Well yesterday was a nice day so I figured I'd do a little shooting/make some noise with the deer rifles. Anyways, I have a Marlin 30-30 (30AS model, like a 336 with cheap furniture) and I thought I'd sight it in with some Lever Evolution rounds. I had found some reloads from way back dated 2010. A non typical loading for 30-30 with 165 grain Hornady Interlock bullets, the pointy kind. But I figured I'd burn them up, as there's only 15 rounds. I must have had some spare bullets and a case of boredom six years ago. Obviously I reloaded these with the intention of using them in the rifle with only two cartridges at a time so as not to set one off in the tubular magazine. Here comes the fun part. Pop one in the loading gate, and give her a shuck...hmmmm it no worky....the back end of the cartridge won't come up as normal, and the tip of the bullet is caught on something inside! The tip of the bullet can't clear the works to go up and into the chamber. Can't lift the back of the cartridge to finesse it out the ejection port either. So I remove the screw in the lever handle, remove the lever, bolt and the ejector spring. A little shake n upside down n sideways action and the cartridge falls out the back. So I'm thinking that sucks, why did I load them so long? As a rule, I would check a cartridge for fit as soon as I made the first one, so idk why I didn't. It's very clear now, that these will never feed from the tubular magazine. What do I do next? Throw one in the ejection port and ride her home. Almost... so close... and now it's looking like the c.o.l. not only being too long to feed, but the bullet ogive is hitting the leade or rifling before it can fully chamber. No problem, right? Wrong. Upon extraction, the bolt can only go back so far, and that tip of the bullet is still in the backside of the chamber not able to clear it. Again, remove the lever, bolt to the furthest back it can go, pry up on extractor, push bolt another 1/2' out the back, and free again. Moral of the story, check your ammo!!!
I've had very few boo boos with reloading over the years besides this. I shortened them from 2.760 to 2.65 and away they went single feed. Still amazed I put the rifle out of order so easily though.
I also locked up my Marlin lever-action last night!! I bought a used 1894 in .357 last week and finally got a chance to take it apart and clean it last night. Well, me not being used to how lever actions operate and just not thinking, I slid the bolt back in the frame before putting the lever back in place!! After a few minutes of panic I realized I could just feed a cleaning rod through the barrel and after a few taps with a mallet the bolt popped out, but I was pretty worried for a minute that I'd need a gunsmith lol.
I always run every round I take hunting through my rifles before the season starts. That's what I'll do this weekend. Bassjam-you'll have fun with that Marlin .357! I love mine-like a .22 with light .38 specials, capable of deer hunting with .357 magnum loads-I will shoot a deer one year with mine.
Those are the reasons I bought it, to hunt deer and for a light kicking gun for when my daughter is ready to step up from a .22. I tried out my new reloading press Sunday putting some light .38's together. I was impressed with how quiet they were, almost at the threshold where hearing protection was optional. If the gun weren't so nice I'd be tempted to cut threads on the muzzle and put a suppressor on it!
Just remember that suppressor, to be legal to have in your possession, will need a $250 Federal tax stamp. National firearms act of 1938. And you can blame it on Hollywood movies.
