I have a 3/4 magazine 1948 manuf Marlin 336 w/24" barrel that I have rechambered to 3030AI. I want to put the least expensive, but dependable scope on it.

I plan to plink and hunt Coyotes (Hornady SJ100gr w/BC=.152 @ 2900-3000fps) out to 250yrds (if accurate enough). I also plan to hunt Deer and the occasional Antelope (Barnes XFN150 w/BC=.269 @ 2550fps) out to 250yrds (again, if accurate enough).

This rifle will also be one that I train my kids with (they love the "Rifleman", my 5yr old loves shooting it!).

The Deer country I will hunt will be a mix of hilly forest/oakbrush/mtn mahogany. I will have detachable rings (in reality I probably won't take scope off much).

I have a Leupold 2-7 that I could move back and forth from another rifle, but I think a less expensive and perhaps a variable (maybe fixed) with less magnification might be better.

What do you think and where do you suggest I get one from?

Deke.

Deke,
I just lucked into a Burris 2.5x Fullfield at the local gunshop for $100. A quick sight in yesterday with the rain and fading light has got me very impressed. Very bright, just enough power for my aging eyes, and it's responding to adjustments just like it should. I've been fooling around with cheapies for the most part on my lever actions, but am fast coming to the conclusion that quality optics are well worth it. With 'everybody' wanting variable power scopes, I think there are some bargains lurking on the second hand racks in fixed power.
Cheers,
R*2

I put a Weaver V3 on my .35 Marlin and am very pleased with it's performance. At 1x it is as fast as any open sights and the 3x makes brings in the 100 yard targets nicely. I've tried "see through" rings and don't like them much. This for me is better because I don't have to crane my neck to see through the scope. Not a cheap scope but moderatly priced at around $150 and decent Japanese made optics.

Deke - I recently purchased a new Simmons Whitetail Expedition 1.5 - 6X for less than $100 and I am impressed with the quality for the money. Nice clear optics and a good power range for your needs. This scope seems to get good reviews from other users as well. My only negative comment so far is that I am getting the impression that the matte finish may scratch easier than I would like. For a great price on one ($64!), check out this link;

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/base_no.67155/dept_id./est./qx/product.htm

I'm not a big fan of cheap scopes. I find that anything much under $200 in a variable power has so much run out it's useless. I do have one of the el cheapos on my 22. Not what I'd want on a 30-30. The least expensive and best for the $$$ I have found is a 4x Nikon 40mm $240. Burris used to make a great 4x but I think they stopped making it.

I just ordered a 1.5x4.5 Bushnell Banner dusk and Dawn scope for my 30-30 Marlin. Amazingly it doesn't change zero when you change the power, tracks perectly with adjustments and is clear and bright. I have only put 100 or so shots thru the rifle it sits on but I can hit bullet holes at 50 yards, that means something! 4.5 power should be good enough for 250 yards but I have no experience with the Barnes xfn bullet.

I have used some of Bushnell's Shotgun scopes in a 1.5 x 4 configuration. Check out the Circle X reticles designed for Turkey hunting.

It sure helps with quick target acquisition.

I have taken deer at 300 yds with one, mounted on a 260 Remington.

Good luck
Cheers
thunderbolt

I like the leupold 2.5x compact for lever guns it is $170US or there abouts and it is a reliable and simple scope. Here is one on my 45/70 marlin

Deke - I like a fixed power scope of 2.5 or 3 power for lightness, wide field, looks, and simplicity on my short to medium range rifles. A medium priced scope that has worked well for me has been the 2.5 Weaver "Classic". I've even had this scope on a .375 H&H and it proved it could handle the "abuse" of the recoil. Mags

Well my email has been giving me fits lately and I have not been on AR so missed most of these posts. I ended up hearing some good press about Mueller Red Dot scopes and picked up a 3-10x42. So far so good. Drew blood with it for the first time on a 150yrd Coyote the other morning. The scope looks to be doing fine and will probably interchange it (have it on QRW rings) with my 30Gibbs to see how it stands up to more recoil.

Deke.

Gentlemen
I've got three lever action rifles, make that four lever action rifles. There's a 45-70, a 405 Winchester, a 30-06 and 45 Colt, I cannot imagine putting a scope on any of them!
Isn't having a scope on a lever action, especially a 30-30 an advertisement that the shooter of said rifle could not hit a bull in the butt with a banjo, much less with that rifle?
The distances used for most lever action calibers is 200 yards, give or take a few, or less. As long as you can put a good bullet within three or four inches of the aiming point the critter is dead. I don't know that you get extra credit for picking which eye you put the bullet through.
Sounds to me that more range time is indicated. Spend the scope money on ammo and components and practice.
Jim

quote:

Gentlemen
I've got three lever action rifles, make that four lever action rifles. There's a 45-70, a 405 Winchester, a 30-06 and 45 Colt, I cannot imagine putting a scope on any of them!
Isn't having a scope on a lever action, especially a 30-30 an advertisement that the shooter of said rifle could not hit a bull in the butt with a banjo, much less with that rifle?
The distances used for most lever action calibers is 200 yards, give or take a few, or less. As long as you can put a good bullet within three or four inches of the aiming point the critter is dead. I don't know that you get extra credit for picking which eye you put the bullet through.
Sounds to me that more range time is indicated. Spend the scope money on ammo and components and practice.
Jim

"I agree"

I would use a scope if I were in need of more light-gathering abilties. There have been some woods I've tromped through where the canopy is thick enough that iron sights might be a bit lacking towards late afternoon.

And, if my eyes get worse, that single focal point might be of use someday.

Arkeypete and Rooster,

Pick at the idea if you want, but I hold my own any day of the week and I have competed against some of the best marksman in the country. How often can you hit a vital sized target from a standing position @ 500m when its windy, and when is it not a good time to spend more time on the range? The question is not marksmanship.

Threading a shot through brush, older eyes, low light situations, small targets such as Coyotes @ 200yrds are all good reasons for a scope on any rifle.

Note that I am using QRW rings and this rifle will see time with the scope off (especially if I am hunting brushy terrain where I might jump a buck up close).

Deke.

Deke
If you can do all of that with a Winchester 94 or Marlin, 30-30 you are by far the better man then I. Scope or no scope!
I would love to see the ballistics for a 170 grain flat point out of the 30-30 at 500 yards.
If the shooting is to be done at 350 to 500 yards I'd opt for my 25-06 bolt gun or my 7.62 AR10t and their impressive optics.
Deke
I'm 56 or 57. I keep my eyes young a bright by trying to see through the girls swim suit bottoms at the beach or pool. And not get seen

Deke
I've hunted the Canyon City, Royal Gorge area as well the cedar breaks area around La Jaunta. Both areas are pretty brushy, I'll agree. Now if you want brushy let me get you into some laural thickets here in Virginia. You crawl under or around, but you can not walk through them. I've found getting into the laural and ambushing the deer on the way to or from the feeding, bedding, water was the best policy.
I took up using the 45-70 just to have something that might punch throught the thick crap.
Jim

I just like scopes. Makes it easier to work up really accurate loads, hit coyotes at 200 yards and I don't shoot 170 grain bullets. Light gathering alone makes a scope worthwile.

arkypete,

I was wrong if I infered that I do that kind of shooting with my levergun, but I do it with my ADL700 in 7-08. I bet that kind of shooting might be possible with a box mag levergun that shoot spitzers like the various one's by Browning. My point was that more range time is not an alternative when it comes to certain situations that I mentioned (low light and older eyes to name a couple).

Personally I don't like the looks of a scope on a lever gun, but when you couple it with quick removable rings that return to zero (or close enough for a 1-2MOA gun), you get quite an effective setup for a day in any woods.

Right now I am playing with Hornady 100SJ's and have them around 2900fps and 2MOA in my 3030AI (may go faster, but that is good enough for now). They were good enough to dust a Coyote @ 150yrds last week, but they still may do too much damage to the fur which I like to tan (more Coyotes will tell). Will be playing with some 90grXTP HP pistol bullets soon which should come apart much quicker and who knows, the HP may be more accurate.

I am also developing a load for the Barnes 150XFN's which if accurate will be great on all that I hunt including Cow Elk at closer ranges.

Deke.

Deke
A number of years ago, the 70s, I had a Siamese Mauser made up in 45-70, with a Williams reciever sight. My hunting buddy and I were winding up deer season by putting the trailor away at his father-in-laws barn.
His father-in-law was a sheep farmer in the Shenandoah Valley. We had parked the trailor and were looking out across the pasture, maybe a half mile, that was in view. We saw a pack of dogs winding their way down the hill from the city limits, headed towards the sheep. This was an ongoing problem, the farm being that close to the subdivisions, etc.
My buddy got out his 308 bolt gun and I got out my 45-70 and waited til the dogs got into the sheep pasture. The sheep were in a low area, the dogs coming in from uphill and my shooting pard and I above the sheep in the other side of the valley. The distance between the dogs and the rifles was maybe 400 to 500 yards, shooting over the sheep.
We started to shoot, my pards 308 had a scope so he was on target relatively fast. I took four or five shots to get the hold over right, sort of walked the shots in.
That 445 grain slug did a fair job of slapping the dogs down and the 165 grain Remingtons, my pard was shooting, did even better.
It was a bright sun shiny day and in retrospect it easy to spot the shot fall and adjust. I knew the rifle, the load, for out to 150 yards, but had no idea what or where at that extended distance. I put a scope on the rifle a year or two later, a Lyman, then Bushnell, then a Weaver, that 45-70 seemed to disassemble scopes so I went back to iron sights.
Jim

quote:

Originally posted by mags:
Deke - I like a fixed power scope of 2.5 or 3 power for lightness, wide field, looks, and simplicity on my short to medium range rifles. A medium priced scope that has worked well for me has been the 2.5 Weaver "Classic". I've even had this scope on a .375 H&H and it proved it could handle the "abuse" of the recoil. Mags

+1
I have the Weaver k2.5 on a Marlin 1895 45/70 and another on a 150gr muzzle loader. I have been pleased.

You stated you wanted a good cheap scope for a lever gun...I suggest a new 2.5X Weaver..they are a quite nice scope and all the power you need for a lever gun or any other gun for that matter.