Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions 30-30 sabots or light bullets?

Any users have experience with saboted 30-30, or using light bullets in their Marlin 336? Obviously, pointed rounds are a no-no in the tube, but can be loaded singly.

Just curious if anyone has tried extending the abilities of the standard 30-30 round.

The Accelerators, which I assume you are talking about, shot like [bleep] in the four or five rifles I tried them in. All loaded singly.

If you want to extend the range, take a look at the new Hornady LeveRevolution stuff. That's probably your best bet.

Actually, I was thinking about smaller 30 caliber bullets for use on smaller game and range plinking. Just curious, with the 30-30 so popular why a greater variety of rounds aren't available apart from the standard 150 and 170 grain stuff.

After my experience on the range today, it looks like my Marlin doesn't like the 150s very much, though I've only tried one maker (Remington). I'll try a few others to see if they might be any different though. It throws 170 Rems just fine. Maybe it just needs a heavier bullet to stabilize well.

The .30-30 is, was, and will always be, a deer hunting round in a deer hunting rifle, like the 336 and the now-defunct 94. Pure and simple. And, it is so much so that one thing, and so danged good at it, that making other rounds factory available doesn't make much sense. The VAST majority of .30-30s are only used to hunt deer, and so, that's all the shooters of those rifles want bullets for.

That said, there are handload recipes out there for lighter, plinking and varmint loads, but it's a deer gun, first, foremost, and always.

ya, try other brands.... I tried 150 and 170 gr Federal, Remington and Winchester in my savage 1899 in .30-30.... Winchester 170 gr silver tips shoot much better than the others. Also better than the 170 gr "power point's" or whatever the Winchester non-silver tips are. So, silver tips are what I shoot from it... once I accumulate enough winchester brass (getting close) maybe I'll try reloading for it. I have some pointy 150 gr nosler interlocks just for this purpose. (savage 99's have a rotorary mag, so pointy bullets are not a prob).