Iron Sights Lever Action

hardpan · May 1, 2009

Hey there,
Anyone have experience with the Marlin Express .308? My son wants a lever action, iron sigts rilfe and we are considering the 30-30 (* a little slow *), the marlin express .308 and the .338.

I tend to like the specs on the .308, but was wondering if any of you had one?
thanks.
Hardpan

SJB358 · May 8, 2009

I don't know about the Marlins, but a good aperture site on 338MX would be a pretty handy rifle for timber hunting and still be good out to 200 yards with the right man pulling the trigger. The rear iron sights on most rifles is decent, but an aperture takes a little of the extra guess work out of shooting and they are pretty accurate. Scotty

Greg Nolan · May 9, 2009

I had the Winchester 94 in 307 which is the predesessor at about 2600fps. It made a real nice carry rifle. It was plenty good to 200 yds with flatpoints and I reloaded it with Leverevolution bullets and was good to 300 yds. If your eyes are good enough for aperture sights it will be a real nice rig. I ended up with a 2x7 scope because of my aged eyes.
Good Hunting
Elkhunt :grin:

FOTIS · May 9, 2009

Ditto . I have a 2x7 Leupold on my 356 Win Model 94.

JD338 · May 9, 2009

hardpan,

Caliber as well as sights will depend on what you are going to use the rifle for. Young eyes work well with iron sights. My middle ages eyes are better with a scope. I put a Leupold M8 4x on my 1895 G 45-70 and its a pretty good match up for me.

JD338

hardpan · May 9, 2009

Hi,
The gun is for my son that is in the military. He hunts Colorado, Texas and California. He already has a .264 win mag, and can use my .300 wby mag and both are scoped. This is more of a brush gun, all around, for deer, hogs, but he may want to take an occasional elk if he gets a short shot. I personally lean towards the .338 or .308 and not the 30/30.

thanks for the advice so far!
Hardpan

JD338 · May 9, 2009

The 338 ME would be a great choice for close quarter elk and hogs.
Would be a dandy for deer too. A low power scope, something like a 1.5x5 would allow one to thread a bullet through the thick stuff.

JD338

taylorce1 · May 10, 2009

Does your son reload or does he only buy factory ammunition? If he doesn't reload I think he would be better off with a Browning BLR or Savage 99 in .308 Win over any of the Marlin Express cartridges. I know they don't look like a traditional lever like the Marlins but ammunition should be easier to find. Not to mention the bullet selection is much better when your not limited to RN, FP, and Hornady Flex Tips.

hardpan · May 12, 2009

Sorry i missed the post earlier. But I will reload for him for the foreseeable future.
Hardpan

SJB358 · May 18, 2009

The BLR is a sweet handling, accurate rifle, and you won't have to mess with special bullets. One of them in a 308, or something in that range would be a really nice carrying rifle for about anywhere. Or maybe you could find an older M99 Savage in a 308, or even a 284! Scotty