Thread: advice on calibre for lever action

hi guys I want to purchase a lever action and thought I wanted a 3030 until I read a post about someone loving their .357....

I pig hunt kaikoura once a year and am always put at the top of gullys to shoot stray pigs which I love but missed two pigs this year as they were to close for my 4-15 power scope.
so what caliber would you recommended
cheers

45/70 smacks them over. Little heavy in the shoulder but nothing drastic. Nothing wrong with any of the others either. But 3030 is a very good all rounder.

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I love the 44 mag , great range of projectiles and weights . Good variety of factory ammo and very effective on anything with a pulse.

Also I would recommend going to a peep rear sight or even a decent quality reflex type red dot. They really make levers quicker and easier to shoot.

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BLR in 308

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3030 is fine, as are any of the pistol calibres but unless you reload for them you are stuck with pistol powered factory ammo and potentially loose a lot of stopping power.
Open, ghost ring or even a red dot are your friends perfect for snap shooting and precise enough with the 3030 at least to deliver with sufficent accuracy to 100 or 150 yards if required.
But 38/55 and 45/70 have a bit of wow factor

30-30 is good to 150m or so, probably 200+m with the new pointed projectiles that are safe in tube mags (though my rifle doesn't seem to like them).
The non-tube mag options like the BLR give a lot more calibre options, I'd go 308 in one of those.

44mag, 300gr jhp hornadys.
no pig too big !

My first centre fire was a Marlin .44mag. The .44Mag kills way better than the paper stat's would suggest. My best morning was three pigs with three shots in under 10 seconds as they ran out of the scrub. I was so shocked at the time that I forgot to pull the trigger on the 4th pig in the mod and it ran past me and disappeared. I was only about 17yrs old. Recoil can be heavy if you push your handloads. Miss that gun.

Currently I have a Rossi stainless in .357 Mag. Haven't had a chance to shoot an animal with it yet. Factory ammo has good accuracy over open sights. Great light weight, slick action, fast handling.
Key as always is getting the right projectile. I have some custom made extra expansive projectiles to test but lockdown is a bitch.
.375 Mag has a lot less recoil than the .44Mag on full noise, and you can load it to subsonic with ease.

I had a Marlin Camp 9 prior to the confiscation that I trialled on goats but couldn't find a 9mm projectile that would expand on a goat's light weight body. Hoping that the custom projectiles perform better.

I would go .44mag or .375mag.

.357 is good. I will happily shoot to 100yards on deer or pigs.


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I would suggest that the pistol rounds while great over dogs (with silencer) are still very much a short range option.
30/30 hard to go past, and it's family mates the 38/55 or 375 win, or step across to the 35 Remington or it's modern clone the 35 legend.

Otherwise if your are wanting to get pigs out past 200 mtr you need to step up to the 308 family, 308, 338, 358.
Thats assuming you don't want to go the whole hog and go 45/70 or 444 etc.

Following question is are you reliant on shop ammo or reloading. If shop ammo in which ever town you are passing through on a Saturday morning then you are back to 30/30, 308, 45/70 as common.
If you have the coin it's hard to walk past a new BLR or pickup an old Sav99 and re-barrel. Probably work out to be a similar cost.

Scope wise I started with a 1-4x20 on my Sav 99 in 358 win. I recently upgraded this to a 1.5-6x42, as I was finding more shots where past 200 that I expected, it also deals with looking into deep shade under trees on the bush fringes really well at sun set etc.

NB Recoil can be an issue were fast followup shots are required. That's were the lighter 30/30 or large pistol would come into their own.
Zq

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

I would suggest that the pistol rounds while great over dogs (with silencer) are still very much a short range option.
30/30 hard to go past, and it's family mates the 38/55 or 375 win, or step across to the 35 Remington or it's modern clone the 35 legend.

Otherwise if your are wanting to get pigs out past 200 mtr you need to step up to the 308 family, 308, 338, 358.
Thats assuming you don't want to go the whole hog and go 45/70 or 444 etc.

Following question is are you reliant on shop ammo or reloading. If shop ammo in which ever town you are passing through on a Saturday morning then you are back to 30/30, 308, 45/70 as common.
If you have the coin it's hard to walk past a new BLR or pickup an old Sav99 and re-barrel. Probably work out to be a similar cost.

Scope wise I started with a 1-4x20 on my Sav 99 in 358 win. I recently upgraded this to a 1.5-6x42, as I was finding more shots where past 200 that I expected, it also deals with looking into deep shade under trees on the bush fringes really well at sun set etc.

NB Recoil can be an issue were fast followup shots are required. That's were the lighter 30/30 or large pistol would come into their own.
Zq

awesome replies guys! I think I'm settled on the 30/30 I will buy factory for a couple of packets then reload with the brass ha, @Marty Henry great point on the ghost sights will definitely be buying.
I've been told to stay away from marlin and buy winchester but I don't have winchester money haha. will probably end up with a stainless marlin.

bloody legends

I also shoot a 3006 rem 700 which I use for long range and last light shots so sorted there

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

I would suggest that the pistol rounds while great over dogs (with silencer) are still very much a short range option.
30/30 hard to go past, and it's family mates the 38/55 or 375 win, or step across to the 35 Remington or it's modern clone the 35 legend.

Otherwise if your are wanting to get pigs out past 200 mtr you need to step up to the 308 family, 308, 338, 358.
Thats assuming you don't want to go the whole hog and go 45/70 or 444 etc.

Following question is are you reliant on shop ammo or reloading. If shop ammo in which ever town you are passing through on a Saturday morning then you are back to 30/30, 308, 45/70 as common.
If you have the coin it's hard to walk past a new BLR or pickup an old Sav99 and re-barrel. Probably work out to be a similar cost.

Scope wise I started with a 1-4x20 on my Sav 99 in 358 win. I recently upgraded this to a 1.5-6x42, as I was finding more shots where past 200 that I expected, it also deals with looking into deep shade under trees on the bush fringes really well at sun set etc.

NB Recoil can be an issue were fast followup shots are required. That's were the lighter 30/30 or large pistol would come into their own.
Zq

I have a Savage 99 in 308 I am considering rebarreling. Be interested in where you got yours done and how straight forward it is. I'm thinking 22-250 or 243, probably the latter.. I'd be after lower recoil for an old shoulder but still with a bit of reach on the small stuff and doing the biz on the rest at closer range.

Your answer is likely to be relevant to the OP also.
Cheers.J.

Originally Posted by Jhon

I have a Savage 99 in 308 I am considering rebarreling. Be interested in where you got yours done and how straight forward it is. I'm thinking 22-250 or 243, probably the latter.. I'd be after lower recoil for an old shoulder but still with a bit of reach on the small stuff and doing the biz on the rest at closer range.

Your answer is likely to be relevant to the OP also.
Cheers.J.

Hi J, first one I did was just a straight barrel swap as my local smith had a new old barrel from a project that did not go ahead. The one I had, had a rust pit down from the muzzle and had already been shortened once due to crown damage. that was my Dad's 243.

Mine was a mid 1970's one 308win I picked up used for $500. Sent it to TrueFlite, and they put a 358 win on it for me. Took about 2 weeks and came back with several used cases to show that they had test fired it to double check head space etc.
Cost, I can't remember but they have prices on their web page. I'm guessing it was $1200, barrel, chamber, silencer thread, fit and test fire and they fixed up a stripped thread in a scope mount screw hole.
Zq
PS as your's is a 308 I would expect you would need to stay within the 308 family to ensure feeding, the feeding ramps lift it up on the shoulder. ie 243 fine but ask questions about the creedmoore family as the shoulders are further back. The 22-250 being based on the 250-3000 may also required the older shorter action Savage prior to the 308 family.

I have had issues with short pistol bullets as the cases can move forward in the mag and the bolt dose not pick up the rim. Not a problem if all loads are that level but if I have a full power 3000 ftlb load shot first over a short one.