Marlin vs. Win. in .30/30's - why you chose one over the other

[HangFireW8]

Oh, no more than nearly-utter, surely. I believe cases with a lot of taper do respond worse to a wet chamber. It is worth it for this marvelous mental image, possibly perverse, of a .30-30 rifle grunting and rattling. I have never known one to grunt.

An amusing mental image, for sure.

For clarification, using grunt calls and rattling antlers are two ways of calling in Whitetail deer. One involves using one hand and the other both hands. I live near enough to swamps. I do not hunt Whitetail deer there, because they taste bad.

No comment on the rest of his... opinion.

[Outpost75]

I've owned .30-30s in the Savage 99, 219 and 340, Winchester 54, 94 and 1894, and Marlin 1893, 36 and 336.

Liked them all.

These days have only the 1942 vintage 94 and a barrel for the H&R Handi-Rifle.

Like the man said, Ford or Chevy... Combat accurate, if you're a cowboy.

200 yards, iron sights on F silhouette:

Attachment 168508

[1895gunner]

I've bought a bunch of Winchesters and Marlins and they are both great however I've turned more towards the Marlins because I like the 1998 - 2002 Factory ported Guide Guns & Outfitters. Here is a pic of some of my Guides/Outfitters.

444P - 444 Marlin
1895G - 45/70 Government
1895G - 45/70 Government
1895GS - 45/70 Government
1895M - 450 Marlin



1895gunner

[Texas by God]

1895gunner you are a show off. I am jealous. Thanks for showing them off! Best, Thomas.

[Texas by God]

The Winny 94 to me is faster handling, sleeker, and lighter. The Marlin just feels heavy and cumbersome. It really doesn't matter though if you really don't even have to load your gun until you get to your blind. While slipping it makes a difference. Since I am a southpaw the side mount scope is preferred because I don't like see thru scope mounts. Since these guns can shoot past a hundred yards a scope is necessary in todays time with having to count points in many regions whether more open woods or thicker woods. In addition, foul or maybe nice weather from different opinions standpoint when it is snowing. When snow gets in the scope the irons are there.

The 30-30 is not really a foul weather gun though considering rain. With cast or jacketed it is only adequate for mild condition woods like popple, mixed, and oak. I would stay away from hard tracking ground with it. It is in no way capable of going into a cedar swamp grunting and rattling for 250 lb animals that could come in on you from any angle and only give you a couple of seconds for a shot. It also has its limitations when property lines come into play. It will do fine for picking off a deer 50 yds away on a feed pile and you are in your cozy blind most generally.

The Big Bore 94 or equivalent, an older 444 Marlin, 45-70 would be better guns for dependability on game whether cast or jacketed. The 99 in a 284 or case based cartridge along with maybe a 358 if cast is to be solely used would even be better choices.

Wow. Those 250 lb deer must be tougher than all those elk and moose and bears that have fallen to the 30-30. Just sayin'. Best,Thomas.

[beechbum444]

I Like both the Win 94 and the Marlin. The Win seems to have a little rattle to it, but I like it. The Marlin seems a little more solid. After reading this post, I have to find a Savage 99.

[M-Tecs]

The 30-30 is not really a foul weather gun though considering rain. With cast or jacketed it is only adequate for mild condition woods like popple, mixed, and oak. I would stay away from hard tracking ground with it. It is in no way capable of going into a cedar swamp grunting and rattling for 250 lb animals that could come in on you from any angle and only give you a couple of seconds for a shot. It also has its limitations when property lines come into play. It will do fine for picking off a deer 50 yds away on a feed pile and you are in your cozy blind most generally.

I think you forget the purple font.

[Geezer in NH]

Marlin is my choice easy takedown and able to clean barrel from the breech.

My 30/30 is a win 94 chose because I bought it for $200 bucks.

Pain in the butt to disassemble don't cha know.

[Crash_Corrigan]

Regarding Lunch Thief: Back in the day (circa '66) I was a Patrolman in the NYC Police Department and somebody was stealing my lunch from the refrigerator we had in the basement. Three days in a row my meat loaf goodies were purloined. On day four I made a special sandwich. Thanks to the St. Bernard pup of my neighbor I was able to get some fresh doggie poo. This I carefully made into a nice sandwich and I placed it in the refrigerator. Along came lunchtime and my sandwich was gone. I went to the deli next door and bought one and brought it back to the lunchroom where I ate it. During this period a fellow officer jumped up screaming and ran to the bathroom and failed to make it before he barfed up his stolen sandwich. He was mad, really mad and he was cussin' and carrying on for some time while I was rolling on the floor laughing my butt off.

Years earlier I had borrowed my Grandpa's vintage Winchester 30-30 Carbine with 170 gr loadings and practiced shooting it. It seemed to have a heavy recoil to me. Of course at that time I probably tipped the scales at a hefty 110 lbs ( I was maybe 13) and I could not hit anything with it. Years later I stumbled onto a Win 94 in 32 Special which I found inaccurate and pretty much useless out here in Nevada. I sold it off and made a nice profit as it had been gifted to me. I fell into a great deal and picked up a Win 94 30-30 (1929 vintage) from the original owner along with a Baker 12 Gauge sxs for a grand total of $100.

Again not having much use for a long barreled 12 gauge I had it cut down to a 18 1/4 barrel and it became my truck gun. I kept the 94 and messed around with cast bullets and found it to be a reliable and easy handling carbine with a very high fun factor. Loaded down with a 140 gr cast boolit it was fun to shoot, had little recoil and was accurate to about 2 inches at 60 yds. Beyond 100 it just dropped too much for it to be reliable on a 6 inch target. It would have been great on a deer if I could find a deer in Las Vegas.

Then I found a Marlin 336 CB in 38-55 which I had to have. I paid a lot of bucks for it from a member but it was worth it. The cartridge is a joy to reload for and very easy on the pocket book. I even made up some homemade blackpowder and althought slower to reload for it was a hoot to shoot and always brought over a bunch of loookie lous when I was shooting it at a range. Then I started to get serious about getting some accuracy out of it. I added a rear tang sight and I was off to the races. I am at the point now where I can reliably get 7 shots out of 10 to hit a steel gong of 12" at 300 yds if I am carefull. At 200 yds I am good for a certain hit.

Yes the Winchester is a more comfortable and easy handling weapon but the Marlin is more accurate and is also fun to shoot. I have no preference in the this regard. Both are good but the Marlin in 38-55 is a better choice for me as a target shooter.

[EDG]

Depending on the case to act as brake to reduce the force on the action is not a recommended engineering approach.
If the little bit of taper causes you a problem you should look at the long skinny springy components of the action that are under stress.

Oh, no more than nearly-utter, surely. I believe cases with a lot of taper do respond worse to a wet chamber. It is worth it for this marvelous mental image, possibly perverse, of a .30-30 rifle grunting and rattling. I have never known one to grunt.

[EDG]

I owned a M94 Bigbore and a M375 Marlin at the same time. The herky jerky motion of the Winchester reminded me of an early 1960s Chevrolet bumper jack.
The Marlin is much smoother to operate. I have 3 Marlins, in different calibers now, and NO Winchester 94 of any kind.

In addition to the smoother function, they are drilled and tapped and are pistol grip rifles.

[claude]

I like the winchester 94 because..........you know,.........it ain't a big fat ol' club.HEH.

[Nose Dive]

Guys...need help with instructions on dissemble, cleaning on a Marlin 30-30 from the late 70s. was older brothers rifle.... what do I need to tell you on what I need?

Nose Dive

Cheap, fast, good. Kindly pick two.

PS..Opinions on a 44.40?
PS..Opinions no a 45.70
PS..Opinions on a 44 MAG
Ps..Opinions on a 45 Long colt
PS.. Can we buy/have a lever in 10MM?

Opinions I am interested is in...White tail deer in lower 48... (100 to 125 yards)
Suitability for pistol load and same caliber rifle load (bullet and powder charge) load for pistol and rifle..
Suitability for RIFLE Load for ELK...USA and CANADA...

and 10MM for all and anything... Have rolled all 36spl,,380s...357s...and below to 10MM....no revolvers...
Glocks with after market long barrels and no porting.... Still have 45LC Ruger revolvers as were Dads.
I reload all except 22s and shotgun. Load 10mms Hot with barnes X boolits and some castings i make.

Have dies for 45.90 and am interested in that too... ND

Nose Dive

[Mk42gunner]

To answer the original question about 30-30's; I like the way a Winchester 94 handles, but I think the Marlins are a bit more accurate on average. My current .30-30 is a Marlin Model 30AW, with slimmed down forearm.

For pistol caliber carbines, 20" or less, the Winchester 92 and its clones are better to me than either the Marlin 1894 or the Winchester 94AE.

Nose dive,

To take a Marlin down for cleaning, open the action about halfway, remove the lever pivot screw and pull the lever out the bottom. Then pull the bolt out with your fingers, don't lose the ejector, clean the bore then reassemble, making sure you put the ejector back in place.

I haven't had either a .44-40 or a .44 mag in a rifle so no opinion.

The .45-70 in a Marlin can be loaded from shoot all day fun levels to one or two is enough fun.

.45 Colt lever guns can be fun, or loaded up for fairly serious power.

There is already a lever action in 10mm (or its functional equivalent), it is called the .38-40 or .38WCF if you want to get technical.

Robert

[TXGunNut]

Robert is spot on with his 336 cleaning tutorial. Of your choices the 45-70 makes the most sense, especially if a big hog wanders by. Quite honestly the 44WCF, 38WCF, 45 Colt and 43 Mag will probably work just fine, I just happen to prefer the 45-70.

[Lonegun1894]

The Winny 94 to me is faster handling, sleeker, and lighter. The Marlin just feels heavy and cumbersome. It really doesn't matter though if you really don't even have to load your gun until you get to your blind. While slipping it makes a difference. Since I am a southpaw the side mount scope is preferred because I don't like see thru scope mounts. Since these guns can shoot past a hundred yards a scope is necessary in todays time with having to count points in many regions whether more open woods or thicker woods. In addition, foul or maybe nice weather from different opinions standpoint when it is snowing. When snow gets in the scope the irons are there.

The 30-30 is not really a foul weather gun though considering rain. With cast or jacketed it is only adequate for mild condition woods like popple, mixed, and oak. I would stay away from hard tracking ground with it. It is in no way capable of going into a cedar swamp grunting and rattling for 250 lb animals that could come in on you from any angle and only give you a couple of seconds for a shot. It also has its limitations when property lines come into play. It will do fine for picking off a deer 50 yds away on a feed pile and you are in your cozy blind most generally.

The Big Bore 94 or equivalent, an older 444 Marlin, 45-70 would be better guns for dependability on game whether cast or jacketed. The 99 in a 284 or case based cartridge along with maybe a 358 if cast is to be solely used would even be better choices.

Even my flintlock muzzleloader works fine in bad weather, or at least as bad as I'm willing to hunt in, and that is just about anything. It has worked just fine when sand storms came through when I was stationed in Southern AZ, and it has also worked fine here in Central TX the many times when it was raining sideways. I would absolutely love to see the .30-30 that you saw fail due to some bad weather, and would bet that it wasn't the gun that failed, but rather the hunter. In fact, the only way I see the .30-30 levergun failing at anything that it has any business even attempting, is if the hunter just has no clue what he is doing and has no business hunting. Always convenient to blame the equipment for our failings though, isn't it?

The caliber is just fine, and I hunt swamps, fields, and anything in between. I also take 200-250 pound hogs out of those swamps after killing them with a .22LR pistol, so the .30-30 is MORE than adequate for anything I need. Yes, I have bigger and smaller calibers, but there isn't anything I couldn't take with my .30-30 if it wasn't for game laws that say not to (like for example waterfowl, spring turkey, etc).

As to which is better between a Winchester and a Marlin, I don't know. I have both, several of each in fact, and see them as equals. The Winchester was my first hunting rifle (and is where the 1894 in my call-sign comes from), but I have fed myself with both. In fact, I think we can discuss the specific differences between them, and each have preferences for certain features, but unless one of those features wins you over, it doesn't matter. For example, as has been said, the Marlin 336 has a closed top, ejects out the side, and is easier to mount a scope on, but is a bit heavier and possibly slower. It also has 1:10" twist, and at least usually, Micro-groove rifling. A Winchester 1894 on the other hand, has an open top, ejects out the top, is a bit lighter and faster, and has standard rifling with a 1:12" twist. Personally, I have shot all mine side by side trying to figure out which I like better, and it just depends on what kind of mood I am in that day as to which one goes hunting with me.

[220]

All my lever centre fires wear scopes in QD mounts, probably why they are all marlins. Having dinner plate sized hands I also like the fatter fore end.

[HangFireW8]

I wonder how G&H Sporter owners would think about the Marlin forearm being considered "fat".

[starmac]

Everybody has their preferences, I prefer a 99 savage first, especially if I am going to scope it, The win second , then the marlin. That said I own more marlins than the others, and don't plan on getting rid of any of them, most especially the 45/70, 308, mx and the 45 colt or even the lowly 39A 22.
I reckon I just like lever actions.

[1895gunner]

Everybody has their preferences, I prefer a 99 savage first, especially if I am going to scope it, The win second , then the marlin. That said I own more marlins than the others, and don't plan on getting rid of any of them, most especially the 45/70, 308, mx and the 45 colt or even the lowly 39A 22.
I reckon I just like lever actions.

That said just right - I like my levers too!

1895gunner