MARLIN 30-30 LEVER GUN QUESTION


bush_buzzard

bush_buzzard

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I have a Marlin 30-30 lever gun. My question is, can one leave this rifle loaded with 3 in the tube and one in the chamber 24/7/365 without hurting it? (Hammer down of course)

I know there is a spring in the magazine, but is anything else being affected by the gun being loaded for perpetuity?

Please note that I will shoot it from time to time because it is my main critter and deer rifle on my place. I like to keep it loaded in case, well, just in case.

Thanks
buzz
 
It wont hurt it being loaded no more than a gun with a clip, a spring is a spring. I would not keep one in the chamber just because its so easy to rack one in and its a safety thing...
 
Theron's advice matches what I've heard. From what I was taught a spring loses tension as a result of being compressed and stretched repeatedly. Not by being compressed and held in that position.

SDS
 
It won't hurt the rifle, but you'd be better served by storing it with an empty chamber and a loaded magazine.

I hope this doesn't seem like a lecture, but springs are cheap, and accidents aren't.
By leaving the chamber loaded with the hammer lowered, you are asking for trouble.

You don't mention whether your rifle has a cross-bolt safety or not - but regardless of mechanical safety, the Marlin action includes a half-#### position for the hammer, which should be used whenever a round is chambered. The mechanical safety incorporated into the more recent rifles blocks the hammer when engaged, preventing an inadvertent strike of the firing pin onto the primer.

Safety issues aside, the manual of arms for a lever action rifle is to leave the chamber empty until your target is identified, then, as you bring the rifle to your shoulder, cycle the action and load a round .

Hope that helps and doesn't come off as crass.
 
Theron714 said:
It wont hurt it being loaded no more than a gun with a clip, a spring is a spring. I would not keep one in the chamber just because its so easy to rack one in and its a safety thing...
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I realize the safety issue with one in the chamber and I completely believe in that philosophy. I carry every day, but I never put anything in the chamber unless I am ready to roll.

This issue is different. Let me just say first of all, I live by myself in the middle of nowhere Texas. The reason I would keep one in the chamber in this rifle is so that I can take one less bullets worth of tension off the spring. I am only putting 3 rounds in the magazine to help the spring keep its retention. You still have to pull the hammer back to fire the gun.

Thanks,
buzz
 
It's your call. Personally, I wouldn't do it under any circumstance, except in a tree stand or blind, and only to minimize the sound of the action cycling...

... especially considering that a magazine spring only costs $5.50 or less to replace.
 
brionic said:
It's your call. Personally, I wouldn't do it under any circumstance, except in a tree stand or blind, and only to minimize the sound of the action cycling...

... especially considering that a magazine spring only costs $5.50 or less to replace.
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This rifle belonged to my ex-wife's grandfather who died in the 70s and it was beat up when I got it. It is a beautiful piece of American ingenuity and I want to use it while preserving it. It has functioned flawlessly for probably 50 years, as is.

Lets say a fully grown hobbit wanted to keep a round in the chamber of a Marlin 30-30 lever gun 24/7 in some fanciful land that does not exist and where there are no consequences. Would this damage the gun in any way. Am I not seeing some extractor compression or some other moving part that could be damaged by keeping a round in the chamber.

I understand that safety is always an issue and that springs are cheap. I may not even put one in the chamber, but if I did, would it damage anything in the area of the breech bolt?

I don't mean to be disrespectful. This is my first post in the Firearms Forum. Is there some kind of insurance issue that is colliding with my will to find an answer to my question? I really care about using and preserving this rifle.
 
The worst it will do is wear out a spring that is cheap and easy to replace but I dont think that will happen. The safety issue is two things. A bump on the hammer while down MAY cause a accidental discharge. Also while lowering the hammer it might slip and discharge accidently. Your rifle and your house. Keep it how you want. Do you plan to keep the hammer cocked?
 
ekaphoto said:
Your rifle and your house. Keep it how you want. Do you plan to keep the hammer cocked?
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No. The hammer will not be cocked. I live in a 2 story home and the rifle will be hung from a very secure rafter. The rifle is only handled in a situation where it will be fired, which has happened for about once a week for the last 4 years.
 
I think if you follow the 4 basic rules it wont matter if there is one in the chamber or not. as far as mechanically it shouldn't hurt the rifle at all
 
As long as the rifle is clean and lightly oiled, the ammo not corroded too, I don't see anything mechanically wrong. I like keeping an empty chamber and a loaded tube. The lever action cycling has a similar effect as a pump shotgun. Bad guys recognize the sound and think twice before proceeding.
 
tennecedar said:
As long as the rifle is clean and lightly oiled, the ammo not corroded too, I don't see anything mechanically wrong. I like keeping an empty chamber and a loaded tube. The lever action cycling has a similar effect as a pump shotgun. Bad guys recognize the sound and think twice before proceeding.
Click to expand...

My enemies are of the 4 legged brand. Usually running away with a chicken in their jaws and my dogs closing in. I exist in a situation where one loaded chamber is a necessity. You can't possibly understand the situations I am in unless you deal with them on a daily basis. Sometimes I am shooting at a distance and sometimes I am shooting on the sneak, depending on what my dogs are telling me. I have specialized dogs that are freaking awesome. I have personally witnessed a bob cat running away from my chicken coup after it heard me rack a round from inside my house.

I consider every gun loaded.
 
I can see why ya keep it loaded and don't have any problems with that. I keep all kinds of critters too. I keep a 22 loaded with a light attached for coyotes in the back yard.
 
Whether you keep it with a loaded chamber or not is 100% YOUR BUSINESS.

I can't think of any way this would hurt the gun. With modern springs, compression and expansion is what wears them, not staying compressed. This would go for the magazine spring and the extractor spring. If in doubt, replace them with aftermarket springs once every 6 months. They're pretty cheap.
 
Most of mine have had the magazines fully loaded as long as i've owned them. Only one has had a spring problem, I think it was a bad spring. It was a Browning 92. Magazine springs are cheap and easy to replace.

Best related story I have is,...back in the 80's I bought a 94 Winchester carbine made in the 20's that had been a ranch gun in Az. It looked like it had had a very long and rough life. The magazine tube apparantly had been damaged, as it had been cut back about 2 or 3 inches. When I took it apart, I found that the spring had been literally worn through in a couple places, and had been spliced back together with sewing thread. It still worked tho.
 
It won't. The only way you can damage it is constant use. Loading and reloading the tube mag, day after day, that's how you wear it down.
 
Older firearms, especially those made prior to the 1940s had springs that developed "memory" and constant compression would, after a few months reduce the effectiveness of the springs.

More modern firearms have better steel alloys in their springs and will not be effected by contiouous compression. Yours should be good as long as it's not a really really old Marlin.
 
To answer your question, no there is nothing mechanically that will be affected by leaving the gun fully loaded with one in the chamber.
 
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