Tag Archives: .30-30

Weapons

For the Love of 30-30

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It all started back in 1895 with Winchester releasing the first commercially available factory loaded cartridge using smokeless powder. It was, for the time period, a wicked fast and very accurate cartridge. It took the American Shooting World by storm! It has been used to hunt literally everything in North America and has been used to hunt most everything else, everywhere else. The gun industry has developed a whole lot of other cartridges, but the .30-30 Winchester kept trucking along. The only question is whether it is still a viable cartridge in 2025 and onward.

In most commercial loadings, the .30-30 Win (also called the .30 WCF originally) has moderate velocities compared to most modern calibers. Kind of like how 55 Miles per hour was blistering in the 30’s but in 2025 you had best not be in the far left lane doing that speed!
Just between you and I, the far left lane is for blatant crime. .308 is typically around 2700 Feet Per Second, and the .30-30 is 2400. So it’s no longer the Speed King. The .30-30 is also hampered with high-drag, flat nosed projectiles. Hornady has given us soft nosed pointy boys that won’t chain-fire in a magazine tube, and that’s done very well to help things out, but it can only help so much.

A lot of Gun Guys have pontificated that the .30-30 is only good for White Tail Deer out to 100 yards at the Max. I’ve personally dropped a Cow Elk at 200 yards, and it fell like it was pole-axed. That range was verified by a Nikon laser rangefinder and the load was the Hornady LeveRevolution 160 grain load. It performed as advertised and delivered an ethically clean snuffing. If there is a downside to Hornady’s FTX projectile, it’s going to be that it was reluctant to feed smoothly out of the Marlin 336 I used to own.
Though, to be fair, it does feed better out of my Mossy 464.

Hornady isn’t just a One Trick Pony when it comes to .30-30. They have some other great loads, including a 175 grain subsonic load that I’d love to test out if I had a .30-30 with a suppressor. If you’ve tried it out all Hushed and Quiet like – Let me know how you find it.

The longest range shot I’ve made with a .30-30 was 500 yards onto a steel plate. And it wasn’t the most precise of a shot. Then again, Lever Actions are not the most precise of a rifle. My 336 spent a lot of time with gunsmiths to get it tweaked to be 1 MOA. That involved barrel work, crowning, trigger, and firing pin modifications that cost me about triple what the rifle cost me. I do wish I still had that rifle. But the new owner did report back that he had harvested some fine big game animals with it in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming.

The cartridge and the rifles are no longer getting Magazine Covers, and Online Discussions had almost dropped completely off the radar… But it’s getting more attention lately thanks to the “Tactical Lever Action” Trend that is happening. Modern Lever Actions from Marlin and Henry are coming out with Rails, Giant Loops, Optic Mounts, and Threaded muzzles for the easy installation of the Gun Muffler of your choice. Pretty much every company that loads Rifle Ammunition is still rolling loads for this old Classic. But my favorite are the monolithic solid hollowpoints. They deliver excellent terminal performance, even at the moderate velocities the cartridge lives with. The .30-30 remains alive and well within the American Gun Culture.

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I finally got it. The Mossberg 464 SPX.

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I have already put a box of rounds through it, and I’m quiet happy with it.  Functionally it was flawless, which was a huge step up from the last Lever Action I bought, the Marlin 1895, which immediately had to go back to the factory for 6 weeks.

The accuracy was very good. I have to say that I really like the way this thing shoots.  It was shooting very accurately off hand.  But I need to get to a range that actually has a Bench so I can really see what this thing will do.

20150218_133628As you can see, I didn’t get the version with the flash-hider.  Because I thought about it and admitted to myself that I will never be doing anything with that threaded end anyway because if I want to go quiet, well, I’ll be using a very different weapon for that sort of work.  This is going to strictly be for hunting.  So I saved 50 bucks on got the shorter option.  I like the shortness of it.  It feels extremely short.  And light.  WOW, this rifle is light.  Seriously… it’s like 1/2 the weight of a Marlin 336.  I threw a tac-light on it just because, well, I can.  Other than a sling, that’s going to be the extent of add-ons.  I’m not decking this thing out.  In fact, I may remove the rails all together.  I’ve not decided yet.   The stock has GOT to GO!  I really can’t tell you how much I hate this ATI stock.  It detracts from the entire rifle.  I thought I had a Magpul CTR stock here at the house, but I think I remember that I had given it away back in Jacksonville to a guy in my church.  So I will be needing a replacement stock as soon as possible.  I don’t care if it’s a standard M4 stock or even a TAPCO… anything is a step up from this ATI.  Stocks should not rattle and wobble.  Ever.
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Along with the rifle, I grabbed a box of Remington HOG HAMMER ammo, as well as my favorite Federal Blue Box stuff for further plinking work.   I was going to get some Hornady LEVERevolutions for it… but I’m well familiar with how they perform, and wanted to try something new.

This gun will be used to harvest some delicious Venison this fall.  And with the Carolinas not having a limit on White Tail… I think I’m going to be harvesting a lot.   At least that’s the goal.  The hope.  One buys a rifle like this not for the collector value, but for the hope of adventures that one can have with it.

I think I’m going to paint it.  Just need to decide on how I’m going to go about it.

Crusader, Weapons

Marlin 336W Harsh Conditions

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We got in a brand new 336W from Marlin. The barrel is stamped Illion, NY, so there is no question this isn’t an older gun.
I was very impressed with the fit and finish of the gun.  Its using a nicer laminated stock instead of birch, or whatever wood they used before.  It looks nice.  The stocks actually fit the gun, which is a first for many years now.  It feels like a solid and well built gun,  which was my hope when Remington bought Marlin.
The W gun though, is Remington/Marlin’s bargain gun.  Its the lever action equivalent to the 870 Express.  As solid as the others, but without the refinement.  The finish, like the 870 Express, is a bead-blasted blued.  Which means its not a finish but a fast and dirty process that is just “good enough” to get by.  It looks matte, and can hold oil, if you bother to take care of it.  If you don’t, it can rust if you look at it sideways.
Because of this, the finish isn’t well suited for harsh conditions.  The surface however is very well suited for something else… Cerakote.
So here is the program:

Get a new Illion stamped 336W.  They retail for only 399 bucks.  Bargain rifle of the Century.  Send it to Crusader Weaponry.
The stocks will be removed.  The action disassembled.  Sights removed.
The barreled action will be Cerakoted to any color you like, but Crusader’s Grey is a solid option for this.  Magpul Flat Dark Earth is another good choice.
New sights will be installed.  The XS Lever Rail.  They are 150 bucks.
The Bolt will be Slipstreamed.
Option 1.  The Lever will be debured/polished, and Slipstreamed on the inside portion, and Cerakoted on the outside portion.
Option 2. Wild West Guns big loop lever, polished, Slipstreamed, and Cerakoted.    150 bucks.
Bear-Proof Ejector is an option, as is the Trigger Happy Trigger… priced accordingly, of course.

The Sling Swivel studs on the W have a loop on them, but feel, because they are, cheap and unsatisfactory.  We would recommend replacing them with standard studs for standard quick disconnect sling attachments.  A third sling swivel stud can be added forward on the stock on and the side for another loop for a Single Point Sling.
The stock could also be Cerakoted same or contrasting color to help weatherproof the stock.

Reassembled and function tested.

Total Cost of this Harsh Conditions conversion would of course depend on options and time, but I’d imagine you would have a seriously kick ass Lever Action for a very reasonable price.