Somebody tell me about the 307. It is new to me and sound interesting. What is your feelings.

The guy that mentioned it to me today says that he can fire 308 Win in it single shot fashion. That sounds awesome.

The 307 winchester came out to replace the 30-30.It was supose to be the best long range leveraction ever.It fell on its face quickly.It was chambered in the Winchester big bore for the most part.There were a few marlins I saw one at a gun show once.I would not even try fooling with the 307 winchester.It is almost a 308 winchester which is chambered in the Browning BLR.I would bet that 307 winchester ammo and brass would be impossible to find 10 years from now.It was a good idea but did not go very far.You can even get a BLR in a 300 wsm if you wanted to.I think if the lever evolution ammo had comed out with the 307 winchester then it might have been a better story.It is hard to make inroads on the 30-30 that is 110 years old and is in a few million guns.I know if it were not for the model 94 the 30-30 would not have lasted so long.

dgr416,

You are the only person that has ever seen a factory Marlin in .307. Only a couple of experimental rifles were ever built. Was it one of those or someone later made one on their own? I'm just guessing that it was a custom job??

I'm with Layne Simpson and Craig Boddington on this one. The .307 is a great traditional lever gun round. About 100 to 150 fps off of the .308 is all.

With the same rim as the .30-30 couldn't you use that brass to make the .307? Plus the .308 has been used successfully.

The .307 failed not because it was a bad round or idea, it was just 20 years or so too late. Most of the died in the wool levergunners had passed on or were too old to hunt and all the young guys think hunting and shooting begins and ends with bolt actions.

No, I don't have one, and the only reason is the right opportunity. Would love to have one, especially in the Winchester 71/64 configuration. Pistol grip, 24" barrel, 2/3's magazine!!

The .307 has the .308's body with the .444's rim. It can be formed from the latter, but I've read one can usually just use .308 brass, the extractor often having enough grip for that slightly smaller rim. Some sources report the .307 brass is a bit heavier, closer to 7.62 NATO brass in capacity. I vaguely recall reading case life isn't the best, since the '94 frame is a bit too flexible for the thrust. The pressure rating is the same as for the .308, but the shorter COL with the '94 means the bullets must be seated deeper, cutting into case capacity a bit, thus lowering performance some.

It seems to me the 1886 (and Model 71), with it's longer COL would take the .308 just fine, so long as one avoided pointed bullets, but I've never read of such a conversion. The 180 and 220 RN bullets would give fine performance, over 2600 and 2300 fps, repectively.

I read in one of the large game hunting rifle books that I bought from Lyman after getting a coupon from them for buying a new press, can't remember off hand the name of the book, but I think Bob Hagel was the author. Anyway, he sectioned a case to see if the rumor of it being thicker than a .308 (and also .356 vs. .358) was correct and as far as he could figure out they were the same all the way around when using similar brands. He also mentioned that he was able to fire the .308 round in this rifle and it extracted the case just fine. This is a good round and will shoot flat enough to 300+ yds if you use a +/- 5†point blank range.

With any luck, and if Nonneman stops answering his telephone, I should have a Marlin 336 in 307 sometime next week.

My rifle will be a 1958 vintage 336SC rechambered from 30-30. This will be my 3rd Nonneman conversion, both of the others being 35 to 356 conversion. I would expect that the 307 would allow me to fire 308 ammo, just as the 356 allows me to fire 358 ammo, but I'm not going to. I have used 358 in the 356, but loaded at 356 pressure specs and OAL criteria, to show that it can be done. That said, I think that it is more prudent to use 307 ammo in a 307 and leave 308 for use in 308s.

Jeff

but loaded at 356 pressure specs

The pressure specs from SAAMI for the .307, .308, .356, and .358 are all the same, at 52,000 CUP. In Europe the CIP actually rates the .358 about 1000 CUP lower than the other three. These are rather hot rounds and likely stress the action greater than any for which the 336 has been chambered by the factory.

I saw the 307 winchester in a Marlin two ago in Reno at the Hilton gun show.They wanted $800 for it.It was not in perfict shape either.I also saw a 307 in a winchester at the same show for $300.I bought a winchester375 big bore for $375 that day.There were three marlin 375s for $550 to 650 that day.I am still looking for an angle eject big bore 375 winchester they are very hard to find.I like the 375 win alot better than the 307 win.I have shot some 1"groups with mine and have loaded 220 gr hornadys to 2400 fps.I even loaded some 300 gr fmj bullets in the 375 win just for fun.

Since Marlin chambered both the 356 and 375 in the 336 action, I'm not concerned about the safety margin. The reloading data for the 356 and 358 are different, with the recommended maximum for the 356 being fewer grains of the same powders, resulting in lower pressures and velocity.

For the $100+/- that Nonneman charges to rechamber a 336 from 30-30 to 307 or a 35 to 356 you get the least expensive performance boost that I can think of. I have been able to buy nice Marlin 336 rifle for as little as $175, so adding the Nonneman conversion makes for a really economic hunting rifle. I find it impossible to justify the cost of an original 336 ER, but don't have any problem paying up to $350 for a 336 Deluxe Sporting Carbine to send to Nonneman.

Jeff

I stand corrected: I didn't think Marlin had ever chambered for the .356 or the .307, so the action can ideed take the stress.

I'll point out that a few grains less powder in the .356 can generate the same pressures as the .358. With 250 gn bullets, the .356 has about 6 gn (or 12%) less net case capacity due to the bullets having to be seated deeper. With 200 gn bullets, though, I doubt the .358 can reach COL and still have enough bullet in the neck. Checking the factory fps numbers in Cartridges of the World I see the 200 gn loads had nearly the same fps and the 250 gn loads put the .356 nearly 100 fps behind.

Actually, a .358 in a Marlin sounds rather intriguing. I'll add Nonneman's to my list of people to contact when I return to the US.

So, what's the 307 kick like in a 94?

It is just a bit more than a 30-30. Not bad at all. It's just like shooting my Marlin 336CS in 35 Remington.

I bought my 307 for my then XXL 11 year old to take deer hunting, and it was too much for him. That was two years ago and he can handle it fine now.

There is currently a 356 Nonneman conversion at auction on Auction Arms #7228922. It looks like a pretty good 336 SC with a $250 starting bid.

Jeff

Ooops. I needed to look over some cartridge dimensions today, and I see Henry Buck was correct and I was wrong: the .307 uses the rim of the .30-30, not the .444 which is a bit bigger in diameter. The conversion from .444 to .307 is still quite feasible.

In thinking about 336 conversions, perhaps the .300 Sav would be a better choice than the .307 (that is why I was looking over the cartridge drawings).

Just to complicate things, My .30-30 AI reamer arrived this afternoon and I cut and polished the AI chamber tonight.....too late to shoot it till tomorrow.

I'll see if Mr. Nonneman is right that the .30-30 AI will do almost as well as the .307 Win in the 20" 336 barrel.

I'm chasing trout tomorrow, but will try to get some info on the .30-30 AI as soon as possible.

What would make the 300 Savage a better choice in the Marlin 336 than the 307?

Jeff

I should have been more clear: a better choice for a lazy reloader like me. I suspect factory brass will be around for the .300 Sav for many years after the last run of .307 brass. By my calculations, the net case capacity of the .300 will be within 2 gn of the .307, not enough to warrant going with the .307. The .308 in place of the .307 is quite fair, but somehow the .300 seems more like a levergun round -- not the best reason, I admit, but if sound reasons were the only consideration, I'd just get a bolt gun.

Are who ever said that logic had to be logical?

Jeff

I threw 40 rounds down range today to fire form the .30-30 AI brass. I used 147 gr FMJ in single shot mode for fireforming ahead of IMR 4995. No lost cases and all looked just as they should....not much taper and sharp 40 degree shoulder.

Accuracy hovered around 2.5+" out of a 20" 1954 Marlin 336 Ballard rifling with a 4x Redfield on top at 100 yds....not bad to start with fire form loads.

I'm going to start with work-up loads for 125 gr HP and am aiming for close to 3000 fps. I'll let ya know how it goes.