Author Topic: I like my 3030! Regardless! (Read 15365 times)

Dee · « **on:** October 19, 2008, 07:20:45 AM »

I started a thread the other day about my Model 92, and while I like it and carry it more, I got to thinkin. If I could only have one rifle (besides a 22) I would not hesitate choosing my Model 94 Winchester 3030. Let me tell you a little history on this rifle (carbine).
In 1958, my father (now deceased) ordered this rifle from a car dealer friend of his in my home town in Texas. Yep! A car dealer. No gun dealers required back then. Dad took the rifle out, and checked the sights by shooting at an old hub cap. He fired the rifle 7 times. Went deer huntin, didn't like deer huntin, and later gave me the rifle and the box of shells with the seven missing shells. Of course it looked new, as it was. Well, almost.
Anyway, over the years I carried this rifle in the woods, I carried it in a police patrol car, I carried it on man-hunts (I was a tracker), I carried it in the Red River bottoms on the Texas-Oklahoma border hunting marijuana patches, I carried it every where. It doesn't look new now. Neither does the Lyman aperture sight I had put on it.
I experimented along the way, with all sorts of rifles, shotguns, tactical rifles, and even tried an old Thompson sub. in 45 acp. At the end of it all, and 15 years out of a 20 year L.E. career I conclude that I wasted a lot of money, and effort. I did the same with my hunting (other kind of wildlife) weapons.
My old 3030, would have, and WILL, do anything that needed to be done, or needs to be done. I don't buy into anymore, the need of the newer bolt actions and the magnums, and non-magnums as being necessary. If one is willing to learn the 3030 as I have, then they will kill the same game as anyone else, and just as cleanly, whether it be, feral hogs in Texas, or Elk in Colorado. The 3030 will indeed do it all.
My deceased Grandfather (a full-blood Cherokee) was an avid hunter, and had only one rifle and one shotgun. A Marlin lever action octagon barrelled 22 he found in a clay cave on the Verdigris River not long after Oklahoma was declared a state, and a single barrel 12 gauge. With these two guns, he done it all, and never felt inferior in the way of armament. He took what he had, and it worked!
My 3030 Winchester, and my old Remington 870 will if needed. Do it all! JMO

dpe.ahoy · « **Reply #1 on:** October 19, 2008, 08:17:00 AM »

If it goes bang and bullets come out the end, I LIKE IT. The 30-30 is one of the more under-rated cartridges around now. I have 3, a Marlin made in 52 and is a beater, have to get it prettied up, Win 94AE and an NEF. This darn working for a living really gets in the way of my having fun

. DP

Dee · « **Reply #2 on:** October 19, 2008, 08:20:19 AM »

Uh-huh. It sure does.

jimster · « **Reply #3 on:** October 19, 2008, 11:25:29 AM »

If I had to choose, I also would go with my 30-30 94...1963 model. I have a Lyman 66 peep on it, and it comes up to the shoulder fast and shoots where I look. It has enough power for anything I need in this state. I would also grab this rifle first for any trouble around the house where a rifle would be needed instead of a handgun. I actually think a 30-30 lever can be used for most anything. I cut my teeth on 94's...32 specials, and 30-30's. They were the very first rifles us kids got when we first went hunting. It's not by accident that we can bounce tin cans around with them easier than most other rifles, it's all we grew up with until we got older and started buying other types of guns. Could not be without a 94.

jlchucker · « **Reply #4 on:** October 20, 2008, 02:41:16 AM »

Jimster, I couldn't have said it better myself.

bilmac · « **Reply #5 on:** October 20, 2008, 03:22:55 AM »

I worked LE from boats on the Lower Colo river for a few years. I wanted to carry a long gun, and was never a shotgun fan, especially in an outdoor situation where the ranges might be longer. We got some surplus M16s from the boarder patrol, and carried them for awhile. The guns had to be carried in the open, there weren't any compartments in the saltwater fishing configuration hull we used that were big enough for a rifle.

We got so much harassment from our southern California "customers" about carrying "machine guns" that I found a couple of surplus Marlin 30-30s, put reciever sights on them, and never looked back. I felt just as well armed with a Marlin, even though I had packed a 16 for a year in Nam. Funny thing is, we never heard another word about our rifles from the smart assed Californians.

Dee · « **Reply #6 on:** October 20, 2008, 03:43:42 AM »

Me either bilmac. Like any young officer, I thought I needed the latest technology on the street, yet years later after a twenty year career it is even more clear that I did not.
Our entire mentality as a nation seems to have changed in many ways as to what is necessary to win a fight, or kill a deer.
Much of this technology has in trying to improve, has in many ways hindered us, both as true marksmen, and hunters. I believe in most areas both arts are almost lost to both the lawman, and the hunter. JMO

dpe.ahoy · « **Reply #7 on:** October 20, 2008, 09:02:20 AM »

Yah, the "spray and pray" mentality overlaps. DP

mechanic · « **Reply #8 on:** October 20, 2008, 09:33:39 AM »

Back a few years ago when all the hoopla was going on about "assault" rifles, I took a fella out and showed him the effects of a 12 guage with buckshot on a tree stump. In a close quarter situation I'd choose grandpa's old double 12 against anybodys assault gun.

I am constantly amazed at what I see people in the woods with now. Like a $5000.00 Weatherby custom rifle strapped on the back of a 4 wheeler just to go deer hunting. I betcha' you fellas with the 30-30's will kill more deer than he and a lot cheaper too!

Most of my hunting is with an SKS, a muzzleloader or a Mossberg, depending on where I'm hunting. I've just picked up a Handi rifle in 243 because we now have a gas line easement with shots my SKS is not capable of.

If I ever get to hunt bear, I've got a Buffalo Classic in 45-70. I figure I'm armed for just about anything on this continent, and all my gear together wouldn't pay down on a custom magnum.

Ben

Dee · « **Reply #9 on:** October 21, 2008, 11:27:15 AM »

mechanic, I would agree with you on all said. As for you granddaddy's shotgun and home defense? My preferred entry weapon, whether on an entry involving swat, or a search warrant, or just a building search, was an 1100 gas operated Remington 12 gauge parkerized and with a 7 round magazine extension. 22" barrel with rifle sights and screw in chokes.
Still have the weapon, and it makes for a good outside critter gun too.

BBF · « **Reply #10 on:** October 21, 2008, 12:34:11 PM »

Marlin 336C in 35 Rem for me.

burntmuch · « **Reply #11 on:** October 21, 2008, 02:55:05 PM »

Same here marlin 336 35 rem. Hard to beat a fast handling lever gun

Cheesehead · « **Reply #12 on:** October 21, 2008, 02:56:10 PM »

You like your 3030 regardless of what?

Cheese

federali · « **Reply #13 on:** November 01, 2008, 03:06:26 AM »

No doubt, either the Winchester 94 or Marlin 336 in .30-30 are some of the finest deer rifles ever fielded provided the user keeps his shots reasonable and doesn't attempt cross-county shots. I carried a badge and a gun for thirty years and while I wouldn't hesitate to use a lever gun in law enforcement, my thought is what happens if I get into a situation requiring more rounds than the gun carries? While I don't plan on missing much, I'd still prefer a weapon fed with a detachable rather than a tubular magazine.
A lone gunman or a pair of desperados on the run is one thing, a band of armed drug smugglers or gang members is an entirely different tactical situation.

Dee's Model 94 has some family history attached. For that reason, I hope that he passes it on to his children and is never tempted to trade it for something else.

bilmac · « **Reply #14 on:** November 01, 2008, 02:42:10 PM »

I would hope to find some cover before I shot a magazine full of 30-30s. From there the tube can be topped off one at a time. That said I never had a good way to keep 30-30 bullets handy, if I had stayed in that situation longer I may have found a belt or something. When we were using the 16s it was easy to keep a spare magazine or two with the rifle.

Dee · « **Reply #15 on:** November 04, 2008, 11:46:02 AM »

Quote from: federali on November 01, 2008, 03:06:26 AM

No doubt, either the Winchester 94 or Marlin 336 in .30-30 are some of the finest deer rifles ever fielded provided the user keeps his shots reasonable and doesn't attempt cross-county shots. I carried a badge and a gun for thirty years and while I wouldn't hesitate to use a lever gun in law enforcement, my thought is what happens if I get into a situation requiring more rounds than the gun carries? While I don't plan on missing much, I'd still prefer a weapon fed with a detachable rather than a tubular magazine.
A lone gunman or a pair of desperados on the run is one thing, a band of armed drug smugglers or gang members is an entirely different tactical situation.

Dee's Model 94 has some family history attached. For that reason, I hope that he passes it on to his children and is never tempted to trade it for something else.

federali, my dad bought the rifle and used it once. I have the pictures and newspaper clippings with me holding that rifle on man hunts. I don't know if that makes it worth more in the long run, but a lot of bad guys have looked at the wrong end of it. I would never even consider trading or selling the rifle. It has become me, and me it. If you know what I mean. I counted on the rifle to save my life if necessary.

buffermop · « **Reply #16 on:** November 04, 2008, 01:12:57 PM »

3030 is all you need!

zoner · « **Reply #17 on:** January 11, 2009, 04:54:58 AM »

re/federali....another way to view replenishing your ammo in times of stress is that the lever 30-30 is one of the few guns that you can reload "on the move" quite well actually...you can easily slip em in the gate one at a time withinout tying up the gun(drop your clip and you might be in big trouble.......

45-70.gov · « **Reply #18 on:** January 11, 2009, 05:24:38 AM »

cops never should have given up the revolver either

if you cand hit with 6 3030 0r 357 you need a different job
and you are a danger to the public......more so with a spay and pray tool

Dee · « **Reply #19 on:** January 11, 2009, 07:37:10 AM »

Quote from: 45-70.gov on January 11, 2009, 05:24:38 AM

cops never should have given up the revolver either

if you cand hit with 6 3030 0r 357 you need a different job
and you are a danger to the public......more so with a spay and pray tool

I don't necessirily disagree with this statment. The 125 grain jacketed hollow point in 357 magnum (not 357sig) is STILL the best one shot stopper in Law Enforcement. AND! I saw once someone try to carry off a 150 grain bullet to the chest. Got less than one foot from where they took the shot. And NO! I didn't shoot them.

deernhog · « **Reply #20 on:** January 12, 2009, 03:42:40 PM »

While my favorite rifle I carry to hunt with is my 94 in .30-30, I did not have it for the 11 years of LE that I carried my Marlin .44 mag. . It was short and easy to carry, 10 round mag and I could use it ambidexterous. The AR's were right handed and I could not get use to my index finger flipping the safety. I had a Mini-14 that I liked but they traded them off. I carried a Glock model 22 for the last 13 years of service and luvd it. 45-70 gov I disagree with you, a properly trained officer with a Glock or other high capacity semiauto is better armed and not any more likely to blaze away than one that is toting a wheel gun. I would rather have 16 to hit with than six. I carried the shotgun for most of the urban tasks. 12ga mosberg model 500 with a extended mag and remington mod 700 rifle sights on the cylinder bore barrell. It liked winchester #4 buckshot and remington 1oz slugs. I have pictures of me when I was a detective in my overcoat with that rifle over my shoulder like John Wayne in Stagecoach

. We had served a search warrant in a wooded area for a guy in a trailer full of guns. If I had of had the choice back then I would have grabbed the .30-30. The last shots I fired in the line of duty were .22 Aguila's shooting skunks for the animal control officer from my Henry leveraction I kept at work for that very reason.

scotsman · « **Reply #21 on:** January 14, 2009, 03:02:44 PM »

Dee I agree with you. I own several rifles, an AR, a puma 92 in 357 that I carry most of the time, scoped bolt guns, but if the chips were down give me my 30 30. Out to 150 yards or so it is always all that is needed. Hard hitting for the recoil, ammo can be found anywhere, reloading can be done with a variety of powders. A true all around rifle. I have a marlin 336 but my favorite is a Savage 1899 that the Savage site says was born in 1919-1921, not a safe queen but a real using rifle. Most of the bluing is gone, the wood carries scars from eighty some years of use, not abused but the way a rifle should look when it has worked for a living.I have had it for more than 30 years. My father traded forty bales of hay for it in the mid sixties. It was then just another old rifle. My dad gave it to me when I turned sixteen. This year even with my 51 year old eyes and the marbles semi buckhorns it killed another buck at about 80 yards through the right shoulder and out ribs on the left side. It s not pretty its not fancy its not super duper deluxe but it works well on about anything anyone is likely to come across. If I had to give them all up but one I would have a 30 30.

Flip G · « **Reply #22 on:** January 17, 2009, 06:53:27 AM »

Dee,
I still hunt with an old 1966 Glenfield Model 30 in 3030 and took two nice deer with it this season. It is a pleasure to shoot and the perfect deer rifle for the area that I hunt.

Flip G

teddy12b · « **Reply #23 on:** January 26, 2009, 07:01:15 AM »

One of the best memories I'll ever have of my Grandpa was listening to him tell his story about how he got an elk with his 30-30. I wish I could hear him tell that story again.

He was in Rifle Colorado and the guides dropped the guys off and would come back in a couple days. Grandpa was sitting under a pine tree and waiting and watching. He saw a bull elk poke his head out from around a tree. It didn't give him a better shot to take so he shot it in the head with open sights at 100 yards. Grandpa was a WWII Marine who spent years of his life on Midway island... He could shoot. He said that when he got there he was the only guy there with a 30-30 and when the guides picked him and his elk up they said that it always figures that some guy from out east with too small of a rifle gets a bull elk. Strangely enough Grandpa bought a 300WM after that hunt and took it back out west with him for the next seven years and got skunked every time. Figures doesn't it.

I took my 30-30 black bear hunting and would have had the bear of a lifetime if i hadn't aimed in the wrong place. I can't blame the rifle for my mistake. Next time I go hunting out of state I'm taking out my 30-30 again.

Dee · « **Reply #24 on:** January 29, 2009, 10:12:43 AM »

Scotsman, put a peep sight on it and keep shootin. That's what I did. Now I can see the front post again.

Of course I put the peep on it about 35 years ago.

WyoStillhunter · « **Reply #25 on:** January 30, 2009, 06:26:19 AM »

George Mattis was a free lance writer whose articles appeared in many outdoor magazines and newspapers. He lived in the small town of Birchwood, WI and observed and hunted whitetail deer his whole life. His 1969 book is a classic -- Whitetail: Fundamentals and Fine Points for the Hunter. It is easily found on the used book market for $10 or less.

In Chapter 19, Deer Guns and Sights, he writes, "...I must admit my attachment to the .30/30 is not without some sentiment. The gun is the right weight for me, especially for still-hunting, and I am aware of, and willing to accept, its limitations. A main point to remember is that the hunter should understand his gun. He should be familiar with its trajectory, have it sighted in for his probable shooting range, and know its killing effectiveness for any range he will shoot. If he is well aware of these and uses his gun accordingly, the two will be in harmony for practical and enjoyable hunting."

BTW, his Win. 94 wore a Redfield scope that used the rear sight dovetail for its mounting base and sat completely forward of the receiver. I remember seeing them advertised in Outdoor Life and other magazines when I was a teenager.

He wrote, "The two-power scope on my rifle is ideal for putting on the target immediately. Since the scope is set ahead of the receiver, and my eye naturally comes to within about seven and a half inches of the eyepiece, I find the target as easy as with my old iron sights. As the scope is so far ahead, I also have considerable vision around its thin rim, and this helps me in spotting the game if I am not on target. For this same reason, this particular scope is also good for running shots."

In other words, he had a Scout scope configuration years before anyone ever thought to give it a name. That Redfield scope never caught on back then but look where the concept has gone today.

Old George had a lot of good thoughts. He would fit right in with the Marlin Owners gang, philosophically, even if he used a Winchester. His book is well worth the few bucks it costs today.

okielectrician · « **Reply #26 on:** February 01, 2009, 07:00:14 AM »

My first hunt was with my Win94 30-30 where I took my biggest buck (16pt) have taken many since then.
Here in Oklahoma most shots are within 150 yards but now and then you need something to reach out past 200 so having cut my teeth on a lever action I still wanted a rifle with reach and lever action so I decided on a Browning BLR 270win it fit the bill with a scope and the follow up action.But for the thick stuff I reach for 30-30,I just love the big slow bullits that is why I bought a Buffalo Classic this year and getting into reloading along with the 45-70 dies I'm going to get a set in 30-30.Like many of you I love my guns but my first will always have a special place in my memories.

standingmink · « **Reply #27 on:** February 01, 2009, 01:36:20 PM »

I hunt the north woods of Wis. i use a marlin 336 in 30/30,i have taken lots of deer with this rifle.its all i need

45-70 man · « **Reply #28 on:** February 11, 2009, 05:13:26 PM »

hey guys and good evening! wow this brings back memories i still have my first rifle it's a winchester model 94 30-30 i killed my first deer with it in november of 94 it is a 12pt buck field dressed 132lbs i shot it at 140 yards one shot thru the heart lug area i used a 170gr bullet. my dad had it mounted for me head neck shoulder mount. i still to this day use only 170gr bullets, they get the job done! i reload my all my ammo and use them all the time. i love my 30-30 and am glad to see it still has a place in peoples hearts lets not let the 30-30 die! keep shooting it, it will never let you down as long as you put your shot in the right place! i just bought a marlin 1895 45-70 rifle to play with and really like it i plan on hog hunting with it but as far as the 30-30 it will go with me deer hunting allways!! i now have 2 model 94's and would buy more of them to collect and store in my gun safe! i wish winchester would start back up making the them leveraction 94's in 30-30 i would be really happy if they did!!

doulos · « **Reply #29 on:** February 11, 2009, 05:52:35 PM »

I like this thread.I agree with most everything said. Most of the new firearms aren't necessary to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. What game in the lower 48 is too big to shoot at 300 yards with a 30-06? NOTHING. Making people believe they need something bigger or better is the main fundamental of advertisng. If they didn't do that considering how long guns last when taken care of most manufacturers would have folded long ago.
I live in an area where shotgun hunting is the rule for deer. I only owned one rifle and it was a 30-30 winchester 94. Like a dummy I sold it because all of my deer hunting was with muzzeloaders or shotguns or handguns. Now times are changing and they are allowing rifles In certain counties. I allready have a .44 lever but a 30-30 is next on my list.
As far as self defense I don't think you could do much better than a lever action rifle or a 12 guage.
A friend was lamenting that he needed to go buy an AR15 before they were banned. I asked why. He stated for home defense. I laughed and told him to remember he has a Mossberg pump and a .357 and if he cant protect his house with that he's in trouble. I told him if he really wants one go for it but he wont be safer and that he'd be better off buying ammo with the money.