30-30 for boar?

[TeamRealtreeHD]

Hey guys... Just wanting some opinions. I've got a Marlin 336 in 30-30, I was wondering what you all thing of using this gun for wild boar? Would it work well? Also should I use 150grain or 170grain? and what my max shooting range? Thanks guys..

Your friend
Matt

 

[Shot]

30-30 is a nice light rifle for hunting pigs. Though I can shoot pretty well to 200 yards at the range, I would suggested hunting to 125 yards or less, depending on how comfortable you feel (maybe even max to 100 yards). I like this gun for pigs b/c most of pig hunting is done in dense areas with lots of brush and it allows you for quick shots.

The 150g grain is plenty. Get a nice expanding bullit and you should be fine.

Happy hunting

 

[Rancho Loco]

What Shot said....

Shoot 'em in the right spot out to 100 yds or so, and it'll do the job.
Although I'd suggest 170gr bullets, use whatever shoots best.

 

[Tonopah01]

My nephew has killed hogs with the .30-.30 just fine although ranges did not exceed about 125 yards. Consider the new Hornady 160 grain LeverEvolution loads. Check out the Hornady web site. Interesting new load!

 

[switch]

I have that exact same rifle and have hunted pigs with it here in CA. I got some pretty strange looks from the guides when they saw the rifle I was to use (the only one I had at the time). I dropped my first pig (160-pound) with a 110-yard off hand shot to the head. The second (205-pound) dropped at 55-yard with a shot to the neck. The 150-grain is fine and heavy enough. I was comfortable to a little over 100-yards with the rifle. Passed that and it gets iffy. It's a great gun and it'll take pigs. Good luck!

 

[Uncle Ji]

Here in the islands the 30-30 is probably the most popular pig rifle. My neighbor, and hunting buddy has dropped countless pigs over the years with his two 30/30s a '94 Winchester levergun and a Savage 170 30-30 pumpgun his largest going over 400 pounds. I'd recommend 170 grain loads on pigs especially if you might be running into pigs over 200 pounds.

 

[EvBouret]

If I had to buy one rifle for hunting thick forests it would be a Winchester 94 ranger 30-30...my friend has one and it hits'em hard. We use it hunting with dogs in the rainforests of hawaii so the short barrel on the ranger model helps alot.

In california I'd rather have something with a little more reach like a .270 or a 30-06...most areas are a lot more open

 

[Tonopah01]

I'm going pig hunting this next weekend with a .444 Marlin with open sights. 265 grain Hornady loads. Hope I get a chance to use it. My son (who is smarter than me) is using a Ruger International in .308 with a 1.5 x 5 scope.

 

[Rancho Loco]

That .444 will put a big whack on the pigs.

I used mine (timber carbine) on my tejon pig this last may. A 300 grain handload at close range is pretty impressive.

 

[spectr17]

I used to use my old 336 for pig hunting. After crawling through thick brush and seeing the hammer cocked back from being snagged on the brush a time or two I thought it might be safer to use another rifle.

The new 336s have the cross bolt safety on them so there are somewhat safer for brush crawling.

And before anyone says you should not chamber a round until you're ready to fire, I'm not crawling into a pig hide with no round in the chamber.

 

[Uncle Ji]

Originally posted by spectr17@Dec 4 2005, 08:15 PM
I used to use my old 336 for pig hunting. After crawling through thick brush and seeing the hammer cocked back from being snagged on the brush a time or two I thought it might be safer to use another rifle.

The new 336s have the cross bolt safety on them so there are somewhat safer for brush crawling.

And before anyone says you should not chamber a round until you're ready to fire, I'm not crawling into a pig hide with no round in the chamber.

Did you have the hammer extension left on the hammer by any chance? For some reason Marlin sells their leverguns with the extension already installed to aid in cocking with scope mounted. This is the only thing I could think of that would catch on anything while crawling to allow cocking of the hammer. I've been hunting with a 1894 Marlin .44 mag (my "big medicine" for boars) for 30 years with a whole lot of crawling through "banana polka" vine pig tunnels with never having my hammer cocked inadvertantly by the numerous vines from the halfcock possition. Of course I removed that silly looking extension right away since it just didn't look right on a classic levergun, and I had no plans of scoping this piece. A 240 grain jsp does wonders on piggys by the way with piggys never needing a second finishing shot, the proverbial "Thor's Hammer" on boars.