http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=481

what are yer thoughts on this cart...

i am thinking deer size game to 300 yards

elk out to 150 yards

moose...no

anyone gunna get this new marlin ( i assume marlin will make a new rifle chambered for this )

i think old 30-30s might be less common at the gun shops...

how many think the ballistics info is inflated

What's so different with it then Winchester's 307?

i guess you just cross out winchester and use pointy bullets...

if they are keeping the same 30-30 casehead it will be basicly an a.i. version but if they are bumping it up to 470ish...probably almost nothing. good point (pun intended)

An excellent way for Hornady to sell ammon and Marlin to sell rifles.
I have a Whinchester Big Bore .307 and a Winchester 94 30-30.

This one just takes up gun rack room for me.
Zero improvement and zero interest on my part.

Straight from the horse's mouth. Tomray is a marlin production engineer:

http://www.marlinowners.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=17104

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
i am thinking deer size game to 300 yards

elk out to 150 yards

moose...no

Why no moose? It's a 308 Winchester by any practical measure. Moose been falling to the 30 WCF, 303 British, 30/40, and such since the dawn of the brass case. This new round beats them all. It is just a 307 Winchester with a rubbernosed spitzer but bless Steve and his crew for their vigorous sense of innovation.

the bullet they are loading is too light imho

Assuming that Marlin can come up with a way to not screw up the barrel with stamping the user's manual on it, or broach-cutting multiple dovetails, this could be a very usable levergun.

However, once you go to a 24" barrel and a scope, why would you want a levergun? The reason for a levergun is that they are handy. For the money, you would get better accuracy and the ability to use pointy bullets.

It will be interesting to see what Marlin does. Maybe they'll hit a price point below a Savage 110.

great points dla...

cut it to 20" and you still have a great deer gun.

They have re-invented the .300 Savage.

What do you mean no moose?? If it can kill an elk, moose would be no problem.

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
the bullet they are loading is too light imho

moose have larger bones and "I" think that requires a heavier bullet imho

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
the bullet they are loading is too light imho

moose have larger bones and "I" think that requires a heavier bullet imho

Take it from me 160 or 165 grn from a 30 cal is no problem for moose! Shoot 'em in the lungs and watch 'em fall!!!

if you loaded a nosler it should be good for lungs

I don't think I'll buy it.

I'd prefer not to have to rely on one ammo manufacturer, and the new Hornady bullets aren't even available to handloaders that I know of. If Speer and Nosler start making the spongy tipped bullets I'd reconsider.

I used to load sptizer bullets in my Marlin 336, but what's the advantage over a double in that case? I sold the 336. I really like the Browning BLR concept better. If they'd just use steel for the reciever it would be much better IMO.

I'd rather see Marlin make a 336 size gun that could use regular 308 ammo.

I think Marlin is starting to wend its way down a proved misleading business path...getting lost while thinking they are actually going somewhere.

Winchester proved it, Smith & Wesson proved it., and so have other companies who thought the "gun of the month" was their salvation in a perceived poor sales economy. (Actually, the economy is fine. Sales are poor because the products are poor.)

If manufacturers want to sell more guns, they need to make better guns. More handwork, better fitting of wood or composite to metal, better honing of interior parts, better finishes. At least to my way of thinking, a bunch of very slightly different, but not interchangeable new cartridges are not going to get the job done.

Money spent on engineering, tooling for, and promoting these new rifles will gain them nothing at my house.

good points a-c...

but marlin IS making better guns...tighter tolerences and the v threads make them stronger...if you dont like the 308 express rechamber it to 308 win and keep the preasures low or use rem factory ammo

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
good points a-c...

but marlin IS making better guns...tighter tolerences and the v threads make them stronger...if you dont like the 308 express rechamber it to 308 win and keep the preasures low or use rem factory ammo

Then they need to sell those points...not some "sorta" new, un-needed cartridge.

And to be honest, I don't think they ARE making better guns. I have looked at a lot of recent Marlins in various gun emporia. I also have a safe full of older Marlin lever guns. Based on final finish, both internal and external, stock to metal fit, all the things that spell quality to the eye of the buyer rather than to a micrometer, the old Marlins are more desirable to me.

yeah, its all about making money and branding...there is nothing new

Marlin/Hornady might just have a market for their new 308 express. For instance: I am in the market for a handy lever rifle for whitetails and possibly elk. If I want a 30 cal rifle my only real choice previous to the 308 express was the 30-30. (Sure, I know you can find some 35 Remingtons, etc. out there). With performance closer to the 308 Win I would be crazy to buy the 30-30. Plus, since one shot is all I need for real hunting situations, loading my own ammunition with something like a Nosler partition or Barnes X bullet and just loading the chamber and a spare single round in the mag should work great for me. Even with a 24" barrel it will still be a handy little rifle. You would have to shooting in a closet for 4" of barrel to be that noticable over a "handy" 20" tube.

The value I see in the MX project is that Marlin is finally working on the basic engineering of their rifles to support the new cartridge. Fit and finish aside, higher SAAMI ratings and better accuracy have been achievable with the 336 platform but have not until now been a priority. We can only hope that what they learn improves the rest of the product line and is not shelved as was done with the 444.

As for the 308 ME cartridge itself, to me it's just another vanilla 308. If they come up with a medium bore cartridge for the 22" MX rifle though, I'm in.

338/358 at 2400 fps and 2800 fpe at 20 fpe recoil. What can't you do with that?

I say no problem for moose with lung shots.......if you want real .308 win performance in a lever just buy a BLR and you can get tons of ammo and load real spitzers...

IMHO other than a fad for Outdoor Writers to write about who is really going to buy a lever action for long range shooting? All the magazines have had articles in the past couple months about hunitng antelope and other animals with Marlins and LeverEvelution bullets. Give it another year or two and the lever will be the same old atiquated action that it was 2 years ago.

It's only appeal is to those who always wanted a savage 99 in 300 savage and can now be balistically duplicated. Gianni.

I would rather have the new gun and cartridge in a bigger bore than .308. They should offer a new lineup with the case necked up to .338, .358, .375 and .416. Now those would make for some good moose thumping rounds.

My 2 cents worth of opinion is that the 308 marlin, the .30 T/C, and the entire LeveRevolution bit are all answers to nonexistant problems.