New optics for lever action 30-30

[llbaker21]

I am going on a spring bear hunt, first time, and plan to take a Marlin 30-30. My eyes do not do well in low light and I wanted to put an illuminated optic on it. I stopped at the Trijicon booth recently and liked the feel of the scopes and the reticles. The credo is what stood out.

When I began looking at mounting options it seems the scope will be set back quite a bit. I don't know how comfortable that will be. Now I am considering open "night" sights. Any words of wisdom from those who have done this before will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[11boo]

I have a Marlin and scoped it before the commercial long rails were available.

I assume you are referring to using the factory scope rail, I don’t know how guys shoot effectively with those.

Now there are options that hang a long rail forward, before that I bought a long low blank rail, cut it to length, drilled it and came up with this.

 

[sndmn11]

I'd put an acro on a 30-30

 

[llbaker21]

Wow, that looks awesome. I have not seen the long rails and will did into it. Thanks!

 

[11boo]

That’s a 2x on mine. A small red dot would work too. Anything that sits low, although the 30-30 won’t abuse your cheek like my 45-70.

 

[StupidLightweight]

You've got a few options. I'll list them in order of effectiveness.

1. XS Sights or Skinner Sights rear aperture with a blade front.
Pros: Clean lines, bulletproof reliability
Cons: Sucky in low light

2. Red dot and mount. Lots of options here, but I'd suggest FarrowTech's low-profile option.
Pros: Cleaner lines than scope, better choice for every conceivable use
Cons: Still mediocre in low light compared to a scope

3. Mount and Leupold 2.5x20mm optic. Ideally, check with Grizzly Custom for the lowest possible mounting interface.
Pros: Better in every way than above options
Cons: Added weight and bulk, lines not as clean

 

[11boo]

Brownells has the blank rails. Only took a couple hours, hard part was getting the holes exactly right

 

[deezs]

I did a baited bear hunt 3 years ago, used my Savage 99, for that I removed the scope and got the skinner sights, it worked great. I actually just got a hawke vantage 1 to 8 with regular cross hair and illuminated dot. I think that's going to be a nice setup for thick woods whitetails and bear

 

[onlybrowning]

Talley extra low with a Leupold VX3 1.5-5x20 or something like that gets my vote.


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[llbaker21]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I am leaning toward the VX-3HD with Firedot. Should I have any concerns with light gathering on a 20mm tube?

 

[ropeup79]

Skinner Sights has several good options as well.

 

[StupidLightweight]

Optics on levers is a cardinal sin

Haha. Hitting what you aim at isn't

 

[TaperPin]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I am leaning toward the VX-3HD with Firedot. Should I have any concerns with light gathering on a 20mm tube?

If the maximum usable pupil size going into the eye is 7mm, any magnification under 2.5x will be at maximum brightness.

I just picked up a Sightron 1x muzzleloader/shotgun scope and in low light the thing I’m looking at looks identical through the scope or not.

 

[Houseminer]

My 30-year-old model 94 Winchester still wears it’s 30-year-old Bushnell sportview fixed 4 power. It will definitely get you in the bullseye at 100 yards. A 4 power scope in whatever brand you decide to go with should serve you well.

 

[FLS]

Talley makes mounts for the 336/ 1895. I’ve got Leupold fixed 4x with the heavy duplex on my 35 Remington and 45/70. They worked great for a couple of decades I shot irons for years on my levers, still shoot them on a Winchester 64. The best low light set up was a fiber optic front and ghost ring rear, and it sucked compared to a decent optic. The worst thing I ever used was a scout scope. It was less than useless in low light. Red dots are better, but not much in low light due to reflection on the lens.
If I was starting from zero, I’d put a Trijicon 1-6 or 3-9 in a set of Talley lows. The 40 mm objective will be a little better in low light.

 

[Reed104R]

Fixed 2X or 3X, or a 1-4X USA Leupold.

 

[Boarmaster]

Talley extra low with a Leupold VX3 1.5-5x20 or something like that gets my vote.


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This right here or a VX 3 2.5-8x36 or variant or equivalent and Talley LWs. I have both on two different marlin lever guns and very happy with both.

Just my person opinion but I would take any good quality lower power scope with a decently thick reticle over a red dot. Good luck on your bear hunt.

 

[Steve P]

I have two Henry 45-70 and I used the rail mount which gave me more adjustment options to what I needed, this one has a 2x7 on it. My other one has the same rail mount with a Leupold 1-5

 

[rdramsey8]

VX-3HD