Gun opinion?
 

Hi I'm new to the rifle game. I've always hunted with a muzzleloader or a slug gun. However I'm getting tired of it and want to change it up. I'm in the market for looking to buy a 30-30 for whitetail hunting but I'm having a lot of trouble deciding on one. I'm not looking to spend more then 700$ if anyone has any type of opinion and would like to offer suggestions I'd really appreciate it!

Take a look at the Marlin line.

Agree. Marlin makes some real nice lever guns.

Those old 'cowboy' guns are ok I suppose but very limited.

Consider a rifle that will take both varmints and deer.

A 243 will do that if you have chucks and if no chucks then a 243, 270 or 30-06 etc.

Good luck

Where are you hunting ? What's the conditions ? How long are your shots ? If you're hunting areas where your shots are less than 150yds. the 30/30 is a good option. I personally prefer the Marlin 336. You can a package gun such as Remington and Savage for quite a bit less than $700 in good deer calibers such as .243 ,270 , 7mm & .308.

From your last it post sounds like a 30-30 will do the trick.

A 30-30 is a very good choice and if You can use the newer shells I would reccomend the Hornady LeveRevolution cartridges/bullets to reach out further and touch those Deer! ;)

go with marlin my wife and I both have one. she went with the stainless steel model,

I would suggest a bolt action and a caliber larger than a 30-30 in case you decide hunting something other than deer, like maybe elk or black bear.

Proud owner of the Marlin 336C in .35 rem.

Great for the one gun deer hunter who might have the opportunity to hunt black bear as well.

....but.30-30 ammo is available everywhere.

I'm hunting in West Virginia, the weather conditions would be in November so it cold be cold, it could be rainy its a blind shot there. The shots I'd have would range from 150-300 proabably.

Can't beat the Marlin Model 336's when it comes to 30-30's and lever guns! Proud owner of a couple 336's myself...

Around Parkersburg you can get some longer shots. I believe that I would choose a flatter shooting bolt action rifle for that area. A nice Ruger in .243 (or equivalent) would be my pick.

Uncle makes a good point; that if your normal shot opportunities are 150-300 yards I'd much rather have a .243 boltgun (or bigger) myself.

Nothing says a .30-30win won't reach out to 300yrds, though. Even with round nosed bullets I dropped deer at 250-300yrds on multiple occasions with a Glenfield 30A .30-30win (essentially a rebranded Marlin 336, EXACT same rifle as a Marlin 30A). Sad that I don't have that rifle anymore.

Sure, it's about twice as much drop (.243 should be in the 12" ballpark, 30-30 in the 20-24" ballpark at 300 with Hornady leverevolution BC's), but the .30-30 actually carries just as much energy, and MORE momentum than the .243win at 300yrds. When it comes to penetration, momentum means a lot.

Personally, if you're looking for a levergun, the .30-30 is a great choice as a deer thumper. The .243win inarguably has a longer max point blank range, but you're doping at 300 no matter which you choose.

If you'll end up playing predator games with the rifle, then load up that nice hard deer hunting bullet and go to town. The ol' "dirty thirty" can actually be pretty dang nice on coyote hides. Even moreso than a .243win in my experience.

Concessionally, if you're scared of a bit of bend in your trajectory and looking for a "laser beam", then a levergun isn't the place to be looking at all, unless you're looking at a BLR (gag...). But if you're looking for a lightweight, fast handling, hard hitting rifle, it's pretty hard to beat the .30-30 as a whitey medicine.

A 300 yard kill shot is a pretty good poke for a 30/30 Win. As already mentioned, makeable for sure , but .... my opinion ...

If the 150 -300 is typical I'd go another route. The 30/30 Win. is a 30 caliber round. So are the 308 Win., 30/06 Spr., 300 Win. Mag., 30/378, etc. The difference is in the cartridge ... essentially the volume for the powder charge. The Marlin 336 and Win. 94 30/30's are both tube fed which requires either a flat nose bullet or the Hornady "Leverlution" soft tipped spire point. The flat nose bullet does not "fly" well, and therefore the friction between the bullet and air slows it down quicker than the more aero-dynamic spire point.

If you want to stay with a lever action, look at the Browning BLR in 308 Win. or 7mm/08 Rem. These are excellent rounds for shots in that 150-300 yard range and the BLR's I have had experience with are accurate enough for shots out to 300-400 yards. To stay inside your budget, it'll probably mean buying a good used BLR.

If you decice to stay with a 30/30 WIn. .... I prefer the Marlin 336. Try the Leverlution ammo. I switched to it for my 444 Marlin and experienced a lot less arc. Some 3" less at 150 yards. Meaning that the velocity of the muzzle bullet was being retained a lot better than the flat nosed bullet (of the same weight).

Haha, "go another route"... "get closer!" :happy0157::happy0157::happy0157:

I'd agree though, if you'll commonly have a 300yrd shot, then I'd avoid any common levergun cartridge. If you want the "option to reach 300 if you need to", and most of your shots will fall in the 150yrd or less range, then the .30-30 will be fine.

Pretty hard to imagine a scenario where there would ONLY be shots available in the 150-300yrd range. Maybe shooting at deer across a river where I couldn't get any closer?

Forget the 30/30. Get yourself a decent bolt gun. Out to 300 i'd get something flat shooting. 7mm/08 is a nice flat shooting caliber, and easy on the shoulder. 7MM MAG is alot more gun if you don't mind a lil recoil. Don't overlook used guns, imo you get more for your buck that way.