# 30/30 or 35 Rem?



## Ugly Cowboy (Aug 14, 2008)

Howdy! Just thought I'd post a poll on these great cal's!


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i like them both really. i used a 30-30 for about 20 years, but i had some bad luck in brushy areas and i decided to kick it up a notch. i like the 35 rem a whole bunch. i put up a target on a scrub pine tree about 10 inches in diameter and a friend and i fired about 12 rounds into it. they passed clear through and a few days later a strong wind gust brought the tree down, lol.


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## Ugly Cowboy (Aug 14, 2008)

LOL Thats neat!


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## Irish farmer (Dec 21, 2007)

The 30.30 is a much more common caliber, but the .35 is better.


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## woodsrunner (Nov 28, 2003)

Have owned both and a 32 special, and a 38/55.

The 30/30 you're going to find almost anywhere you find ammunition. Same can't be said for the 35 Rem.

I currently hunt with a 1907 vintage Marlin in 32/40. Make my own ammo using common once fired 30/30 cases. I save about $45.00 a box that way over factory ammo, when it can be found.

My personal fav isn't on the list. That would be .375 Winchester.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

a buddy has one of those land cannons that i kinda like...you know, the 35 whelan.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i bought the dies for my 35 rem and i have been saving casings for a few years. when the budget permits, i intend to learn to reload. ammo, especially anything other than 30-30 seems to have gone way out of sight. thank goodness gander mountain usually runs a loss leader special each year on 30-30 ammo.


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## Ugly Cowboy (Aug 14, 2008)

MELOC said:


> i bought the dies for my 35 rem and i have been saving casings for a few years. when the budget permits, i intend to learn to reload. ammo, especially anything other than 30-30 seems to have gone way out of sight. thank goodness gander mountain usually runs a loss leader special each year on 30-30 ammo.


Gander Mountain, huh? I aint never herd of 'em... They kinda like Cabela's?


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## BRYAN (Jul 5, 2008)

I have had some experience with both. My Dad hunted for years with a Remington pump 35 Rem. and it's knockdown on deer would surprise a lot of hunters who think the magnums are where its at. Personaly I would not hesitate to hunt with either, but I would have to give the 35 Rem the nod on effectiveness.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

A friend of mine out in WA has one that he uses for blacktail and even elk at times. He hunts the dense timber so shots arenât more than 50 yards. The couple deer Iâve seen him take with it couldnât have been more dead, so it works. It also did very little damage to the meat, one of those âyou can eat right up to the holeâ calibers. 

As the others mentioned, it can be difficult to find ammo. I own the 35 REMâs big brother a .350 Mag that can be a PITA to find commercial ammo for. I reload so itâs no big deal. 

Chuck


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## bowdonkey (Oct 6, 2007)

I like the 30-30 simply because the cartridges are sold everywhere. You can load a spitzer for the chamber round in guns with tubular magazines. That is if your into reloading. Otherwise Hornady has a new spitzer loading with a soft tip for tube mags. Around here I prefer my 444. A way under rated caliber.


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## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

As mentioned above, cartridges for the .30-30 are easy to find and seasonably very very cheap; one might add to that, that the .30-30 has been effectively used on every variety of North American big game; my vote goes hands down to the .30-30.


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## Ugly Cowboy (Aug 14, 2008)

Any one here have Marlin 336's?


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

A 336 in thutty-thutty, friend has a336- .35 an another fellow has Rem. pump .35..What I really rocks though is the ole 25-35 W.C.F....


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## Homesteadwi5 (Mar 16, 2008)

30-30 is the most widely used rifle in north america according to the nra. so many people cant be wrong,right.


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## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

2 Winchester 94's here, one of them a pre-64'.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Ugly Cowboy said:


> Any one here have Marlin 336's?


I've had mine....in .30-30...for over three decades. It's taken a lot of deer and other varmints during that time. Never had a problem. I'd recommend it to anyone.


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## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

I've always been pretty much up the middle on the Winchester _v._ Marlin issue, and have as many of one as the other; in different calibres of course. It looks as if any new purchases will have to be Marlins.

(I killed my first deer, providing the only rack I've ever hung on my wall, with a 336 in .30-30. I was nearly 2 miles off the road when I shot the buck; 2 miles off the road, up in the Wof Den Hollow, in the Red River Gorge of Kentucky's Daniel Boone Nation Forest. I never hunted there again, for deer; it's as rough a country as one ever walked, or dragged a dead 200 pound buck.)


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## Ugly Cowboy (Aug 14, 2008)

Haggis said:


> I've always been pretty much up the middle on the Winchester _v._ Marlin issue, and have as many of one as the other; in different calibres of course. It looks as if any new purchases will have to be Marlins.
> 
> (I killed my first deer, providing the only rack I've ever hung on my wall, with a 336 in .30-30. I was nearly 2 miles off the road when I shot the buck; 2 miles off the road, up in the Wof Den Hollow, in the Red River Gorge of Kentucky's Daniel Boone Nation Forest. I never hunted there again, for deer; it's as rough a country as one ever walked, or dragged a dead 200 pound buck.)


LOL I hear ya!


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## Greg H. (Sep 27, 2008)

Actualy I prefer the .41 Mag for short range work


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i like marlin's 336 series for several reasons.

the winchester is just too light and has too small of stocks to be comfortable for me. i like the heavier, more stable marlins. the winchester was designed to be carried on horseback...it needed to be light. 

i don't like the way i had to squeeze the lever to the stock to pull the trigger on the winchester. it was just one more thing to worry about.

i don't like the topside ejection on the winchesters. it impedes standard scope mounting and it provides a way for rain and snow to enter the gun in foul weather. if you are out in freezing rain, that is very bad for your hunting success.

i will continue using the 336 series..forever. my next purchase will be the .444.


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

I voted .30/30 because of, as many others mentioned, the availability of ammo.

I slightly prefer the Marlin because of the side ejection.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

i have a 336 , the micro grove barrel makes it a darn strait shooter and mine has had no easy life it is beat up missing a good deal of it's blueing and has had a some rust. my understanding was that it was carried in a boat in florida for years by it's prior owner who was concerned about gators 

but even as the ugliest gun i own , and the only one i let friends borrow it has taken deer and is still a strait shooter , i got it as a gift from a freind , the day i got it there was 4 feet of snow and we were to lazy to go set up targets so we shot from the back porch at metal posts , the trick was to just to just graze the top edge and you could see the bullet fragment and hit the snow it was only about 30 yards but not bad 
i have never had to sdjust the sights , and every one i loan it to takes a few practice shots and leaves it it has held it's zero for years 
only thing i wish it had was a transfer bar safty Nef or Ruger singel actions not sure it the new ones do


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## WildWisc (Dec 19, 2007)

Marlin .35, it's all I've used for deer, it's all I will use. Nuff said.


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## sugarbush (Jul 15, 2007)

I love the .35, that being said the 30-30 is cheaper.

My choice deer rifle is a 6.5x55 swedish mauser


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## sugarbush (Jul 15, 2007)

Ugly Cowboy said:


> Gander Mountain, huh? I aint never herd of 'em... They kinda like Cabela's?



They are smaller in size, but have more stores....they also started as a mail order company like the others did.


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## Greg H. (Sep 27, 2008)

sugarbush said:


> My choice deer rifle is a 6.5x55 swedish mauser



That's a good rifle!


If you like the 6.5x55, but want something more modern, you might give a look to the 6.5 Grendel, it has ballistics very close to the 6.5x55 - a 6.5 Grendel is to a 6.5x55 like a .308 Win is to a 30.06 ( about 100-150 fps and 250 ft lbs difference )


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## sugarbush (Jul 15, 2007)

Greg H. said:


> That's a good rifle!
> 
> 
> If you like the 6.5x55, but want something more modern, you might give a look to the 6.5 Grendel, it has ballistics very close to the 6.5x55 - a 6.5 Grendel is to a 6.5x55 like a .308 Win is to a 30.06 ( about 100-150 fps and 250 ft lbs difference )


The only thing original to mine is the action....Otherwise you could not tell that the thing is 100 years old.....shoots a tight pattern too And for a bullet that is around .26 cal it sure has some knock down power.

My FIL picks on me for carring anything other than a common round. He thinks that if you carry something like a 30-06 and run out of bullets in the woods you can at least find somebody to barrow ammo from. I think if he shoots off all his ammo while hunting and is not dragging a deer home he should probably go home and stay there


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Two 30-30's here one pre 64 the other 1 0f 6000 both winny 94's.
The pre 64 was a 15th birthday gift from my folks.
I would never loan it to any body, seen to many who racked a shell in the chamber and let the hammer slip from under the thumb.

I also have a pre 64 in 32 special. I hunt with it more than the 30 30 though because of the Marble peep sight. I can shoot it fine with the Peep. The buck horns I struggle with my old eyes.

 Al


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## Greg H. (Sep 27, 2008)

sugarbush said:


> My FIL picks on me for carring anything other than a common round. He thinks that if you carry something like a 30-06 and run out of bullets in the woods you can at least find somebody to barrow ammo from. I think if he shoots off all his ammo while hunting and is not dragging a deer home he should probably go home and stay there


In the US 30.06 or .270 is about as common as they can get so their is some logic to his choice. I prefer 30.06 my self and I have a Springfield 1903A3 that I know just exactly what I can do with it, as there is almost nothing in North America that can't be hunted with it ( not sure I would want to hunt polar bear with a 30.06 - but I don't know of anything else that I couldn't take with the proper ammo ) and with the proper adapter you can shoot a wide variety of ammo starting with the .32 S&W for small game without damaging allot of the meat.

As to your friend, I would suggest he either carry more ammo or spend more time at the range, so he can hit what he shoots at.


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## sugarbush (Jul 15, 2007)

Greg H. said:


> As to your friend, I would suggest he either carry more ammo or spend more time at the range, so he can hit what he shoots at.


Okay I have to share a funny storry about this.... My FIL has been deer hunting for 32 seasons this year....He has not yet taken a deer.

We where sighting in our guns a few years ago the week before deer season. We have a range set up at 100 yards and are using a shooting bench. He has a piece of 3x5 plywood up to attach the target to. He shoots and it hits off to the right by about two feet so he adjusts his scope...shoots again; farther right this time, adjusts the scope; shoots again and it is not even on the plywood anymore.

So he says well "maybe it is just me".... Hands me the gun. I sight in and pull the trigger.....almost dead center. He says "that was luck"; try it again... so I do and the second round touches where the first one went through.... I tell him "it is just you"


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

maybe he needs to focus on squeezing just the trigger and nothing else, lol.


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## Greg H. (Sep 27, 2008)

:rotfl::rotfl:
:rotfl::rotfl:

I bet he is flinching in anticipation of the recoil.


Tell him to get himself a $30 slip on recoil pad - or better yet, give him one for his next birthday or Christmas present.

Until he get's one and uses it, he's going to spend more money on ammo than he will on the recoil pad.

Then start him by loading his rifle for him ( or not loading it ) without his knowing if it's actually loaded or not. If he's flinching and jerking the trigger the rifle will move even when it wasn't loaded, and it will become more apparent to him what is wrong.


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