The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Scope for a 30-30

bamaranger · December 5, 2019, 02:37 AM

Bigger is not always better, and if you mount a 50mm bell on your lever rifle, you will be sorry. That big bell up front will require you to giraffe your head up off the comb of the stock for an awkward shooting position, and as noted, the bigger the scope, the more it weighs, and a 50mm scope weighs plenty.

Despite the fact that a lot of 3-9x40mm scopes have ended up on lever rifles, particularly the easily scoped Marlins, my personal belief is that optic is too much scope as well. And, I think that the 3-9x40mm just looks oversized on a lever carbine. If one must have a variable, I'd consider a tidy 2-7x33 as the top end. The lower powered variables with 20mm bells are not bad choices either. The simple fixed 4x is about all you will need for most shots at whitetails with a 30-30 offering simplicity and ample magnification for the reach of your 30-30.

I used to crow loudly about "no scopes on your lever carbines" but do so no longer. Main reason, I cannot run iron sights like I used to. Another, a half decent scope of near any kind will offer more shooting time in the AM/PM than any iron sight, particularly a peep. There is much good shooting done with iron sights, but a lot of it, particularly at any distance, is done on large target faces under ideal lighting conditions. Picking a sulking whitetail out of cover in marginal light will find iron sight hunters coming up short and having to pass shots, or make poor shots, that a hunter equipped with a scope might ethically take and make.

December 5, 2019, 02:37 AM	#13
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,308	reason Bigger is not always better, and if you mount a 50mm bell on your lever rifle, you will be sorry. That big bell up front will require you to giraffe your head up off the comb of the stock for an awkward shooting position, and as noted, the bigger the scope, the more it weighs, and a 50mm scope weighs plenty. Despite the fact that a lot of 3-9x40mm scopes have ended up on lever rifles, particularly the easily scoped Marlins, my personal belief is that optic is too much scope as well. And, I think that the 3-9x40mm just looks oversized on a lever carbine. If one must have a variable, I'd consider a tidy 2-7x33 as the top end. The lower powered variables with 20mm bells are not bad choices either. The simple fixed 4x is about all you will need for most shots at whitetails with a 30-30 offering simplicity and ample magnification for the reach of your 30-30. I used to crow loudly about "no scopes on your lever carbines" but do so no longer. Main reason, I cannot run iron sights like I used to. Another, a half decent scope of near any kind will offer more shooting time in the AM/PM than any iron sight, particularly a peep. There is much good shooting done with iron sights, but a lot of it, particularly at any distance, is done on large target faces under ideal lighting conditions. Picking a sulking whitetail out of cover in marginal light will find iron sight hunters coming up short and having to pass shots, or make poor shots, that a hunter equipped with a scope might ethically take and make.