Marlins
8X56,
I, too, am a Marlin lever fan. My 30-30 is a model 336CS with 20" barrel. I didn't get your excellent groups with mine but they were pretty good and I tried once with a scope sight. For regular carry, the Marlin wears a Lyman peep sight. Some comments and questions: (1) How is the muzzle blast with that short barrel? (2) Do you have any application for the 170gr bullet as opposed to the 150gr? I get almost identical accuracy with the two and see no need for the slower 170gr bullet. If I ever use the Marlin for big game hunting it will be for deer and the 150gr bullet is more than adequate. Friend of mine in Alaska has shot several moose with his 30-30 but I don't know what bullet weight he used. Might be a good case for the 170gr there. (3) I like your choice of powder and would suggest you could use Hodgdon Varget with no change in charge weights. Hodgdon once sold H4320 but I never used any, having always loaded with IMR4320 in my 6mm varmint loads. When I ran out of IMR4320 and got a good deal on Varget, I found that they seem to be identical. In fact, the loading manuals list identical Varget charge weights for several of my old favorite IMR 4320 loads.
Just my 2-cents,
270man
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