.308 Marlin...picking up steam?

Kilo Charlie

Kilo Charlie

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There was a lot of naysaying when this round came out. Mostly it was all the same stuff we heard when the .260 Rem came out ten or so years back, don't buy one, it's already obsolete, cartridge X is identical but better, if you forget your ammo you're toast, yadda yadda.
So now Remington is getting ready to produce ammo for the .308 Marlin. Interesting. I'm presently trying to repurchase one of my foolishly-sold rifles, a .30-30 Ackley, but should that fall through, I'm thinking a .308 Marlin could be just the ticket for me. A good solid 200-plus yard lever rifle, which is about as far as I like to shoot at game. Should be handy enough in the woods in the 22" MX version, and now there will be 2 makers at least for ammo, plus the Flex-Tip bullets are on the market for handloading.
So who has used the .308 Marlin, whether on game or targets? Handloading experience? My previous Marlins have been very accurate lever rifles. My primary use for the rifle would be deer and caribou, perhaps a black bear or two.
I'll likely scope it; if I want to take full advantage of the cartridge's performance I may as well get the optimum accuracy.
 
I have bolt rifles. What I want is another traditional, tube-fed, exposed hammer lever rifle, something a bit more powerful than my .30-30's and able to take a scope. I have had Savage 99's and I've tried the BLR. Not interested. I love those Marlin levers.
Plus I like trying something not everyone uses, hence my dalliances with the .280 Remington, .250 Savage, .257 Roberts, .30-30 Ackley and so forth.
So no bolt, pump, auto, single, or alternate cartridge suggestions please. Just .308 Marlin info.
 
might be kind of a "tall" order- for what i can see , i see no advantage over the 308win, and therefore i would not be disposed to buying one- this route was tried by winchester years ago with a number called the 307 which was a 308 with a rim, and it didn't sell b/c there was no discernable advantage over the 30-30 , which was the bread and butter 94- now, it's almost impossible to find brass for, the but the old 30-30 is available everywhere- until they overcome the tube feed problem(which i have never seen happen, but it is there) where the nose of one round rests against the primer of another round, they'll never be able to use spitzers, and that's where the 308s really shine-you kind of"hobble" them by using round nose/flat nose bullets
 
One could say almost every cartridge going did that.....
We didn't really need the .30-06; could have used the .30-40 Krag or 8mm Mauser or something. Didn't need a short action, long actions work fine. The .300 Win Mag is little better than the H&H and no better than the .300 Weatherby, .22 or .17 magnum rimfires are silly, the .270 Win is almost identical to the 7mm Mauser. Why make lightweight rifles; they're just a gimmick for wussies.... that trite saying about a problem that never existed can be applied to almost anything.
As for what one considers a problem....I like the idea of using a lever rifle for some of my hunting. I prefer the Marlin 336 rifle. I want the firearm to be brand new. I want .300 Savage ballistics, approximately. Given the previously existing options of .35 Rem or .30-30, I couldn't get what I wanted. Gee....problem.

t-star, you should check out Leverevolution ammo. Spitzers in traditional levers.
 
But browning already chambers levers in modern cartridges like .308 win. Doesn't that make the .308 marlin redundant? Hell, other companies could chamber levers in modern cartridges if they used box magazines.
 
decent cartridge if you want a bit more reach than a 30-30 offers, but want to stick to a lever action tube mag rifle. A 307 already did this, so the 308 Marlin just is a modern spin on it with some marketing to make it seem new. Marlin is trying to sell guns and Hornady is trying to sell ammo, can you blame them?
 
marlin said:
Bah Blah Blah Anyone actually used one yet was the question!
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Ditto on that I'm really interested in picking one of these up. Seems like a good beginners rifle in a decent calibre that's easier to handle than a bolt action and just looks better too :p

I'm shopping for a first gun just getting my PAL and a lever action would be nice to pack with me during my numerous hiking and 4x4 excursions. I'm sick of wondering when that bear is gonna stumble into my camp leaving me with nothing more than a SOG for defence

repost but this looks nice:
http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,43650.0.html
 
Musashi said:
Seems like a good beginners rifle in a decent calibre that's easier to handle than a bolt action and just looks better too :p
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You're kidding, right?

No lever action is easier and safer to manipulate for a beginner shooter than a modern bolt action and there are many better cartridges for that same new shooter. Right off the hop, the 260, 7mm08 and .308 comes to mind and many more not far behind.


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I have a .308 Marlin Express (that's where the "Express" part of my name comes from)
I do like the rifle and the caliber, although for hunting it took a back seat to my .338WM. I have put a couple hundred Rd's down the pipe with the factory open sights, so accuracy seemed pretty descent.
I am looking forward to the .338 Marlin Express, it just sucks that I paid $725 last year and now the MXLR are almost $1100.
 
SuperCub said:
No lever action is easier and safer to manipulate for a beginner shooter than a modern bolt action and there are many better cartridges for that same new shooter.

.
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X2

There is a mystique to levers a lot of new guys have, that quickly wears off when they realize there are much better options.
 
t-star said:
and that's where the 308s really shine-you kind of"hobble" them by using round nose/flat nose bullets
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I think hobble is strong.

I think round nose bullets get a bad rap lately, too many people looking for a reason to blame their poor shooting on something other than themselves.

How long does a shot need be before a spitzer offers an advantage over a round nose? Longer than most of us should be shooting I say!!
 
A looooooong time ago the Savage 99 and Browning BLR pretty much wrote the book on modern lever action rifles with the .308 based cartridges. Pointy bullets, detachable mags, modern cartridges, easy scope mounting, etc, etc. It's pretty hard to imagine any new developments even coming close to eclipsing them.


.
 
riden said:
I think hobble is strong.

I think round nose bullets get a bad rap lately, too many people looking for a reason to blame their poor shooting on something other than themselves.

How long does a shot need be before a spitzer offers an advantage over a round nose? Longer than most of us should be shooting I say!!
Click to expand...

x2!

There are levers, and then there are Marlins. Mine are all shooters, if you do your bit.
That being said, I don't have any real motivation to pick up a 308 Marlin or any of the other Marlin oddballs. 30-30 has killed a LOT of deer and 45/70 has been around for 130 years and ain't going away any time soon. The only other ones that interest me are .357 or .44 Mag.
 
riden said:
I think hobble is strong.

I think round nose bullets get a bad rap lately, too many people looking for a reason to blame their poor shooting on something other than themselves.

How long does a shot need be before a spitzer offers an advantage over a round nose? Longer than most of us should be shooting I say!!
Click to expand...

well it shows at 300 yards, with the round nose being a good six inches to a foot low out of my 338 win mag- using the same powder charge, and 300 yards in a 338 win mag is nothing-250 it's bang on, but beyond that, in that rifle, you're hatched- to me that's a hobble
 
I'd certainly agree it's a rifle for an enthusiast looking for something quite particular. I also agree it's maybe not the simplest choice for a beginner, but I think people give beginners no credit for common sense. A neophyte who is well taught with an autoloader will be much safer than one badly educated in the use of a bolt rifle.
At least, I hope so. I carried a .30-30 in my youth, but my first deer was shot with an autoloader; a .351 SL, my Dad's only rifle. So I guess I come by my love of orphans honestly.
 
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