Thoughts on Marlin 336 (30-30)

I have a .30-06 in my safe, and also rifles in .338 WM, .45-70 and .35 Remington. I've killed whitetails with all of them. But as time has gone on, I discover Marlin .30-30s have multiplied in my safe. I've come to see the ubiquitous .30-30 as dang near perfect for hunting whitetails in a wooded environment. Trajectories of traditional flat point .30-30 loads are fully adequate for 150 yard shots (given proper zero) and Hornady's "Leverevolution" ammo easily stretches that to 200 yards (and beyond) to a knowing hand. The 336/.30-30 is no bean field rifle, but most of us don't hunt bean fields.

Bottom line: You can comfortably hunt whitetails with countless rifle/cartridge combinations. You can certainly do so with a Marlin 336/.30-30. And yes, they ARE fun! (Everybody ought to have at least one):D

PC
 
There are so many calibers to choose from because there are so many people with different opinions.

I started out with the 336 in .30-30 and still have that rifle. It worked perfectly on every deer I leveled it at, and not once had to shoot one twice. I kept my shots under 150 yards. My longest deer with it was 135 or so and it dropped with little fanfare.

I'm not a collector by any means but have many perfect deer rifles. I love smaller caliber, easy to carry rifles, and one of my all time favs is a .257 Roberts. It cleanly kills out to 250 yards or so, can be loaded for vermin, reduced loads for recoil sensitive people (kids), and is a joy to shoot.
I purchased .243's for my boy's first rifles. They use them on everything from deer on down, and have become very confident in their abilities.
My best friend growing up received a .270 at 14 years old and it is still his main rifle. In fact he only uses something else on accident.
 
BigNate said:
There are so many calibers to choose from because there are so many people with different opinions.

I started out with the 336 in .30-30 and still have that rifle. It worked perfectly on every deer I leveled it at, and not once had to shoot one twice. I kept my shots under 150 yards. My longest deer with it was 135 or so and it dropped with little fanfare.

I'm not a collector by any means but have many perfect deer rifles. I love smaller caliber, easy to carry rifles, and one of my all time favs is a .257 Roberts. It cleanly kills out to 250 yards or so, can be loaded for vermin, reduced loads for recoil sensitive people (kids), and is a joy to shoot.
I purchased .243's for my boy's first rifles. They use them on everything from deer on down, and have become very confident in their abilities.
My best friend growing up received a .270 at 14 years old and it is still his main rifle. In fact he only uses something else on accident.
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Big Nate,
You're right about all the calibers and make a very good point about the variety of people and opinions. I made a comment about the lever gun because I have one but mine is in 35 Rem. However, most of them I've seen are in the 30-30. A Marlin lever gun would be fine in what ever caliber is liked for hunting.

That 257 roberts is a very good cartridge and its great on the shoulder and does the job down range. Another similar one is the 6.5 Sweed. It's the same on the shoulder...nice and easy.
 
dipbait said:
Too bad you cant find a 308 lever action.
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Browning BLR

.308 Win and 16 other "highpower" cartridges you won't traditionally see in a lever action.
+ detachable box magazine & takes pointy bullets
+ a "no pinch" trigger finger -the trigger rides with the guard

http://www.browning.com/products/ca...e_id=006&content=blr-lightweight-`81-firearms





I love a flat sided lever action...it feels right, light, quick fast, handy
all the theoretical and technical issues about calibre and action type accuracy aside, you can't beat that sense of confidence.

use it, know your ammo, distances, organ placement and you can whack a ton of Bambi.
 
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Marlin 336 is in either 30-30 or 35 Rem is a great choice for deer hunting in a woods environment where shots are generally less than 75 yds and frequently less than 50 yds.

I use a Remington M700 in 270 win as my standard "deer rifle" which is a bit more flexible than the 30-30. Of late, I mostly carry a revolver and leave the rifle home when hunting in the woods.
 
22-rimfire said:
Marlin 336 is in either 30-30 or 35 Rem is a great choice for deer hunting in a woods environment where shots are generally less than 75 yds and frequently less than 50 yds.
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As I read your post, the "75 yards and less" limitation is imposed by geography, not the capability of the cartridge. That pretty much defines my hunting environment as well. I'm just clarifying--maybe a bit defensively--because I've read so much nonsense about the "limitations" of the unflashy .30-30. I have some vintage deer hunting literature in my library from the 60's. Hot numbers like the .243 Winchester had taken deer hunting by storm. It was fashionable, in some circles, to bash the "ho-hum" .30-30 as barely adequate to the task. In truth, within it's 150 yard (with traditional flatpoint ammo) to 200+ yard (with Leverevolution) perameters, this old war horse is a very fine medium game cartridge. One of the many reasons I've come to appreciate it is that it takes deer cleanly without excessive damage to venison.

PC
 
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budthachud said:
That's .308 Marlin Express. Different cartridge.

-Matt
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I didn't realize that the cartridge size was different from the .308 win.:o I just thought that the mx designation was for those safe to use in a lever gun. It seems I learn something new here every day, even if it doesn't have anything to do with knives. Thanks for the info.
 
dannyp said:
I didn't realize that the cartridge size was different from the .308 win.:o I just thought that the mx designation was for those safe to use in a lever gun. It seems I learn something new here every day, even if it doesn't have anything to do with knives. Thanks for the info.
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No problem, I hope I didn't come off as a jerk. :) I don't know how different the dimensions of the cartridges are, but I do know the Marlin Express is rimmed.

-Matt
 
I think your choice should be dictated by your skill, comfortability with the rifle, and optics.

If you have the skill to use a .30-30 at 150 yrds then by all means go for it. I admit that I think of a .30-30 as a wet-weather, up close, brush gun because I rarely put scopes on levers. With 200 yrd shots I'm thinking scopes and a bolt action fit best.

Also something to think about, are you going to carry the lever with one in the chamber or work the action only when you have a good shot at a legal animal? Yes, there are safety's on levers and you can get hammer extensions that will help you let down the hammer to a half-cock position but I know that I personally don't have enough training to be doing something like that all the time.

Best of luck with your decision.
 
the "75 yards and less" limitation is imposed by geography, not the capability of the cartridge. That pretty much defines my hunting environment as well. I'm just clarifying
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Yep. I started using a revolver (480 Ruger) as I can hit the front shoulders of a whitetail at 75 yds with it. It almost certainly is not as powerful as a 30-30 from a rifle. So, yes, the stated range is practical geography (and cover) dependant. The 30-30 is a very competent whitetail caliber out to about 150 yards.
 
In another post pertaining to bolt rifles, I stated I prefer keeping the bolt handle part way up rather than using the safety. I've had game spook in quiet woods because of the 'click' of a noisy safety (or birds were spooked and they in turn startled the game). With the bolt handle raised, the rifle can't fire, and you can 'ease' the bolt down silently to be ready to fire. Same thing with levers. Leave the lever partly open or 'ajar' and the gun can't fire. When ready, squeeze the lever all the way up and you're ready to go. Again, this is silent and positive. Of course, NEVER have the trigger finger inside the trigger guard until ready to shoot. Try it. If you don't feel safe doing this, then don't and use the safety. Just my $00.02.

It's also my firm opinion, after 60 plus years of shooting them, that a 30-30 is a deadly large animal stopper easily out to 200 yards. I prefer to get closer regardless of caliber but a 150 grain bullet from a 30-30 at about 2400 fps is a wicked round and not all that much below a 308 in velocity. IMO, there's also nothing wrong with a scope on a 30-30 and especially a Marlin because they're easier to mount with the side ejection vice the Win's top ejection. I prefer the see through mounts and use the scope mainly in dim light or to look into the gloom in heavy woods. I do have a 4 power on my Marlin Cowboy 45-70 with 26 inch barrel. It's a tack driver and with 405 grain HJ flat points, will take down about anything that walks on this continent.
 
It took me a long time to get used to my 336, after shooting heavy barreled precision rifles all my life it took a couple hundred rounds to get comfy with the muzzle climb and compensation etc. The factory sights are very open, I don't like them much-when I have a solid source of funds I'm going to get new ones. Also, the factory bluing on mine seems to rust like crazy, even with regular oiling. Drives me nuts. I think I'm just going to duracoat all the metal a gray or gun brown color. I had the lever pivot screw fall out on me once, so make sure you check that often. Other than that, it's pretty foolproof-simple, lightweight, reliable. I paid 180 bucks for mine at a pawn shop. Bolt action scout style rifles fill a very similar role and I feel more comfortable with them overall, but for 180 bucks it's hard to justify not keeping one around.
 
I have used a .30-06 Winchester Model 70 bolt action rifle for 35 years of deer hunting. I have supreme confidence in this rifle and cartridge.

All that being said, I have never killed a deer at a range that the .30-30 in a lever gun wouldn't have been perfectly satisfactory. I gravitate to woods hunting rather than sitting overlooking vast crop fields, though.
 
I have a Marlin 336 in 30-30. It's a nice little gun and I've had it for 40 years. I've taken quite a few deer with it also. However it's not my go to deer rifle.
 
Cabelas now has a line of scopes out with the built in bullet drop compensator for the Hornady Leverevolution ammo. I have one on my 30-30 and my .35 and have killed deer out to 200 yds. with both guns. The new ammo from Hornady is the best thing to happen to lever guns. I love my 30-30 but in my opinion the .35 is by far my favorite and every deer shot with it has never taken a step.
 
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