Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk 30.30 or 35 rem???

For primarily deer hunting, what would you recommend? What's the ballistic differences at 200 yds??? Trying to decide between a 35 rem or 30.30. Thanks for the feedback.

Both cartridges are being stretched at 200 yards. The .30-30 will shoot a bit flatter but the 200-grain bullet of the .35 will hit a bit harder. I prefer the .35, but I'd not sell a .30-30 to buy one.


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They are both so close in performance that it is hard to discern a difference. I own both and really prefer the 35 remy for its bigger slug. With the new Leverevolution ammo you can easily shoot 200 yards and be effective.

Both are good woods guns,I prefer the 35 Remington but have never used it past 100 yards where it is a real hammer.My cousin has taken literally dozens of deer with his 35 including several at the 200 yard mark.

The hornady leverevolution loads would be my choice in 30-30 or 35Rem for 200 yard shots.

Britt

I use both. Neither is worth much at 200 yards. If you stay under 125 yards, and preferably around 75 or less, then either will put venison on the table.
Having killed deer and hogs with both, I frankly don't see much difference in their ability to do the job.

I have no experience with either on deer, but of the hogs I have seen shot with them, I think the .35 is much more "decisive." The maximum range I have seen either used at, though, was 150 yards. The .35 seemed to drop them quickly while the .30-30 seemed to require follow-up shots. This is based upon an admittedly small sample, however, so take it for what it is worth.

Neither calibers are 200 yd cartridges...150 should be a max range for an accomplished rifleman and 100-125 yds would be better.

I like the 35 cal and in your place I would buy the 35 Rem then have it rechambered to 356 Win...or wait to see if Marlin and Hornady combine to come up with a "358 Marlin Express". I have a 356 W I had rebored from a 30-30 and unless you use the Leverevolution ammo exclusively you would be much better off with the rechambered 356 W than either the 35 Rem or 30-30.

If you want a 200 yd plus levergun buy the 308 Marlin Express...the other two are just not in the same ballpark. Even tho' a 200 yd shot can be made, neither the 30-30 or the 35 Rem in a levergun or in the hands of a novice is inherently accurate enough to do a good job of killing.

Of course there are exceptions and those who know and understand HOW to stretch the yardage can get away with such shots, but, I don't think it is fair to the animal not to kill it as quickly as possible and I've seen too many deer and antelope run off and die a slow death because some phool though they were Buffalo Bill and took a "luck" shoot.

....For deer hunting, either has sufficient power, accuracy, and trajectory to make well placed reliable killing shots out to two hundred yards with the new spitzer style lever-evolution ammo. I'd give the edge to the 35, which is the better 'hammer'at close range, and could even serve well for really big game like elk or moose at woodsy range.

I shot a few of the 200 grain leverevoluion loads in my Marlin last week,they shot under two inches at 100 yards with my ghost ring sights and chronyed 2250 fps in the 20 inch barrel.

I would not hesitate to take a 200 yard shot with this rig. I also chonyed some 150 grain Federal 150 grain loads in my Marlin 30-30,they averaged 2350 fps and went under 2 inches at 100 yards out of a 20 inch barrel.

Both will get the job done,I prefer the bigger bullet of the 35 and the velocity is not that far apart with fastest loads in both guns.

30-30............cheaper ammo.

I wonder how many bar fights this question has caused in PA
this time of year. Just kidding!

If you are only going to have one or the other 30-30 is a no brainer. Ammo is cheaper and easier to find, it is more versatile with bullet weights of 125, 150,160 and 170 grains. It makes a pretty decent self defense rifle in a pinch. Going against the grain here but I believe it can be effective out to 200 yards with standard ammo although there are obviously better choices.

I've never killed anything with a .35 but own a couple. A lot of the old timers who hunted when levers were more common have told me it would put a deer down quicker and was a much better round for black bear. I do not doubt them. I have and like both, but if forced to keep only one lever it would be the 30-30.

I would say that if all your hunting is under 75 yards and you don't care about the cartridges' versatility ( different bullet weights for different game), and you don't care about the cost and availability of ammo (my Walmart doesn't even carry .35 Rem anymore and, on sale, 30-30 ammo is way less than half of .35 Rem)the .35 Rem could be a good choice.

On the other hand, If you want a cartridge that, has over a hundred years of success on Big Game,for when you may have to shoot over 75 yards, are looking for an inherently accurate, lighter recoiling cartridge that is much less costly to buy ammo or even reload for, The 30-30 could be a good choice.

I have both rifles. The .35 Rem is more impressive to look at (big hunk of lead) and as a result inspires confidence in the shooter. Confident shooters tend to think better of the results of the cartridges' performance. In real use, however, the 30-30 IS the more versatile cartridge, by a long shot (literally-look at a ballistic table).

Anyway, I agree with JMR40 and others when I say given the choice of only one, it would be a .30-30.

Both are great rounds! AS stated above the new Hornady Lever-Evolution ammo works great. I would not hesitate to take a 200+ yard shot with it as long as I had a good rest. Put it right behind the shoulder and you should be done!

The spec's for Hornady Lever-Evolution show both have about the same energy & drop at 200 yards at 300 yds the 30-30 is much flatter better by 5 ibches..that being said I am looking for a 35 REM for PA bear and whitetail hunting.

I have two .35's; One is in a Guide Gun configuration, with ported barrel etc. The other is an older 336 that shoots good, feeds good etc. I also have two .30-30's. I like then both immensely, but would go to the 35 when the chips were down.

I agree with HuntBoykins. Put it behind the shoulder and a 200 plus yard shot should be no problem.

30-30

With bullets of the same general construction, put in the same place on the same deer there will be no difference. I prefer the .35 just because I like to hunt with .35s. I've had both Marlin levers and a Remington 600...

If you reload it is also nice to be able to shoot .35 pistol bullets, both cast and jacketed, for small game, plinking and just general practice.

Bob

You can load the snot out of the 35 Remington and get celocities well above normal listed loads. I got some loads over at www.marlinowners.com that were 200 fps above any other loads I had seen and I had ZERO pressure issues or brass issues and I loaded the brass Many times. The recoil was far more than a 30-30, so I'm guessing there was a fair amount more energy in the 35 loads. But..that doesn't mean that these loads will kill deer any deader either.