Lever action .30-30: will they be produced in 2100?

They probably will not ne produced then but the ones that have not been melted for scrap will still be running. having been outlawed 60 years ago the ones left will be prized posesions of the few freedom fighters that have escaped capture by the World government forces. The rest of the population will be working for the rich and powerfull and living in huts made from whatever they can find.........................................

I doubt it. I would not be surprised if lever actions that are actually historically accurate for the 1860's-1880's to still be be produced as reproductions on a limited basis.

The 30-30 and Winchester 94 had been obsolete for 3 years before the 1st box of ammo was ever sold. Neither were ever actually used in the old west. Had it not been for the Hollywood Westerns they would have died out by the end of the 1920's because as a hunting round far better options were available as early as 1892.

People buy them today because they think they are using a gun of historical significance. Most of which is based on Hollywood fantasy instead of fact.

Of course if Hollywood Westerns become as popular in the future as they were between 1920-1980 then we could see a resurgence of popularity. But even then people are much more informed today and I think the more historically accurate guns will be the ones to be produced.

I think they will still be produced in 2100.

I could see within the space of the next 90 years between the UN treaties, anti-terrorist legislation, socialist government and continued mass shootings at malls, schools and even military bases the complete ban on all semi-auto "evil" rifles.

I don't think we would see the total ban on weapons but the civilian population would be restricted to single-shot, bolt action or lever-action rifles in selected, government approved "sporting calibers" only.

Mayby not even the bolt rifles if they pick up the reputation of being "sniper rifles".

Yeah...single shots and lever-actions for the "Jetsons" age.

My hunting rifle in 2100 will be a driling- specifically, electron-accelerator (left barrel) and microwave emitter (right barrel) mounted over the sonic shock pulse emitter. My meat will be killed, sterilized, cooked, and shaked off the bone before I retrieve it from the field. My neighbors will think me a barbarian for eating the flesh of near-sentient species, and wondering how I've escaped prosecution for violating the feral hogs' civil rights. The .30-30 will be displayed in museums right between the slide rule and the internal combustion engine. The only good thing to come is that trial lawyers will be required to submit legal papers in 180 characters or less.

Of course there'll be .30-30s in the future. I can't accept the alternative.

Despite what jmr40 says above, I like the 336. I had a Texan model in the 60s and 70s. a tackdriver. Light and handled like a dream. I stupidly let it go and am now considering getting a replacement off the auction sites. Loved that gun!

So yes, I hope they continue to be made.

They are still making muzzle loaders today ...

And those muzzle loaders shooting round ball are amazingly able to take down various types of game. I guess the game animals didn't get the memo about such guns and ammo being obsolete....

Could it possibly be that the reputation of the .30-30 has more to do with the early success of this round and the various rifles for it at harvesting a wide array of game through most of the early half of the 20th century? Could it be that the fascination for the lever action stems from the grandfathers, fathers and other relatives that took sons and nephews out hunting and used a lever in .30-30? Or the fact that in tight woods where the range of the shots isn't long that the .30-30 does fine without punishing the shooter's shoulder or blowing the exit side out of the game?

Hollywood? I doubt it.....

Will it still be around as anything other than an oddity? It's hard to say. But it is as valid as a lot of other cartridges out there.

No because I don't see civilians being allowed to have guns that far in the future.

I think so, because they've made it this far. And as mgkdrgn observed, they're still making muzzle loaders. I still don't understand the contempt for the .30-30, though.

James

Probably, there will always be sportsmen and shooters of discerning taste.

Well, I doubt i`ll be around in 2100, but I think lever action 30-30 rifles will still be manufactured then. Rather than write a long essay on the subject, I`ll suggest you read
Winchester 30-30, Model 94 -The Rifle America Loves by Sam Fadala, if you can locate a copy. He makes an eloquent case for lever guns in 30-30.

Yes, but unfortunately it may look like this. The 464 SPX.
http://www.mossberg.com/products/default.asp?id=31&section=products

After reading the hype, owning a half dozen bolt actions, all in "superior" cartridges/calibers, I finally got around to aquiring a Winchester M94 of dubious quality. I was smitten. Light, handy, capable of firing and cycling any round that will feed/eject- regardless of bullet weight or ballistics- as long as bullet exits the barrel. Not to mention it was FAR, FAR, More accurate than I'd been led to believe. And consider that it looked like it'd been used as a pry-bar to fence a ranch (gouges in the metal, dinged up stock with no finish...). I traded a used C-B radio for it n 1975. Refinished the metal, refinished the stock, (couldn't do anything about the reddish hue to the reciever....), and let someone talk me out of it....for 3X what I had in it...(broke college student...needed to fix my bicycle...)

I've owned half a dozen .30/30's, and still own one. It's sort of a gun I don't shoot/use much, but I'm embarassed, awed, amazed, and disgusted every time I take it out. It's a plain-jane K-Mart special Glenfield/Marlin M30 (half magazine, birch stock w/o impressed checkering as sold in the '70's). It will shoot MOA with ammo it "likes", and can be made to sound like an SKS for 6-shots.... (I once took down two deer on the run w/3 shots). A fellow hunter stood holding his bolt action/scoped earsplitten-loudenboomer with his mouth open and said he'd never "poo-poo" a .30/30 lever-action again... He also offered to "let me carry" his rifle while we were dragging the deer to the boat.... Two weeks later I picked him up to go hunting and he said look at this.... Pulled out a brand new Marlin M336 w/2-7x Leupold on it. Said guess what? -Its more accurate than the .xxxWbyMag..... I told him he'd have to shoot it 400-500rds to get it as "slick" as mine... And mine took 40yrs to "get right". He said, lets go get started "breaking it in..."

I'd never have thought that the Winchester 1873 would go back into production.

Yeah, they'll probably be making the .30/30 l/a's 88yrs from now...... Even the M94's are back in limited production in JAPAN of all places......
I'm still looking for a last year production .25/35 to match my M94 "Legacy" in .45Colt...I passed on one thinking I'd have time later to get one... Then "they" quit making them altogether...

OP - great idea for a thread topic! Great answers posters. The 30-30 will survive through 2100 for several reasons. It is undergoing a renaissance or rehabilitation with gun writers so it is getting a boost that will help it along for the next decade or so. The levergun is part of our cultural iconography and will remain an economically viable product as long as brass cartridge firearms do. 30-30 is inseparable from the levergun and so the two shall soldier on into the 22nd century.

I believe they will be, but in very limited numbers. Walk into a gun shop in 1950 and you'd see levers and revolvers. Walk into one today and you'll see ARs, Glocks and Sigs. As technology evolves, older styles die out for the most part or completely. It's a sad fact, but it's life. Fortunately, there will always be those who keep them alive. I'm grateful for the modern day mountain men and SAAS for whom Hawkens and .45 Colts are still being made.

I would not be surprised if lever actions that are actually historically accurate for the 1860's-1880's to still be be produced as reproductions ....

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That's like saying today you would still see bows, crossbows, flintlock Kentucky rifles and caplock Hawkins rifles at the ranges and hunting fields today which is ... actually happening. Hmm.

Do you think lever actions in .30-30 will still be produced in 2100?

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I too think they will be around in limited quantities. But, unfortunately they won't be marketed as an equally viable hunting rifle but instead will be sold as a novelty to people who want to "step back in time." It will be similar to someone buying a repro 1860 Colt Army today, which is seldom if ever sold for it's original intended purpose any more.

Walk into a gun shop in 1950 and you'd see levers and revolvers. Walk into one today and you'll see ARs, Glocks and Sigs. As technology evolves, older styles die out for the most part or completely. It's a sad fact, but it's life.

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For the first time I am not really that excited about the new "future" guns or the direction the industry as a whole seems to be going in. I'm already sick of "black and camo plastic." While I think that many of them are good guns from a performance stand point, they somehow still leave me "cold". Try as I might, I can't help but look at many new "black guns” as being not much more than simply "tools." I guess in the future I'll be shopping in the "novelty gun" isle.

88 years, to much of a stretch for me.

Nematocyst
I would like to join the Marlin 336 club .Spent a lot of time reading those posts. Time well spent. Thor

They will be available as expensive reproductions. Only rich people from India and Congo will be able to afford them.

Bushpilot said:

For the first time I am not really that excited about the new "future" guns or the direction the industry as a whole seems to be going in. I'm already sick of "black and camo plastic." While I think that many of them are good guns from a performance stand point, they somehow still leave me "cold". Try as I might, I can't help but look at many new "black guns” as being not much more than simply "tools." I guess in the future I'll be shopping in the "novelty gun" isle.

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Well on the bright side, from what I've heard, when the US military finally replaces the m4/m16 they don't want it to be black because it sticks out on thermal or infrared (one of the two) more than other colors, so it might get better.