I love my Marlin 30-30. It was passed down from my father, but it has seen a great number of deer fall to it. They couldn' t tell if it was a 30-30 of a 7mm super gizmo mag that hit it. It is a great caliber. Mine has a 4x Nikon Buckmasters scope, in which the optics are great but might be too pricey for your liking since you can' t use it there in IL.