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ORIGINAL: M77man

I'm thinking about getting a 30-30 in a good lever action for my kid to start out with. Does anyone have suggestions on some good ones to take a look at? Thanks

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ORIGINAL: M77man

What are the balistics? Can it reach out to an Elk at about 200 yards?

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ORIGINAL: thunter4558

Have a marlin 30/30 good gun, go to the new hornady lever revolution bullet excellent. The guys on this site helped me out with my gun and ammo. Shot out to 200 yards to problem very accurate.

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ORIGINAL: il coyote

Marlin makes a fine 30-30. I bought one as the first rifle I could legally purchase on my own. Sadly, IL is a shotgun deer state, so it doesn't get much use outside of target practice.

Also, the design seems like it would work pretty well on a smaller framed person.

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ORIGINAL: Rebel Hog

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ORIGINAL: ranger56528
I have a 336A Marlin but no scope,just good old open sites........

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I hear winchester is going down,I mean over sea's now.O-well.....Go Marlin.

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ORIGINAL: M77man



Perfect, their website also lists a .308 lever action available in 2007. I will definately have to look into these.

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ORIGINAL: M77man

Nice pic Rebel, I think the kid will like it. Thanks for sharing.

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ORIGINAL: M77man

Cool, I will thanks. Heck, the boy is still young and he may not even want to shoot an elk or deernext year or the year after but I'm just looking to get him something that will help him get interested in the sport for now.

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ORIGINAL: James B

Sorry but a 30-30 won't kill modern deer. You need some kind of a Magnum for sure. I have seen modern deer(Kevlar Hide) just laugh off the sorry old 30-30.:D

Go for a Short Mag which beats the hell out of the OLD long Mags with no recoil. They also will drag your kill out and skin it.:D

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ORIGINAL: firstshot

M77man

A Marlin 30-30 would be a good "starter" starter for a kid primarilly due to the low recoil. As a matter of fact, a Marlin 30-30 was my first rifle "way back when"..LOL.....however:

With Elk on the menu, you might want to consider something with a little more rangeand "umph" and yetwhich still has mild enough recoil for a kid to start learning to shoot.

I don't know how "set" you are on the 30-30 caliber or if / how muchyour "lever action"choice was driven by the 30-30 caliber decision. Regardless, youshould seriously consider 7mm-08 as the starter caliber for your Kid.

The 7mm-8 would provide significantly improved ballistics over the 30-30 and still provide extremely mild recoil. Many view this caliber as an ideal starter caliber for women/kids; however,it is also considered by many to be the ideal whitetail caliber, while at the same time having enough power to handle up to elk at reasonable ranges. The 7mm-08 is very similar to the 7x57 which has long been used to take a wide variety of Affrican big game including elephant. I don't see why it wouldn't work on Elk....LOL

The 7mm-08 caliber is very rapidly gaining in popularity and as far as rifles are concerned, just aboutall the major manufacturshave offererings in 7mm-08. I own two, a Rem 700 Mtn LSS and a Rem 7600 Pump. Both of these rifles shoot sub MOA. If you were looking to the Marlin lever action for its quick follow-up shot capability, you should give the Rem 7600 a look. Grices currently has a 7600 special run offering in 7mm-08. Go to http://www.gricewholesale.com/specials_7600.phpthen scroll down for the 7mm-08 offerering.

Here is a pic of mine:


As far as bolt actions are concerned, like I said above, just about every manufactureroffers something in 7mm-08 now. Here is a pic of my Mtn LSS:


As far as ammo is concerned, if you reload, there are hundreds of 7mm bullet types/weights/constructions available from light weight "varmint" bullets like the Sierra and Hornady 100 Grn HP's up to heavier "Elk" capable bullets like the 160/175 grnBarns TSX and everything in between.

As far as factory ammo is concerned, currently most offerings are in the 140 Grn weight range, which many consider the ideal bullet weight for 7mm-08. Even so, and although I don't hunt Elk, I would think that Federals Premium Vital Shock in either 140 Grn Accubond, Partition, or BarnsTSXwould work great on deer sized game and be more than adequate for Elk. Considerng the rapidly growing popularity of the 7mm-08, I would soonerrather thanlater expect the ammo mfgs to startcoming out withheavier bullet weight offerings.

Therehas been a whole lot of 7mm-08 related discussions on this and other sites. Do a search on 7mm-08 and see what others have had to say about this very popular, versitle, yet mildmannered caliber.

I think you will like what you find!

Regards

firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

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ORIGINAL: James B

Sorry but a 30-30 won't kill modern deer. You need some kind of a Magnum for sure. I have seen modern deer(Kevlar Hide) just laugh off the sorry old 30-30.:D

Go for a Short Mag which beats the hell out of the OLD long Mags with no recoil. They also will drag your kill out and skin it.:D

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ORIGINAL: NoKnees

If your looking at just deer the marlin is a great way to go. I know lots of folks don't like the cross bolt safety on the newer guns but it has its uses. It makes unloading the gun a little safer and it useful for treestand hunting.

I know its a unlikely situation but an exposed hammer lever action droped from a distance on its butt is dangerous. The impact can bring the hammer and trigger back and fire the rifle. (had a friend who fell asleep in his treestand.) and worse is the muzzle is pointed up. So the cross bolt has some use in this instance.

The 30/30 is a great cartridge for about 90% of the deer hunting and its a classic as well. The marlins and winnys tend to be slightly smaller in the butt than do most full size bolt guns and that makes them a good choice for am 12 year old.

However, if you reload another bolt or Single shot is a more flexible choice. In most good dual use cartridges like 308, 7-08, 280 etc if you start with a light load using a light for caliber bullet (just the starting load in a manual) you will have a gun with very light recoil and just fine for deer. Once he is a little bigger ( or more of head strong teenager) just switch back to a more normal load and elk is on the menu).

If your 12 year old is a little small for a fullsize gun. You either buy a youth model noew and a fullsize stock later. or buy the fullsize now and a inexpensive youth stock like a ramline (make sure ramline makes a youth before you choose the rifle)

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