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Hello from Scotland~

A while ago i was asking for experience of velocity in 16" .30-30's and resulting velcity loss with different bullet weights.

Well after some searching and head scratching i've found a Marlin L.T.S as new condition lurking in a gun shop here in Britain. Lever actions are not popular here and short barrels even less so not to mention the old .30-30 is seen as a "under powdered" old fashioned cartridge !

Sadly i can't pick it up till the cops make a variation to my licence (they've only had it for 4 weeks ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />) ........

I believe this model of Marlin has a 16" or 16 1/4" barrel ?? Either way its nice and short <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> And i really like the straight grip with aperture sights i reckon it will handle really fine, and point like a shot gun !

Im looking to feed it hard cast gas checked bullets possible to get the "most" from the short barrel.

Anybody had experince of cast hunting with there .30-30 ?? Anyone got a Marlin L.T.S ?? How do you like it ??

Englander

Englander -

I hope somebody pipes up to answer your questions. You should also check out the Marlin Talk forum accessible through the Marlin website. You will definitely get some feedback there.

Good luck, sse

This from a respected poster at another site, hope it helps.

A Handy Little Thing....
Hello. Some years ago, I noted how handy the little Winchester "Trapper" .30-30 carbines appeared to be, but didn't care for the Winchester itself, preferring the Marlin. As you likely know, Marlin didn't offer anything satisfying the same "tactical niche." (Don't ya'll think "tactical's" used a bit much these days?)

Anyway, I couldn't get it out of my head, so I shopped around and got an inexpensive Marlin 30AS. I shot it and it worked fine.

Got with my gunsmith (Lou & Scott Williamson of Williamson Precision Gunsmithing, Hurst, TX) and told 'em what I wanted. Scott did the work and here's what I got:

The rifle's been reduced in size quite a bit and measures but 34" from the end of the bbl to the back of the rear stock's butt. The barrel's 16.25" long. The rifle's been black parkerized and has an extremely light trigger pull.
Williams peep sights were added with a large aperture for speed and a synthetic stock replaced the wooden one. Magazine capacity is 5 rnds.


I use the little thing for when I want something with more range than a handgun for shooting targets of opportunity when not really hunting, but something desireable presents itself. To me, it is an ideal "walking rifle" for knocking about the woods and such.
Not a really powerful round relative to many hunting calibers, it has "enough" for most things in Texas, I'd think. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a feral hog should the opportunity present itself.

Sighted in from a rest at 25 yards on an NRA 25-yard pistol target, it stays in the black at 50 yards as well and at 100 yards off-hand, it's no trick to bounce bowling pins off-hand. This one seems to like factory Winchester 150 gr Silvertips best of the rounds tried so far so that's what I use in it for now.

A time or two, I spent the night on my lease alone.....well, "alone" in terms of other friends, but with this along the side of my cot, I slept quite well.

Not a first choice for a defensive rifle compared to more modern semiautos, it is not the "antique" some might think if they handle the fairly constant reloading between shot(s) as police are trained to do with their pump shotguns.

In any event, the thing's a lot of fun and I thought I'd post the data on it in case someone might find such a home project or one for their 'smith, interesting.

I'll be keeping this one.

Best.

Hey if ya want to make a preformer out of a 30-30 with a 16" barrel takeit to a gunsmith and get it made into a 30-30 Ackley...cost about $60 here.

You can still use factory ammo. but if you reload I believe 300 fps improvement, makes the little 30-30 into a legit big game rifle and if ya reload with barnes bullets might make a hell of a bear defence gun.

Info. about 30-30 Ackley is all over the internet. Anyways, dies ,bullets and brass are everwhere so why not? Just my .02

bcboy

Englander,
I had a 16" marlin in 30-30 AI.The down side is that it's easy to collapse the shoulder when you crimp the case.
If I was going to do tyhat again,I'd try using 375 winchester
brass as it is thicker.
If you check a loading manual that has data for the 30-30 in a 14" contender it will be pretty close to the 16" carbine.
Hope this helps . I have another 30-30 Marlin with a 16"
barrel, haven't had time to clock any loads.
Chuck

a good'un--from 1994 till 2000, i took about 24 head of whitetail in ga and ala with a model 336 30-30 cut back to 16 1/4" barrel--not factory. bought it in oct '94 at the buckarama in atlanta ga. used a 2 1/2x weaver in see thru mounts and federal 170 grain premium partitions. hunted pine thickets, overgrown creek bottoms, and narrow oak ridges in no. ga and central ala. most of hunting done in a dry hollow in hall county ga with semi open hardwoods. tally as above with no escapees. never a second shot required. HOWEVER, only got an exit about 2/3. last little animal was a doe--about 125# and went about 65 yards-- no blood trail--took awhile to find. switched to a 35 rem and haven't had to spend any time searching after the shot since. don't know vel of rifle and round but know results of same and now you do.--cb