The Tactical 30-30 Lever Action Rifle

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My youngest girl grew up shooting and hunting with the family. After she got out the Marines after 4 years (shooting expert rifle each year ) I give her the pick of my gun safe. She needed a HD long gun. She looked over an AR15 2 pump shotguns, 2 bolt guns and Mini-14 , she pick a Marlin 336 30/30. Her reasons made a lot of sense gun is short, quick, simple and she had confidence in it. She had taken 2 deer with it when she was young teen.

She a very smart, capable woman. (I am just a bit proud of her) She lives alone in a large city and is not fearful.
 
... she pick a Marlin 336 30/30. Her reasons made a lot of sense gun is short, quick, simple and she had confidence in it.
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Now, there is one smart person.

I'm impressed, and - I confess - more than a little proud of her choice.
 
Yeah the more I think about it... the ability to easily "top off" the rifle seems like a pretty good advantage.

Can't wait to buy my first lever this summer.
 
Way better caliber in 30-30 vs 7.62x39. Rapid fire with accuracy
better than most. You could even upgrade calibers and bullet shape
with rotary and clip magazines (Savage and Win. etc.). Light and
easy carry. Draw back prone needs adaption. Any short cycle jams
are not easy to clear. Reloading the tube magazines are a little slow
and awkward under pressure. It certainly has a concideration over
hand to hand. The 30-30 ammo may be more available at a better price
than 7,62x51 that becomes scarce and expensive :fire: I would definately
want glass sights to go with back up metalic:D
 
I think it's kinda funny.

Mention "Tactical" or "Home Defense" and everybody seems to think of the last scene in the movie SCARFACE.

You know the one.

Our little Cuban drug lord has double crossed the Colombians, and they put a huge contract out on him.

Al Pachino is holed up in his house snorting mountains of coke and watching the bad guys come over the wall. There are probably a hundred of them.

And the cold, calculated hit man is using the attack as cover... Sneaking up the balcony while the "Target" is tied up fighting the hordes of invaders.

Pachino isn't scared. Not in the least.

"You guys want to play games?" He shouts as they beat on his reinforced door. "You wanna play games? We gonna play some games all right!"

He grabs up his bad to the bone Tacti Cool M16 with attached grenade launcher from the concealed gun safe in the wall.

Then, the most famous tactical assault one liner of all time:

"LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"

Pachino then fires a grenade at the door (Killing a half dozen bad guys) and charges out into the living room.

Firing from the hip, and spraying a salvo of deadly assault rifle cover fire, our hero hides behind the fallen bad guy's body for cover while cursing fluently and performing a series of tactical mag dumps.

Body armor?

We don't need no stinking body armor!

Our coked to the max hero stands full upright, taunting and cursing the endless supply of attackers and taking rounds from every direction, all the while hosing them down with his trusy Tacti-cool assault rifle.

Riiiiight...

That is SOOOOOO not going to happen.

There MIGHT be a bad guy some day. Maybe a couple.

When they find out you have a gun, they are going to totally freak out and run like the frightened teenagers that they are.

What? you say that these are gang bangers? Used to gun fighting?

Well, imagine that.

Flatten one of them with whatever you happen to have and the rest of them will revert back to the frightened teenagers that they were before they decided to be tough guys.

Tactical reloads? Not according to the FBI. Their records indicate that most self defense shootings average three shots.

If we get away from the fantasy of Hollywood, and look at real world situations, a .30-30 or .357 Marlin will suffice nicely.

The thing that will make the difference when the stinky stuff starts flying is how well you keep your head.

All the rest is just details.
 
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nicely done fast frank. i think it is safe to say that a 30-30 will be more than an adequate HD/SD/ rifle. Short, light, quick handling, and hard hitting are good combinations in the hands of someone that knows how to run that rifle like it ought to be run.

Intersting fact,

The largest manhunt in Mississippi state history happened in the early nineties. Law Enforcement were after murderer and kidnapper, Jerry Barnes. The manhunt ended after a young boy (around age 12 - 14) heard sounds of a struggle outside of his house. Jerry Barnes and the boy's father were fighting. (Barnes was trying to kill him and steal the vehicle.) 2 shots from a 30-30 later, fight was over, manhunt was over, and so was Jerry Barnes.

My point is, there are certainly better battle rifles than the 30-30 lever, but a 30-30 lever in the hands of a trained individual is fine for HD/SD if you know how to use it.
 
Yep, a lever action is just fine, especially in 30-30 since it is such a common round and likely to be found anywhere. Also, I am a bit confused on the prone postion firing issue....when I fire from the prone position I have plenty of room to work the lever. Yes, I do have to move my firing hand and elbow but at reasonable distance it is not a great hindrance, especially since your non-firing hand in the supported or unsupported prone position can easily control and support the rifle while you cycle the lever. Try it out next time you zero your weapon on the range - use prone or prone supported instead of sitting at a shooting bench. You will also have a problem with mag changes in the prone with mag fed weapons because of limited drop space and needing to tilt the rifle to insert the mag, so that issue seems to be a wash to me.
 
Folks, everything is relative. Is the tube fed lever action the best and the greatest. NO. But the fact remains that is has been going strong for over 100 years.

They have been trying to re-invent the 30-30 since the late 1800's. Don't think so? Compare it to the 7MM Mauser, 30 Remington, 7.62x39, or the 6.8 spc, ET AL.

I also have and like the EBR's. I agree with what been said about the SKS. But we live if a society of 24 hour news and PC hysteria. There was a case recently where a boy was accused of possibility planing a school shooting and the kept showing his "arsenal". 99% were air soft pellet guns but they LOOKED bad.

I did an experience once. I put a CAR 15 in the back window of my truck and parked it at wally world, on a Saturday, and went and sat on the bench outside. In less that 20 minutes it had drawn a crowd. Most were guys just admiring it, but there were comments about "what does he need that for". The next Saturday I did the same with my 336. Most didn't give it a second look.

The same will happen if you have to use a rifle for defense.

Although we plan for the worst, in reality, in true gun fights, "MOST" are handled with the load in the weapon.

Y'all do what is best for you, but underestimating the old 30-30 lever action could be a fatal mistake.
 
Reply to #198

I stand corrected on the right angle miracle bullet. I misunderstood what was said at the training about the distance from the wall and the penetration. I spoke to one of the trainers who advised me that the 90 degree angle that stuck in my head probably came from the reasoning that a bullet striking at a 45 degree angle and not lodging will likely deflect at a 45 degree angle. The distance from the wall in CQB is to stay beyond the penetration of some rounds but to also allow a team member to move in behind you and to you flank.
 
Clear, Charging to 300 , ZAP

The string lives.

I just bought a 30-30. Marlin 336 pref cross bolt safety model.

Paid 250 with Scope and mounts.

I cleaned it up and will shoot it a few time before tearing it down and doing the Duracoat thing. I plan to strip the scratched and dinged stock and treat it with a coat of Herculiner.

It should look awesome and be pretty much impervious to weather and impact.

I might stay with the 4x scope or move to a rail and some flip up sights and a red dot.

Either way, tactical lever gun thread lives on.
 
I'm happy to see this thread resurrected. A lever-action is at the top of my "next gun to buy" list. The only decision left to make is what caliber. Right now I'm leaning toward a pre-64 Winchester in 30-30. My budget for this gun is about $1000.
 
I am thinking about a lever action .22 mag as my primary vehicle weapon. Small, light weight and i can carry quit a bit of ammo easily. I am also considering modifying the stock so it either comes off or is hinged so I can stick it to the side of my small pack without its silhouette showing up. Ruger makes a nice one and it will take high cap mags. I have a nice little .41 mag titanium revolver for up close stuff.
 
nicely done fast frank. i think it is safe to say that a 30-30 will be more than an adequate HD/SD/ rifle. Short, light, quick handling, and hard hitting are good combinations in the hands of someone that knows how to run that rifle like it ought to be run.
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I agree on all counts.

And you can produce .30-30 handloads for any occasion,
from medium game to light loads for four- or two-legged varmints.

For all the rest, there's MasterCard, or .45-70. ;)
 
Now don't take this the wrong way...I'm not trying to argue with anyone. All this talk about tactical of what can do this and what can do that is really just a lot of talk. A 30-30 is a very potent weapon. It may not be the best but it will kill you. September, 1993, I sat in the Indiana law Enforcement Academy and heard testimony of a town marshall who responed to a 911 call with a ISP trooper of a domestic dispute. The reason the Indiana State Trooper wasn't there to testify was because he was killed during the emergency responce. He was killed by a man they chased to his bedroom who shot him with a lever 30-30. The town marshall shot and killed the man and then explained to our academy class that after he shot the suspect he performed CPR on him. He seemed to be apoligizing to us. The incident had happened only days before the town marshall was invited to speak to my academy class. Apparently he was critized for trying to save the life of the suspect. He was in tears when he was done...
 
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Rustygray,

Some alternatives to the fixed 4X on your 336 to consider, especially for your use:

I just put a reasonably priced Weaver V3 (1-3x) on a 336. The Weaver V3 has a 20mm objective and is a nice compact addition to a fast handling lever gun. Winding the scope down to 1X, there is no hunting for the target in the scope's field of view required. The transition from eye to scope is seamless and the field of view is huge.

The effect is nearly as good around ~1.5x on the Weaver, which could be acheived with an even more reasonably priced Bushnell Trophy 1.5-4.? variable scope. The objective is a bit larger on the Bushnell (32mm), the scope is just a tad longer, but I think the same purpose would be served. And you can wind the Bushnell up to 4X if you want a little more high end for long range shooting.

Opticsplanet has good prices on both. Lot's of options.
 
Here is a 444 Marlin XLR that I built for myself a couple of years ago for HUNTING.....it is NOT a tactical weapon....Honest!!! (just looks like one!)
 

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Great thread. Very interesting because I'm buying my first lever gun tomorrow. Found a 1978 Glenfield .30-30 at the local pawnshop wearing a WesternField 4-12x40 AO scope and an ancient leather sling for $250. I put a deposit on it weeks ago and picking it up tomorrow. The wood is dark and the stock is kinda ugly (not into the deer carvings) but otherwise the gun is clean and looks like it spent most of its life in the corner of some closet. :D
 
I wish Marlin made a lever gun chambered in .454 Casull. For now, only Legacy Puma does this. I am sure it is a fine rifle but a Marlin it is not. Even better would be a .50 Beowulf lever gun. Marlin please?
 
lever guns

you need to go watch some cowboy action shooting and see how fast they can shoot a lever gun and with acuracy..it would blow your mind...lever guns are cool and fun..and in many different calibers..go and watch cowboy shooting sometime, you will be shocked and will enjoy...
 
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