end price for a used .30-30. Of course, back then, premium gas was $0.50 per gallon (or less) and McDonalds had just raised the price of their basic burger from $0.20 to a quarter! (that actually hurt! :rolleyes:)

With the various troubles lever gun makers have been through it the last few decades, the value of our money, and the reduction of popular demand for the .30-30 lever gun (more people wanting more powerful guns, (bolts, semis, etc) and more weather proof guns (stainless and synthetic) no where near as many new .30-30s are out there and with the used guns, its a seller's market.
 
ew
:(

4x in 30 years is less than 5% per year.
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More like 4x in 5 years.

Between 2013 and 2018, I bought four Marlin 336s for less than $225 (each, of course).

Each would sell for at least $600 today. The better ones could easily go beyond $800.

The most I ever paid for a Marlin/Glenfield in the 336 family was $299, and that was a new Remlin in 2018.
That was also the last one that I bought, because everything went nuts with the Remington bankruptcy, and then the wuflu.

Winchesters and Savages don't seem to have gone as crazy as the Marlins. But they've definitely gone up, as well.
 
Lever guns in 30-30 are still the least expensive. Try pricing one in any pistol caliber, 35 Rem, 444, or 45-70. Even worse are the ones in 348, 375Win, 32 Special, or any of the less common rounds.

I don't get it either. I've always had a lever gun in 30-30, (still have 2) as well as several other cartridges. From a practical perspective there are much better choices. The only thing I can think of is that there are an awful lot of nostalgic shooters out there.

I wouldn't pay today's prices, but I have sold about a dozen of mine in the last couple of years for anywhere between 3X to 6X what I paid for them. If others are willing to pay those prices I'm selling.
 
Get you a 300 HAM'R upper and you're set. Mine is 7#, with scope, 16.25" barrel that puts 5-135FTX into a 1/2" hole at 2400fps.
 
44 AMP said:
When I started deer hunting, $200 was a high end price for a used .30-30. Of course, back then, premium gas was $0.50 per gallon (or less) and McDonalds had just raised the price of their basic burger from $0.20 to a quarter! (that actually hurt! :rolleyes:)
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I'm calling ya on that one. My first brand new 30-30 was $275, and betting ya be older. considerably. :rolleyes:

Please to take this with the humor intended :)
 
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The last few years made a lot of folks, who thought they would never need a gun, change their minds. That made demand go way up. Combine that with inflation and we see almost all guns costing substantially more than before.
 
GeauxTide it's funny you mentioned the 300 hamr. I bought a 16 in barrel two months ago. I haven't installed it on my ar yet.
 
Back on topic:
Why are 30/30 rifles so expensive??
I've been looking for another 30-30 to add to my collection. But the prices on the rifles are outrageous. I have a j.m. stamped 336 which I gave four hundred for a few years back. I thought that was fair. What is driving the prices up so high. Yellowstone? Lack of materials, or political reasons?
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So how many 30-30's do you already have in your collection? No need to answer; it's a question for yourself... Collecting more than you need is a factor in itself to drive up prices.
 
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