Thinking of retiring my .35 Rem Marlin rifle. Other alternatives?

[MeekandMild]

I've been thinking of retiring my Marlin deer rifle, looking for one gun which could be used for critters the size of black bear down to coyote. Its .35 Rem is a really great round, but I wonder about alternatives.

The 30-30 is nearly the same as .35 Rem, just a little bit more powerful out of the muzzle and a little bit weaker at longer ranges. The 30-30 would be a whole lot easier to reload due to having reasonable shoulder geometry.

The .44 magnum could be shot with .44 Special for coyotes, .44 Mag for deer and would be sort of weak for bear. Reloading is easy.

Then come the bigger ones. .444, .450 Marlin and 45-70 Government all exceed a 30-06 in terms of muzzle energy, great for bear, a little bit overkill for deer, too liable to punch through a whole lot of trees to hit unwanted things too far away, and way too much for coyote. OTOH all three would be easier to reload than the .35. Of these three the 45-70 does have a factory "cowboy action" load which is about equal to some factory .44 magnum loads.

So which would be better? Of course we are limiting ourselves entirely to guns available in Marlin lever action for aesthetic reasons. This is for a serious woods hunting gun and not for any collection. I expect it to get rained on, muddy and dirty. If I've got to look at a rifle all day for weeks on end I want it to be a levergun.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

45-70 because that's what I want for next deer season. It's just got a great history to it and great accuracy and power for woods hunting.

Although .44 does give you some additional options.

 

[dakotasin]

don't trade it in... keep it and just buy another.

guns that get sold/traded off always seem to be regrettable.

 

[tc300mag1]

Go for the 44 mag. i wouldnt trad of the 35 just buy anther gun

 

[Northwest Cajun]

Another vote for keeping the 35 Rem and getting a Marlin Guide gun in 45-70. I used one last year to knock a 4x4 bull Elk off it's feet at 50 yards. It will handle weak factory loads ment for a trapdoor all the way up to garrett and buffalo bore heavy loads. I have settled on a 405 bullet at 1700fps. Accurate out to 200 yds with ghost ring sights or 2.75X scout scope.
You cant go wrong with a cartridge that was designed at the end of the civil war!

Cajun

 

[T.F.H]

I had a .35 and got rid of it WISH I HAD IT BACK!!!!

go for another rifle I like 45-70 thinking of one for myself

but first igot to get another .35

 

[Delmar]

The poll had nothing for "other", but might I suggest a Browning BLR in 308 or 358 Winchester? The 308 is enough for black bear, and the 358 is even better. Both cartridges have better long range ballistics than whats listed, which may be a concern when it comes to coyote shots over a couple of hundred yards. The few I have fired have been pretty accurate, as in 1 MOA and sometimes even better.

 

[kudu]

Keep the .35 and get a .45-70. I have the Marlin CB with the 26" barrel. With stout loads it still needs to be heavier. But it is a classic design that is nice shooting and very accurate.

You will probably regret getting rid of the .35, so keep it and get another. When trading you never make out unless you hate the gun your trading.

 

[Atticus]

I'd keep the .35...and I would disagree with the notion that a .44 mag is a little weak for bear....a Kodiac maybe...but there's nothing that a proper load wouldn't handle in the lower 48. Can't go wrong with a 45-70 though.

 

[Mike Irwin]

The .35 Remington has more than enough power to deal with black bear.

Stick with it.

 

[cratz2]

If you want something else and you handload, out of the 444, 450 and 45-70, I see no real reason to get anything other than the 45-70... Esp in a Marlin. You can load up or down as desired or needed.

I kind of have a hankerin' for a lightweight Winchester in 44 Magnum... With a peep sight. But I ain't lookin' to hunt bear though.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Tough choices. I've been hankering for a 44 marlin, just to 'have".

 

[TrapperReady]

You've got a great rifle in a great caliber already. As several others have said, get a 45/70 if you want something with more punch. Frankly, if I were going to buy a new lever gun for myself, I might very well get the .35 Rem.

 

[MeekandMild]

OK, I'll admit it, the ONLY thing I dislike about the .35 is the weak little shoulders which just won't do right reloading. Posting this and putting out the choices made me really think of this, so I'll probably keep it.

Which means that I'll have to start saving if I want to get a new gun for next season. My vote was the first one for 45-70 and I'm glad to see that many others agree. The idea of having an easily reloadable cartridge and a wide variety of facoty loads is appealing. Plus the opinion in several places on the internet that the Marlin people seem to have designed the rifle to be just as strong as their .450 Marlin guns.

So its time to start saving the nickles and dimes, boys and girls.

Added later: It looks like the 45-70 can be loaded down to approximate the .44 mag, though not quite as low energy as the .44 special. Also, I've been looking at ads for factory cowboy action loads and they appear to be within the range of a .44 mag. This gets more interesting...

 

[Smoke]

I have a 45-70 and like it.
I have a 30-30 and like it.
I have a 300 Savage and love it.

45-70 has a lot of kick with the hotter loads. .30 cals are earier to shoot more often.

Any of them will work.

Smoke

 

[MeekandMild]

Ah, Smoke, the 300 Savage! It wasn't on my list as it isn't on the Marlin short list. What do you have it in, a Savage model 99 or maybe one of those old Remington pump rifles? The last gun I saw in that caliber was a really nice bolt action custom gun, though I believe Remington is now making model 700s in this caliber.

I have heard that this cartridge has some reloading problems due to its short neck and difficult shoulder geometry. Do you reload?

 

[Mike Irwin]

I have 3 rifles chambered in .300 Savage.

A Savage 99 EG.

A Remington 722.

A Remington 81.

I've never run into any untoward problems reloading the .300.

The short neck can be a bit of a pain to deal with if you don't take enough time to fiddle with your dies.

You MAY need small base dies for the 99, but that's not a given. Mine didn't.

 

[Smoke]

My .300 Savage is a model 99.

I don't reload for it. I do reload, just never did for the savage. I don't put alot of volume through it, and it shoots great with factory stuff. It's my "go to" brush gun.

Smoke

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

If you decide to sell it, I imagine there's a bunch of guys over on Marlin Talk who'd be happy to buy it from you.

 

[MeekandMild]

After much difficult pondering I think that selling it would be unkind to all the children, grandchildren and other assorted buzzards who are waiting to pick over my stuff when I pass on to the Happy Hunting Ground.

So I am going to stop eating out, delay a few unneeded road trips and skip some other expenses and save up to buy the new one without selling the old one.

I've nearly got Mrs. Meek convinced to let me buy it. I mentioned that while she will never get my living breathing body aboard any cruise ship to the malarial islands or plane to visit Eurotrashworld, I would be highly amenable to going up to snow country and snuggling a few nights in a nice warm hunting lodge, while going bear hunting in the daytime. (Needless to say, I haven't told her how sparse said lodges must be if they are to be affordable.)

 

[wardmclark]

I've got a .45-70 Guide Gun and I like it.

I've got a 336 in .30-30 and I like it.

Hell, I've got about 30 rifles and I like all of 'em.

I've got three .30-06's. I'm still trying to convince my wife that I need three scoped bolt guns in one caliber. Try that sometime.

I'd keep the .35. That round was still available when I bought my .30-30, and I always kind of wished I'd bought the .35 instead, even though now that I've moved to Colorado, I hardly touch the 336 except for fun.

 

[MeekandMild]

Mrs. Meek has given final and absolute permission for the 45/70! This is a lot more definitive than her earlier theoretical OK.

I suppose, having roast deer with white sauce last night had something to do with it.

Wardmclark you might explore the possibilities of cheese based sauces with a hint of horseradish and chives, sprinkled with paprika. This plus side dishes of pan baked new potatoes and lemon flavored broccoli will help when you start trying to get command clearance to buy your fourth 30-06.

 

[wardmclark]

I was thinking of trying a bottle of 12-year old Scotch. Your way may be cheaper.

 

[MeekandMild]

I would think a good Cabernet or Shirah would go better with deer meat. The object is to convince her how good deer tastes and how many more you could get with just one more rifle.

Seriously, after having harvested my first black powder deer this year and having seen how quickly it bled out and how clean was the meat I am starting to convince myself that the idea of a big gun which puts big holes through the deer is a good one.

 

[wardmclark]

MeekandMild wrote: "I would think a good Cabernet or Shirah would go better with deer meat. The object is to convince her how good deer tastes and how many more you could get with just one more rifle. "

Oh, she knows that. She shoots and hunts too. The trick is I have to alternate with her - I get a new gun, she gets a new gun, and so on.

It's her turn at the moment, and she wants a Citori.

I'm working on it.