Why not the .35/30-30?

[lgm270]

I can't help but notice  two seemingly conflicting phenomena:  (1) The thriving interest in lever action rifles chambered for .357 magnum and the seemingly large interest in  the idea of a .357 Maximum lever action and (2) the almost complete indifference to the .35 caliber wildcat .35/30-30 round.


The .35/30-30 is simply the 30-30 WCF necked up to .35 caliber. It can be either the convenional or improved shoulder.  It's an old time wildcat that fits perfectly with Marlin and Winchester Lever Action rifles. All you have to do is  either install a new barrel or rebore and rechamber an existing .30-30 barrel.  What could be simpler?  

People rave about the .357 magnum as a deer rifle with 180 grain bullets.  A 180 grain Nosler partition in the .35/30-30 would probably get 2300 fps and would overwhelm any .357 magnum pistol round in existence.  This old respectable, if ignored, wildcat on the 30-30 case would easily overpwer even the newer .357 Maximum.   According to the books, the .35/30-30 compares favorably with the legendary .35 Remington.  Why does everybody rave about the .35 Remington and ignore the .35/30-30?  

30-30 brass is cheap, widely available and if you get a yen for something stronger you can even use .375 Win brass for forming, fire-forming and loading.   .35 Rem brass is hard to find, or so I have read.   .357 Maximum brass is not only hard to find, but I have read it may be discontinued shortly.  

There was a wildcat called the .35 Herret, which was a .30-30 casing that was shortened and blown out, designed for use in the TC Contender.  According to the gun writers, it killed like lighteing and was a real thunderbolt on wild game.

Why should the .35/30-30 be any less effective than the .35 Herret or even the .35 Remington?  I have been bitten by the .35 cal. lever action bug, and frankly the .35/30-30 seems like the way to go...except I may not be able to sneak it into one of the local indoor pistol ranges that allow me to shoot .357 magnums in a carbine.  

Oh well.....sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

Seriously, is the .35/30-30 not a good idea?

[Henry McCann]

The .35/30-30 would be a great round with cast bullets as it has a longer neck than the .35 Remington, allowing  200 to 300 grain bullets(according to Cartridges of the World)  without being seated too deep.

If I didn't have a '52 Marlin 336A in .35 Remington I would sure think about rebarreling a .30-30 to this caliber.  My dad has one of the first BLR's in .358. Love that rifle and round too!!!  

[Sky C.]

Agree!  The .35/.30-30 has actually been crossing my mind lately as well (or something even more odd - a .348/.30-30 - because I already have moulds!)

If I get some $$$ together and find an old beater of a .30-30 - I'd like to try this as a project gun.  Should be a fine game round.  If you decide to go this route - please post your experience in doing the conversion & let us know how it comes out.

Best regards-


Sky C.

[lgm270]

Hey SkyC. :  The  .348/30-30?    I thought about doing that one a long time ago.  Reason?  There are some really juicy .348 bullets out there and they're all flat points designed for tubular magazines and lever action rifles.   Most good .35 caliber bullets, however, are spitzers that are designed for the box magazines used with such rounds as the .35 Whelen, .358 WCF, .350 Rem Mag, etc.   Never got off the ground, unfortuntately.   Most .348 bullets are designed for the more capacious .348 Winchester case, however, and I don't know how they would work on game  in the more modest 30-30 case.

Still, if you're already set up for .348 cast bullets, what a great idea to build a .348/30-30.  I'm really of a  mind set to do  the .35/30-30 and I have an extra 30-30 rifle that could easily be re-bored.  I've decided to go with the .35 over the .348 so that I can use .357 pistol bullets  among other things.  This is primarily a cast bullet round anyway and so the spitzer bullet issue is not really that big a deal after all.  I was kind of thinking of the 250 grain cast bullet.    Also, I like the looks of the 180 grain .357 Nosler Partition bullet.  I like Nosler Partitions and you could get probably get 2,300 fps with this load.   I also like the idea of an ackley improved shoulder which would provide less backthurst and less case stretching.   I have a ton of 30-30 brass and it would be fun to do something besides the same old boring 30-30.

[Lawyerman]

I think it's called the .35 Lever Power. Not a bad round but there is no way you would ever sell the rifle, nobody would understand what it was!