I may redo an old lever action for a change of pace so this weekend at the local gun show I bought a Marlin M-1936 in 30-30. I'm considering rebarreling, restocking options, etc. but not sure what caliber to go with. I'm considering 38-55 or 375 Win. but I'm not current on some of the newer cartridges that might offer better performance on this action. Can the 38-55 be loaded to 375 Win ballistics? I'm partial to the larger bores. Any other suggestions?

a very nice wilcat on lever action ( 30.30 size ) is the 35/30.30 just a 30.30 open to 35 cal nothing more

by this way

you get a caliber bore with a great range of bullet weight with flat noise design ( from light hand gun 125 gr 357 cal to the very good 160 gr handgun Nosler up to 250 gr RN design for 35 Whelen
and some more other from custom as Hawk or Barnes or DKT ...

35 cal bullet are design for low velocity cartridge , by this way you get a reliable expansion , rathet to shoot hard 375 bullet , only few are design in mind for the 375 Win .

feeding of the 35/30.30 is prefect in lever action and power level is in the range of the 375 WIN

MARLIN gun with half octogonal barrel and half receiver can make a very pretty rifle with a tang sight .

good shooting

DAN TEC

Thanks Dan. Yes, I'm thinking of a half oct half round barrel, short magazine tube, semi-pistol grip stock with crescent buttplate, color case hardened action, Lyman 66 receiver sight, sort of like some of the old deluxe lever actions or the more recent Marlin/Winchester commemoratives.

One other thing you might want to consider is converting it to a takedown. I have one that I picked up to experiment on. That is the winter rifle project this year. If you are interested, I have the instructions to do the conversion. Minimum tool requirement is a lathe. A good vertical mill would be a plus.

Stush

A .444 necked down to .35,.375 or .416 would be interesting.

take down is very nice custom BUT

use only square thread ( as Alsakan gun work on Marlin 45/70 ) because V thread beacme loose with time and take down rifle built on V thread are better in picture than on the range or on the field

444 Marlin neck down is very efficient wildcat but too big for the small 30.30 MARLIN frame specialy the 416/444 and the 35/444 but only on 444 marlin frame

35/30.30 is so good ( both with cast than with jacqueted bullet and both in rifle than in hand gun no shame front of the SSK caliber in T/C ) that it is difficult to understand why this easy to do caliber is not more popular or not became a commercial ammo rather to spend time and money in 375 Win with very few component available .

enjoy custom gun

DAN TEC

Sell that 30-30 & buy a 444 then rebarrel it to .416/444.

I have a Marlin 93 in 38-55 and a marlin 375. you can load the 38-55 up to 375 ballistics. However you can load the 375 to 3006 ballistics. 220 gr bullet at 2400 fps Accurate Arms powder. The 37 cal is my favorite pig killer. I shoot cast and jacketed bullets with excellent results. You can not go wrong with a 37 cal. I also shoot a 348 for pigs as well as 35, 416, and 45 cal magnums. The 37's hit hard are light and handy.

Any source of loading data for the .35/30-30? Is case capacity greater than .35 Rem.?

Sounds like a project I could get suckered in to.

RCHAPURA: Aren't the 38-55 & 375W essentially the same in terms of case capacity, bullets, etc.? Why can't the 38-55 be loaded to about the same power as the 375, assuming a modern gun?