Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions .308 Marlin Express

If they stop making .308 Marlin brass, can it be formed from another case? Will the LEVERevolution bullets ever be available to reloaders? Without the powder Hornady is using will it just be another .30-30?

These are questions I'd like to know the answer to?

Yes, the .307 Winchester and the .308 Marlin Express are easily formed from the .444 Marlin.

I have looked at this a little and I believe with the use of Hodgdon Varget or Alliant Reloder 15 you will give up very little by not having access to the High-energy powders. Inside 200-yards you will never know the difference. With my �best� handloads my 20� .307 Winchester has a point blank range on an 8� circle of about 240 yards. I have shot the rifle quite a bit at 200 yards with satisfaction.
Hodgdon 4895 or H335 and Winchester 748 will all probably prove to be good powders for the .308 Marlin Express
The .308 Marlin Express is going to be a fine hunting rifle for all of the medium size game and it should be a lot of fun to play with.

Good info selsnslim, but I doubt Mr swamp was asking serious questions. More likely that he was just bitching.

The powder will not be made available to the public---nor will the bullets. Confirmed this with both manufactures at the SHOT and NSSF dinner acouple weeks ago. I am not able to go into detail but maybe someone else can.

I have a .30-30 so I probably won't buy one. If I come across one cheap down the road I might buy it. I just wanted to make sure there would be a source for the brass. The .444 is pretty common and well established. Brass shouldn't be an issue. Thanks!

I don't see any reason for me to use this new Horandy ammo. I have yet to shoot a hog or deer at more than about 75 yards with a 30-30, so the idea of extended range is moot. I hear that they are having problems with the bullets getting stuck in the magazine, and Marlin says you should install a new shell follower when you use this ammo.
So far, Remington 170 Core-Lokt and my handloads with the 170 grain Speer FP have killed everything I shot at.

Help me understand the difference.
I also own a 336 .30-30, but I've never seen a .308 in any model rifle.
Would it be suitable for elk?
Is it only slightly better than the .30-30?

The .308 win is a short 30-06. It is significantly more powerful than a 30-30, it is a little bit stronger than 300 Savage. My take on the 308 Marlin is to get ballistics it a lever action 308 that are better than a 30-06 and handles spitzer bullets ( although they have plastic tips). I may be wrong but that is my take on the whole deal. Also, most importantly it gives Marlin and Hornady more new stuff to generate interest and sales. Personally I have a 308 in Savage 99 and a Marlin 45-70. I do not hunt in Alaska or the wide open spaces of the west, so I won't be buying into the 308 marlin.
CORRECTION
Whoops!! I see I blew it. I went to Honady's site and read their blurb on the 308 express and it is less Powerful than a 308 Win. So I guess it comes down to Pointy bullets in a lever gun with near 308 win ballistics. This is just an extension of the leverevolution technology by Marlin and hornady. I guess it makes sense if you can't find a shooter Savage 99 in 308win or 300 savage and want more power than a 30-30 with spitzer balistics.

Selsnslim,
Do you ever shoot these bullets in your .307? If so, at what velocity?

I would think that this bullet at 2550 or so would easily handle all my hunting needs for the rest of my life and that gives me a little tingle!

I assume you are asking about the Hornady LeveRevolution bullets? No, I have not shot them in the .307. I did pull a few from the .30-30 Hornady ammunition and reloaded them using Hodgdon 4895 in the Hornady .30-30 cases. These shot well in the 26- and 20-inch Winchester rifles but they did not shoot well as fire form loads in the Marlin 336 .30-30AI. I shot these in the Marlin as I had read reports of the LeveRevolution bullets not being stabilized in the older Marlin rifles.
I don�t bother with spitzer bullets in the .307 as the Speer flat nose bullets have a good BC and have proven accurate at all reasonable ranges in my rifle. I can say the same about the Barnes X FNHP bullet.
I don�t believe we will be terribly handicapped by the lack of high-energy powders or pointy bullets. If we need to we can hunt with the Hornady LeveRevolution ammo and shoot handloads through the year. Winchester now has a gummy Silvertip for the .30-30. Possibly Nosler will provide this bullet to the handloader and shake Hornady off the top rail.

Edit]I forgot to mention any of the medium burn rate powders will push the 150-grain conventional and Barnes X bullets above 2,550 fps in the 20� .307 Winchester.
Edit]

No, my fault, I'm sorry
I was talking about the 170 grn Partitions. I'm curious about folks with .307s shooting them and their results.

I think the .300 Savage might be instructive here, even though the case, which is slightly smaller in diameter than the .307, may still have a tad more case volume than the .308 Marlin.

Accurate lists a 150g Savage load at 2733fps and 40,000 CUP. Seems to me there is plenty to work with there even if the powder charge needs to be backed down some.

If the .308 Marlin doesn't survive, here's how I see the situation:

1. Owners will have a collectible rifle, like the .307's, .356's amd .375's.
2. The brass can be easily reformed from .307 and .444 brass.
2. Even if powders similar to what Hodgdon is using do nor become available, there are plenty of suitable powders.
3. Even if Hornady's bullets do not become available, there are plenty of good bullets available.
4. The Barnes XFN and Nosler Partition RN are better than the Hornady flex-tip anyway, IMHO.
5. There is always the option to ream the .308 ME out to a .307 Win.
6. Absolute worst case is a rebarrel job might be needed when .307 and .444 and .308 ME brass is no longer available.

Since I plan to buy several hundred .308 ME cases, option #6 will be something someone else will be worrying about as I'll be long gone. Might be a problem in a generation or two...

Yes,
I have shot quite a few of the 170 grain Noslers in the .307. My hunting luck with the bullet has not been the best. I believe I have only killed two small deer with this bullet and those at close range. No real test of the bullet. The 170-grain Partition is not the most accurate bullet I have shot in the .307. In my rifle the Partition averages a little over two inches at 100 yards for its best groups. Most bullets will shoot three shot groups inside two inches in my rifle � but not every time out.
My notes show 43.0 grains of Alliant Reloder 15 as giving 2,500 fps from my 20-inch barrel with average accuracy � this was a maximum load in my rifle. 43.0 grains of Hodgdon Varget gave a little better accuracy at 2,437 fps. 41.0 grains of IMR 4064 shot about the same at 2,366 fps.
I believe Layne Simpson considered the Nosler Partition as his bullet of choice for the .307 Winchester.

One things for sure Marlin will keep this rifle in the lineup long enough to recoup on the original investment .
Hence that should be 5 or more years at the least .
And I'm sure the same can be said of Hornady .

My plan is to get 200 factory loaded rounds to start and later pick up a couple hundred pieces of brass be it once fired or factory new .

As far as the rubber tipped bullets are concerned a Hornady CSR told me about a month ago that they were planning on selling the rubber tipped bullets for reloaders . Now that may take a couple years .

Another thing to take in consideration is the fact that WIN/Nosler have come out with a rubber tipped bullet of their own . So far its only in 30-30 , but I would expect that to expand to other cartridges .

And if Nosler is making it as well . I would think reloaders may have a better chance of getting bullets to reload . Since neither wants to miss out on the reload market .

I have a 99F savage and told it can take pointed bullets and I'm curious if it will be able to shoot the new Hornady 308's made for the Marlin Express that would be an awesome combination if it can I'll wait for replys before trying.

I do not believe that the 308 Marlin express will chamber in a 300 Savage . In the first place the new Marlin round is rimmed and the Savage is not .

Incidently I just today recieved 3 boxes of the 308 marlin Express ammo from Midway .

Its a savage 308 99F

If that's the case, I'd stick with .308 Win cartridges the Savage is chambered for. Nothing to be gained with the .308 Marlin, even if it would chamber and fire.