Shoulder wasn't handling recoil very well- so didn't shoot silhouette this season. But looking ahead- I like shooting a 20" barrel rifle. Having said that- any reason not to put good sights on a Marlin 336 (30-30) over a Win 94 for next season? anyine experience using the Marlin at this game?

thanks
chuck

I find it much easier to control and collect fired brass from a Marlin than a model 94. There's different pistol grip and forearm thickness to consider.

Sounds like a solid choice. Mild loads will save some shoulder pain.

I, too, will be shooting LAR for the first time next season and I'll be using my 1950 Winchester 94 30WCF 20". Why? It's what I have, it was my dad's and it's classic. Down the road I'll probably try to pick up a Winchester with a 24" barrel.
I plan to develop two different loads to save the ol' shoulder from unnecessary battering.
I would think your Marlin would be just fine.

Loads can be VERY reduced and be effective. A fellow competitor used a 30-30 load last Western Championship consisting of 150gr bullet and 10gr of Unique. I didn’t follow up with them on Ram performance but he was sure enjoying the match more than the previous experience with standard 30-30 loads. For most mortals the quality of one’s shooting form and enjoyment stays more consistent with the mildest load possible to get the job done.

Even at the Pistol Cartridge level I would guess that the overall match average score would be higher fired with .22 long rifles. Due to less noise and even less recoil. I fired several seasons with a .22 on the heavy half scale targets putting up about the same score as I currently do with the brutal .22 mag. That wasn’t the topic but encourage people that may not have three rifles to join in, they are giving up very little and possibly nothing. Reasonably mild loads don’t give up many animals and for most more animals are gained than lost.

375 said a lot of good things with his last post....

Merlin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:33 am 375 said a lot of good things with his last post....

Agreed! I'll be taking that advice to heart.
I am keeping my eyes peeled for a 32-20, though.

A Kick-eez recoil pad makes my 30-30 marlin 336 A enjoyable to shoot. 170 Hornady fn 32 gr. Imr 4064 not for hot weather. 31.5 win 748 also gave excellent groups at a slower velocities. the bug father has done some low recoil experimenting with 30-30. I sold him all my 200 gr round nose Hornady to play with,

H.Plummer wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 9:41 am

Merlin wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:33 am 375 said a lot of good things with his last post....

Agreed! I'll be taking that advice to heart.
I am keeping my eyes peeled for a 32-20, though.

H.Plummer, I sent you a PM concerning that 32-20

Here’s an option to consider. I shot a friend’s Japanese manufactured Winchester 1892 in 357 mag at ‘23 western nationals and was stunned by its low recoil, accuracy and taking rams off the 200 meter line with a 158gr XTP going 1100 fps muzzle. Not all 357’s are equal. The Miroku’s have a faster twist barrel as compared to others.

I second your .357 vote. The Uberti and its offspring importers has a fast twist also. I have no trouble stabilizing 200gr cast. The other end is the Rossi with a very very slow twist.

We are getting way off track from the original 30-30 topic but low recoil was a them as well. Through 3 seasons with two shooters we have lost no rams to .357 with a 200gr cast going 1080’ish. Did lose one pig, strange things happen. I was going to drop to 180’s and do some Ram testing but you got my attention at 158. I know 158’s work at full speed but have more recoil than slow 200’s.

Now the testing will include 158, 170 and 180. The 200’s perform very predictably for us in the wind and may be hard to step away from that familiar behavior. Whatever your spotter would call for Smallbore seems to directly translate to the 200gr bullets at the farther and bigger rams making many years of Smallbore directly transferable.

The fast 30-30 shooters don’t have as much concern for the wind but that’s for the harty souls that can stand a little recoil and keep hitting targets. The 30-30 also keeps winning (probably the Indian not the arrow) so that makes the .357 a harder sale. All fun stuff.

375Short wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 6:47 am Loads can be VERY reduced and be effective.........

For LAR I am using a Spaghetti-Chester 1894 in 38-55. For chickens and pigs my load is a 250gr 20-1 alloy cast bullet and 7.5gr Trailboss. That load is traveling at a screaming 950fps from the muzzle. This load easily takes down 100 meter pigs even with less than ideal hits. This load also helps me with follow through for all three games. I can watch the animals fall through my sights.

As I was running low on H4895, the powder for my ram ammo with 290gr bullets. I did some testing with powders I had on hand. I found 32gr of Varget to be very accurate at 200 meters with that bullet . Shooting it didn't seem too bad so I tried it on turkeys and rams at the next match. I found that flinching with my eyes closed caused me to miss targets.

375short is very correct . Using a load that works well at both ends of the rifle is important.

There is nothing wrong with a 30-30 Marlin however on some ranges I had trouble with knocking down the rams but on other ranges I destroyed the rams so just be aware of that.

I'm all for low recoil, my 170/180gr subsonic 30-30 loads is my current project.

Elevations are measured in turns not clicks, but I have fun.

The low noise and recoil make it it more fun, but you have to keep an eye on your follow through.

Dennis

Since we're on the subject...
Using a 173gr. gas checked cast bullet (Lyman #311041) BHN 22, what velocity will I need to knock down the rams?