Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters WHY 30-30 NOT 308 Win?

Seriously I wonder why use a 30-30 TODAY instead of a 308 Win. I understand liking LEVER action rifles, light, short, fast handling. There are 308s in LEVER actions & IMHO they are in higher quality guns, some have rotary mags, some clips, & most of the time better accuracy.

I AM NOT TRYING TO START ANY ARGUMENT or BLAZING FLAME!! We have enough of that going on NOW.

If you NEVER cross an open field or pasture, pipeline, powerline, etc. I guess you don't need the flatter trajectory and higher retained vel. & energy of a 308,7-08,243. With a 308 you still have 30 cal. holes.

These are my thoughts & questions. Why 30-30, NOT 308?

JWALL
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Son I Don't Know You Well Enough To Miss You......Johnny Cash

There's a reason the 30-30 is alive and well for over 100 years.

It just plain works.

Cause the only thing I'd use a .308 for is in something belt fed for commies and jihadis. But that's just me.

.....................That`s why Marlin intro`d a 308 lever and Hornady intro`d the Leverevolution ammo. Offers a more powerful, flatter shooting and longer ranged alternative with more downrange energy over and above the 30-30 for those who still prefer hunting with the lever actions.

On the other hand, many don`t need the additional power over and above the 30-30, because their ranges may not ever exceed 150-200 yards. And many won`t dump the 30-30 cartridge, that in their minds, is still a "classic" lever round of which it is.

By the same comparisons and in bolt actions, that`s why we have more powerful 30s over and above the 308, more powerful 7s over and above a say a 7x57 or 7/08, more powerful 338s over and above the 338 Federal and on and on we could go.

If a person prefers a lever to hunt with, and the hunting terrain is in far more open country the majority of the time, then a 308 lever is a far more practical alternative than a 30-30 lever.

But I tend to agree. You can still use a more powerful and longer ranged round in shorter ranged brush and timber country, whereas a shorter ranged round like the 30-30 would not be the best in the wide open country.

But classics are classics, and the `ol 30-30 is still one of them.

i have one . model 94, fired five rounds out of it. i just can't believe i have one. loaded 125 sierra, pretended it was 25-35.

I often hunt mule deer in the typical wide-open spaces and usually carry some sort of flat-shooting, scoped, bolt action rifle. They work great. One day last season, I knew I was going to spend most of the day at closer quarters, and grabbed the ol' .30-30 Marlin with peep sights. No, I didn't happen to get a shot that day, but it sure was a joy to carry, and would have worked just fine had I a shooting opportunity that day.

I've used pretty much all the more powerful, flatter-shooting rounds available, over the last 50 or so years - but for the last 10 or so, I've found I can do without the attendant muzzle blast & recoil, and have reverted to the .30-30 & .300 Savage for all my shooting on game larger than small game/varmints.

FWIW, the .30-30's cheaper to feed, too.

.

Sometimes enough it enough, else we'd all be driving F450's.

Besides, I like a rimmed cartridge much better in this platform.








Plus they make great berry picking guns. I've rung steel, albeit a big piece, at 750 or so yards with the below rifle. I'd not want to be a person if the need arose.

My eyes are only good enough for 300 yards...LOL, so the Marlin works great. Took a 6x6 bull at 110 yards with one 30-30 LeverEvolution round. He did not move...just quivered and dropped.

Hang around a while and you'll learn !

To the issue at hand, I'll defer to Steelhead...

Another question that I'd ask of you, though... why one or the other?

Again, hang around a while and you'll learn loony-ism doesn't ask "why this vs. that?", but "why not both?"

I'll add to my cabinet (which already contains a M94 30 WCF w/ Williams reciever & high vis front sight) a BLR breakdown in 308 Win someday I'm sure !

The original .30WCF was the Winchester Mod '94 then came Marlin and Union Metallic Cartridge Co not wanting to jump on Winchesters bandwagon and called it the 30-30 aka .30 caliber and 30 grains of powder..Sound familiar back in those days.

Up until fairly recently, I owned two Winchester '94's in 30-30 and now just one..One of the greatest "truck Guns" ever made and it puts the smack on game with those flat point and RN bullets.

Sighted in +3.3 inches high at 100 yards, +2.8 at 150 yards, 0 at 200 yards, -5.7" at 250 yards, and -14.7" at 300 yards your not having to aim above an Elks back at 300.

Jayco

The only currently made lever in 308 Win that I'm aware of is a Browning BLR. I find a Winchester/Marlin handles easier and is easier to work on, plus they ain't a Browning.

If you are going to get a Browning BLR in 308 why not get one in 300 WSM?

.............On the Marlin web site, they show 308 levers. 22" and 24" barreled versions. Woodys and laminated.

Reading is fundamental. Show me one on Marlin's website that is chambered for a 308 Win (Winchester) and I'll kiss you sister's black cat's ass.

Are those 308 Wins or that... ahem... "innovative" 308 Marlin or whatever the flash-in-the-Hornady-innovation-for-the-sake-of-innovation-pan it was called...

If you shoot cast lead bullets, the 30-30 has all the case capacity you can use. If you shoot cast lead in a 308, then you're having to work on the problem of how to get a consistent load with less than a full case of powder.

I'm one who shoots 100 rounds at the range for fun for every 1 round I shoot at game. Heck, make that 250.

So one good reason for the 30-30 is I can rip through 100 rounds, spend only $15, and have a great time at the range on the cheap. Did you know that if you get your bullet in just the right place under a grapefruit size rock, you can pop it several feet in the air? Now that's a useful skill, right there.

As a bonus, it makes a great round for my early teenage grandsons to hunt deer with. If they can get within 150 yards, they can slay Bambi and not end up with a flinch from too much recoil and muzzle blast.

Easy one him, he's from California.

It's the .308 Marlin Express, close but not the same.The Marlin 336 action lacks the strength to get right up there with the big boys,including Winchester leverguns.

There trying though with the 308 and 338 Marlin Express's.

Jayco

.............You`re right! But still a 308 diameter anyway uh? Don`t have a sister with a black cat.

Maybe the OP made the same mistake as me too? Thinking the 308 chambered for the levers was a 308 Win?....Oh well!

The Marlin 336 in 30-30 was only proofed at 55,000 PSI while the Map of the .308 Winchester is around 62,000 PSI.



Jayco