Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General One Lever Action arsensal 357 vs 45 vs 30-30

Not a one centerfire rifle arsensal, but one centerfire levergun.

What would you choose?

For pig flusher. Maybe meat deer. Close range targets of opportunity. Alternative to a 22 as a plinker. Woods bumming.

The 30-30 certainly has the longer range and if I was ever down to one and only one rifle, I think it could suffice. And in my choices, would be easily scopeable if I was to go that way. Most likely a 336 carbine, maybe a youth model /buckhorn, but possibly a 94 angle eject also.
I pretty much know what to expect with the 336 in 30-30 as I've had a few.
A pound of trailboss and some light lead slugs might make it a more fun plinker, although I've never reloaded. Over the counter ammo is fine for hunting.

The 357 and 45 come in a lighter sleeker package, and would be more versatile as a plinker or a pack rifle for targets of opportunity or self defense in the field in the southern U.S.
Most likely this would be in a Rossi or similar 92 replica.
Never owned one of these, but have handled a few and was impressed with the toy like dimensions, the light slick actions, and the solid feel.
The 45 caliber holes would be cool for plinking, but the 357/38 cheaper to shoot.
I most likely would reload for either of these also, but not exclusively.

No matter the choice, I'd go cheap and simple with the hammer style reloader or possibly the hand press as I have little desire to set up a loading room or a permanent bench.

hard to beat a 44 mag........or 45 Colt.......even 357

Trailboss & cast boolits are fun shootin'

or load it heavy with JHP's.........pic is 44M......

A .30-30, especially when hand loaded, can be used for anything from squirrels on up.

My vote goes to the 30-30

I don't think there is a wrong answer, and the 30-30 has pretty much dominated for well over 100 years for good reason.

My only lever is a 45-70.

I have thought the 35Rem would be a pretty versatile number too considering all the handgun and rifle bullets from light jacketed to heavy cast and heavy jacketed. But that would be more for the reloading tinkerer.

It's gonna be hard to beat a 357 magnum for a 'woods bumming'. Especially if you already reload for a 357 mag revolver. My Marlin 1894 if just so much fun and cheap to shoot.


Get a pre safety though.

I think your forgetting the 44 mag. Gets my vote.

If I could only own one, I'd buy a Savage 30-30 just like this. 26" barrel just lays down and stays down, boom, and stuff dies. And just think how cool you look while you're out hunting.Carrying this gun you'll never think about another rifle. This is IT. This is what you yearn for, strive for, search for, pine for. This is the one. There is no other.

That sure does look nice hanging on the wall in it's custom gun rack. But if I were to want a long levergun I might opt for a 1895 Cowboy in 45-70 with the octagon barrel.
But that sure looks like a real sweetheart of a shooter.

I didn't really forget the 44, I just always thought of it as a short range 30-30 in a rifle. Now if I was to have an old Dirty Harry 29 to go with it, then it would make more sense to me.
But I won't rule it out if I see one I really like.

This was my thought initially. But an older 1894c is really hard to find, and overpriced a bit when I do see them around here.
If I could find one on the scratch n dent rack for five or six hundred I'd grab it.

I guess this answer makes the most sense. Any of them will work for the tasks I'd ask of it. I'll just keep my eyes out for the closest thing to perfect in my eyes and live with and love whichever cartridge it shoots.

I've even thought about a 45-70, but for my needs it would be a secondary levergun. I like the old original Marlin 1895 with the 3/4 magazine and the 22" barrel the best. Although the Guide and the Cowboy both have their appeal.

That's a sharp looking rifle. I had initially thought I wanted one of the smaller lever actions like the 92. But I won't rule out a Marlin 1894. I've always favored Marlin lever actions for their sturdiness.

This is the obvious and most sensible answer. But I think if I get a 30-30 I want a more specific, harder to find rifle. Although the standard Marlins are generally cheap and widely available enough that I wouldn't mind altering one to my specific wants and needs.

Something along the lines of an 18" barreled 336 SC with the thin forend and Texan buttstock would be about ideal in my eyes. Which would take a bit of cutting and/or bending and stuff to get. I don't think they ever made one in this configuration.

Or I might take a chance on really liking a Winchester 94 AE in either standard or trapper. Although the first time I ever cycled the action on one it really freaked me out. I thought I broke it..
I think they had a take-down model called the Trails End or something like that with an 18" barrel and a gentle pistol grip. But that's probably more of a safe queen status price-wise than the shooter that I would want.

Another vote for the 30 30. Good guns and ammo are easily found and very reasonable. Good for almost anything you are likely to encounter. If you reload, many choices of bullets and loads.

You might want to look into the new models for this year. Marlin is making a stainless 1894SBL in 44 Magnum, with a 16 1/2 inch barrel, pistol grip laminated stocks, big loop lever, and an XS Scout Rail & peep sights. They are also producing basically the same gun, the 1894CSBL, in 357 Magnum. Or the 1894CST Trapper, with Skinner peep sights, big loop lever, and black painted wood stocks, also in 357 Magnum.

Mine is my Browning M71 Carbine though I do enjoy a '59 M94 30-30 and my recently acquired '70's M336 35 Rem.

Did Marlin ever tighten up the twist rate on the 44 Mag carbines?

I seem to recall they finally went 1/20 on the 444 Marlin rifles, but what about the 44 Magnum?

I narrowed it down to three, 2 30-30's and a 45 Long Colt Rossi. I first went with a 44 magnum but it would not shoot light plinking loads or working handgun loads at all (240-255 gr bullets at 950 fps out of the pistol) as they tumbled so I went with the 45 colt. There are a lot of Cowboy action loads out there and sometimes you can get them cheap. On the full power end there are a lot of reload combinations and some factory options (Buffalo Bore) that will take down just about any beast. My 16 inch barreled Rossi is very accurate with both cast and jacketed loads. The two 30-30 thing is so I could have one scoped and another with irons but I may just end up with the scoped 30-30 and the Rossi.

If you handload I would go 30-30 all the way.

As far as a rifle, I grew up being a Winchester fan..but the last 40 years of owning various rifles has taught me that maybe the best 30-30 rifles EVER made (especially for scope use )were the 1960s to late 1970s Marlin 336 rifles.

Look around and you should find a very clean one for under $500.

Their like will never be made again and you can do darn near anything with one.