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Some folks really like their scopes, an you'll never talk em into irons. I readily admit to the advantages of scopes, but their disadvantages are many as well. You mention snow an rain makin your glass useless, yep, an for that matter other weather phenomenon can do the same.
I think that open sights are just about ideal for most hunting, an are capable of accuracy good enuf to put venison on the table, given the ranges most responsible hunting is done at.
For shootin the big bucks, the 170 is indeed the better weight, in my opinion 170s go a bit deeper even tho they start slower than the 150s, an that extra punch can be real helpful at times.
The 150 is in my opinion, best on smaller big game, an the 125s should be relegated to even less demanding chores.
I am fully aware that the 30-30 has been used again all sizes of man and beast an has dropped them all, but if I had to use it for Elk sized game I would most definetly pick my shots carefully, an pass up those that seem to offer less than a clean kill.

I Put a tritium on mine, with an open peep it'll shoot in the dark.
Rick

Use the 30/30. I have used one since I was a kid. Then I discovered the .35 Remington. Now that one goes with me, and the kid used my old 30/30.

I grew up in Colorado watching western movies.
I never knew there was any rifle other than a lever action until I went to YMCA camp when I was 13.

Nothing other than a lever feels right to me.

load up the brand of 170s that your 94 likes best.
screw on the lyman.
drive in a partridge style front blade with white line.
go forth and huntify.
the last 94 i had much liked speer 170s and ww 748. YMMV.

What you described in your first post is why I swaped to leverguns a few years back. I was hunting thick timber. Got a big bore marlin and the sickness took over. Since that first 444 I've had marlins and winies in 444, a few 1895s a 1894 in 44mg, a coulple different blrs and a 99. Currently have it narrowed down to a BL-22, a Marlin 336W, a Savage 99 in .308 and Marlin 1895G. There isn't anything in this continent I wouldn't feel comfortable hunting with my levers. I was going to buy a bolt action for the bean fields, instead I got a lever with the ability to reach out there. A BLR in .358 is still on my to buy list, but for now my safe is pretty full. I personally just enjoy hunting with my levers so much more.

I haven't gone totally to my Marlins but almost. I have asked the same question as to what a 30-30 can't do, and for the way that I hunt, a 30-30 is really all that I need. I hunt eastern Texas and northwest Oklahoma, and 99.9% of my shots are under 100 yards (the remaining 0.1% is under 150 yards). I do recommend the Hornady LeverEvolution ammo for a 30-30. I have used many "makes and models" and have fallen in love with the LeverEvs (4 deer and 2 hogs last season).

i beleive the lever was the worlds greatest invention if light is of concern for you. You are going to laugh but what i did was just put a little dab of neon pink fingernail polish on my front sight and a small dab right in the middle under the v notch on the rear can see it real easy now.as for your 30 30 one of the best deer cartriges in the woods.

I have shot elk with a 7 mag, .06, .308, 45-70 and 44 mag Marlin carbine. The ones shot with the 44 mag died just as fast as any other of them

I'm in the hunting business world wide and have a quit a few big game rifles. I have hunted a lot over the last 60 plus years.

My favorite hunt? I love to hunt Mule Deer behind my house in Idaho if I draw for that unit. I use my old 25-35 or 30-30 and I have to pass on some big bucks from time to time because they are out of range, but that does not bother me as I have shot my share of big bucks and maybe someone that really wants one will get the ones I have passed on. I usually settle for a fork horn or whatever presents itself in the 200 yard limit I impose on myself..

Guess I am a nostalgic and the fact that I like to hunt, and get a certain amount of enjoyment from a good sneak.

So my advise is to take that good old 30-30 and have a good time, hunting is not about spread, lbs. or numbers, its about the experience.

Well said, Ray.

Andy

My 2 guns I hunt with here in Alabama are a Stainless BLR in 270 WSM and a Winchester 1985 405 WCF that I sent to Fred Zeglin at Z-HAT. He installed N.E.C.G express sights with a 3/32 ivory bead front sight and a old style waffle recoil pad and the buttstock cut to my length of pull.The BLR has a fiber optic front bead that shows up real good in the dark swamps I hunt in, And at less than 7 lbs loaded ain`t bad to tote back in the hills and hollows I hunt in. Amra

I wouldn't say that I am a dedicated lever action fan, I like all rifles and all calibers and I hunt all over the world, so I won't be limited to type or caliber..

That said, one of my favorite hunts is too slip out behind my house and hunt with my 25-35 Win. SRC or my trapper 30-30 Win. and yes I have had to pass on some pretty fine bucks that were just out of range, so thats the downside, but I can live with it..I much prefer to hunt horseback whenever possible and I like my Sav. 99EG in .308 or my 99F in 250-3000. All 4 are viable options in my hunting.

I only use them for deer and ocassionally for elk. Depends on the mood.

I like my Marlin 336 RC but realized that it is only slightly heavy than my Ruger 77. With a scope it still feels better than a bolt gun but is not as handy as using open sights. If you have to use a scope, than the only advantage I can see over a bolt action is if you like a lever, and shoot left handed. And of course they look great. The M94 is lighter and handier with open sights than a Marlin.

I doubt that a lever rifle has any advantage over a bolt gun other than in the mind of the user, but thats a creditable advantage I suppose..whatever blows ones skirt up.

I love the old lever guns, but for real serious hunting I would use a bolt gun for the most part..I reserve my lever hunting to deer, with my .25-35 or 30-30 and to horseback hunting deer and possibly elk, where I would normally choose one of my Savage 99,s in .308. One has a scope and the other does not.

You like Savage 99s, you'll loooove M71s. I got one fer sale, If'n yer a real lever man.

I find that leverguns have several advantages over scoped bolt guns, tho I would have to say that one must be familiar with levers to realize these advantages.
In my opinion, bolt guns lend themselves best to well aimed shots, their weight and balance are often designed around shooting while stationary. Sure, there have been outrageously expensive turn bolts that have challenged this notion, but among general production longarms I find for myself that bolt guns handle like pickup trucks in the mud with an empty bed.
The best leverguns-Winchester 1886 Extra Lightweight, Marlin Guide, Winchester 94 Carbine, and some Savage 99s to name a few put the weight right there in your hands. They are lively cuz when snapped to the shoulder they are ready to go-no foolin around with dials knobs or whatever. I find this a defenite advantage.
While bolt guns have annoyed me with cheap seeming wiggly bolts, stocks that handled like 2x4s, and huge thick recoil pads that catch on everything, I find my levers like to come fast to the shoulder, always chamber and eject with authority. All this without spending $2-3,000 for some fancy bolt rig.
In my opinion, another advantage of levers lies in their cartridges. They have stopping power without the earshattering muzzleblast of a 65,000psi belted magnum.
So, I do find leverguns to have real and defenite advantages over the endless plethora of bolts.
I realize that today, saying what I have is going way against the grain. Its fashionable today to bash leverguns as quaint little items for the western wannabe collectors-however, if you want to be taken seriously, you better use a bolt, or maybe a fancy single shot.
I'm certain that dyed in the wool levergunners are a vanishing species, guess its just the way things go.
It really is too bad that so many folks refuse to consider the merits of the levergun. Well, until my time is up, if you find me in the backcountry of the southwest, rest assured a handy levergun is not far from my reach.
Good luck n good shootin

Leverguns do things that those who ain't used 'em won't ever unnerstand. "Handling" is a term for stalkers, not tree sitters. Some bolt actions handle better than others, but those are the pricey ones that kick like angry mules. I find that scopes cut down on the advantages of leverguns, and when eyesight starts to fade, the open sighted leverguns go to the closet for good. I allays thort a 1x or 2x scope, with a generous eye relief and little parallax would be ideal for an old man trying to hold onto the utility of a beloved levergun, at least the flat top ones. The proper leverguns, the ones that eject upward toward heaven, are really limited.

We are cursed to grow old if we live long enough, or as a good friend who just turned 80 says, "I dont feel a day over 100!"
Eyesight is a big issue, and for levergunners some of the best scopes appeared around 40 yrs ago when Weaver made small, thin, light fixed power glass. Even their 4x tubes were by todays standards, like pencils.
Those trim scopes affected balance and handling, but nothing like todays stuff. Looking at glass today and one sees bigger, heavier, and more complicated.
If you have the need of glass, then one possible option would be to find an old Weaver.

Forgot to ask, whats the skinny on that M71?