RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

As a kid i grew up on a marlin 30/30. We never had long shots to worry about because of the area we hunted. It brought home a lot of meat in those days. I for one am glad that they came up with a nwe bullet design. I just might have to go to a gun show and check out another old lever action for my Pa trips.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Best brush gun I ever owned: Savage 24v .30-30 over 3" 20ga w/ #2 buck.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I also have a Marlin 336c and Winchester Ranger

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

That is exactly what I have been looking for. That would make an excellent gun to tote in the pickup when on a firewood run.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

This rig and a 170gr. Rem. bullet backed by 30gr.s of IMR 3031
is deadly to 250yd.s. With little recoil.Dead is dead ,why would you think a 300 Win.Mag. or similar round is needed to kill a whitetail?

Buckeye

(And I have a Vault full of rifles ,444's, 45/70's,9.3X62,375 Win.'s ,35 Rem.,6.5X55's and various others )

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I havent much use with the 30-30 however i have absolutely nothing negative to say about it, sure its as stated many times a shorter range gun but it depends on the shooter alot. my go-to gun is a 336 in .35 cal. I shoot the 200gr LeverEvolution ammo, given it consitantly holds a 1/2-3/4 tighter group than any of the competition. It has awesome knockdown power and the gun itself is compact. its abit high on recoil for the caliber IMO but I can deal with it. I trust mine to 200 yards at least and if given the chance to target practice at 250-300 i could be comfortable with that shot. same with a 30-30 if i had shot it enough to know its limitations.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Sure it does: cheaper ammo, comes packaged in a handy lever rifle that looks waaaaay nicer than a plastic-stocked Savage or Remington, and ample reach/power for probablyl 90% if deer shot yearly. It has less recoil than .308-class cartridge, and isn't as loud. How's that for some advantages? Plus... it'll kill the deer, despite the Knowledgeable who'll tell you it's obsolete.

Check out pic... took this deer this morning with Marlin 30-30. The dear in the pic is my youngest daughter....

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Thats an awesome pictureCatus Magnus. I have one very similar with my son (was 3yrs old at the time) from last years buck. The funny thing is that the deer are nearly identical in size and rack lol. Shot mine with a .270 at about 85 yards.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I do not like the 30-30 because it is a relatviely weak cartridge,and has horrendous ballistics, compared to other .30 Cals, like the .308, I am not only a hunter but a fanatic shooter as well, and the 30-30 just won't get it done when the shooting gets past 200 yards. But if a person wants to use the 30-30, I'm not going to blast them, or call them a sissy, or anything like that, we live in America, where we have the Freedom to hunt with what we want.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I took the ol' 30-30 to the range and it was shooting various sizes in groups. i wouldn't trust shooting a deer over 100yds with it. but who knows maybe i will have better luck with the hornady ammo. but for now im gonna stick to the $10 box of winchester ammo because im a poor college student. plus i can't find any anywhere.:D

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

True; it is the oldest of the 30s, after all. And measured against what has come up since in the 20th century, the 30-30 is of course found wanting. However... if measured against what is required by most deer hunters to take their deer... the 30-30 gives up little to more potent cartridges at common deer-hunting ranges, and is no where near as deficient as pouring over ballistic charts might lead one to believe.

A couple thoughts: how you hold the gun makes a diff, it is touching anything solid when you're on the bench, etc. And, groups will definitely open up as it warms up - if you're gonna shoot a box of ammo, give yourself a LOT of time. My impression is that my Marlin suffers more when barrel warms up, compared to Savage 30-06 and .270 I've owned in the past. I doubt new Hornady ammo will make a substantial diff in accuracy at likely hunting ranges.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I like the 30-30 marlin, I have hunted with a 30-30winchester that belong to my brother while he was away in the service and took my first deer with it. I have found the marlin as more accurate and still use it today. I use a tip off scope mount that allows me to tip the scope out of the way when walking in the thick stuff andtip the scope back when walking down the old logging roads. This works great for me.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I luv my 30-30 bolt action. Most accurate gun I own up to 100yds. I pull it out about a week before the season fire my 3 practice shots in the bullseye and then play around with my other rifles. Haven't had to make any adjustments to it in over 10yrs. Now, if I were to take long shots over 150yds I would not use it. Just not enough oomph past that range. Kids now a days want to make those "Hollywood" shots of 300-500yds.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Catus, I will agree, the 30-30 is a fine deer cartridge, one of the greatest ever.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

If I where to start up a 30-30 fan club I would make a sticker or patch that reads: "The 30-30... putting meat on the table for over 100 years".

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I think its more important to have a cartridge &bullet combothat works its best at certain Vel. the 30 WCF has had over 110 yr. to perfect there bullets for there vel..The 30-30 is a fine cartridge and is a proven meat harvester ..Theres alot of cartridges that louder ,faster and shoot futher..but in REAL WORLD hunting ,I don't think there is another cartridge that has its track record for deer hunting.
The 30WCF has been Americas deer cartridge 110yr.s and will be for 110 yr. s more.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Well maybe if my father had given me a 30WCF instead of a Marlin 30-30 I would be singing high praises for it instead. The fact of the matter is that I know my 30-30 and am confident in what I can and cannot do with it. I know that there are other cartridges out there that are better ballisticly than the 30-30, that is why I also use a .270. The thread here is simply asking what you like or dislike about the 30-30. I like it for the lever action design which is easy for me to carry and for the fact that it doesnt bruise my shoulder when I need to fire off a few rounds.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Personally I like the 30-30 I own 2 of them a 336 and a 94... I had been looking for a Win model 88 lever action in 308 and I found one, and that is now my weapon of choice , but I still take my 94 unscoped as a backup just in case I have a breakdown, or a nostalgic moment..

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I like that, or a nostalgic moment... lol. That sounds like something that my late grandmother would have said.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

A30 WCF and a 30-30 are the same round,exact same...
30 WCF is what the Winchester first named the cartridge ,some rifle companies coined the phrase 30-30 referring to 30 cal. bullet and reference to 30 gr.s of black powder,but the 30 WCF was and the first smokeless sporting round introduced in the USA....
I call the 30-30 the 30 WCF without realizingit ,Buckeye

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

The 30/30 i liked so much because it was the 1st gun i ever deer hunted with. I believe it was the Marlin 336CS. I prefered the marlin over the winchester because of the design and feel. It just felt like it fit better in my hand then the winchester did.
Today i do not own a 30/30 there's just no place close i can use it. the county I live in and surrounding counties are bow, ML and shotgun only.butthe 30/30has always been my favorite gun.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I've said some nice things about 30-30; in the interest of full disclosure/even-handedness, I'm going to list the downsides. This is more about the rifle, a Marlin 336W:

1. Heavy for size. It is short and handy, but just a tad heavy. I'm used to a very light muzzleloader, and before that a Savage 111F in .270 which was quite light. The Marlin feels heavier than either of those, but it is shorter - and short is a virtue.

2. More prone to operator error. I carry it into woods with round in chamber and set at half-cock; I need to remember to TAKE SAFE OFF while in the tree. Why? That safety isn't silent, whereas I can cock the rifle silently. Worse - you can have safety on if you squeeze trigger, hammer will SNAP home. Took a buck last tuesday. I got deer in crosshairs and dropped the hammer on the blasted cross-bolt safety, having forgotten to put it on Fire. With a bolt gun, I wouldn't have been able to sqeeze trigger/make noise; with the Marlin it made a very loud CLICK as hammer hit home, and no discharge. Had to re-cock, turn off safety - that not-silent safety - then put bullet through buck's heart as he tried to figure out where noise came from. With my old Savage, I simply wouldn't have been able to sqeeze trigger.. and could have silently slipped off the safety.

3. In cold weather, it's cold. All that nice-looking exposed metal at receiver is cold in the cold.

4. With bulky gloves, getting fingers into trigger guard/lever can be a little awkward.

5. Inconvenient to load/unload; doing so repeatedly mars the bullets/cases, as they've got to be cycled through the chamber. Lately at end of day I've taken to carefully unloading chamber, and closing bolt on empty chamber and putting that one round back in magazine with the others. I'd prefer to fully unload for safety/legality reasons (need to check this), but as I said it's inconvenient.

6. If I see deer across field, I'll be leery of taking the shot that I might take with the .270. On the other hand... if it is too far for me to shoot with the 30-30, it is probably further than I should shoot, unless I've a perfectly steady rest and ideal conditions. I'll have to practice some 200yard shots with the 30-30.

Those are all the flies I can find on this rifle/cartridge. I still like it, it's beautiful, it hammers the deer and I got a great deal on it... just need to remember to take that safety off when in the tree or stalking!

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I know what you mean about the safety. It is a good thing to have on the gun for safety reasons, but after using an older Marlin 30/30 without one I am having the same problems as you are with forgetting about the new crossblock safety on my new Marlin .44 magnum rifle. Its something that I will get used to, but it will take some time. It is a great feature to have when you have young kids around though.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

I'm a fan of the lever actions...I personally hunt with a 32 Win. Special
as my gun of choice. I dohave a 300 win. mag. that has been in the cabinet right next to the 30-06, but I seem to always choose the ol' 32.
It just feels right, it never let's me down and has been passed down from my grandfather (so of course a special bond there). I do feel it's just the operators preference.

RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
 

Carry the Marlin enough, and it will be second nature to push of the safety as soon as you get situated in your stand. I shot a doe about 10 or so years ago, and when I pulled the trigger all I got was a click. I pushed off the safety, and shot again and killed the deer. The safety is no big deal now, but I have carried it for a long time.

C. Davis