If I buy a .30-30

[snaketail]

I'm in the market for a 30-30. I'll use it in Lever Action Silhouette matches.

I'm a bit concerned about Marlins - all the bad talk about Remlins has me spooked.
If I should find a good deal on a used Marlin what should I look for...what would kill the deal if you were looking for one.

Or should I look for a Winchester?

Michael

[454PB]

Get one of each. I have both a Marlin and an old Winchester, they both shoot well, but the Marlin is easier to clean.

[w30wcf]

snaketail,
I would look for a used Marlin like the 336SC (Sporting Carbine) like this one
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=370947533

Or a Winchester Commemorative rifle like this one (Tony Tello just tied the record 40x40 in NRA Cowboy Siilhouette with the same TR Commemorative)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=371828214

Best accuracy is typically obtained with a lever gun having no barrel bands.

w30wcf

[bob208]

if looking at a used rifle of either make. get one that predates the cross bolt safety.

[robertbank]

I just bought a used Marlin made in 2012 and it shoots like a damn. I couldn't be more pleased. Easier to clean then the 94's and mounting a red dot on the gun was simple as it came with a rail.

Take Care

Bob

[Gtek]

Nice older Marlins can still be had for 3-4 bills if patient, I was diagnosed with Marinitis about twenty five years ago. The symptoms start as a dull, slow need and then you get an outbreak (BUY ONE) then deal with it and then it will calm down for a while. Then with no warning another attack, I think it is kind of like Lyme disease. You now know you have it, just deal with it the best you can and get on with being as happy as you can! Gtek

[runfiverun]

ill fitting wood.
sights not aligned.
a hinky action.

with the Winchesters i'd avoid the cross bolt safety models they look nice and lever smoothly but the 2 piece firing pin has caused me a couple of headaches.

[TXGunNut]

Lots of nice older Marlins and Winchesters still out there. Marlin prices were better a few years ago but still worth the money. 30WCF may have something there about the barrel bands, a couple of my Marlins and a 94 required tweaking in that area.

[FergusonTO35]

My 1960's Glenfield 30 (half magazine and forend cap) is scary accurate. When I sighted it in a couple of weeks ago it was printing 1.2" groups at 100 yards easily, the last group of the day was 3/4". That's with 31 grains of Varget and a 150 grain Sierra Pro Hunter. I bet it would do even better with some powder experimentation.

I wouldn't buy a Winchester unless you can inspect it in person. Alot of them have loose actions and there is not much that you can do about it. They might still shoot well and many folks apparently don't mind the lever flopping open all by itself but it bugs the snot out of me.

[blikseme300]

Nice older Marlins can still be had for 3-4 bills if patient, I was diagnosed with Marinitis about twenty five years ago. The symptoms start as a dull, slow need and then you get an outbreak (BUY ONE) then deal with it and then it will calm down for a while. Then with no warning another attack, I think it is kind of like Lyme disease. You now know you have it, just deal with it the best you can and get on with being as happy as you can! Gtek

I suffer from the same disease but I fix that by getting another Marlin. Over the past 6 months I had 3 doses of cure by adding a 30-30, 308MX & 338MX. All were bought used but I don't care. Looking out for a 45-70 as I feel another attack coming on...

[Prospector Howard]

I have a Marlin with a micro groove barrel, and it leads worse than any other rifle I shoot cast in. No matter what I do, it just leads up. Beware of micro groove barrel, if you want to shoot cast.

[snaketail]

All great information.
Because you typically clean a lever gun from the muzzle I'm concerned that a used rifle might not be accurate - as a result of improper cleaning. What should I look for on that end of the rifle?
Thanks for all the good info.
Michael

[OverMax]

Mechanically the difference between the two. Marlin has the smoother action of the two. And gets better & better with use. Winchester well it helped win the West.

[felix]

I have never seen a gun that could not be improved by having a personal and professional-quality gunsmith do the work. Brand name means absolutely NOTHING. ... felix

[robertbank]

I have a Marlin with a micro groove barrel, and it leads worse than any other rifle I shoot cast in. No matter what I do, it just leads up. Beware of micro groove barrel, if you want to shoot cast.

Not my experience. Some do some don't. Mine is excellent with cast. Maybe just dumb luck.

Take Care

Bob

[robertbank]

All great information.
Because you typically clean a lever gun from the muzzle I'm concerned that a used rifle might not be accurate - as a result of improper cleaning. What should I look for on that end of the rifle?
Thanks for all the good info.
Michael

Mike the Marlins clean from the breach which for me was a key selling point because I only intend to shoot cast in mine.

Take Care

Bob

[Mk42gunner]

snaketail, if you are just going to use this .30-30 as a range queen, I would suggest a Marlin 336A. It is like the SC that w30wcf linked to, except the barrel is 24" long.

Marlins prior to the midfifties had normal (or what they call Ballard) rifling. However most were not drilled for a scope mount, mine isn't and is not going to be either. They are drilled for receiver sights.

Not sure if the rules allow you to scope it or not; but if you want to put a scope on it, I would suggest finding one that is already drilled.

Robert

[gandydancer]

[QUOTE=snaketail;2440754]I'm in the market for a 30-30. I'll use it in Lever Action Silhouette matches.

I'm a bit concerned about Marlins - all the bad talk about Remlins has me spooked.
If I should find a good deal on a used Marlin what should I look for...what would kill the deal if you were looking for one.

Or should I look for a Winchester?

[felix]

The gun that feels the best right off of the bat. ... felix

[woody1]

If you can get by the cheezy wood, buy a Glenfield 30 something. I've got one also and it may well be the most accurate 30-30 we own and we have several. Regards, Woody

[MarkP]

You can pick up Canadian Centennials NIB at a reasonable price. (less than a new Marlin or 1/2 of a Japanese Winchester) The Can Cent's have an octagon bbl and are not very gaudy as some of the others can be IMO.

[OverMax]

I wonder why little is said here (c/b) about the Glenfield rifles. I had 30-30 one for awhile it was an excellent shooter with factory Remys. Not sure what its stock was made of? Birch maybe? Anyway. It was a dandy for the woods not having to worry about a scratch or ding happening. Have a 202 Supreme here I'm afraid to take out of the house unlike that old Glenfield and its old banged up stock. What'a rifle that one was. Talk about luck. Always seen something worth shooting when carrying it. I think its gunsmith/ assembler had to be Irish.

[blikseme300]

I wonder why little is said here (c/b) about the Glenfield rifles. I had 30-30 one for awhile it was an excellent shooter with factory Remys. Not sure what its stock was made of? Birch maybe? Anyway. It was a dandy for the woods not having to worry about a scratch or ding happening. Have a 202 Supreme here I'm afraid to take out of the house unlike that old Glenfield and its old banged up stock. What'a rifle that one was. Talk about luck. Always seen something worth shooting when carrying it. I think its gunsmith/ assembler had to be Irish.

I have a 1965 Glenfield in 30-30 and it is my go-to rifle for deer here in deep south Texas. The accuracy is better than my much newer Marlin. Maybe it is only a mind game but I prefer the oldie to my newer rifle. The external finish of the Marlin's may be better but the shooting of the economical rifle is what matters.

[blikseme300]

Not my experience. Some do some don't. Mine is excellent with cast. Maybe just dumb luck.

Take Care

Bob

All of my Marlin's are micro groove and I have yet to experience leading. I heeded the advice of those in the know and run fat boolits with GC's and good lube. In a nut shell these rifles need fatter boolits than nominal size to work right. Few mold makers offer products that cast the proper size for these rifles and with the demise of Ranch Dog's offerings it is harder to get the proper molds. I am aware that others have picked up some of his designs so best would be to get the right mold and sizer for your rifles.

[uscra112]

Marlin, without a doubt.

Less expensive.

Cleans easily from the breech, (don't lose the ejector).

Microgroove rifling only causes trouble for them as doesn't learn how to load for it.

I've never seen one that wouldn't shoot 3 inches at 100 with good loads. My .35 Rem is slightly better than that with any load I've ever tried, and one pet j-wart load goes under 2 inches, four groups out of five. I think I'm the problem, not the rifle.

That said, I'm as scared of Remlins as anybody. All of mine are pre-crossbolt-safety.

I don't feel there's any advantage to a long barrel unless the rules say iron sights only.

It's easy to find older ones that are in good condition. They got bought a lot by guys who ran one box of shells through them every deer season, then put them away the rest of the year. One .30-30 I bought 13-14 years or so ago had been bought, taken hunting once by a fella who decided he didn't like hunting after all, and never used it again. After some years he passed away, and his daughter sold it to me. Like new inside and out. I think I gave $275 for it.

[TXGunNut]

Not my experience. Some do some don't. Mine is excellent with cast. Maybe just dumb luck.

Take Care

Bob

My MG Marlins lead terribly! If I look real close I can see a few sparkles on the first patch. ;-)
If it wasn't for dumb luck I wouldn't have much at all!

[fouronesix]

snaketail,

Either Win or Marlin will work for what you want. Like others have posted about the Marlins- look for the pre safety models on the used market. Handle before you leap maybe. Not that you normally can shoot used guns before buying but in LGSs or local sources you can at least handle and cycle to see which one you like the best.

And, I wouldn't worry so much about MG rifling. Every Marlin I've shot with that style rifling shoots very well. Across the board- with Jbullets- the Marlin MGs actually shoot better than the Winchesters. Getting cast bullets to shoot well in any rifle is a learning curve and the MG bore is no different.

No there is no downside to cleaning any lever gun or blind breech gun for that matter. Simply turn it upside down in a vise or cradle. Use a muzzle guard on the cleaning rod and clean away from the muzzle end! The patches just drop out the port or top of action. Marlin or Winchester or some single shots or whatever. Keeps all the solvent and junk out of the action and you don't even have to pull the lever and bolt out of the Marlin to do it. Amazing how easy it is with the added benefit of not getting a bunch of crud in the action by cleaning from the breech end.

[Hurricane]

If you run across a Glenfield 30-30 or 35 Remington in good condition, buy it. It is made side by side with the Marlin brand guns. The Glenfield brand was for large buyers like Sears, Coast-to-Coast, and Woolworth who wanted their store name on the gun. When the fad for the store name on the gun played out the stores went back to the Marlin brand on the guns. The Glenfield usually sells for less than the Marlin gun, you get all the good things of a Marlin gun at a bargin price.

[Hurricane]

If you have trouble with leading your boolits may be sized too small. Try sizing to .311 and use a gas check and I think your troubles will be solved.

[robertbank]

If you have trouble with leading your boolits may be sized too small. Try sizing to .311 and use a gas check and I think your troubles will be solved.

+1

Bob

[Prospector Howard]

Have tried everything, including .311 sized boolets with gas checks. Wouldn't even consider shooting plain based boolits in my Marlin. I always attributed the leading issue with the extra up and down surface area having more lands and grooves with the micro groove barrel. Maybe I just got unlucky and the barrel is a little rougher than normal. Maybe smoothing it up will help. Don't shoot it that much anymore anyway since I got into swaging .223 brass jacket bullets from .22 brass years ago. Slickest thing I've ever found, and absolutely no leading issues.
If you have trouble with leading your boolits may be sized too small. Try sizing to .311 and use a gas check and I think your troubles will be solved.