Is there any danger to shooting a lever rifle

[leadcounsel]

A friend said that after reading that his lever action 30-30 could explode the shells in the magazine tube, he now loads one at a time.

Is there any real concern that one of the bullets in the tube could strike the primer of another bullet due to the recoil, and cause an explosion?

[Clayfish]

Maybe if you reload and load a FMJ projectile and cram 5 in the tube. That's why all factory .30-30 ammo has a flat or round nose. I've never heard of this happening.

[ClarkEMyers]

All factory .30-30 and such is more or less OK on this issue. Explosion is mostly too strong a word for technical use although folks to whom it has happened might choose strong language. Just like cartridges igniting in a fire it can be nasty but it's more a deflagration than a detonation depending of course on confinement.

Hornady has a new line of polymer tipped bullets intended to allow lever actions to use more pointed, that is higher ballistic coefficient, bullets.

It's possible with the wrong bullets to fire a cartridge in the magazine - in the past some who wanted to use more pointed bullets would load one in the chamber and only one in the magazine. Bullets appropriate for .30-30 use are mostly intended for shorter ranges - the new Hornady excepted - and when sold by the manufacturer for reloading work well and appropriately.

[FirstFreedom]

Is there any real concern that one of the bullets in the tube could strike the primer of another bullet due to the recoil, and cause an explosion?

Yes, there is a real, extreme danger concern (low probability of detonation but high magnitude of a fubar situation in the event of detonation) ....IF and ONLY IF you're using spitzer (pointed) bullet. If you are using spitzer bullets, then that means you've made up some reloads - you're not using commercial store-bought ammo, because they make darn sure that the bullets are not pointed, for this reason (since the ammo makers know that the vast majority of .30-30 guns are leverguns with tube mags). Commercial ammo uses a flat-nosed bullet (or in the case of the new Hornady's, the soft-pointed and safe leverevolution ammo). There is NO danger in using these commercial ammo types.

[Mannlicher]

Up until recently, spire point bullets were not available in factory loaded 30-30 ammo. Handloaders have always had the ability to load them, and I have done so myself for years.

[SOSARMS]

I think it's already been properly stated by many here, but here's my 2 cts worth.............As one who shoots levers 90% of the time and my T/C the other 10, I have actually accidently picked up some reload rounds meant for the T/C and just about put them in the 94......Almost all of your load manuals do advise where ammo could be used in a tube magazine, that you MUST use round nose bullet to prevent this from happening.

[skeeter1]

A wee bit off topic, but the instruction manual that came with my Marlin 1894C spefically said not to use CCI Blazers in it. Perhaps it doesn't have enough case-head support for the aluminum cases. I any event, I just thought I should pass this information along.

[guntotin_fool]

The mechanics of it make it easier to understand.

When you load the mag tube, all that holds the rounds back against the shell stop is a spring and they are sitting nose to tail inside there. When you pull the trigger, recoil sends the rifle backwards, but our friend inertia lets the bullets remain at rest for a moment longer, actually compressing the spring and creating a gap between the shell stop and the rounds in the tube. This inertia causes the spring to have potential or stored energy and when the rifle slows down against our shoulder, the potential energy in the spring is released as kinetic energy in the motion of the cartridges in the tube and they attempt to return to rest against the shell stop. Now if you have blunt, flat or round ends on the bullets, the area is great enough to prevent the indentation of the primer cup against the primer anvil and so no ignition takes place.

BUT if you have a pointy bullet in there, and a little bit of a soft primer cup slams against the point just right, it is possible to have that pointy bullet act just like a firing pin and dimple the primer cup and set off that round. this is known as a "Oh Sh**!!!" or a "What the h***" usually followed by a "SOB, my hand hurts," Some have tried to prevent this by cheating and using a magnum primer, (heavier cup material), or by loading one pointy followed by round nosed.
Remington in the old model 14's and 141's had an indentation spiraled around the mag tube and pushed the bullets out of line so that the point of the bullet vs the primer cup interface did not happen. This worked reasonable well but when they introduced the 760, they went to a box magazine as a marketing ploy.

Lever actions probably account for 50% of the high powered rifles in america. If it was unsafe to use one, it would be plastered on every news shot and newspaper in america.

[stevelyn]

Dave Scovill addresses this in the current issue of Handloader. The short answer is yes you can ( you really have to work at it to make it happen) set off a primer(s), but what happens since modern smokeless powder needs pressure to work properly, is that the bullets separate from the case and there is a lot of smoke and Fffffffffffttt, but no explosion that will damage the gun or you.
It's much more likely you'll be burned by touching the hot metal of the mag tube or a low pressure jet of burning gas escaping the loading port.

[redhawk41]

Dave Scovill addresses this in the current issue of Handloader.stevelyn, I read the Handloader article also and thought it was informative.

I would just like to add:

Take a couple of the cartridges you plan on placing in the magazine and lay them on a flat surface nose to tail. This will allow you to see, generally, if there is any enhanced possibility of recoil induced ignition caused buy a bullet surface striking a primer.

[stevelyn]

I think that perhaps you could get one to go off. I do not think you could start a chain reaction by doing so.

The tips of bottle-neck cartridges tend to rest on the edge of the cartridge in front. The straight wall types tend to rest head-on but still angling slightly. Using flat-nose bullets you'd be hard pressed to set off the primer in front without some inspiring engineering to make it happen.

Regardless how unlikely a catastrophic detonation in a mag tube would be, I still wouldn't chance stacking spitzer type bullets in one.

[youp]

To the best of my knowledge the 30 30 is only factory with flat points and Hornady Lever revolution. This is to prevent this chain reaction from happening. The 35 remington is available with a pointed 150 gr bullet. We use this bullet in a tubular magazine. We only put one in the chamber and ONE in the magazine. In these parts a second follow up may be possible but a third highly unlikely.

[TPAW]

Is there any danger to shooting a lever rifle

Only if it's pointed at you!........:rolleyes:

[kansas45]

I've carried a Marlin 30-30 in the pick-up truck for about 30yrs. Mostly with the chamber empty but with the magazine fully loaded. I have heard of one going off but I don't know how.

[MeekAndMild]

Is there any real concern that one of the bullets in the tube could strike the primer of another bullet due to the recoil, and cause an explosion? Notwithstanding the fact that many folks have many decades of safe experiance it must have happened some time to someone, sometime or people wouldn't be worried about it.

I have a well used 336 in .35 Remington, but I seldom load more than one extra in the magazine, not so much because of explosion risk with 200 gr bullets but because I have seen primer dents when cycling the action to remove them. I much prefer a 1895 45-70 using hollow point bullets and which has a crossbar safety.

[TPAW]

If you can see primer dents when you unload, the potential is there. In my 35 plus years of hunting, I have heard of it happening, but never wittnessed one.

[William Iorg]

Hello,

My first post after lurking for awhile.
See if your local Library has the 56th Edition of the Gun Digest, 2002.

Look for the article: "Tubular Magazines ...Are Safe" by R. W. Ballou.

[chemist308]

Isn't that why 30-30 ammo is flat nosed? Come to think of it, I've never seen anything but flat nosed 30-30 bullets. I guess if spitzer bullets could punch the primer of another round in the tube, but then I wouldn't try it...

From what I understand, there is one real danger with lever guns though--addiction. I don't own one though and I'm toying with the idea of getting a lever gun.

[Tom Matiska]

+ to guntotins explanation about the rounds going forward in the tube then hitting hard on the return trip. A factory gunsmith I crossed paths with about 20 years ago gave me the same explanation, and said it happens a few times a year to folks who load pointed bullets. Blunts are safe. Even with points it doesn't happen with one round in the tube. Most likely to happen with two in the tube. Less likely as more rounds compress the mag spring.

[skeeter1]

chemist308--

Don't be discouraged by the comments about using spitzer-type bullets in leverguns.

I've got two Marlin leverguns (39 and 1894) and I love them the most. I only use flat or hollow point rounds in them, and they work just fine.

They're really not meant for maximum range, but they're great fun. If long range is what you're looking for, then a bolt action would probably be better.

[William Iorg]

There are a number of round nose factory loads and component bullets intended for the .30-30 and .307 Winchester. They work fine with the recoil of the .307.