Marlin's 336Y SpikeHorn For Home Defense?

[loandr.]

do a net search for Gabe Suarez..........few have as much info to offer on the HD aspects of the .30-.30 lever action......he hosts a forum known as warrior talk as well. Enjoy!

Loandr.

Personally ive always been a big fan of the 1894P....same size/specs as above BUT in .44 Magnum for HeavyBrush/Field(4 legged) use and .44 spls. for HD(2 legged) offering a higher capacity and less pene. Just my .02

 

[rbernie]

The logic behind choosing a SHORT GUN over a carbine for home defense just doesn't cut it for me.

+1. Here's a quick test for all y'all pistolero's.

First - holding an unloaded pistol/revolver, get into your favorite stance and measure the distance from your centerline to the end of the weapon. Do the same thing with your handy-dandy unloaded 16" carbine. Second - pick two targets, at least six feet away and separated by at least four feet. Starting with your unloaded weapon at the low ready, acquire one with a good sight picture, hold thru a two-second interval, and then switch to the other, obtaining a good stance and sight picture. Do this with both your pistol and your carbine. Finally - obtain a sight picture on something with your unloaded carbine and side-step rapidly while keping a sight picture on the target. Do the same thing with your unloaded pistol.

The simple reality for anyone taking this quick test is that you'll likely find that you're no MORE big-n-slow with a long gun and you'll be no more compact-n-quick with a pistol, and that the long gun was easier to keep on target. I also guarantee you that you'll be MILES more accurate with a simple iron-sighted carbine at virtually any distance than you will be with a handgun. It's simply a question of sight radius and platform stability.

IMO, the only real advantage for a pistol in home defense (and it's a big one for us family guys) is that its more easily secured in a household with small children. But if the opportunity presents itself, why would you willingly give up the carbine's advantages of accuracy and stopping power?

 

[Magnum88C]

IMO, the only real advantage for a pistol in home defense (and it's a big one for us family guys) is that its more easily secured in a household with small children. But if the opportunity presents itself, why would you willingly give up the carbine's advantages of accuracy and stopping power?

The other advantage to the handgun is you can carry a flashlight at night and use the handgun at the same time. Let me stave off the arguments before they start.
All is my opinion:
1.) A waepon mounted light (beit a long gun or handgun) is a BAD idea.
"But Magnum, they're conveinent and easy to use."
"Yes, grasshopper, but they hold the single aim point the bad guy will have in the dark in front of your vitals."
2.) My preference is for a large Maglite, held in the offhand, with the upper arm held parallel to the floor, and the forearm held vertically. This accomplishes several things:
A.) It puts the aimpoint above and away from your vitals.
B.) being the single point of reference for the now blinded bad guy, it will make you appear taller than you are. Before you say he can tell that no one is that tall, remember you just blinded his night vision, he sees a bright light and a bright halo around it, his senses are off, and you're playing on that.
C.) It puts the flashlight in a good position to use as a club in the event the bad guy gets too close for whatever reason (the reason the Maglite is my preference. These "tactical" lights are brighter, and lightweight, but are sh*t for use as a weapon.). Don't say he'll never get right on top of you, there's corners and objects in your house, just like everyone's.

FWIW, that's the reason I prefer a handgun at night, it's not a length issue. In fact I would think using a full-size handgun is best at home (better control, sight radius, etc), mine is a 6.5" gun. If you're thinking gun grabs, pull the gun back into retention. The bad guy will have to travel further to get it, increasing his chances of getting shot, a be beaten half to death with the Maglite at the same time.

In daylight, I go back to preferring the long gun.
Also, like I said before, in rural areas (where the original poster was asking about) there's other things besides humans to "defend the castle" from. A wild hog can easiely tear the hell out of a family pet, OR YOUR CHILDREN. A rifle or shotgun is nice to have. Same with venomous snakes, feral dogs, etc.

I like to keep a Mosin Nagant M44 over the back kitchen door for such occasions, but an 1894 Marlin in .357/.44 magnum, or the aforementioned 336 in .30-30 will all do fine.

As for worrying about penetration, the family should have a defense plan, and should know to keep low. This is not just so your rounds don't hit them, but also the bad guy's (who don't give a damn about your family, and who don't carry "house safe" bullets) don't zip through and kill them. Defense of the home is EVERYBODY's job, and responsibility.

 

[Michael Courtney]

I like it

Criminals are making increased use of bullet proof vests and the 30-30 will do a much better job in this arena than shotgun or pistol. One needs to pick shooting directions that don't put others in harms way. I like the 30-30 lever for covering the door of a saferoom, where the shot angles are controlled, but I like something with less penetration if there's a potential need to go to the aid of a family member located elsewhere in the home, because shot angles will likely not be controlled.

Michael Courtney

 

[roscoe]

You can always load a 30-30 with Winchester Accelerators (a saboted 55-grain load), which gives .223-like performance and reduces overpenetration. They are not super-accurate at long distances, but within 50 yards, no problemo.

 

[1911user]

Assuming a lever-action 30-30, the accelerators would limit you to a 2 shot rifle (1 in chamber, 1 in mag). Otherwise, you'll have a pointy bullet against a live primer with more than 1 in the mag. That's why I recommended the downloaded 110 grain speer JHPs; you can stuff the mag full with their blunt nose.

 

[roscoe]

Agreed, except that you can easily make the Accelerators blunt - they are soft-points.

As for the long gun vs. handgun for home defense, to me it gets down to the fact that I can operate a handgun with one hand. You never know what you might need to do with that other hand - operate a phone or flashlight, fend off a surprise attack, open a door, turn on the lights, scratch yourself, etc.

 

[Mannlicher]

I have one of the little 336Y Spikehorns, and I think it would be a dandy HD rifle. The short barrel and stock makes it easy to handle indoors.
The old boogyman of 'overpenetration' raised it's head early in this thread. Frankly if you hit your target, then that is less of a consideration. I for one, am not about to give up power, to compensate for a high degree of maybe, that a missed round will go through a wall.
For me, the downside of the lever gun as a HD weapon is fairly low magazine capacity, and the difficulty of reloading under stress. For HD use, I prefer my Bushmaster shorty.

 

[Snowman92D]

I work for a metro police agency and we tested .30-30 jhp's in ballistic ordnance gelatin. I even brought in my 16.5-inch barreled Marlin Spikehorn as the test gun.

Federal Cartridge's 125-grain .30-30 jhp (catalog #3030C) and Winchester's 150-grain .30-30 jhp (catalog X30301) both penetrated about 14 inches in the calibrated gel through the 4X cottom denim clothing barrier. This is the same penetration as the 9mm and .40 S&W "performance" jhp's that we issue for our service handguns. If that level of penetration in "acceptable" in a defensive handgun, why wouldn't it be acceptable in an easier-to-hit-with carbine? Plus the rifle round is expending a lot more striking energy over the same penetration distance.

I personally would prefer a shotgun for close-range defensive use, but if all you have is a .30-30, you can get by quite nicely with the right sort of ammo.