30-30 or Mini Thirty?

[M118LR]

Well, they both work on the woodlot. But 30-30 or Mini Thirty? Perhaps age and eyesight play a role?

 

[edm1]

30-30. It has soul.

 

[recumbent]

30-30

 

[375hh1973]

30-30 with an optic.

 

[M118LR]

30-30 with an optic.

Never could bring myself to put an optic on a 30-30. A peep or tang sight no problem. But an optic on a lever action? Never. I ran many an M14 with optics so putting an optic on a Min Thirty was a natural. JMHO YMMV.

 

[375hh1973]

Never could bring myself to put an optic on a 30-30. A peep or tang sight no problem. But an optic on a lever action? Never. I ran many an M14 with optics so putting an optic on a Min Thirty was a natural. JMHO YMMV.

I have several levers with optics. I can hit much more accurately and quickly with low powered optic than irons and it isnt even close

Hell, even my house shotgun has an optic

 

[M118LR]

Had a red dot on my Turkey Shotgun. Took it off and went with Tritium irons. To each their own I guess, but an optic on a lever changed the balance and always made them feel clumsy in my hands. The optic on the Mini Thirty doesn't feel that way. Not to mention that a 2-10 does improve my accuracy past 50 yards Nowadays. Old eyes ain't what they once were.

 

[ed4]

30-30, I have an old Marlin 336C that was my uncle's. The rifle is as old as I am.

As for the 7.62x39 I have plenty of AK's and SKS's.

 

[s4s4u]

300 HAM'R

 

[soupy]

I've got a 7.62X39X.308 T/C Contender Carbine.
It came from the T/C custom shop (Fox Ridge), they bored them .308 so you couldn't shoot the cheap, at the time, surplus ammo, pressure was too high. I loaded it just for deer hunting in Pennsylvania with 125 grain bullets. Very very accurate. It was about the same speed as a 30-30, but the 30-30 had a 170-grain bullet and the carbine had a 125.
If I were to make a choice, I'd go 30-30. I mostly lent mine to the fathers of young first-time hunters-low recoil.
Semper Fidelis
Soup

 

[kmoore]

Myself, the 30-30 factory sights as a younger man. Peep sights as I got older. Now I don't care about looks, I want function 1st. Now a small power scope or maybe a red dot on that 30-30.
I have sold every Win 30-30 model 94 I have owned, 4. Not that there bad. It's my eye sight. My brush deer rifle is the Browning BLR .308 with a 1-6x low profile scope. No sling, it's light, fast to get on target and handy.
At some point I might buy a new Ruger/Marlin 30-30. It would be doing the same thing the BLR is for, so not sure if one will get into my safe.

 

[BSA1]

What critters are you killing in the woodlot? To me it seems you are asking about two different types of animals.

The .223 is best for small game and pests. My personal experience with the Mini-14 is it has never been accurate enough for me for shooting small game and pests. I read Ruger has improved it but AR’s outperforms the Mini in all areas.

The Thurty-Thurty is best for medium size game such as deer. It would certainly do the job on small game and pests but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Guess that doesn’t help. If you haven’t brought a Mini I strongly recommend a AR-15. High quality new ones are selling for $500.00.

 

[375hh1973]

Buddy has a Mini 14.

Thing shoots patterns not groups.

Squirrels past 20 feet are quite safe

 

[M118LR]

Guess I should have been a bit clearer? 7.62 x 39 Mini Thirty Tactical 16 inch barrel, (K-Mart) Marlin 30-30 Lever Action 18 inch barrel. Both are short lightweight carbines, and I consider 150 yards to be max distance for humane harvesting. Both have taken deer, hogs, and the Mini Thirty has dropped a Black Bear. When hunting Moose Size game animals and slightly larger Bruins I used a .444 Marlin. But it has since changed ownership. Not sure how the 5.56 x 45 is involved? But little critters hunted with .223 Remington have a long barreled heavy Milspec to be concerned with.

 

[mirglip]

If you want a scope, by all means Marlin 336. In a scoped Marlin loaded with Leverevolution ammo, I would extend it's effective range to 200 yards. 150 with round nose or iron sights.
I would rather have an AK47 than a Mini-Thirty. I never shot one but I had a mini-14 and didn't really like it.
My AK kicks less than my Winchester lever 30-30, and weighs about the same empty.

 

[M118LR]

It's hard to compare apples to oranges. JMHO YMMV. But I've found that it's way simpler to Scope a Mini Thirty than any AK I've ever laid hands on. But since both the AK and Mini Thirty are gas operated ( and shoot the slightly lower recoiling 7.62 x 39) they both will have a perceived recoil softer than a lever action. Not to mention it's really hard to find 5 round AK mags of any quality? JMHO YMMV. But Florida law limits Semiautomatics to 5 rounds at most. Just loading 5 rounds in a larger capacity mag don't count. Not to mention that the Barrel Profile on the 580+ series 16 inch Mini Thirty Tactical is far superior accuracy wise than the pencil barrel found on most 16 inch AK clones, the only actual difference would be "The Nut Behind the Butts" skill set if any. But 150 is my self imposed max range for both the 30-30 and 7.62 x 39. . I have shot clean Scores in Service Rifle Practice on paper out to 300 yards using My scoped Mini Thirty. But game animals seldom make good tablefare if they are constructed of paper. JMHO YMMV. Nowadays, with irons on a lever 30-30 I don't even consider shooting paper at over 100 yards. Time & Tide. The Days of shooting Palma Competition are long over. YMMV.

Edit 580+ not 585 +

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

300 HAM'R

NA............Never

 

[M118LR]

The NVS on the AR doesn't have much eye relief, 5.56 recoil is about all that most can handle without getting a case of scope-eye. So hogs after dark is limited to the 75 yard humane mark of the 5.56. YMMV. Guess photos are required or it isn't so???

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Two awesome deer cartridges. The 300 BO is crazy effective on whitetail. I've see it many times (got to have the right bullet though). It's amazing how that tiny little case can perform so well terminally. But the 30/30 is as proven as it gets. WIN/WIN IMHO.