Marlin .308

[Winchester670]

Was looking into possibly buying a rifle like this one http://www.marlinfirearmssource.com/item/64852_Marlin_Rifles_Shotguns_Marlin_308MX_Lever_Rifle.aspx

Was curious if anyone had any feed back on it? Gonna be hunting deer and bear mostly possibly elk.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Never owned/shot one.  But if I didn't want a 444marlin so much, that one would be on my list of needs.

-Steve

[D-Rock425]

I think that would be an awesome bear gun.

[Winchester670]

I think that it will do pretty well all around so im thinking It's a definite must have lol.

[bobcat]

I think it would be a great all around rifle/cartridge. The only thing that would concern me is the availability and the price of ammo.

[Rick]

No thanks.

There are only two manufacturers that offer ammo for it. Hornady and Remington.

Remington's ammo is 150gr soft point,so you lose all the advantage of the pointed bullets in a lever action.

Hornady only offers 140 and 160gr ammo.

Even if your a reloader,the two bullet weights that would allow the use of pointed bullets in your rifle is very limiting. 

[JackOfAllTrades]

As a reloader, the three bullets available allow for many possibilities with this cartridge. Don't expect it to be a .308win, but a 30-30 on steroids.

-Steve

[DJR]

Carried one for a couple of seasons. Mine was one of the last of the pre Remington rifles but I don't think that matters much. Here's my take.

Although it's not particularly light it's an absolute pleasure to carry. The balance and ergos are superb.

Out of the box accuracy in my rifle was better than I expected. I've got some pretty good bolt rifles that struggle to stay with it. This is, I think, the first 100 yd. group out of the rifle:



Although I reload for almost everything I have not felt the need to shoot anything but factory loads in this rifle. I just don't see me improving on it significantly. I'm going to try the 140 gr. monos when I get a chance. Looks to me like a ballistic twin for the 7mm/08.

Although some lever gun purists dislike the crossbolt safety I'm okay with it. There are ways around it and even ways to get rid of it altogether but I don't get too confused with it and so it stays. This rifle will be passed down to one of my grandsons and I like the fact that loading and unloading can be done with the safety on.

That's about it. Had Marlin introduced the .338MX first I probably would have bought that but I'm not feeling any burning desire to change at this point. I don't have any firsthand information on the performance on animals as I've always managed to put myself where they aren't lately. No fault of the rifle.

Ammunition is only moderately expensive, nothing like feeding a .338 Win. Mag. for instance.

I'd recommend it without hesitation.





DJR





 

 

[MikeWalking]

Not being a Reloader I shy away from calibers made by one company only.  If I had the $$  I'd buy one of the Marlin XLR's in 45-70.   If you do buy it and aren't thrilled with the trigger look here..

http://www.wildwestguns.com/

I've put the Happy Trigger in all my 1895-1894's.  Second best thing I ever put my finger to

[3dsheetmetal]

Have one ,shoots great.Shot a large buffalo cow with it in Montana couple years ago. Complete penetration destroyed the liver and one lung using Hornady's 160 gr. FTX's. Bought a case of ammo so I'm good to go for quite a while.No problem killing a bear with one I would't be hesitant to use it for elk.

[C-Money]

DJR, that is a great looking rifle!

[Winchester670]

DJR, that is a great looking rifle!

x2

So far seeing as the only con seems to be ammo availability I think its gonna be an awesome rifle 

[DJR]

Thanks guys. It is a nice rifle. My story is that one day elk hunting with a friend we got it in our heads to do a "classic" elk or deer hunt the following year with lever rifles. He had an inherited Winchester and I was looking around for a Savage 99R or RS in .300 Savage. That was just when Marlin brought out the .308MX. I was up at the local Sportsmans Whse. buying something or another and saw they had one. Had the counter guy hand it over for a looksee and it was all over.

I was so impressed with it that I bought a 39AS just to practice with. Wouldn't think of selling either one.

Here is a picture of my granddaughter shooting the 39:






DJR