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Lever Actions!

poothrowingape

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
210
Location
fresno, California, USA
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I handled my Uncle's Marlin 30-30 today and completely fell in love! I plan on buying a lever action in the near future.

However what caliber would be best? I like the 30-30 although it has a slight reputation for lacking in stopping power, like most intermedate cartridges. I dont particularly want a rifle that shoots handgun ammo though, seems like an oxymoron.

Also does anyone have suggestions on a brand? I must admit i pretty much have my heart set on a Marlin. it was very sweet and smooth, plus the only requirement i really had was that the ejection port must be on the side. No top ejectors.
 

Hendu024

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
445
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
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poothrowingape wrote:
I handled my Uncle's Marlin 30-30 today and completely fell in love! I plan on buying a lever action in the near future.

However what caliber would be best? I like the 30-30 although it has a slight reputation for lacking in stopping power, like most intermedate cartridges. I dont particularly want a rifle that shoots handgun ammo though, seems like an oxymoron.

Also does anyone have suggestions on a brand? I must admit i pretty much have my heart set on a Marlin. it was very sweet and smooth, plus the only requirement i really had was that the ejection port must be on the side. No top ejectors.
I grew using lever actions for deer hunting. I absolutely love the 30-30. There is plenty of stopping power for anything deer sized or smaller. I've also shot a .32 special and a .44. The .44 beat the crap out of my shoulder, but the buttstock was also very curved and did not have a pad on it, just a metal plate. All 3 of them were Winchesters, and they all had top ejections.

I have shot a couple of Marlins as well and really like them too. I'd have to say though, my favorite was the Winchester Model 1894 in 30-30. I shot it with a ghost ring sight on it, and let me tell you, that is one of the fastest guns in the brush. It's narrow through the action, making it easy to carry in the woods, and it is relatively lightweight. I strongly recommend a ghost ring as well, when you put it to your shoulder, the sight is THERE.

Just my $.02
 

Interceptor_Knight

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May 18, 2007
Messages
2,851
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
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I would recommend a .308 Marlin caliber Marlin, the .338 Marlin Express caliber Marlinor a .45-70 caliber Marlin rifle. For a large round the .45-70 is crazy accurate. The .308 Marlin performs comparable to a standard .308 Winchester round (7.62x51). The .338 Marlin Express has ballistics comparable to a .30-06 and hits harder.
 

Huck

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Mar 27, 2008
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646
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Evanston, Wyoming, USA
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The lever rifleI have is a Marlin 1895G in .45-70 with ghost ring sights. It's a brush buster if there ever was one! With a 18 1/2 inch barrel and that big1100 fps 405 grain bulletthe accuraterange aint so great, about 200 yards max. It's a pretty light rifle and easy to handle and care for though it does pack a respectable recoil.
 

Interceptor_Knight

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May 18, 2007
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Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
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Huck wrote:
The lever rifleI have is a Marlin 1895G in .45-70 with ghost ring sights. It's a brush buster if there ever was one! With a 18 1/2 inch barrel and that big1100 fps 405 grain bulletthe accuraterange aint so great, about 200 yards max. It's a pretty light rifle and easy to handle and care for though it does pack a respectable recoil.
More range is what the 325gr Leverevolution rounds are for..:dude:
 

Huck

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Mar 27, 2008
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Evanston, Wyoming, USA
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Interceptor_Knight wrote:
Huck wrote:
The lever rifleI have is a Marlin 1895G in .45-70 with ghost ring sights. It's a brush buster if there ever was one! With a 18 1/2 inch barrel and that big1100 fps 405 grain bulletthe accuraterange aint so great, about 200 yards max. It's a pretty light rifle and easy to handle and care for though it does pack a respectable recoil.
More range is what the 325gr Leverevolution rounds are for..:dude:
Very true but I have a .303 Lee-Enfield mkIV (1943) for longer range shooting. One of the reasonsI got the .45-70 rifle was for the hard hitting405 grain bullets. I run around in Grizzly country sometimes.
 

poothrowingape

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Jun 17, 2008
Messages
210
Location
fresno, California, USA
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Interceptor_Knight wrote:
I would recommend a .308 Marlin caliber Marlin, the .338 Marlin Express caliber Marlinor a .45-70 caliber Marlin rifle. For a large round the .45-70 is crazy accurate. The .308 Marlin performs comparable to a standard .308 Winchester round (7.62x51). The .338 Marlin Express has ballistics comparable to a .30-06 and hits harder.

I would like those rounds. I can take large ammounts of kick because im a big guy but i am also buying a lever action for survival, ie: civil unrest, zombie apocalypse:lol:.

:arrow:so are those bullets as available as the .30-30 if i were to do a "restocking raid" on an abandoned gun store while trying to fight back "the hoard"???
 

old dog

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Feb 5, 2009
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Marlins are great little guns, especially ones a few years old. Newest ones are less so.

As to caliber, I can't believe no one has mentioned the great .35 Remington. Marlin is the only one chambering it now and it is leagues ahead of the .30-30. True, there are more powerful cartridges available now and they are very good but in the Southeast the old .35 will serve you well except maybe in the case of a big, bad hog at close quarters. Then a .45-70 isn't too much. Anchoring a 300-pound boar at 10 feet or so takes serious power.
 

BJA

Campaign Veteran
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
503
Location
SOuth Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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I got a 30-30 marlin 336c used for 200$ a5 years back as my first deer gun. You can use the leverevolution rounds in them too. Don't worry that much about firepower, you can take a black bear out to 100yards if not 150 without a problem. If thats not enough firepower i'd guess your hunting alaska or africa LOL.
 

GLOCK21GB

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Apr 22, 2009
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Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
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poothrowingape wrote:
Interceptor_Knight wrote:
I would recommend a .308 Marlin caliber Marlin, the .338 Marlin Express caliber Marlinor a .45-70 caliber Marlin rifle. For a large round the .45-70 is crazy accurate. The .308 Marlin performs comparable to a standard .308 Winchester round (7.62x51). The .338 Marlin Express has ballistics comparable to a .30-06 and hits harder.

I would like those rounds. I can take large ammounts of kick because im a big guy but i am also buying a lever action for survival, ie: civil unrest, zombie apocalypse:lol:.

:arrow:so are those bullets as available as the .30-30 if i were to do a "restocking raid" on an abandoned gun store while trying to fight back "the hoard"???
If your buying it for Civil unrest & zombies , then your buying the wrong gun. Get a AR-15 , A FEW THOUSAND ROUNDS ( 2 - 4 K ) OF AMMO & A DOZEN OR MORE 30 ROUND MAGS. This girls has the right idea...
 

Nutczak

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Dec 2, 2008
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The Northwoods, lakeland area, Wisconsin, USA
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I do not much care for the lever interlock on the Marlin I had for a while, My Winchester 1894 had the same interlock.

I am also in the market for a lever-action rifle, the caliber I am looking at is 45-70Gov. I think is is much more versatile than the 30-30.

I believe it is Savage Arms makes a beautiful stainless barreled, laminated stock lever action rifle. And once you shoot rifgles from Savage Arms, it is hard to shoot another manufacturers gun. Savage does not make the most beautiful guns, but the functionality and accuracy is flawless. I am willing to say that Savage rifles are the most accurate rifles right out of the box. Most others need some work to get them accurate, but the only thing I have had to do to get my Savage rifles is find the load it likes best. No lapping of the bolt face, no fire lapping, no re-crowning, no re-bedding is needed either.

Imagine a 10-shot group at 100 Yds that could be covered with a dime! I did it with a 3x9 scope with my 22-250 savage bolt action rifle with a scope mounted from the factory. It shot that tight right out of the box. I put 5 shots through it first to foul the barrel so I would not have any flyers.
 

Interceptor_Knight

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May 18, 2007
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Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
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poothrowingape wrote:
:arrow:so are those bullets as available as the .30-30 if i were to do a "restocking raid" on an abandoned gun store while trying to fight back "the hoard"???
Almost no round is as available as the .30-30 is. They are the golden standard for deer hunting....:)
 

Hawaii FiveO

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Nov 17, 2009
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112
Location
San Jose
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old dog wrote:
Marlins are great little guns, especially ones a few years old. Newest ones are less so.

Why?

I have an 1894 Winchester 30/30. According the salesman, one of the last made in the U.S.A. He claimed that they moved the plant to Belgium. But I heard otherwise. I just hope they're not now made in China. Yikes, or Bangladesh!
 

zoom6zoom

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Jun 24, 2006
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Dale City, VA, Virginia, USA
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I wouldn't say that the .30-30 lacks in stopping power. Millions of deer would argue with you .... if they could talk... and if they weren't dead.

The round is almost ballistically equivalent to the 7.62x39, which has also no need to justify it's power.
 

okboomer

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Oct 18, 2009
Messages
1,164
Location
Oklahoma, USA
imported post

Hi PTA - I used to have a Marlin 1894C Carbine in .357. It was a nice lever action, but then I won a Puma Model 92 Carbine in .357 and the action was sooooo much sweeter than the Marlin!

I shot them side by side, well operating Marlin against NIB Puma. There was absolutely no contest, the Puma was a much smoother operating firearm. I sold the Marlin and the folks I sold it to are completely happy with it and consider it one of their must-shoot guns ... it always goes to the range with them ;-)

On the other hand, the Puma is sweetness personified. If you have the opportunity to try one before you buy the Marlin, I would hope you jump at the chance. The Puma is an import, but in this case, well worth you looking.

As for chambering the same as a handgun, it depends on what you are going to use the firearm for. If it is for deer hunting primarily, then .30-.30 will be an adequate calibur.

I have dressed a deer taken with an SKS ... it's all a matter of intended use, and whether you need versatility in one firearm, or can afford a "limited" application firearm <that last said with tongue in cheek>

I generally deer hunt with my .30 cal AutoOrdinance carbine (second build) and "game load" ammo. (In my state, there is regulation on the ammo and calibur in some state parks/wild life refuges, so I just use that round for all hunting.)

YMMV
 
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