I have always wanted to get a lever-action rifle, essentially a 94 and had always thought of 30-30 as the caliber.

I plan to use it only in some specific deer hunting situations where the range will be inside 100 yards; ideally around 50.

Anyway, a friend recently got a lever action in .45LC, with which he took a deer with a single shot to the head. It is a pretty gun but is the .45 not really enough for a body shot at 75yds?

.45 Colt out of a rifle has better ballistics than out of a revolver and you should be able to shoot hotter loads if it isn't an older style rifle. We've killed 5 deer with our .44 mag rifle. Which maker are you looking at?

a lot of people like a 45-70 for the type of shooting you are talking about

A friend has a marlin lever gun in .450 marlin. Killed a big ass bear with it. It a pretty stout round.





Willy

Back when big game hunting was a bigger part of my outdoors time I only hunted with one gun...a Marlin 30-30 lever action.

That gun killed black bears, deer, and elk...the last elk I shot was at approximately 130 yards and was a clean thru shot that hit both lungs...the elk died two steps from where it was hit.

I liked it best because it is a short enough gun that if I slung it over my shoulder the barrel didn't go over my head...and since I did all my hunting in western Washington and spent most of it in the bushes, a gun that wasn't constantly tangled in the underbrush and didn't need as much space to line up was a good thing.

There are lot of things to appreciate and enjoy about bigger, faster, heavier, and louder firearms...but the 30-30 has probably killed more animals over the last 100 years than all the others combined

Fish on...

Todd

it is 6mm (.24 cal) but you can use pistols so the barrel length minimum is 4 inches....

30-30 is a good round, lever guns are fun...

308mx!

It's my backup rifle which becomes my primary rifle more often than not due to its ease of carry in brush. Basically a lever 30-30 with the ballistics of .308 and good out to 300 yds. It's a great and fun shooter. Extremely popular with hog hunters so that is a great testament for this round.

If you do decide on a .308mx do a web search first. When they changed plants they had a couple of bad lots so you'll need to know which serial numbers to stay away from. I got one of the early lots and like I said its a great shooter. New lots are great too as they figured out the problem pretty fast.

If I had to decide between my .270 Mark V and the Marlin I'd keep the .308mx

Affordable too!

Dogfish

For the 30-30 it would probably be a Winchester. Why not go with the original? Don't know the maker's name for Dave's .45 but it is designed, i believe, to work in the Cowboy Action Shooting. It has a bright brass-colored receiver.

While I like how it looks, and it apparently shoots well, I was concerned that there just wasn't enough power to cleanly put down a deer at 75-100 yds with a lung shot.

I have seen a nice (Browning) lever-action in .243-which I know works on deer there (2 for 2) but what I am looking for is the old-school lever action. Possibly stubborn.

Todd

That's why I am looking for something like a '94. Short, easy to carry, and powerful close in.

I am coming at this partly from my bowhunting experience. Getting in close is, to me, hunting. Killing a deer at 2,3, 4, 500 or more yards is shooting. Excellent shooting, a fine skill, but my preferences (and eyesight) mandate being closer.

If your not gonna put a scope on it than definately get a Model 94 in 30-30. The Hornady LeveRevalution ammo makes it an excellent deer and elk round out to 200 yards.

Mine is 48 years old now and I don't think I've ever missed the black or pie plate at 100 yds thru the iron sights. Grandpa's Centennial Edition so I don't carry it in the woods but I do shoot it a few times a year for fun. In fact I like shooting the iron sights enough that I'm thinking of taking the scope off my Marlin.

Yes to all of this!

My first deer was shot at about 15 feet with that 30-30 running broadside to me in the bushes...didn't even look thru the scope it happened so fast.

Fish on...

Todd

Per the OP's desire for a lever action, consider the Browning BLR in stainless steel, .243 or 7-08 topped with a Leupold 6x42 in Tally L/W rings. Box mag feed so one can used pointy bullets. SS so it wont rust. Could even go traditional and mount a peep sight to lengthen the sight radius from the OEM irons if the added ocular benefits of glass isn't crystal clear. Either caliber will ballistically overshadow the 30-30 by a decisive amount.

Linky

'Course a Kimber Montana in the same caliber wouldn't disappoint either. Go fondle both....

Marlin 1894p in .44 mag is about $545.

I've seen the BLR and am interested. Think I'd still do iron sights as I already have a .243 scoped bolt action.

This started out with my concern about the stopping power of the.45LC at (no more than) 100 yds. Is there a "foot pounds" of energy that one could use to make a judgement? Say (just making it up) that for deer you should 1,000 fp, elk 1,500, and so on?

You can shoot hot loads out of the Marlin and Winchester 94 rifles in .45 colt. 290grain hard cast bullets at 1350fps = 1150 FPE. 255 gr @ 1,550 fps for 1,361 FPE and a 260 gr load at 1850 Fps for 1975 FPE.

These are Buffalo Bore or other premium ammo loads. Not to be used through any of the Italian pistols, small frame Vaquero 2, or the yellow boy Italian rifles. Not sure about the Henry or Rossi (not a fan of Rossi). Good to go in Freedom Arms, Ruger red/blackhawk, large frame Vaquero and Winchester and Marlin '94 lever guns.

The .45 Colt in the right firearm is more than enough for deer under 100 yards, and when hand loaded or using specialty loads as listed above, it can exceed .44 mag performance.

Kinetic energy is moot. Moot. Trajectory and terminal performance of a particular bullet for a particular purpose is what really matters. Freight trains at 5 mph have gobs of KE but a lousy trajectory and terminal performance. In contrast, I know a MT guide who has had clients use his chunk 22-250AI with Barnes 62 TSX's to precisely punch shoulders of big bulls at 450+ yards. Not much KE but starting out at 3,700+ fps that zippy little pill is a mean motor scooter....

In decades past, have toted both Marlin and Winchester levers guns in 30-30 and a Winny in 44. Savage 99 too. I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from doing the same. Just know that there are far superior ways to assuredly put meat in the freezer or to burn powder for fun. And for moi, a Kimber MT chambered for the .308 parent case (.243, 7-08, etc.) is the most for the least $$ in terms of the rifle, ammo, and the external & terminal ballistics. YMMV.

Yeah, but having that big meplat of the .452" bullet impacting a buck at under 100 yards will certainly get its attention without a lot of meat damage. There is a reason I like big heavy projectiles for deer. They pack a punch and don't do an unnecessary amount of damage to the animal. The amount of deer meat damaged by my choice of weapon is measured in a few ounces, even on a shoulder shot.

Both sides of the argument will certainly get it done, but it is fun toting a different rifle in the woods compare to the other hunters out there. Sometime limiting yourself in range and performance can make you a better hunter. It makes it more of a hunter vs. prey scenario than a rifle vs. prey scenario. Be a hunter, not a shooter.

Be a hunter, not a shooter. I like that.

So, Dogfish, this year's deer was taken at about 75 yds with a .243 100gr. Did a real number on the heart, but also basically separated half a dozen ribs from the sternum, plus quite a bit of bloodshot meat. Are you saying that a bigger and slower bullet, in the same spot, would have left me more meat?

Yes. Big slow bullets don't produce hydrostatic shock (bloodshot meat).

Once you get accustomed to limited range and hunt within that range, it becomes a challenge and less of a handicap.

A .45 colt 250-260 grain bullet will likely punch right through your deer. My 300 grain jhp's .458 bullets from my .458 Socom are moving out at about 1,800 Fps. They punch through bears at close range, under 20 yards. They'll lodge on the far side of bear and elk out past 60 yards.

Dogfish

Muchas gracias for the information. Since I primarily bowhunt, the idea of limited range is no problem. Just want to make sure the kill is quick and clean.

An added plus is that i like the "look" and history of a Kentucky or the '94 and others of that ilk.