Mossberg lever action .30-30: Why discontinued?

[Hugger-4641]

Well....Savage had a little tug at the beginning and the end, but otherwise pretty much cycles itself.

All the other leverguns feel like a transmission shifting by comparison.

Never seen a Savage lever action. I would be interested to try one.

 

[Rip dog]

Google savage mod 99. Well built and accurate as were most pre 1970 firearms. They have increased significantly in price recently but are still around.

 

[Buckeye63]

I owned by s Mossberg 464 Levergun .. Trapper , Brushgun it had a nickel type finish , 16.5 inch barrel .actually a great carbine … Im not sure why I traded it off .. some bad decision

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I have one in 22lr. I think they are no longer made too.

 

[peacebutready]

I would probably buy one if I ran across it. Marlin and Henry are overpriced but I've bought them any way. I don't like Rossi's little toggle safety so I ain't buying one of thiers.

I read Rossi either needs work out of the box or would benefit greatly from work out of the box. I don't know if that is true or not.

 

[peacebutready]

Winchester does too if you try to cycle them slow. Marlin has always had the smoothest lever action. That's coming from a lifetime model 94 lover, but it is what it is.

All Winchesters? I know they moved production to Japan but don't know when they did that.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I have a Rossi 45 colt lever action. It works fine.

 

[peacebutready]

Well....Savage had a little tug at the beginning and the end, but otherwise pretty much cycles itself.

All the other leverguns feel like a transmission shifting by comparison.

Maybe Savage will get back in the lever action game. They got into 1911s.

 

[Hugger-4641]

O

Google savage mod 99. Well built and accurate as were most pre 1970 firearms. They have increased significantly in price recently but are still around.

I forgot about the 99. I've only seen one and it was in 300savage.

 

[Hugger-4641]

All Winchesters? I know they moved production to Japan but don't know when they did that.

Well, I honestly haven't bought a "new" Winchester in quite a while , they may have improved. But if we're including .22lr levers, then Browning actually has the smoothest one I've ever used and a really short stroke too.

 

[entropy]

Yes, they have a rack and pinion action, and they are hell to retime if you take the gun apart.

 

[CraigC]

Marlin smooth? When did that happen???

I don't like Rossi's little toggle safety so I ain't buying one of thiers.

You can fix that in about five minutes.

 

[Rip dog]

O
I forgot about the 99. I've only seen one and it was in 300savage.

They were actually made in a suprising number of calibres. Several were proprietary cartridges but they were also made in 243 308 356 and 30/30

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I have never seen one for sale. Mostly Marlins and an occasional Winny.

 

[22250Rem]

It hit the market in 2008.

Thanks for jogging my memory on that date. I recall seeing the advertising upon its introduction. I would have been taking a serious look at them if I hadn't already inherited a .30-30 Marlin lever gun from an uncle. Which backs up that previously mentioned theory that the market was already pretty saturated with Marlins & Winchesters and it can be difficult for a new competitor to break into an established market.

 

[herrwalther]

Ruger resurrected the Marlin name and took over the market.

How? I have yet to see a Ruger-made Marlin on the shelf. They are not producing the Marlin level quality and quantity that they were known for. Back when I bought my first Marlin, it was 300 bucks compared to the 1000 Henry. Now, Henrys are the cheaper rifle by comparison to the new Marlins. I do not see them being able to compete on the lever action market at the price point they sell at.

I really wish Mossberg was still in the market for levers. A laminated SS lever gun for the price of the old Marlins? Yes please. I have hunted them on Gunbroker only for them to go for thousands of dollars. Way over their original price. I like pretty lever guns a lot. But I like to have one I can beat up and never feel bad about.

 

[Buckeye63]

Marlin smooth? When did that happen???



You can fix that in about five minutes.

This one is fairly smooth / butter

 

[GooseGestapo]

They were actually made in a suprising number of calibres. Several were proprietary cartridges but they were also made in 243 308 356 and 30/30

Actually, .358win.

Not .356 Winchester, a rimmed version chambered in the Winchester M94 Angle Eject Big Bore, and a few in the Marlin M336.

 

[Rip dog]

My mistake

 

[rdnktrkr]

My friend has one chambered in 30-30, shoots very well, he picked it up used when he was hunting a 22lr lever action when levers were cheap, $250 for both. We had a lever shoot recently and someone had a Savage 99 in 308 so I can say I've seen one. My first lever was purchased in the mid 70s for $99, a Marlin 35 with gold trigger, when they had rebates on them in the early 2000s, I bought a long barrel 45-70 for $300 minus the rebate, since then I found a big loop Winchester 30-30 and a Ted Williams 30-30 with a shorter barrel. I like shooting levers and feel I have to where a plaid shirt and wool hat when I pull them out. If I found one in 12ga I might look into another, maybe 44mag, 444. A good marketing maybe would be offer a pistol and lever in the same caliber so new buyers wouldn't have to search around.

 

[DM~]

A good marketing maybe would be offer a pistol and lever in the same caliber so new buyers wouldn't have to search around.

Henry already does that, in 357 mag... A revolver and lever rifle.

DM

 

[tubeshooter]

I remember these - seems like they were only offered very briefly.
Mossberg 464.

I wasn't in the market so I didn't look at them very hard, but of course there was no shortage of people saying what it wasn't (Marlin/Win). Consequently it didn't last long.


I think, as others have alluded to, that they jumped the gun a little bit (pardon the pun). Probably would have been a lot more successful if offered maybe 2 or 3 years later; a lower price point wouldn't have hurt either. Of course this is incredibly easy to say in hindsight; nobody knows the future and the gun crowd can be a notoriously fickle and persnickety bunch.

 

[Varminterror]

So...

We're surprised - for some reason - when in a market which saw the demises of Winchester AND Marlin, two companies which are synonymous with "leveraction rifles," due to low market demand, also saw the demise of a Mossberg leveraction...?

 

[peacebutready]

So...

We're surprised - for some reason - when in a market which saw the demises of Winchester AND Marlin, two companies which are synonymous with "leveraction rifles," due to low market demand, also saw the demise of a Mossberg leveraction...?

As far as Marlin goes, I have to think Remington buying them out and quality going downhill had something to do with it. I don't know how much, though. The Remington made Marlins acquired the nick-name Remlins. During that era, the pre-Remington, used Marlins jumped up in price.

Was it the Marlin plant in CT that employees vandalized when they learned their company would be moved?

 

[peacebutready]

...I think, as others have alluded to, that they jumped the gun a little bit (pardon the pun). Probably would have been a lot more successful if offered maybe 2 or 3 years later; a lower price point wouldn't have hurt either. Of course this is incredibly easy to say in hindsight; nobody knows the future and the gun crowd can be a notoriously fickle and persnickety bunch.

I want to say they were priced slightly less than Marlin but I'm not sure.