Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions 30/30 vs. .35 Remington

After 40 + years , I realized I had nev er had a 30/30.A nice 336 came up and I bought it.I've had scads of bolt action rifles in numerous calibers over the years....and still do.....but no hunting experience with lever actions to speak of.I have both a Winchester 88 and a savage 99, both in .308, and have taken deer with both.
Practically speaking, is there any real advantage of a .35 Remington over the treinta/treinta or vice versa?
Most of my hunting is deep woods .

I don't think that there would be any practical difference for hunting deer out to 150+/- yards. If you want more speed/power in either, you could have your Marlin 30-30 rechambered to 307 or your Marlin 35 rechambered to 356.

Jeff

Although some people may believe that the 35 Rem is more powerful, fact is , it's not. Both of these cartridges are very comparable as to results.

I've had very good results in the field with the .35, on deer, hogs, and miscellaneous varmits.

.35 cal 200gr. Cor-Lokt is about the perfect marriage of bullet/velocity around. Never recovered one, very good wound channels.

Just going strictly by the ballistics tables..... it does seem you get a little more reach with the .30-30, and a little more thump with the .35.

Started messing with cast bullets in the .35.... running 180gr. bullets up between 2200-2300fps. Horrific wound channels, and some very dead pigs <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> By the way, those 180gr. cast bullets are still going faster at 250 yards, than they would be at the muzzle of a .357 revolver. And I've killed deer with the same bullet profile in the .357 mag.... clearly, the .35 can do some damage, much farther out than one would reasonably expect to be able to use it in the field.

I guess my bias goes also to the fact that with the cast flat-point in .35 cal, you don't have to worry about whether expansion will alter terminal performance.

I can't claim the .35 is 'better'.... but I like mine pretty well and it's a heck of a game getter!

One final thought.... I really do wonder why many in the gun press insists on calling both the .30-30 and .35 Rem "150 yard" cartridges? Sight in either one for 150 yards. That is going to be very close to 2" high at 100 yards, and then down 2-3 inches or so at 175. I call that a 175 yard cartridge! With specific bullets/loads, it seems pretty reasonable to stretch that trajectory to close to 200 (after all we can sight in our bolt guns 3" high at 100, why not our levers? I don't, but it's a valid proposition). It seems that the only question at the extended ranges is whether the bullets would have a reasonable amount of expansion, and I've never seen that addressed in the gun press.

Thanks Mike,that's the most cogent discussion on the subject that I've seen.I have several molds for .358 bullets on hand, and at least a ton of wheelweight metal.I quench them in cold water right out of the mold and let them sit for months before I use them....they're pretty hard.

What moulds do you have?

By the way, one of the better off-the-shelf bullet designs is the RCBS 205gr. FNGC, if you are going to cast your own. You can run them a bit over 2,000fps with a case full of Varget.

I have several Rcbs and Lee .358 molds in flat point styles ranging from 125 grains up to 180 , and I believe one for a 158 grainer in a roundnose.None of them are GC designs.They've been packed away since I moved a few years ago.Hoping to get some space cleared away before next hunting season and get the furnace fired up again.I probably have about three dozen moulds all together in various calibers.I probably have literally a ton of wheelweights plus about 300 lb. of pure lead and perhaps 200 lb. of linotype.I also have about 25lb. of pure tin.

I'd use the one with the biggest flat on the nose. Best of luck...

Mike,

How do you keep from leading at those velocities? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

Ted

Never had any. All of the bullets that I shot were gas-check designs. Remember, the .35 doesn't run at real high pressures, for a rifle.

Try the Beartooth 180gr. "+p" handgun bullet, sized 0.359." It is not listed for rifles, but it is a near-perfect bullet for the .35 Rem. Crimp groove lines up almost perfectly for Marlins, and base of the bullet stays in the neck.

I'm not 100% sure where I got the RCBS 205s, but I believe that they are just a standard 92-6-2 alloy, nothing special. Gas checked of course.

For other bullets that aren't ideal for the short Marlin throats, I just use a Lee Factory Crimp die, and crimp wherever.

Okay, thanks Mike. I have only used straight WWM and it starts to lead up at around 1800.

Your rifle Micro-Groove?

Ted

Yup. All of my Marlins are, actually.... haven't had leading problems in any of them. Gas-checked lead bullets have been through the .35, the .444, .45 Colt, and of course, plain lead .22 bullets through the 39A.

Haven't had time to shoot lead through the .30-30 or .44 mag, but don't expect any problems, either.

If you go to www.winchester.com and compare the paper ballistics of the 170 grain 30-30 PowerPoint and the 200 grain 35 PowerPoint, you'll see that the 30-30 shoots a little flatter, but not enough to matter. I think of the 30-30 and 35 Rem as 150+/- yard cartridges, as 150+/- yards is a pretty long shot for a deep woods hunter like Steve1. Also, many 30-30 and 35 Rem rifles are handicapped, to a degree, by having open sights on them that don't allow for a fine aim point at longer distances. For practical out of the box accuracy, it is hard to beat a Marlin 336. And, if you want more power, it is easy and reasonably inexpensive to have Regan Nonneman rechamber your Marlin 336 to 307 or 356.

Jeff

Although I no longer own either .30-30 or .35 Remington in a
Marlin lever action rifle, I did at one time and truthfully there
isn't much difference between the 2 of them to warrant any
serious consideration. I had both of mine with open sights
ranged in for 100 yds and they will drop anything they are
aimed at properly.

Keep in mind that the 170gr bullet at approx 2100 fps is
considered an outstanding deer load and yet your basic
180gr hard cast lead kswc bullet out of a .357mag revolver
will do basically the same thing. The point being is that don't
try to over extend either caliber beyond its design and you
will be happy with it.

Depending on where you live in the country, the .30-30 caliber
might be more to your tastes simply because the ammo for it
is more common and readily available vs the .35 Rem.

After a 20 year hiatus I have rediscovered the 30-30 and am very impressed with it. However if you look at the capacity of a 35 Rem and are willing to load it to 43,000psi that the Marlin and brass is capable of it will leave the 30-30 in the dust.

Lots of loading data is at 35,000psi but the 35 Rem need not stay there.

With factory ammo I'd say the 30-30 has an advantage particularly with the new LeverRevolution stuff.