HuntingNet.com Forums - Has anybody shot or bought the 308 Marlin Express?

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From what I've seen it will be a good load. Reloading wise, might have to wait a year or two when all the components are available. Marlin levers are good rifles. Just a notion, if your looking for packability, might look into the ruger compact mag's 300 or 338 m-77 with a 20" barrel, that's what I took to Newfoundland for moose. Very compact and easy handling rifle. Just after I bought that rifle marlin came out with the 308 & 338's.

Hi
new member here, and for my first post, It's a rebuttal regarding reloading the marlin .308 exp.
You can get cases, bullets, and dies for this rifle.
what is hard to find are reloading recipes.
thanks, shutzen:happy0001:

I own a marlin 308 exp and shoot it regularly. I also shoot a .308 in a custom rem. 700 with a shilen bull barrel for long range. the marlin kicks a bit more than the rem. 308. I have had no trouble getting the supplies for reloading, dies, cases bullets, are readily available. what is hard to get is reloading recipes.their are buillets available in 140,150,155, 160, and I have heard that 180's are available. I started in the .307 cartridge info. The rifle will shoot into a 2" group at 100 yds. with iron sights. fyi I am 73 yrs old and have parkinsons disease and have recently had catarac surgury. I;m sure a younger shooter could do better.
shutzen:happy0001:

Marlin .308 mxlr

Quote:

Originally Posted by TUK101 (Post 2364178)

They told me at the sporting goods store that I buy my supplies at that you cannot get dies for the 308 Marlin Express. I know that I would have to buy a couple of boxes of the Hornady Leverevolution ammo to get brass and I would also have to use flat point bullets to reload my own since you cannot buy the leverevolution bullets yet if ever.

I have recently purchased one of the Marlin .308 mxlr stainless steel with laminate stock and I can tell you first hand It shoots very nicely with one exception: It jambs-up during levering with the hornady ammunition. It had to be sent to the factory for a re-fit of a longer follower to accomodate the rubber tipped bullets. I am still waiting (2 months) to receive my re-worked rifle. I did discover however since remington(actually freedom arms) purchased Marlin that they (remeington) now offers an option in soft nose. I believe 165 grains. The little shooting I did get to do was fun...can't wait to get it back!:happy0001:

I have a re-worked mauser in .257 roberts. Anybody out there possess one of those? I would be interested in any input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wjyarkiell (Post 3124524)

well i hate to be the first guy to write something negative about 308 MXLR. The cartridge was nice and accurate. i could hold offhand and shoot about 250 yards and hit a steel target with relative ease. but that only happened when the gun would feed the cartridge. my problem was that the tubular magazine or something was screwed up with the gun. everytime i worked the action, a shell would jam the lever and totally render the gun inoperable. i had to take the lever out and everything just to get the shells out. and what really irritated me the most was that after the FIRST and SECOND times i sent it back to the factory, the gun still did not function properly. but i guess that was the gun and not the cartridge.

I too have had the same exact problem and mine is now at the factory. They sent it sportsman haven in ohio and then was subsequently sent back to the factory from there. I don't know what the outcome will be, but I informed the very re-assuring "representatve" that if I am not satisfied that I am going to shout to everyone that will listen what a lousy deal i got!

Wow! I suppose I've been lucky. My .308 MXLR in stainless/ laminate with 24" barrel has performed flawlessly at the bench and in the field. It is fast handling, smooth cycling, and consistently very accurate. My sons and I have no trouble ringing the gong out to 300 yds. on our local range using this weapon. Terminal performance with Hornady Leverevolution 160s on deer has been impressive on the whitetails I've taken. I wouldn't hesitate to use this on any medium size game and would consider it adequate for larger game within 200- 250 yds. I hope the cartridge and rifle stay around for a long time. I have been a 30-30 Marlin Lever guy for years and this gun fills a longstanding void in the Marlin line, a gun which could reasonably be expected to perform on deer/antelope out to 400 yds. It's just plain been a lot of fun to have around. The only thing I might change is the barrel which is a bit longer than what I've been accustomed to owning carbines. Any thoughts on shortening to, say, 20"?