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I built a PSA AR in 7.62x39 for around $400.00. As much punch as a 30-30 in SA with box mags. Its hard to justify buying a shitty made lever when you can do that as there are no caliber or mag restrictions in MS. View Quote If I had to go with 7.62x39, I'd go with an SKS. |
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Quoted: I built a PSA AR in 7.62x39 for around $400.00. As much punch as a 30-30 in SA with box mags. Its hard to justify buying a shitty made lever when you can do that as there are no caliber or mag restrictions in MS. View Quote Mind you, it may be that Hornady just doesn’t make a 170 grain bullet .310 diameter. |
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Definitely not as popular anymore but a great cartridge in a lever gun or anything else.
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I had a really nice old 336 but I sold it. I have never lived in a damn state that I can take a deer with it.
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There are probably as many as there ever have been but they get used less, on average. That's my bet.
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I don't know how popular they once were, but of all of my friends that own guns I think maybe one other owns a 30-30 lever gun. I own 2.. (the top 2, the other is a .357 mag)
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No it's not.
Gun design has advanced. That's not to say it's obsolete, though. My favorite .30-30 story was told by a ridge runner I worked with who's grandpa took his .30-30 on a moose hunt with some family. They all pitched grandpa shit about it. After setting up camp, grandpa said he was going to take a look around. Short while later, they heard BOOM, BOOM. . .BOOM. Grandpa came back into camp and said "It looks like I'm going to be camp cook now". |
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At most ranges in Texas, my para sks served my needs just fine. I will never kill more game than what I racked up with that gun. A lever 30.30 might be preferred by most, but not for me.
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I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a deer hunter with a 30-30 lever gun
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They've never been popular in Iowa. Deer hunting is shotgun only, at least until recently. The 30-30 served no real purpose in this state.
I bought a Win 94 years ago, thinking everyone should have one. Bought at JC Penney's of all places. I was underwhelmed to say the least. Accuracy was nothing special and it kicked like a mule. Handy little rifle, just did nothing for me. |
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I'd generally agree with you but my brother shot a deer with a 300 Win mag once. Only once. Too much damage. I think he used ammo that wasn't meant for that small of an animal though. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted: What is overkill? I get shit for saying this too, but if you hunt the woods in NY a 30-06 or .308 is too much gun most of the time too. It just doesn't take that much gun to take an animal that size at 100ish yards. A .223 or .243 with the right bullet and load works awesome, and a 30-30 works even better. People just suck at making decent hits and compensate by using a hand cannon. They all love to think they are out west making 500 yard shots, but really most of the deer around here are taken well under 100 yards. Hell, I think I've only ever shot 2 over 50 yards, and tons of them around 20-30. Most of the hunting here is in decently thick woods. |
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Funny, just yesterday I killed time in a local pawn shop. This place is known to have high prices.
I see a Canadian Commemorative, so I ask to take a look. I always liked the 26" octogon barrels. Stock had numerous dings, and a steal at only $1100, with no box! I miss my BBC. |
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Of course it's not as popular as back in the day, no brainer.
But I still love em. |
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I don't know but I love mine. I have a 336 and Winchester 94, they're ideal for nearly everything in Florida.
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I gotta get my 1940's vintage Winchester out of the safe and shoot it god dammit!!
I keep forgetting about that one!! |
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Considering most of the deer killed across the country are probably killed within 150 yards, the 30/30 would be perfectly adequate for most hunters. The rifles and ammo are cheap, cup and core bullets at moderate velocities drop deer like a hammer. I do laugh at all the assclowns who think they need a 7 Mag or 300 Win Mag for deer though. Especially in area where their shots will rarely exceed a hundred yards. Most of the time he practically blows the shoulder near the exit wound right to pieces, it's entirely too much gun for hunting around here. I've got to shoot one a few times, we were hitting steel at 300 yards without a problem, cool guns, but definitely overkill. |
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I’ll take a .35 Rem, .35 Whelen or a .30-06 over the .30-30. In lever guns, I like the .444 and the .300 Savage.
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Pretty much the post you quoted. I hate seeing tons of jacked up, blown out meat. A .300WM does it very easily, an -06 as well depending on the range/creature/bullet selection. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Considering most of the deer killed across the country are probably killed within 150 yards, the 30/30 would be perfectly adequate for most hunters. The rifles and ammo are cheap, cup and core bullets at moderate velocities drop deer like a hammer. I do laugh at all the assclowns who think they need a 7 Mag or 300 Win Mag for deer though. Especially in area where their shots will rarely exceed a hundred yards. Most of the time he practically blows the shoulder near the exit wound right to pieces, it's entirely too much gun for hunting around here. I've got to shoot one a few times, we were hitting steel at 300 yards without a problem, cool guns, but definitely overkill. The bullet didn't exit, but it blew everything in the boiler room right to shreds, not a bit of meat wasted. Two does in the same day. One went feet up after getting hit, the other ran about 20-30 yards and dropped. Shortly after that SAFE came around and I got rid of my AR. Still have a bunch of those loads though, finally got a bolt gun in .223 last year, I just need to sight it in. |
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Henry’s .308 is the future of lever guns in every way. The action is insanely smooth. Quality is awesome. And .308 cased ammo is all the rage. View Quote I'll still take the tube fed, ya ya , all you guys calling out ballistics, fuck ballistics'' We are talking about guns, I thought anyway. |
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Quoted: A lever gun without a mag tube just seems strange, but they do look pretty cool. I would like to shoot one in .223 sometime. View Quote Got rid of it, no sex without a tube, feels different in the hand, not as good, not right idk, handle one of them before you buy and then fondle a Marlin 336 The light will come on. |
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I don't know anyone who's purchased a NEW 30-30 in this century. View Quote |
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Because Texans think they need a 300 win mag to kill a deer at 100 yards LOL View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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In all my years as a guide I have only seen on 30-30 and the guy wanted to kill a turkey with it. I love 30-30’s good brush guns, but most want.300 Win Mags.m My 30-30 was bought new in 1978 by my FIL, I killed a few hogs with it. |
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I keep a 336 as my truck gun. Last day of deer season I was splitting wood with my son. We finished up and decided to watch the sunset from the goose blind on the hill, maybe see if any deer come out. Took a doe the last 15 minutes of the season with open sights at further than most would shoot. Dropped like a rock and now my son has a lifetime memory with his father.
There's a reason they're popular rifles. They get the job done and are simple rifles that are rugged and reliable. |
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I'd generally agree with you but my brother shot a deer with a 300 Win mag once. Only once. Too much damage. I think he used ammo that wasn't meant for that small of an animal though. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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30-30 is more popular than 35rem thing is I never seen a deer go very far hit with 35rem within 100 yards https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/27570/35rem-450573.JPG View Quote Most calibers are capable of bring down a deer. Its all about shot placement. A deer brought down by a .257 Roberts is preferable than missing with a 7mm Mag. The .30-30 is long recognized as a deer slayer and so is the .35 Rem. Now how many more deer are killed with a .30-06 or .270? |
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I think in PA, a lot of it has to do with Point Restrictions on Bucks and the fact that most lever actions don't take scopes easily without being offset. I know that isn't the case with all of them, but a lot of them. View Quote |
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Considering there are about 87 million of them out there I would say NO.
The old 30-30 probably doesn't sell much in newly made guns tho. There are just too many other choices. A more accurate measurement would be ammo sales IMO. |
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I think the OP is off the mark. At least a little.
Remington ruined Marlin and people aren't buying, so dealers are probably ordering less, so you're seeing less stock on the shelf. Marlin is also not putting out anywhere near the number of models they once were, despite what their catalog shows. Subsequently, J.M. marked Marlins have increased rapidly in price and have become collectible overnight. Buyers gobble them up when they hit the shelves and drive many miles to pick one up. Even the cheaper plain Jane models are becoming collectible. Rehab models from pawn shops are being gobbled up as well. Winchester shipped all of their lever action production to Mirokou of Japan (Browning). While very well made, they're also very expensive. They also have the taint of being foreign made. Browning makes their excellent BLR rifle and it's readily available. It doesn't look like John Wayne's gun however and people have always been a bit priggish on it. Henry seems to be making a go of it, but hasn't quite caught on completely. Their tube fed centerfires are perplexing to many. |
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Nostalgia.
People my age and my father's age grew up on westerns in which lever guns were featured. So, we all wanted a lever gun. My first BB Gun was a lever action, cause you know, that how rifles were supposed to work in my mind. The younger generation grew up on the A Team or Rambo. Tactical is the new cool. So, they bought a shot ton of Mini-14's and SKS in the 90's. Lever guns were for FUDD's. |
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I would definitely say .30-30 cartridges and lever action rifles are not as popular as they once were.
It's not the 1950's anymore. |
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Henry’s .308 is the future of lever guns in every way. The action is insanely smooth. Quality is awesome. And .308 cased ammo is all the rage. View Quote I'm sure .30-30 has lost ground. Lever actions aren't cheap entry into hunting guns these days. You can get a serviceable bolt action with cheap scope for less than a basic Marlin. |
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I have to disagree with this. Round taper issues aside, 7.62x39 ARs mags are oddball, and I've only ever seen 30 rounders, so you are stuck modifying mags to comply with many state hunting laws. I agree the round is nice ballistic equivalent with .30-30, but proper soft point hunting ammo is much more scarce. Ergonomically, I'd much rather have a sleek profile lever gun in the brush over an caliber conversion AR with all its pointy proturbances. If I had to go with 7.62x39, I'd go with an SKS. View Quote C Products Defense makes really good 5 round mags for less than $20.00. Hornady Black is a brass cased SST. They also make VMax (I think) in steel case. Classic case of YMMV. I have had zero feeding issues with CPD mags in my PSA. Its perfect for me for deer/hogs/coyotes out to about 250 yards. |
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I don’t see any loading for 170 grain bullets in my Hornady manual for 7.62. Top for 7.62 x 39 is 150 grain pills at 2100 FPS. Top for 30-30 is 170 @ 2100 FPS. Mind you, it may be that Hornady just doesn’t make a 170 grain bullet .310 diameter. View Quote I've popped a couple of good size does with 123(ish) grains HP at up to 200 yards and the bullet channel looks as bad as anything else. One ran 30-40 yards and bled out, the other was DRT. You can't improve on dead. |
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Hell I'm thinking of buying one just to have. Big soft spot for lever guns here.
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10years ago one of my greatest mistake was parting with 25 boxes of factory 30-30 because I had sold the rifle.
I think I got $8. a box. It was a donor rifle for a planned octagon re-barrel. When I tallied up the work I wanted done and the accuracy I would realize, a Rem. Md7 in 308 checked all the right boxes. I should have set it aside for the future, since then I've seen nice low milage Marlins for $200 at smaller Fun-Shows. |
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You mean the abundance of new lever rifles with shitty craftsmanship and high prices?
Yeah, that tends to ruin the market. |
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I have to disagree with this. Round taper issues aside, 7.62x39 ARs mags are oddball, and I've only ever seen 30 rounders, so you are stuck modifying mags to comply with many state hunting laws. I agree the round is nice ballistic equivalent with .30-30, but proper soft point hunting ammo is much more scarce. Ergonomically, I'd much rather have a sleek profile lever gun in the brush over an caliber conversion AR with all its pointy proturbances. If I had to go with 7.62x39, I'd go with an SKS. View Quote Can it throw a 160 gr bullet to 2400 fps? |
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for a lever gun, I'd be using a BLR or something in 45-70
30-30 serves no purpose for me. |
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