Winchester 30-30 or Rossi 44mag

[loadedp3at]

I have both of these and trying downsize a bit. Winchester is a 1979 with some surface rust. Rossi is almost new. I don't have a revolver in the 44 mag so both are just for hunting and home defense. I think they are both similar in close up power??? thoughts on which to keep.

[RED333]

30-30 beats the 44 mag at knock down power

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.44_Magnum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-30_Winchester

and the 30-30 will shoot out to distance better.

[Grayfox54]

For me it would depend on the barrel length. If the Rossi has the 16" barrel I would choose it as I has a great fondness for the Trapper length lever guns. However, if both rifles are roughly the same length, I'd choose the .30-30 for more power and better ballistics. 

[nightrunner]

I’d keep the Winchester.

If you want a carbine in a revolver caliber later, get one. As a side note though, might consider keeping them both, or trading the 44 for a 357, as revolver caliber lever actions usually hold 10 rounds flush and aren’t usually subject to any AWB that may or may not be coming...

.30-30 is roughly same power level as 7.62x39. Drop anything in TN (deer, black bear, 2 legged varmints) one shot in the right place inside 200 yards. 44mag is dropping FAST after 100 yards.

Personally I wouldn’t want to get rid of either as the Rossi is a good Winchester 92 clone, but I’d say 30-30 has better overall utility than 44 Mag, especially without a companion revolver.

Edited August 11, 2020 by nightrunner

[Trekbike]

I agree with others on the better choice would be 30-30.  

[Moped]

I have Rossi Trapper in .357. I love that little gun! Either rifle you have with take anything in Tennessee, 30/30s used to be a dime a dozen, but lately they’ve gone up in value. Personally, I’d trade the 30/30 for a .44 mag revolver and never look back.

[nightrunner]

15 minutes ago, Moped said:

I have Rossi Trapper in .357. I love that little gun! Either rifle you have with take anything in Tennessee, 30/30s used to be a dime a dozen, but lately they’ve gone up in value. Personally, I’d trade the 30/30 for a .44 mag revolver and never look back.

Marlin 30-30s were dime a dozen, but I don’t remember a time when Winchesters were plentiful. And Winchester 92s/clones and Marlin 1894s have always been less available than the 30-30s or 45/70s

[frankmako]

keep both of them.   with what is going on these day it is good to have all the rifle you can on hand.  

[Quavodus]

Yep, like frank mako said , keep them if you can with a good supply of ammo.

[Moped]

15 hours ago, nightrunner said:

Marlin 30-30s were dime a dozen, but I don’t remember a time when Winchesters were plentiful. And Winchester 92s/clones and Marlin 1894s have always been less available than the 30-30s or 45/70s

Over the years, I've had a couple of Winchesters and a couple of the older Marlins.  While it's true, you see more Marlins than Winshesters available, I've never considered them to be rare.  Also, the 30/30 never really caught my fancy, even though it's taken more deer than any caliber.  And honestly, I always wanted on in a pistol caliber lever action. 

On a side note, when I purchased the Rossi (16" or 20" barrel), I had the opportunity to also purchase a Henry (with a 20" barrel) or a Marlin (also 20" barrel)  I chose the Rossi, over the Henry, due to the weight (about 2 lbs heavier) and the Henry loading from the tube and also because of the price (roughly $200 more).  I wanted a loading gate.  And I chose the Rossi over the Marlin, because I had heard nothing good about the new Marlins. It was also about $150 more.  Went to the range about a month later with a friend and his son, who had bought a Marlin .357,  6 months prior.  The little Rossi preformed very well, with both .38s and .357.  The Marlin not so much.  It had a lot of binding and feed issues, for all three of us.  They planned to send it back to Marlin for corrective action.  I have no idea, if they have or have not at this point.

[nightrunner]

22 minutes ago, Moped said:

Over the years, I've had a couple of Winchesters and a couple of the older Marlins.  While it's true, you see more Marlins than Winshesters available, I've never considered them to be rare.  Also, the 30/30 never really caught my fancy, even though it's taken more deer than any caliber.  And honestly, I always wanted on in a pistol caliber lever action. 

On a side note, when I purchased the Rossi (16" or 20" barrel), I had the opportunity to also purchase a Henry (with a 20" barrel) or a Marlin (also 20" barrel)  I chose the Rossi, over the Henry, due to the weight (about 2 lbs heavier) and the Henry loading from the tube and also because of the price (roughly $200 more).  I wanted a loading gate.  And I chose the Rossi over the Marlin, because I had heard nothing good about the new Marlins. It was also about $150 more.  Went to the range about a month later with a friend and his son, who had bought a Marlin .357,  6 months prior.  The little Rossi preformed very well, with both .38s and .357.  The Marlin not so much.  It had a lot of binding and feed issues, for all three of us.  They planned to send it back to Marlin for corrective action.  I have no idea, if they have or have not at this point.

I have always avoided Henrys because of the loading. 
 

In some research I was doing a few months back, I saw that Marlins always have problems jamming in the context of cowboy action shooting. They are fine for hunting but if you get the action not directly up and down, think kinda angled when running the lever really fast, they are almost guaranteed to jam and it’s due to the design of them. That’s the reason all the CAS shooters use Winchester clones of some sort. Again this is solely from research, NOT personal experience. I have only owned a Marlin 336 in 30/30 and a Marlin 1895 in 45/70, both ran perfectly for me. Always wanted a Marlin 1894 in 357 Mag but after learning of the design limitations, I think I’ll just hold out for a Winchester 92

[gregintenn]

Friends don’t let friends get rid of lever rifles. Isn’t there something else you could get rid of?

[TripleGGG]

I thought there was a law that's said once you bought a lever gun you could NEVER sell it. At least that's how I've always operated. 

[KahrMan]

Keep the winchester.  

[FUJIMO]

3 hours ago, KahrMan said:

Keep the winchester.  

2nd that.

The Rossi will sell and you can pick up another one any old day. Real Winchesters will only get harder to find no matter the condition. 

[xtriggerman]

If the Winchester has a stamped cartridge lifter, get rid of that one. Those break all the time and the cast replacements are long gone.

[Handsome Rob]

"I've never sold a rifle I didn't later regret parting with"

Unless your kids are starving, hang on to them both. Personally speaking, at iron sight distances i'd much rather have a .44 than a .30-30. Less recoil = faster follow ups & more of them, and in reality,  the power difference at 100yds is literally a wash. 

[loadedp3at]

9 hours ago, xtriggerman said:

If the Winchester has a stamped cartridge lifter, get rid of that one. Those break all the time and the cast replacements are long gone.

How would I know if it is stamped? What year models had these?

[xtriggerman]

I forgot about when they changed over to the cast so looked it up and this posting has a lot of info on those crappy lifters. If yours is in fact a 79 its probably a cast lifter. Heres that posting just so folks know what their looking at.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?271840-Winchester-94-misadventure

[tnhawk]

On 8/12/2020 at 1:43 PM, TripleGGG said:

I thought there was a law that's said once you bought a       gun you could NEVER sell it. At least that's how I've always operated. 

Fixed it for you!

[hipower]

I don't shoot a lot of rifles, but I do own a few. One of my favorites was a Rossi 357 that I got in a strange 3-way deal in Knoxville several years ago. It's a joy to shoot, even when I can't shoot well. lol Wish it were a 44.

But I'll echo the thought of keeping both.

[Ernest T]

I'm not sure that you'd be shooting over 100 yards in a home defense situation.  Maybe if you live on acreage in the country, but even in my neighborhood with 1-3 acre lots I don't see many 100 yard shots unless you're gunning for someone checking their mail down by the entrance!  I'd keep the 44 and do like someone else suggested and buy a matching hand gun.