Help! I need a 30/30

[softpoint]

I was gazing in the safe today, and PANIC, I don't have a 30/30 right at the moment! Whats even worse, I have a 180 RCBS fngc mold! That should be reason enough to get one (asking the choir here), right?
Now ,the real dilema, should I spring the extra bucks for an XLR, because of the Ballard rifling, or get a standard 336 ? (lots less money)I'm not really nuts about the extra long barrel on the XLR, but that is easily fixed. And I'm not crazy about the forearm band on the standard 336. (harder to fix) I suppose what I want is a blued 3/4 magazine, ballard rifled, forend cap. Do all the standard 336 in 30/30 have micro groove?Seems like I saw a stainless standard 336 at a gun show that didn't have micro groove written on the barrel. Would you guys get micro groove over a ballard if you were buying new? I know they can be made to shoot cast with careful selection of components and sizes, but is the ballard somewhat easier to work with.? I have 3 1895's, 2 are ballard, 1 is MG, they all do ok with cast, but, that is 45/70.
Weigh in on this important decision that may affect me for the rest of my life!

[Bob A]

Of course you need a 30/30, everybody needs a 30/30.
But it might be that your requirements would be better met with a 308MX.
It is ballard, not microgroove. It has end caps iso barrel bands and it has a 3/4 mag.

I have a 336A 30/30 with end caps, full mag and microgroove. It shoots cast just fine but is a little picky about the bullets it likes.


Bob A

[tall grass]

Well you could just sell be that nasty 180 grain rcbs gas checked mold to me real cheap and save yourself a lot of anxiousness and sleep.

regards

Jim

[mj2evans]

I sure do like the 3/4 magazine but my 30-30 has barrel bands. Shoots ok lead or jacket, the real limit is the heavy trigger. I don't think the micro grove is that big a deal especially when you look at the cost of a 30-30 with "standard" rifling.

[HORNET]

'Course, you could get a Rem. 788. they don't cost much more than a new Stainless Marlin..

[threett1]

You could do what some of us have done and get your 30-30 in a Contender.

[softpoint]

'Course, you could get a Rem. 788. they don't cost much more than a new Stainless Marlin..

I once had a 788 in .44 magnum. From what I see they're going for ,I think I made an error getting rid of it. I believe the clip is worth more now than I paid for the gun
I like the .308 mx, but I have a couple thousand rounds of once fired .30/30 brass.
Could prolly almost get a used 336 and have a green mountain barrel put in it for the price of one of those stainless xlr.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Yep you've got to get a 30/30 if you plan to stay in Texas. I bought mine in Taylor Texas just down the road from you. Pawn shop, Model 94, drilled reciever, no scope, built in 1951, little rough, barrel abused but useable. $150 cash about 7 years ago. Cruising the small towns with cash in your pocket can yield happy results.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Hunt up a good, used, pre-64 Win. 94, and don't look back.
Morgan

[jlchucker]

Most used 30-30's have been carried around far more than they've been shot The exception, it seems, are those that have been owned by handloaders like those of us who post to this website. It's not unusual to find a used 30-30 that looks beat up a bit externally, but with a bore that probably hasn't seen 100 rounds fired. Often those guns turn out to be real gems. Look around, find a used Marlin carbine, don't worry about the microgroove thing, or the nosecap thing, and enjoy your find. You can always modify for appearance sake, and that big, fat, ugly Marlin forend can be cured with a belt sander and a new finish. Enjoy what you find.

[Kraschenbirn]

Most used 30-30's have been carried around far more than they've been shot...

I picked up a late '60s Savage 340E off GunBroker late last fall. The varnished stock looked like my tomcat had used it for a scratching post and someone had buggered on a oversize recoil pad in an apparent effort to extend the length of pull. Some wear marks on the barrel (Can you say "pick-up truck gun rack?) but no real rust or pitting issues.

Cleaned/decoppered the bore, stripped the stock, steamed out the dents, fitted the recoil pad properly, refinished the wood with Lin-Speed, touched up the bluing a bit, and...SHAZAM!...I got me a decent-lookin' cast boolit shooter for under $250.

Bill

[rmb721]

Look for an early Marlin 336-A rifle w/24 in barrel, 2/3 mag tube, and Ballard rifling. You won't be sorry.

[schutzen]

I'm with Tall Grass, you just need to sell that 180Gr Mold and ease your anxiety. Pick someone who has both a 336 and a 30-30 Contender so you do not transfer your anxiety to them.

By the way I do have a 336 & and TC 30-30 and I am looking for a good mold.

Get the ballard rifling and have fun!

[softpoint]

Molds are like extra scopes, and everyone knows what an extra scope lying around causes!
Since I already know this disease is terminal, I'll go to the gunshow in Austin this weekend and see what I can find. I'll go pawnshop hopping tomorrow. No use fighting it , it always wins in the end!

[mroliver77]

MG would not stop me for a second. My 336 shoots good enough for deer an groundhog out to 150+ yards.
J

[Wicky]

At the risk of being slapped around - what's wrong with a good old rattly model 94? Mine shoots about 2 inches at 75 yards but thats fine for the occasional foray on the piggies.
Morgans on the right track.

[jlchucker]

Wicky, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a "good old ratty Model 94"---except price and availability. They suddenly seem to have vanished from the used-gun shelves. If you do find one, they are tagged with a hugely-inflated price. Particularly those made between 1964 and about 1972 or so. I have a 94 trapper carbine in 44 mag that I have carried in my truck for years. I used to say I hated that little gun, but it was my gun to grab for plinking with cast bullets at the range, and was never out of arms reach. It shows some wear. on the stock, and the bluing is getting thin. But go on line and see what the asking price for these is now! So much that I have hidden this gun in the back of my safe. I don't hate it any more. It's too valuable for that. Oh, for the days when less than a couple of hundred bucks would get you a used 30-30- Model 94 for knockabout use. Gone the day Winchester closed its doors.

[softpoint]

At the risk of being slapped around - what's wrong with a good old rattly model 94? Mine shoots about 2 inches at 75 yards but thats fine for the occasional foray on the piggies.
Morgans on the right track.

Nothing at all wrong with a 94 win. I lean a little to Marlin, because of slightly better anticipated accuracy, easier to disassemble and clean from the breech, but a clean win 94 at a right price would interest me.

[TCLouis]

is cheap.

I PM my address and you can ship the mold (post paid of course) to me to save money and get rid of all that temptation to purchase another firearm.

In return, occasionally I will send pics of the mold and groups I have fired from boolits it produced.

What with current primer situation it will save you from primer "shortage" issues as well.

[softpoint]

What with all the generous offers to take my mold I'm confused! Now I'm thinking I might find a 336A with forend cap, but with microgroove. Maybe I can make that microgroove shoot? I'll bet if I can't someone here would take it off my hands too?
Gunshow is TOMORROW! Guess I'll just have to pace the floor tonite!