Look at it this way, what do you plan to hunt with it? Obviously you have other rifles, so this is to compliment what you have. I would stay 30 cal for strictly a deer gun, noone can argue the successes had with a 30-30, I really like my 307 for deer and blackbear. The 35 a close second. If you plan on hunting anything bigger I say go with a 45 cal either the 45-70 (my preference) or the 450.

What Marlin .348? The only factory-made gun I know of that was ever chambered in .348 was the Winchester M71 and the later Browening clones of same. The .348 is far too fat a case to work in the Marlin action. As for LA chamberings, there is also the .45 Colt, and now the short-action M92-type Puma is available in .454 Casull, which would be an ideal short-range deer proposition. But of all the standard rounds now available in a " classic" type LA, (outside of a used 99 Savage), I' d go with the .35 Remington. If your game list will ever include elk or big bears, get a .45/70!

I just bought a reproduction Winchester 92 in .44 Magnum. In a hundred yards it is a fine cartridge and the ' 92 is a sweet carrying gun.

I used a ' 92 winchester in .25-20 in Africa hunting Duiker and steenbok. It' s a fine gun yet today in the proper application. Maybe a tad light for deer.

For a lever action in my opion you can not beat the proven .30-30 for shots under 400 yards.

The Browning would be a good choice. The old 99 is great is you can find one. The Marlin is always a good choice. There are some poor hunters who can' t kill a deer with a 30-30. For everone else the 30-30 or 35 Remington are both great choices. I think the Browning in 308 would be my first choice.

Hi Clattin,

Not a thing in the world wrong with any of the calibers you named. Any of them would work very well indeed. And I think the addition of a peep (aperature) sight would be a good thing.

As have been named by some additional cartridges that could be considered are the .44 Magnum, .358 Winchester, and if you were so inclined even some older classics, (in certain rifles), like the .300 Savage, .303 Savage, .32 Win. Special, .348 Win., as well as a few other " older cartridges" . Assuming you don' t mind the additional " time and expense" involved in obtaining ammunition. But they add to the flavor of the period. (I think Winchester is currently chambering its Model 95 in the old .405 Winchester....a very potent and interesting cartridge.) It' s a great time to be a lever action fan!

Good luck with your search!

Buy a Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70. You can shoot factory 300-405 gr. loads that will anchor the largest of whitetails. You can also shoot the Garrett loads available that will penetrate a Rhino. I have a 45-70 that I would not part with for anything. It' s the Guide Gun I mentioned. I have a 1.5-6 scope mounted on it and at 100 yards 3 shot groups rarely exceed 1.5 inches.

I have a BLR in .308. Had it for 13 years, really like the gun. It is very accurate and reliable.

I' m voting either .44mag or .45-70, the .44mag is a great deer round out to normal hunting ranges (under or around 200yrds), there are a million advantages to it as well: .30-30 like performance using 1/3 of the powder if you reload, fast handling for brush hunting, lightweight for portage, and cheap ammunition because it' s handgun ammo instead of rifle ammo, $20 a 50box instead of $20 a 20box.

The .45-70 is THE lever action deer cartridge, it just doesn' t get much better. The recoil' s pretty stiff in lightweight brush busters, but it can do it all, short range brush busting or long range field shooting.

As far as which gun to get it in, as far as I' m concerned, the Marlins are the only leverguns in the world...(Savage 99' s excluded)...the winchester' s gaping wounds scare me a little and their feeding is crap, BLR' s aren' t real leverguns (unless we' re talking vintage ones). The marlins are more accurate than any lever guns I' ve seen, and beat out a lot of hunting bolt actions I' ve handled, they' re rock solid too. Marlin gives awesome customer service in the event that you run over your gun with your truck (I say that because that' s the only way you' re going to break it!!)

Marlin 336 in 35 rem. Big bang for the buck! (if you get my pun...ha!)