30-30 Lever- Must Have

[SteelChickenShooter]

Just thinking out loud on a random thought while browsing topics.
I've had a couple 30-30's, one blued & short, another longer and stainless.
I reluctantly had to sell them a while back to pay unexpected medical bills.
I always regretted that.
I'm not a serious deer hunter, but I enjoy deer camp and I have a 30-06, a 45-70, and a 44Mag. And I sit out once in a while, but mostly enjoy the camp fire & being in the woods.
My point is the 30-30: It seems like everybody should have one. At least I should. I need to replace one I sold. Otherwise I don't think I'll be happy and maybe I could not sleep well until I get one again. Now, working again, with a paycheck, I need some corrective action.
Any guys out there with similar experience?

 

[Hawg]

Everybody needs a 30-30 lever action. I had one I bought as a box of parts when I was a kid but hunting across bean fields with it wasn't feasible. I traded it off a couple of years later and always regretted it. Now I have another one. A Winchester 94 top eject and it is my go to woods gun when I get in a mood to hunt with cartridges.

 

[tahoe2]

30-30 is a keeper

Had a Marlin 30AS years ago, traded it for something, I don't remember. But I did pick up an old Savage Model 170 pump gun from the 70's.
I have heard some bad reports about them (break easy and no replacement parts) but this one shoots straight, groups just over 2" @ 100 with 150 grn hand-loads, and is all anyone would ever need in the western coastal woods of Washington.

 

[Sarge]

I am a longtime user and proponent of this fine old cartridge.

 

[ThomasT]

I have a marlin 336 and a winchester post 64 and can't figure out which one I like best. I do know they would be the last of my guns to ever sell.

I reload for them and have a large stash of brass and bullets plus a bullet mold. They use on average 5 more grs of powder over a 223 but I feel its a much more useful round.

I have used mine to shoot up a couple of bowling balls set at 300 yards and it takes them right apart. And bowling balls are tough.

 

[handlerer2]

My first centerfire rifle, that I bought and began reloading for was a Marlin 336 that I bought in 1975. I don't have it anymore, but wish I did. I bought it with my G.I. bill money, after DEROS. Next month I bought RCBS kit and then came magnum rifles.

It wasn't a 1" gun ,but it would, once I was broken in, put 8 shots in an 8" circle, offhand, as fast as I could cycle the action at 100yds. A great deer gun for the deep south.

As I've aged I have come to appreciate the 30-30 more. I have had to kind put the Weatherby's aside, and enjoy a varmint rifle for just fun shooting, but a Marlin is an excellent hunting rifle, it's also a hoot to just shoot for fun!

 

[444]

Over the years, I have often thought about "standard" firearms that are almost required for your collection to be complete. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
One of them is the Winchester '94 in .30-30


I almost never shoot mine, but I wouldn't want to be without it. I dont' have any particular use for it, but still consider it to be a must have in a well rounded gun collection.

 

[g.willikers]

At one time or another, I've had lever actions in a wide range of calibers, from .22 to .308.
But never a 30-30.
Kind of weird, huh?

 

[SIGSHR]

I am not a hunter (and I live in a shotgun only state) but my Marlin 336 has given me plenty of shooting enjoyment with both factory ammunition and reloads. And at 100 yards-off a rest-I have gotten some close to MOA groups.

 

[shouldazagged]

I still miss the 336 I traded away forty years ago. Can't hunt, or buy guns, anymore due to old age and health problems, but I'd love to have another one.

At my suggestion my son tried one in .35 Remington (I always wanted one in that caliber), fell in love with it, and has used it to take a lot of deer. Still, the grand old .30-30 round is still a damn fine cartridge.

 

[shouldazagged]

I still miss the 336 I traded away forty years ago. Can't hunt, or buy guns, anymore due to old age and health problems, but I'd love to have another one.

At my suggestion my son tried one in .35 Remington (I always wanted one in that caliber), fell in love with it, and has used it to take a lot of deer. Still, the grand old .30-30 round is a damn fine cartridge that'll be around for a very long time yet.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

I've read that every serious rifleman should have a 30-30 lever action. I'm drawn to them because of my interest in guns of the Old West.
I've had for many years a Marlin 336 Texan, and when Winchester announced in 2006 they were closing down I bought a used 94AE for $300. It's one of the ugly cross-bolt safety models, but it's a Winchester and it's mine.
i also have a Henry 22 rimfire lever rifle.
If I could only have one rifle it would be very hard to decide between a 30-30 lever or a 30-06 bolt action. Very hard indeed.

 

[Salmoneye]

I started hunting with my Father's 336RC when I was 9 (in 1972), but it is in .35 Remington...Sadly, it now belongs to me...

Again, sadly...My Father's Brother was dying 5 years ago, and gifted me my Great Uncle's Marlin 1893 with 26" half octagon barrel in .30-30...

I load it from warm (not hot) 170gr cast, to 45gr .310" round balls with a couple grains of fast powder...It absolutely LOVES Federal Blue Box which is the only J-Bullet I have tried...The round balls are a hoot, and have less sound level than a .22 short to my ears, yet they make a much louder ding on my 60 yard skillet...They are also minute of bunny accurate at that distance, so deer hunting or not, .30-30 is a versatile caliber...

This is my first 'trente-trente', and I have no idea how I lived 45 years without one...

 

[Clark]

I have a Win 94 AE, Marlin 336, Sav 99, Win 1885, Sav 219, Sav 219, Sav 219L, Springfield 840 bolt action, and a Mosin Nagant rebarreled.

That is (9) 30-30s and I would not hunt with them.
I hunt deer and antelope over sage brush and wheat stubble.
I have killed a number of them at 500y, but I usually stalk to 400 yards before I shoot.

I would consider hunting with a 25-35 [same case head as a 30-30] if it were in a strong and stiff action.

 

[BumbleBug]

I want one too..

...My point is the 30-30: It seems like everybody should have one. At least I should. I need to replace one I sold. Otherwise I don't think I'll be happy and maybe I could not sleep well until I get one again. Now, working again, with a paycheck, I need some corrective action.
Any guys out there with similar experience?

You know, I feel the same way. I had a nice Win 94 30-30 & like a dummy I sold it. Been wanting another one real bad, but every time I see one at a GS they seem pretty pricey. To me a .30-30 & Win '94 LA are synonymous. The Marlins are neat with the side ejection & all, but I want a '94.

I met a guy at the range a year or two back that had fitted his .30-30 with a "ghost-ring" rear sight & he was getting ready for deer season. He had some great groups at 100 yds. The interesting thing was that he was shooting paper-patched cast bullets. He was using dead-soft bullets pushed pretty fast but they didn't lead a bit. Said they really mushroomed to jumbo size on deer!

He showed me some of his bullets & how he lubed & rolled the paper patch. Fascinating guy & interesting reloading technique. That really got me wanting a .30-30 again.

I'll be looking...

...bug

 

[mxsailor803]

I am what you would call the matured/younger generation. Granted, I have 2 AR's and a AK Galil but my bread and butter is guns. Lets face it, how many people do ya'll know of, under 30, would rather have a beat up old lever gun vs some new billet this titanium that AR? I didn't get started with levers until I was in my early 20's and it was a 336 30-30. Since then, I've only added a Henry .22lr in my lever collection. However, I will add a 336 .44mag, 336 or 94 in .357, 336 in .35 remington, and a Guide Gun 45-70. Yea i got bitten.

 

[Skadoosh]

I guess I am a bit of a late bloomer too. I found a pre-64 '94 (1952) a little while ago that I jumped on...and although it is chambered in .32WS, which makes finding ammo only slightly more difficult, it's a peach!

 

[Jack O'Conner]

I bought and sold two Marlin 30-30's when I was in USAF. Going overseas for 2 years? Sell it. Headed back to the States? Buy one. That was my history.

Now I'm retired from active duty and own a plain but accurate & reliable Marlin which gets much use every Fall. 30-30 is a keeper!

Jack

 

[L_Killkenny]

I'm with Clark, I like the .30-30, I like lever guns but the "must have" centerfire rifle list for shooters or hunters is fairly small (like 1 or 2) and the .30-30 ain't on it. I've had to pass on too many shots due to lack of range and my hunting time is too valuable to sit and watch critters in rifle range but out of .30-30 range.

 

[histed]

I've owned 3 Model 94's. The one I now have belonged to dad until he died four years ago. Not only is the rifle fun to shoot, but hunting with it somehow feels like he's still here. I've sold the other two during financial crisis, but this one ain't for sale at any price. And for you reloaders - try IMR 8208XBR. Then tell me how inaccurate a 30-30 is!