What would you do?

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:01 am

Well, I'm thinking through a dilemna.

With the upcoming lead ban in CA, I'm going to have to get used to a copper bullet. My favorite hunting rifle is a 336 in 35 Remington. But the only Barnes bullet I'd be comfortable with is the 140 grain pistol bullet. The 200 and 220 grainers are just too big, and are spire points to boot.

So I've been thinking of purchasing another 336 (a) in 30-30, for to use the 150 grain Barnes. I would get a little more weight, better BC, and could possibly load to a slightly higher pressure with the 30-30.

So I'm thinking about whether the slight improvement in performance would be worth the purchase of another rifle. With the 140 gr .35 I get good velocity, fairly flat shooting, and a larger hole and maybe more expansion. With the 150 .30 I get good velocity, better energy retention, probably more accurate, and almost as flat shooting.

What would you do? Anything to add to my analysis?

DDude · Post by **DDude** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:31 am

Move out of CA?

Sorry, couldn't resist. But CA is a fruitcake state when it comes to laws that "protect" the enviroment. I'm waiting for the day that the auto manufactures simply say enough is enough and refuse to build and ship CA spec'd cars to ya'll. If I were a CEO of a major car company I'd say fuggit and concentrate my efforts on selling cars elsewhere (like China for instance).

dkmlever · Post by **dkmlever** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:57 am

I thought the lead ban was just for certain areas, not the whole state?

WCF3030 · Post by **WCF3030** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:00 am

Sounds like the 140gr is a pistol bullet.
Is it made for 35 Rem vel.

If it were me and I did not want to spend the extra money on a new rifle.
I would buy the 200gr Barnes SP and load one in the chamber, and one in the tube.

Otherwise get the 30-30.

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:14 am

I'd stick with the 35 Rem, myself - but I am a big and sometimes
"cartridgecentric" fan of that old round. The 35 will always make a
bigger hole, and 10 grains worth of weight shouldn't make that
much difference on deer in terms of penetration.

Or, do like wcf3030 says and load only two rounds. Yer not
gonna shoot any more than than that at 'im are ya? The mag
on a lever gun is also awfully quick to top off from a butt cuff or
belt loop if you need more rounds. I'm also a fan of big, heavy
bullets, so maybe this solution is the better of the two.

Of course, if you're looking for an excuse to buy a 30-30 - don't
let me stop ya!

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:18 am

I like what WCF3030 said and I would probably do the same. But, I don't think it would be to bad to have another gun sitting around either.