gettinby2

Has anyone shot one of these yet? I am getting a new rifle and was considering this one but just didn't know if it was a viable LR gun.

younggun308

There is no Marlin chambered in the .308 Winchester cartridge, but there is the .308 Marlin Express, which doesn't look very promising, but the BLR (Browning Lever Rifle) is chambered in that cartridge, but all lever actions are generally less accurate than their bolt-action counterparts.

ElkNutz

Younggun is correct the Marlin is chambered in 308 ME. Until Hornady releases the loads that they are running along with the Leverloution bullets to the general public you have a .307. If I were looking for a newlever gun I would look at a Marlin in 35 Rem or 444 or a Browning BLR in .325 WSM.

younggun308

Man, those are like elk calibers, all he's looking for is a .308, a deer cartridge.

Why would he want to get a .325 WSM, a cartridge that's going down the toilet, when, if he really wants a big elk cartridge, he could get a .338 Win. Mag, or, with less recoil and a short action, a .338 Federal.

HEAD0001

A couple of the guy's on the Leverguns site have received their 308 Marlin's. All the early reports look good. I have no idea why some one would say that it does not look promising, it looks pretty good to me. Lever actions are still the best selling rifles out there. People can still afford to buy them, and most lever's will shoot better than the person who is shooting them. Marlin is one of the only money making large rifle mfgs. left, and their main product is lever's. Tom.

goatbrother

The 308 Marlin looks (on paper) a lot like a 300 Savage. Another reinvention of the wheel if you ask me. But then I'm not a big fan of lever guns either.

eldeguello

While many lever action rifles turn out to be less accurate than bolt actions, they are NOT ALL less accurate! I have owned three lever action rifles that were QUITE ACCURATE. One was a Model 45 J.C. Higgins (Marlin 336) in .35 Remington that would shoot 180-grain Speer flatnose bullets into 1.5" @ 100 yards using 42 grains of IMR 3031, MV 2400 FPS. Another was a Browning BLR in .358 Win. that would shoot 1" at 100 yards with a 250 grain Speer spitzer and 51.5 grains of WW748, MV 2450 FPS. The other was a plain old Win. M94 .30/30 that on at least three occasions shot 1", 5-shot groups at 100 yards using REMINGTON FACTORY 150-GRAIN AMMO.

There are MANY BLR's that will shoot 1 MOA., and the Marlin can be made to shoot better than it comes out of the box. The Win. M94's run from pretty accurate to downright horrible, and I have shot both kinds!

I agree that this "new" .308 Marlin is a "yoke on yohnson", seeing that the .307 Win, .308 Win, and .300 Savage all existed long before this one showed up, and there is no doubt in my mind that all three of the oldies could have been loaded to the same performance level as this "new" (unnecessary) cartridge. The .300 Savage, in particular, is plenty short enough to work in the 336 action.

ElkNutz

Huh? Those aren't elk cartridges of today. Most at minimum think the .338 is minimum to bring down an elk. I shot a cow elk last winter with my .308 at 150 that was Dead before she hit the ground. The 35 Remington is a FINE deer cartridge. It cut it's teeth on eastern whitetails. I use mine on elk with a 200 grain RN but wouldn't hesitate to grab it anytime I was headed out for a deer.
I should have clarifies my point. If I were to buy a levergun that was accurate and reliable. It would be a Marlin. Still nothing wrong with the old 30/30.

eldeguello

I am certainly NOT CONVINCED that MOST (I assume you mean hunters) think a .338 is necessary to kill elk. As a matter of fact more elk hunters use other calibers than the .338, although some do!

If I were to select a lever action for accuracy alone, it would be the BLR! The Marlins can also be made to shoot very well, but the BLR is the most likely to shoot well right out of the box. This is mainly due to its'being a front lockup bolt design, which is much stiffer than any rear locking setup.