good deal on a used marlin 30as?

[Nathanael_Greene]

I was pawnshop cruising recently, and came across a nice Marlin 30AS, in pretty good shape. There was a little rust on the mag tube, but not much wear overall; wood and bluing were pretty sound.

The rifle was also equipped with a cheap Tasco 4x scope.

They were asking $169, but I got 'em down to $150, tax included. It seemed like too good a deal to pass up, so I took it. I had seen some Marlin 336's or 30's in some other shops, and even fairly beat-up guns were tagged in the $200 neighborhood, so this one seemed like a decent deal at $150.

I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but it cleaned up pretty nice.

Did I do okay?

 

[mainmech48]

The only major difference between the 30AS and the 336 is that the stock and forend of the AS is made of "walnut finished hardwood" (usually birch). All parts and accessories will interchange.

$150 sounds like a very reasonable price to me, assuming that it's fully functional and in NRA VG or better condition.

One thing to look out for: Check your first couple of rounds of fired brass carefully. Look for ANY signs of excessive headspace. The most obvious would be a slightly "bright" ring near the case head. Take a piece of stiff wire (such as an opened paper clip) and make a slight hook on the end. Run it down into the case to the base and pull it back up keeping a slight lateral pressure on it. If you feel a "catch" anywhere near the base, STOP SHOOTING and have a qualified gunsmith check it with a set of gauges.

I've seen several older used Marlins which appeared to have seen only modest use that showed signs of this to one degree or another. I've no explanation as to exactly "why" this might happen, but it's reasonable to assume that they can't ALL have been subjected to overzealous handloads.

To be fair, I've seen many more (and I own two presently) which are prefectly fine after many, many rounds. Just passing along something to be aware of when dealing with any used lever gun of unknown provenance.