one word - sweet

I have to admit that I prefer a wood stock to a black gun though...

My first purchase was a Marlin 336C (30-30 Win) over 30 years ago...buy quality and keep 'em for life :)

My grandfather gave me a Marlin 39 when I was 12...I gave it to my son when he turned 12.

We still shoot and enjoy it very much. Can't go wrong.

"anyone who would scope a lever gun should probably be the first one shot with it...)."

A great line, Jeff. I'll be selective who I use it on in the shop though. So many .30-30 owner feel the need to accessorize theirs.
Jim

Had a 336 in .35 Rem w/ a cheap big scope on it. Never did or will do any deer hunting but that thing was a blast to plink with. Those little iron animal silly's at 100yds were soooo easy. beautiful blueing and very nice feeling action. Loved it but traded it for a 28ga BPS which i also no longer have (can't even remember what i traded that for).

btw i thought the quality/finish/action on that gun were miles ahead of winchesters i've handled.

Dunno about you guys but where i live some folks actually use lever guns to put meat on the table. When a gun is used as a tool you take whatever works and 'form' goes by the wayside. Not everybody has 20/20.

I've shot a few Hornady Leverevolution rounds with my 1895 and I have NEVER had a rifle kick so hard.....Who ever is wearing the hat is tough as nails!!!

I'm sure the muzzle break helps a little but if I let wife shoot my 45-70 with one of those rounds, the second round would have my name on it.......

I was 18 when I acquired mine, and was originally thinking about a Winchester 94 (can't go wrong with John Browning's designs), but imo, the Marlin was a "no brainer", even for a "young & dumb" kid to make :)

I got a Winchester at the local show trading a trade last year, did not get to shoot it too much. Question is do you put a sling on it when hucking it around?

It's a common misconception that one must have great eyesight to shoot irons well, be they open or peep. It is simply not true. They do admittedly require a great deal more practice than a scope to become proficient in their use. The fundementals of shooting are hard enough - trigger control, breathing, hold, follow through - adding sight picture to the mix makes it even more difficult. It frustrates many people, and they soon give up and mount a scope. It eliminates one difficult task to master from the equation.

Make no mistake, iron sights are every bit as effective in the field as scopes. On hunting rifles at hunting ranges. I have spent my life hunting primarily with "antique" rifles (single shots mainly, but levers as well) and have never felt handicapped, nor have I had any trouble filling a tag or putting meat in the freezer. No, I can't snipe at game at 300, 400, 500 yards and beyond. But I can shoot effectively out to 200 yards or so, which is about the limit for lever gun calibers, anyway. By golly, I actually have to (more like "get to") hunt. Maybe even plan a stalk so I can get withing range.

Let's face it. Most modern day hunters don't shoot very much. Not nearly enough to become proficient. A scope just makes it easier for these casual shooters to shoot well enough to hunt. Or the scope makes them feel like they can shoot well enough to hunt - most still can't, at least from field positions. Groups fired from a bench, at known ranges, don't count.

That, and most modern day hunters have too little time to devote to their hunting, and really don't know how to hunt. They want to be successful, though, and there is a great deal of ego and testosterone driven peer pressure to be successful. Under these conditions, most guys want to be able to hit anything they see within a quarter (or, god forbid, even a half) mile. They don't want to risk stalking it and spooking it. It's funny how this has all worked out in our generation - now they brag up how far away it was when they shot it, rather than how close they stalked. It's a whole new breed. They are not hunters. They rely upon their equipment to ensure success, rather than their skill.

Anyway, enough of that. As far as the guns, I have always considered Marlin lever guns to be head and shoulders above Winchesters in design and quality. All of my bolt guns are Winchester Model 70's, and I have some "fun" Winchester levers, but my serious hunters and shooters are all Marlins.

That would be my g/f. All 5'3" of her.

Yes, she is quite tough. And she owns power tools and knows how to weld. :p

yep a marlin 45/70 stainless in my 20 yr old sons hands put meat on the table last nov 2008. 3 x 4 bull elk. 325 gr hornaday leverevolution rounds. had nelson ford the gunsmith do a trigger and action job on it. one finger lever like butter. what a nice gun.

now to some interesting 870 ge-stuffen. while continuing my update program on every weapon platform i own over the last 3/4 of a year or so, i stumbled into the deepest darkest recesses of my safes. and lo and behold therein lies a "club" of yesteryear. this update program has cost me some serious coin with no end in sight and the 870 aint no different. went out and bought sat. a new wilderness giles 3-point sling, new front sling mount, new nordic components barrel clamp with picatinny rail for the streamlight TLR-1 tactical LED flashlight............it never ends does it? the 870 renovation program has begun.

yep my old 870 remington cant even remember how long i have had it. after owning a hk M1-SUPER 90 12 ga and now a benelli tactical 12ga i am sorry to say that an 870 is plain and simple a freeking club at best. yeah they work ok, and its always some cheap ass police dept that still uses them. mine literally hasnt been touched since the early 90's. im not einstein , but im not stupid either when it comes to shooting 870's. anything more than #6 birdshot and ya better know how to shoot one or your in for a real painfull experience. OOO or 00 buck 3" magnums will make you a believer quickly.

while lamenting all the bucks i have dropped into the "club" over the years(extra chokes/barrels/stocks/forearms/oversize safety/heat shield/spare parts/ mag azine extension/riot or bird configs. etc. i seriously thought about selling the damn thing. hell my benellis are state of the art and you can shoot magnums all day long and never flinch. and believe me when we go dove hunting serious coin is laid out on ammo. anyway i started to see a better life possibly for the 870. i never buy a gun to sell and why start now.

thru research surfing the web and my smithey , there has been a PHENOMENAL BREAKTHRU IN 'CLUB" TECHNOLOGY!

KNOXX TECHNOLOGY.com or BLACKHAWK.com look up SPECOPS shotgun butt stocks. have read a number of articles about these as being the hot poo method of reducing recoil.

over the years of "club" technology all sorts of scientific methods and techniques have been employed to rid the "club" of its nasty ass recoil reputation. most have gone towards lighter projectiles and less powder to reduce recoil for the faint of heart and demure girlish figures, hence federals LE 12 ga rounds for those female cops on the force.

well knoxx has introduced a 65% and i have read as high as 80%, recoil reducing butt stock in a folding version and a fixed adjustable version. both utilize springs in the handgrip as well as the buttstock itself(2) of them. watched a video with one of their techs shooting 3" magnum slugs and 000 and 00 buck ONE HANDED!!!!! with the freeking folding stock! OMG! the lightbulb went on!

so sitting on my desk as i write is the midway catalog. they are backordered until may. my next phone call this am will be to blackhawk who bought out knoxx. the folder stock which i want, goes for around 109 - $129.

also i am ordering a pair of LPA(italy) ghost ring sights with NUKLAR TRITIUM night sites(same as hk and benelli's oem) for when zommbeez go bump in the night. simple install on specops stocks(no brainer) and simple(if yer a machinist) drill hole and tap rem receiver for install on LPA rear sight. LPA front sight is a band type and ya just dremel tool off the existing remington front sight solder and clamp on.

WAAAAA-LAAAAAA and my 870 comes into the new millenium!

next on the hit list to buy(another hk4 arrives today w/multiple barrels via fedex to keep my 100 yr aniv model hk4 company):

1) walther p-5 compact in 9mm a true sweetheart to keep all the other 9mm's company

2) hk p9s in 9mm to keep my hkp9s .45 company

3) hk 45c to keep my p9s.45 and my springfields company.

and you thought porsches were bad!

Higgy that reminds me of an often heard comment in duck hunting; only the best hunters can ground swat!

Refuse to do it myself but do admit that getting a bird to swim into your spread is a LOT tougher than just catching one a 40yds backpeddling as he spots your bright pink face or a flash off the motor.

chuck i'd think if the spring mech in that stock you're talking about doesn't have a lock/unlock function then you're reducing energy being carried by the load...correct?

Is this any different than shooting lighter loads? be interesting to see pellet speed at 30yds for a given load with fixed stock vs. this spring gizmo.

i just ordered juan thru blackhawk. their quote........"we cant keep them on the shelf!" backordered until april 3rd 2009. midway will not receive any until may 2009.

check out knoxx industries.com check out the videos of these clowns shooting fixed stocks and folders one handed with 3" magnum slugs! you will POO yerself.

man i have shot my 870 ALOT over the years and never did i ever imagine shooting it juan handed.............my benellis YES.............my 870 NO! NEVER!

introduced just last year at vegas shot show and really has revolutionalized a resurgence in "CLUB" renovations.

for sale: (1) rem oem rear wooden buttstock mint condition
(1) rem oem wood forend mint condition
(1) butler creek folding stock blue mint condition
(1) fiberglass pistol grip buttstock(choate) with hollow secret stash in butt mint condition grey camoflage.

WTF! why not have some more phfunn with the old girl. it never has gone click on me and there is NO BETTER SOUND THAN A PUMP ACTION BEING RACKED! well maybe a benelli grabbing the GG&G oversized bolt handle on them!

the 870 will be primarily used for zommbeez riot control and as a good all around camp gun to avoid me being bear POO! hell ya cant hurt the damn thing and they are idiot proof!

as i can finger out , it is yer classic "for every action there is an equal opposite reaction" springy-thingy setup. they show a cross cut diagram of (2) springs. 1 in the pistol grip and 1 up higher. the one in the pistol grip is vertical mounted and the one up higher(same plane as barrel) is horizontal.

really quite a quantum leap for these clubs of yesteryear.

You guys ought to try a Ruger #1 in 45-70. Lots of fun and a real "reach out and touch someone" type of gun.

Hey Chuck, back in town on Thursday or so, we need to get together. Want to get the 911 going again!

hell a slow day of shooting is better than werk. anything in .45/70 is FUN TO SHOOT!

and YES HORNADAY has released just the 325 grain .45/70 bullet now to the public for reloading kinds of guys. before they just sold the complete bullet shell powder primer. soooooooo now you can reload yer own 325 grain plastic tip and gain BALLISTIC COEFFIENCY and be truly one with yer lever action. or for mega uber grande game...............garrettcartridge.com they make some mega nasty elephant/cape buffalo/grande oso(bear) rounds that are truly wunderbar. call me joe and we will get together.

325 grains is considered pretty "light", believe it or not, for a .45 caliber rifle bullet. The .45-70 made its reputation lobbing 400 grain and heavier bullets, and cast bullets at that. No need for a jacket at .45-70 velocities. No need for expansion when they start at .458" diameter, either. A simple, hard cast flat point of 400 grains is the most versatile, hardest hitting load from these rifles.

My favorite is the RCBS .45-400GC, a flat point gas check design that goes about 410 grains when cast from wheel weights. I have driven them to 2,000 fps with heavy loads. And regretted every time I pulled the trigger... ouch. I have since throttled them back to about 1,800 fps. Sighted in at 150 yards, I have an honest 200 yard hunting rifle that will kill anything I can hit with it.

Brian Pearce took one to Africa last year, loaded with the RCBS bullet. He had no trouble whatsoever dispatching any and all "plains game", which is really no surprise. He also wanted to go after a buffalo with it, and his PH initially refused, at least until seeing its performance on the plains game. Turns out he screwed up on his buff - he didn't see a second one standing on the other side of it. The .45-70 drove right through both of them; two full sized cape buffalo standing side by side. Good enough for me...