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Raoul Duke | 03-19-2010 09:55 AM
Please help me decide on my next rifle I'm going to buy a new rifle when I get my taxes back and I've narrowed it down to a few choices. I was hoping to get some input from the GIM crowd before I make my purchase. I've been looking for a lever or bolt gun and here's what I've found so far: Marlin 1894C .357/.38 brand new, $600 - I already own .357 revolver, making this combo is very tempting Winchester 94 Trapper 30-30 Used, $379, clean bore and barrel, smooth action - Not much cheap 30-30 ammo around here is a drawback Ruger M77 MKII .308, Used, $399, again this one is very clean - being able to purchase surplus .308 is a nice advantage I want to buy them all but unfortunately I cannot...please help GIM! What should I do? Thanks in advance for all the input.

Raoul Duke | 03-19-2010 09:57 AM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle I should've added that I'll be using this rifle for plinking and targets

Canadian-guerilla | 03-19-2010 10:01 AM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle . bolt action with a scope :ok: .

sirgonzo420 | 03-19-2010 10:03 AM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle I think my next rifle will be a .308, for what it's worth. Also, I approve of your avatar and name! :ok: .

wallew | 03-19-2010 11:00 AM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle You already have the revolver. Go for the Lever Action. That way you don't NEED another caliber of ammo. Just stock up. See if you can find any 'Leverevolution' ammo. It will make a huge difference. Oh, the boxes are only 20 rounds, not 50, so take that into accord while looking at pricing info. http://www.google.com/products/catal...251&sa=title#p If you don't want to drop $600, I believe Rossi has their Lever Action rifle for around $400. Pretty much the same rifle, just less expensive. Interesting article on the Leverevolution ammo: http://www.realguns.com/archives/120.htm Hornady does a lot for gun owners by introducing new, interesting and smartly engineered products. They push the envelope when it comes to Light and Heavy Magnum cartridge performance and they make excellent bullets and lots of supporting equipment and handloading manuals for handloaders. So when they announced the new Lever Evolution ammunition for classic cartridges, I wanted to take a closer look. The idea of a substantial increase in velocity and downrange performance for some of the more "relic" cartridges obviously has a great deal of potential. I guess, at some level, I also wanted to check for evidence of GAP marketing, a phrase I coined in honor of the 45 GAP where high performance lives mostly in the review writer's mind, safely tucked away from the laws of physics and other realities. The 30-30 Lever Evolution Concept "Turn your 'brush' gun into a truly devastating long range performer!" is a hefty claim for Hornady to make, especially when applied to a utility gun like the 30-30 WCF. The term "brush gun" means different things to different people. Mostly the term reflects a firearm optimized for hunting in dense cover and close in irregular terrain where targets are fleeting - short barreled lever action rifles with open or modest telescopic sights are common. There are no brush bucking cartridges, as all bullets are deflected by brush contact. "Brush cartridges" is frequently nothing more than a term describing older cartridges with modest ballistics that are good enough for close up work, but not of sufficient performance for long range work. Sometimes these rounds are big bore and substitute large wound channels for: the high velocity, violent bullet expansion and hydrostatic shock of the ballistic hotdogs. MORE AT THE LINK EDIT: Check the link as it is written with the 30-30 ammo as tested, including specs for it and other manufacturers ammo.

Shoden | 03-19-2010 11:10 AM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle What year is the Winchester 94 Trapper? I just bought one a month or so ago, and it's a AE made in 1994, so it's got the 1894-1994 Centennial dates on it. I've had it out at the range a few times already, and I'm pretty happy with it. I've tried several different brands and weights of 30-30 in it, and I'm happiest so far with the 170gr Winchester Super X that I bought at Walmart for $14.99/20. The 150gr Super X didn't seem to quite as accurate for me, but that could just be me. The Hornady LeveRevolution was nice and accurate, but the rounds didn't want to feed smoothly... the tips kept getting hung up on the top of the chamber and I'd have to shake the gun a bit to get them to drop into place.

Raven | 03-19-2010 01:15 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Out of curiosity, has anyone ever made a .357 semi automatic rifle? I know there was a semi auto hand gun.

TechGuy | 03-19-2010 04:01 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle A savage bolt action .308 is on my short list. With little money right now for firearms it might as well the long list, but there it is.

Gaillo | 03-19-2010 04:05 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle If those were my choices, I'd pick up the Ruger MKII in .308 Win. I have that rifle in .243 Win, and it's a tack driver. Consistently shoots sub-3/4" groups at 100 yds... with occasional 1/4"-ers. Doesn't have the "classic" looks of a lot of rifles, but it's rugged and accurate - my main 2 requirements for a rifle. The .308 Win. cartridge is also a very nice, well-balanced do-almost-everything cartridge, with wide availability of factory loads and almost infinite possibilities if you handload. Surplus military ammo is also available for a somwhat-reasonable cost. It's also known as an "inherently accurate" cartridge, although I don't put a whole lot of stock in that - almost any cartridge can be accurate if shot from the right gun using the right load.

diogenes | 03-19-2010 04:22 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle What do you want the rifle for? define its roll and the choice will become apparent. Hunting? Long Range? plinking? Home defense? is this your one and only long gun?

branshew | 03-19-2010 05:41 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Skip the 30-30. Personally, I would get the .308. It hits harder at greater range, is probably more accurate, and ammo is widely available.

Ag_man | 03-19-2010 05:46 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle I'd go with the Marlin.357 lever gun hands down. Might take a look at the Rossi, as wallew suggested.

ruprick | 03-19-2010 05:56 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Same vote here......357 Lever Action.....turns the .357 into a potent Deer cartridge...and you can even shoot 38 Spl just for fun. I reload everything...but the low cost and high, easy output of reloading 38/357 - makes this a really fun and economical rifle. I'd love to whack a deer with a 357 rifle....you can even go up to 200+ grains if you want.

Ag_man | 03-19-2010 06:38 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Ruprick did a good job of explanation why the .357 is a good choice. I really like the flexibility of the .38spl/.357 mag system. You get a variety of choices in ammo, from 110 gr, up to 200 gr bullets and high capacity in the tube mag, from 11 in .38 spl, to 9 in the .357 mag. +P HP Buffalo Bore .38 spl ammo is nothing to sneeze at. .357 mag. is well known as a man-stopper when used in a revolver and you get extra ft/sec and ft/lbs, when used in a carbine. What's not to like?

Tallships | 03-19-2010 06:47 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle get the Ruger M77 MKII .308, Used, $399, again this one is very clean - being able to purchase surplus .308 is a nice advantage

ToBeSelfEvident | 03-19-2010 06:55 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Another vote for the .357 lever gun. You can do a lot with it, depending on what you feed it. Hunt, home defense, plink, target shoot, cowboy action shoot. Depending on where you live it could be good defense against non-human predators - bear, wildcat, gator, hog, etc. And then you can buy .38 special and .357 by the case and not feel guilty. You'll be ready for SHTF.

hoarder | 03-19-2010 07:01 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Get rid of the .357 handgun and you won't have any more bad reasons to get a .357 rifle. I doubt you will be able to hit man sized targets at 300 yards consistently with a .357. Then buy a rifle with some range and .45 handgun. A .308 bolt action rifle is a great choice. A 30-30 lever gun has it's place but I'd get the standard 20" length barrel instead of the noisier, more expensive Trapper. The 30-30 is by no means a rifle people buy to make 300 yard shots but would do the job a lot better than a .357. I don't buy any firearm in a caliber named a "magnum" unless it's a .44, and then only because there is nothing else available to fill that niche in a handgun. I hope I pizzed off a lot of people.

CQC McDuck | 03-19-2010 07:13 PM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Buy a Saiga .308. It loads itself after each shot. :ok:

Raoul Duke | 03-20-2010 09:54 AM
Re: Please help me decide on my next rifle Thanks for all the responses...knew I could count on GIM! Looks like the .308 is the favorite here...7 votes, 4 votes for .357, 1 vote for the Winchester and one vote for a saiga. I'm leaning towards the .308 myself. I love shooting lever guns but I'm thinking I might be better off getting a .22 lever for plinking. I can buy a used .22 lever AND the .308 for the same price of the .357. decisions...decisions...decisions

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