levergun idea - LeverEvolution .260

[roscoe]

With the appearance of LeverEvolution's .308 Marlin, and boxes of unsold .308 Marlin on the shelves, I had a thought.

The .308 Marlin kind of shows how Hornady does not quite get it. The .308 Marlin rifle is long and cumbersome (it comes with a 24" barrel), so you might as well carry a bolt gun and get true .308 performance. The .308 Marlin round does not near equal what the true .308 can offer.

But, with a rubber spitzer-tip .260 round based on the 30-30 case, it seems like you would have a lower-pressure round that could be shot from a handy 20" carbine, yet the capacity of the case should get you up close to 2800-3000 fps or so with a 120 grain slug.

That would give you true bolt-gun performance, with a nice flat-shooting round perfect for deer, out of the handy little lever gun. With the rubber LeverEvolution tip, it would retain energy and give you quite a bit of range.

That, in my opinion, is what Hornady and Marlin should have done instead of making the .308 Marlin.

 

[ugaarguy]

The .308 Marlin kind of shows how Hornady does not quite get it. The .308 Marlin rifle is long and cumbersome (it comes with a 24" barrel), so you might as well carry a bolt gun and get true .308 performance. The .308 Marlin round does not near equal what the true .308 can offer.

Understand two things. First, you can get Marlin lever guns in .308 Marlin with 20" barrels. Second, the 336 action is strong, but it's not a bolt gun. The .308 Marlin has very good ballistics given the case size and action strength limitations. It's more comparable to .308 Win. than most folks realize.

.260 Remington is indeed a nice round, but it hasn't caught on with the public yet in the way other rounds have. Americans like cartridges firing 30 caliber projectiles. .30-30, .30-06, .308 Win, .300 Win Mag, .300 WSM have ranged from popular and lasting to new and more easily accepted based on caliber. The 7mm Rem Mag, .270 Win, and .243 Win are amongst the best selling non 30 cal. cartridges in this country. If the .308 Marlin takes hold I'd bet on something in 270 or 284 (7mm) caliber as their next move before going to a 260 caliber cartridge.

Again, regardless of caliber action strength will limit the rounds to an extent versus their bolt gun fired competition.

The idea of a 260 caliber cartridge for a lever gun has been more or less done before with the .257 diameter .250 Savage. With the .308 Marlin being a new spin on the old .307 Winchester lever action cartridge in many respects, perhaps a .260 Marlin would likewise be a new and modernized adaptation of the once popular .250 Savage. It's a neat idea, and maybe Marlin will give it some thought.

 

[ArmedBear]

It's a good idea, but not a new one, if you're willing to allow for a half millimeter.

It's called the 7-30 Waters and its been around for 30 years.

All that would have to happen is for Marlin to stick a different barrel on the 336 line, and Hornady would have to put a plastic tip on a 7mm bullet.

Given Hornady's plans to offer LE rounds in a number of new calibers this year, this could happen.

The only real problem with the .308 Marlin is that you have to buy a new gun for a new cartridge, and one that isn't an established reloader's round, either. That's a leap of faith, given the price of the gun, and it's a lot to ask of a gun buyer. Using an existing round like the 7-30 Waters, which is already available off-the-shelf, could reassure those of us who are more cautious with our cash. The LE could give it good performance, especially for a low-recoil round.

What about it, ReMarlington? It'd be a cheap thing to offer; no major retooling at all.

 

[Z_Infidel]

Understand two things. First, you can get Marlin lever guns in .308 Marlin with 20" barrels.

The current offerings are the 24" 308MXLR and the 22" 308MX.

 

[TexAg]

I'd like to see a light weight bullet in LE also, flatter shooting and suited perfectly for varmints like coyotes. Even a 125 or so 30-30 LE would be great.

 

[eliphalet]

Look at the BLR for other calibers, for bolt strength in a lever.

 

[Fburgtx]

No, no, no!!! What they need to make is a .243 Marlin!! You could use it for deer and coyotes and it would also be a great gun for women and kids.

 

[roscoe]

Look at the BLR for other calibers, for bolt strength in a lever.

Well, of course, but my father's Winchester 88 (like a BLR) is about as handy as a bolt gun. With a normal tube-fed lever gun, you get 6 rounds, relatively rapid fire, and a very handy package. With a smaller caliber, but the same 30-30 case, you cold get a fair bit of velocity. I'm open to .243, on up to .270, which seems to me to be the sweet spot of optimal ballistic performance against power for deer-sized game.

I just feel that they missed the boat by going with .308 Marlin. They could get bolt-gun performance, but only by having the big case capacity of the 30-30 necked down for a smaller slug (to accomodate the pressure issue).

 

[George Hill]

I'ld really like to see a LEVERevolution 7-30 Waters. I'd buy that... especially in an XLR stainless... I'd buy that in a second.