why the 3030?

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When you say .30-30 you might as well say Winchester 94, no disrespect to the Marlins of course! (a better rifle mechanically?) The 94 is a cultural icon and when you hold one you're holding history, the great grandchild of the Henry rifle that started it all. I don't even own a 94, or any .30-30, but pick up an old 94 and I can feel it! Good men and bad men - not to mention the women - who lived in harder times than ours, played their parts and went to their rest. Not the strongest or the simplest, but light, compact, quick, and smooth. You feel like a "rifleman" just holding one.

OK, enough rambling!
 
The leverevolution ammo puts in right in 303 brit territory. But the .307 holds a special place in my heart
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I had one, I liked it, but liked my 375 a lot more. Had a 356, as well. Had to down size a while back. I'm never gonna sell my 30-30 and 32 spl. I do wish that I had not sold my 375.
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Another reason hinted at here. The .30/30 can be found in any backwater corner store from Inuvik to Rio Gallegos. Now try finding ammo for .307 Win in those same stores. Or .375 Win. Or .356 Win. Heck, trying to find them in big cities can be challenging. Good rounds, all of them, probably better than the .30/30, but not ones you can count on being able to get on short notice.

Shakespeare - of all people - summed it up pretty well when he had Henry V saying as the battle of Agincourt was about to start, "We are but warriors for the working-day." A small English army, sick, underfed, on the run and grossly outnumbered by the powerful, gleaming, gold-plated French - 'warriors for the working-day'. No fluttering flags, no bugles, no ornamentation, no pretensions of anything but being able to do the job at hand in workmanlike fashion. The English won.

The lever-action .30/30 has, for 120 years, proved entirely capable of taking just about anything walking North America out to 100 yards or so. Nothing at all fancy; just a warrior for the working-day putting venison in the pot for six generations.
 
FWIW, as much as I like how a 94 carries, I now only have 92's and 336's.

If I must own a gun that cannot easily mount a scope (the AE models are not real 94's), then it should be as smooth as a 92. The 94 is not. The Marlin 336 is a better design IMHO and I'm generally a Winchester guy in all other things.

Oh, and I LOVE the 1873 action. Maybe best of all. A smoother lever was never made in my view. Unfortunately, I have to live with the limitations of factory 44-40 or .45 Colt to get the most out of the 73. Inside about 75 yards though, factory 45 colt can be deadly.
 
It depends what kind of shooting you do, but for a LOT of deer hunting under 100 meters, it's really hard to beat a "set and forget" peep sight. I have an XS Sights peep on my .30-30 Marlin and like it very much.

I also have a very retro-cool red field steel aperture sight on my 336 in .35 Rem - it has finer adjustments and is a thing of beauty that can shoot accurately well past 100 meters, but the XS acquires the target much faster.

the Williams sights shown above are generally all aluminum and not as durable as the steel offerings from Skinner, XS, and the older Refield and Lyman offerings. The Williams top-mount, in particular, is difficult to adjust accurately.
 
Rocket Surgery said:
^ stopped reading right there, I don't disdain the 30-30 lever but I don't understand why people would use one, other than personal preference.

Compare the 858 for hunting:

-Folding stock
-Less recoil, similar ballistics
-Easier to fire prone, pistol grip
-Loads faster, can clip feed
-Faster follow up shot.
-Can be field stripped right down to the receiver in the field, doesn't require tools. Easy reassembly.
-Easier to clean under the lower foregrip.
-Doesn't require oiling of the entire rifle, has painted exterior.

I'd be curious to see a response with facts, not BS opinions, that can show the 30-30 lever as being better. Ammo availability is one valid concern, or that stupid argument about losing your only magazine which somehow makes your rifle inoperable as a single shot. I own a 30-30, a 1970's winchester top ejector. I reload for it, mostly cast 173g LRN and have fired about 3k rounds of that, 500+ rounds of factory as well. It is inferior in every way, still a good rifle. I'd take it hunting deer over anything else in my collection except my 858. With the new 958's coming out, looks like this will be the only year I'm hunting with my win94.

As for the OP's original post about a 300win mag, I'm simply not sold on those. I would prefer a 45-70 SS Lever, but that's just because most animals I have encountered in the woods were rarely further than 100 yards. Slashes are a different story, if I were camping a treeline then sure I would entertain a 300Win Savage Rifle with a scope. My advice is just buy all of the above. If you're looking for one rifle to do it all, get 308win bolt gun (or enfield) with iron sights and a removable scope mount. Could even get one of those 308 lever guns, those are extremely versatile as well.
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Between ram pictures and this misguided jewel of a post, this is a wonderful resurrection.
 
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