[ENGLANDER]

Hello from Scotland

A friend of mine up at the range has a Marlin .30-30 it is the first .30-30 i have ever fired.......and i liked it ! I would go further and say i really loved it almost like a .308 and im sure a Deer would'nt know which gun the .30 cal bullet that hit it came from !

I liked it so much I had a look at the marlin web site and their .30-30 336 rifles....... Nothing like the one i used. For starters the one i used had a straight grip like a guide gun or outfitter and its barrel was very short 16" i believe. On the marlin site they only have curved grips and 20" barrels !

Obvouisly this gun i was using is an older model but it is a real shame that marlin do not make these lovely short .30-30's any more for if they did i think i would get one, it was such a "handy" little rifle.
Why ever did they drop them ? Also any idea how old my mates Marlin is ?

Regards Englander

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Englander:
   That sounds liks a Marauder.  A search at Marlin-Talk got 4 hits.

Bye
Jack

 

[El Lobo]

Englander,

I don't know what your laws are about changing a factory rifle, but I picked up a used 336 in 30-30 a couple of years ago for $190 and had a gunsmith shorten the barrel and magazine for another $100 (American dollars).  Instant Maurader.

Lobo in NM

 

[ENGLANDER]

Thanks Jack thanks El Lobo

Only thing i did'nt like about my mates "Marauder" was that my "Pinky" had to be kept out of the lever and ive not got large hands. Apart from that i really liked the straight grip. When did they stop making the Marauder ? And why ? Ive been told Winchester still make a similar rifle except i prefer the feel of the Marlin , Winchester obviously must still have a market for the straight grip and 16" barrel.

Regards Englander

 

[William Iorg]

Englander,
The Winchester "Trappers" with the 16" barrel are very popular in west Texas. I see them in .357 Mag. .44 Mag. and .45 Colt...
Some of the .45 Colts were color case hardend, a short run I think, they are popular.
The .357 Mag. is very practical in the Winchester as due to the controlled feed of the Winchester they will feed very blunt bullets.
I have a .30-30 Trapper that is a lot of fun, I have a Lyman #2 tang sight and a forward mount 2X scope. both make the rifle a lot of fun. With a flat top bar sight in the rear they are very fast on the target, provided the front bead is of good size.

 

[MikeG]

A friend got an old .30-30 Marlin from a relative.  It had a broken stock and a long barrel with a short mag tube.

He found another stock, and we cut off the barrel to about 16.5" in my garage with a hacksaw, and recrowned the barrel with a Lee case trimming tool (don't laugh) and an RCBS chamfering tool.

It shot like a million bucks first trip to the range, much to my amazement.  With an old Weaver scope that hardly let any light through, he got a 3-shot group of 1 inch at 100 yards, and I got a 1.5 inch group with 3 shots.  This was with cheap Rem ammo.

It is a very handy gun for hunting wild hogs - fast to get in and out of the truck.  

I've been looking for one myself, but everything I see seems to have long mag tubes so couldn't cut the barrel down that short.