A few months ago I signed up to compete in the Hunting Rifle category at the 2003 NRA HIGH POWER RIFLE SILHOUETTE CHAMPIONSHIP that was held in Ridgway, PA on July 17, 18 & 19 .
I decided to compete with a real hunting rifle, my circa 1949 .30-30 Marlin 336SC (Sporting Carbine) along with some prime cast bulleted ammunition.
This competition is awash with bolt action rifles and high powered scopes. Of course, since it is fired from the offhand position at steel targets at 200 meters (chickens), 300 meters (javelina), 385 meters (turkeys) & 500 meters (rams) it is more the test of the shooter than the equipment. As it turned out it was the only levergun out of 300 or so entries and the only .30-30.
Certainly, the equipment also must also be up to the task and in June I had the opportunity to mount a 10X Lyman Silhouette on this rifle and test it at those distances and the rifle delivered those cast bullets pretty much on call all the way out to the rams at 500 meters (547 yards). For that target I used bullets from Lyman's 311644 mold which weighed 202 grs. over H414 powder. In Hunter class, all cartridges have to be fed into the chamber from the magazine, so I had to seat those 202 gr. bullets deep into the case which is normally not the best situation for fine cast bullet accuracy from a bottle neck case. It didnt work too bad with slow burning
H414 though.
I used a 168 gr. bullet made from an LBT mold over 32.5 grs. of 748 for the chickens, pigs and turkeys. The alloy for both bullets was wheelweight + 2% tin / heat treated. Bullet lubricant was the NRA formula of 50/50 beeswax/alox.
As I mentioned, this competition is more a test of the shooter than the rifle because of the offhand shooting required. That is the tough part. Those targets move around too much when I shoot from the standing position! A better shooter would have done this .30-30 Marlin rifle more justice.
As it turned out, I was only able to shoot 2 out of the 3 days of competition due to a family reunion. I fired my best score on day two and ended up placing in the top 1/3 in my class, so at least my Marlin .30-30 bested a number of bolt action rifles and their jacketed bullet ammunition (!).
Interestingly, several different shooters approached me and asked me questions about the rifle and the .30-30 over the two days I was there. I am sure some of them were wondering
. hmmmm
.. a .30-30 @ 547 yards (?)
.. and just look at those lead bullets
will it even shoot that far(!). Even two of the NRA match officials took an interest in my rifle and its capabilities.
On day two, I happened to connect with 4 of the 10 rams @ 500 meters. The shooter next to me had hit two with his 700 Remington rifle. He was amazed that a .30-30 levergun could even down any 55# steel rams at all at that extended distance!
All in all it was a very enriching, rewarding experience using a lever gun in an all bolt action rifle sport. No doubt, some folks went home with a newfound respect for the classic .30-30 cartridge and the leverguns that chamber it.
Long live the .30-30!
w30wcf
