heeze gutshot shortee

looking for a good brush gun, hunting in thick stuff..whitetail, black bear, maybe elk , need some" knock down " advise

bigbulls

With elk thrown in there my pick would be the Marlin 444. It may not be a 45 caliber bullet it will provide you will very similar energy levels and offer better ballistics than the 45-70 will.

For deer and black bear the standard Remington bullets will work just fine but I would purchase the offerings from Hornady, Corbon, Buffalo Bore, or Conley precision for hunting elk. These four load better bullets that will hold together and penetrate through anything you would want them to.

heeze gutshot shortee

but which caliber gun?? does the 35 rem pack a bigger whallop or is the 30-30 the boss???
I want to purshase a gun... and yes the right ammo.. Are you saying.... Dont go near elk with a 30-30 or a 35 rem??????

broey1

Kinda have to agree with bigbulls....... if you stick with black bear/whitetails either the 30-30 or 35 Remington will suffice. Once you toss in elk, things change.

I'd say if you are committed to a lever action 444 Marlin is about the best you can get for your scenario.

However, a quick shooting "brush" set-up that will work for deer up to moose would be a Remington 7600 in 35 Whelen. You can get one for about $499.... quick follow up shots, range out to about 250 yards, and can kill deer, bear, elk, moose as well as anything out there.

In your scenario, I think the Whelen is a winner. However, if you really want the lever & you insist on elk go with the 444.

Good luck.

broey1

If you HAVE to choose between the 30-30 or 35 Rem..... I'd go with the 35 Rem with 200 Gr Rem Core-lokts. That's probably the biggest "omph" of the two. However the 444 Marlin or 35 Whelen will give you a lot more "omph" for a little bit more money. Of all four, I'd take the 35 Whelen in a pump, but to each his own.

heeze gutshot shortee

Well i shoot backwards.......Thats right ..Im a lefty off the rack left handed bolts ive not seen . I know that bolt action is the way to go...But Im a Chuck Connors fan to this day. 35 whelen huh...hmmm

bigbulls

Hezee, the .444 Marlin is a cartridge. Basically it is a 44 Rem mag streched out. It uses the same .429" bullets as the 44 mag but launches them about 800 - 1000 feet per second faster with the same weight bullets.

The Marlin 444 is the model of lever action made by Marlin that chambers the .444 Marlin cartridge.

The cartridge has the numbers listed first and the gun has the name listed first.


If you did decide for the 35 Remington the I would most definetly shoot the load from Buffalo Bore for elk. They load a 220 grain jacketed flat nose at 2200 fps from an 18.5" barrel.

JeffS

I have both the 30-30 and .35 and I like them both. My grandfather used his 30-30 for elk hunting and had no problems. You just need to pick your shots. Of the two the .35 is more powerful. If you are looking for a lever action I would look into getting eithera .45-70 or .450. I have the .450 and would not hesitate to use it on anything in North America.

Virginia7

To start off with I'll assume you're going to be using factory fodder, and not rolling your own. If you must go with either the Marlin in 30/30 or 35Rem., in this case I'd take the 30/30, and look to using some premium ammo for the elk, such as Federal with the 170gr. Nosler Partition load.
In a lever action Marlin my own preference would be the model 1895 chambered for the 45/70. There's a good selection of more powerful factory ammo available from several sources. Several of these hotter loadings are listed on MidwayUSA. Take a look:
Link: http://www.midwayusa.com/
As noted, another good consideration would be to look into one of the Remington pump actions chambered to 30-06 or even the 35Whelen. A friend of mine, also a "lefty", has a Rem. pump action carbine in 30-06, and it is very accurate, and makes a great woods hunting carbine.
For fast follow-up shots the pump can also be operated quicker for aimed shots than a lever (IMO).
If you want to stick with a lever action then also take a look at the Browning BLR model. I think it's even available in several magnum chamberings.

lovethebigguns

I have a Winchester Model 94 lever gun chambered in the powerful 444 Marlin and I aggree with bigbulls, that is my choice for a lever action brush gun. You won't be dissappointed with the knockdown and the trajectory you'll get out of this caliber. One of it's best assets is versitility, especially if you hand load. You can load it up with anything from a 210 gr for whitetail, to well over 300 for big bear and elk.
There's nothing wrong with the two calibers you've mentioned. I have a model 94 30-30 and it doesn't have any problem taking down the biggest whitetail at 100-150 yards but that's about it. And it would work on elk and bear but asJeffS said, you'll have to watch your shot placement.
Just my two cents...
Good luck