Lever Action Guns & Sights
BY Herschel Smith
11 months ago
I was just looking at lever action rifle optics tonight. Scopes are just expensive, almost no matter what type, brand or power. For lever action guns I’m looking towards the low power end of things (1X4, 1X9, etc.).
However, I confess I had never heard of the 7-30 Waters before. I’ll be darned if you can find them anywhere (the guns, that is). I’d certainly be interested given the ballistics of the cartridge.
He has a nice lever action rifle collection. He’s obviously spent some time and money on that collection.
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On June 22, 2023 at 5:09 am, jrg said:
Very cool – thanks for the link to it.
I like lever actions too. About as American rifle design as it gets, these rifles and carbines are ingrained into American history during the ‘Cowboy’ era of cattle ranching during the 1850 – 1920 time period
That Bushnell red dot appears a bit odd to me. I have one of those units on a Savage 24P Predator set up for feral hog hunting. Break open combination 30-30 Win over 12 gauge for ranges less than 100 yards.
I seem to recall the 7-30 Waters was introduced during the 80’s, when other rounds for lever actions were introduced. The .307 Winchester and .356 Winchester, rimmed cartridges of .308 and .358 Winchester among them. None of them took off and finding loaded ammunition is one heckuva hat trick.
The 30-30 is great, but my lever action favorites are the .250 Savage and .308 Winchester, both in Savage 99. These are about a pound and half heavier than the Winchester / Marlins but they point great and offer a bit more ballistic performance in the .308s case. I do agree with the video in that a straight 4x or even 2.5x on a 30-30 in low mounts is a great combination for most whitetail deer.
Sorry for long winded discussion – fingers can’t keep up with the thoughts on the subject, one of my favorites.
On June 22, 2023 at 6:59 am, Elmo said:
jrg- When it comes to talking about lever guns no apologies are necessary. I wish more people had a love of them as we do.
Your two Savage 99s are wonderful. I always wanted one in .250-3000 Savage but the opportunity never came along.
Regarding Ken Waters, here are a couple of links you might enjoy-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-30_Waters
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1014473582/
The video mentions Ranger Point Precision products. I can’t recommend them enough. Great products and they’re a pleasure to deal with.
On June 22, 2023 at 8:31 am, Herschel Smith said:
@Elmo,
That’s all great. But find me a 7-30 Waters gun ; – ))
On June 22, 2023 at 11:22 am, xtphreak said:
the most I ever heard about the 7-30 Waters was in Contenders.
never heard of it being in a lever gun, live a little longer …. learn something new.
thanks
On June 22, 2023 at 11:46 am, Mike said:
Instead of a red dot or scope….which totally funk up the looks of a lever action, try a tang mount aperture sight. I couldn’t hit jack crap with the semi buckhorn sight. The tang mount turn an effectively 50 yard whitetail carbine into an easy 150 yard carbine.
Now, I wouldn’t want a sight that close to my eye on my 45-70, but anything less than that I would….and do, they really help out my old eyes…..
On June 22, 2023 at 8:02 pm, Elmo said:
Herschel,
From Wikipedia-
“From 1984 to 1997, the Model 94 angle eject 20″ barreled carbine and 24″ barreled XTR rifle were offered in 7-30 Waters.”
For your perusal:
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles-model-94-post-64/winchester-model-94-ae-angle-eject-allowing-top-mt-scope-xtr-deluxe-7-30-waters.cfm?gun_id=102228891
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles-model-94-post-64/winchester-94ae-7-30-waters.cfm?gun_id=102189234
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles-model-94-post-64/winchester-model-94ae-7-30-waters.cfm?gun_id=102083116
Gun Broker only had one and it was more expensive and not as nice as these three.
Happy Hunting!
On June 22, 2023 at 9:00 pm, Arthur Sido said:
I’m a small FFL and lever action rifles are pretty dang hard for us to get from our distributors.
On June 22, 2023 at 9:45 pm, Paul B said:
Used a scout scope on a 45/70 marlin and that worked pretty good. Change to 350 legends in a Ruger bolt and I like it a little better. Have a couple of levers though. Might be nice to. Scope them.
On June 22, 2023 at 9:54 pm, X said:
“I was just looking at lever action rifle optics tonight. Scopes are just expensive, almost no matter what type, brand or power.”
Leupold 1-4x Freedom, $299.
You’re welcome.
On June 22, 2023 at 9:56 pm, X said:
Here’s the Speer handload and velocity data on the 7-30 Waters:
https://reloadingdata.speer.com/downloads/speer/reloading-pdfs/rifle/7-30_Waters_130.pdf
On June 22, 2023 at 10:00 pm, X said:
7-30 Waters, Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-30_Waters
On June 22, 2023 at 10:56 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Elmo,
There are a LOT of spam web sites, like shopmarlinfirearmsusa.com, where you’ll never see your money and your credit card info will be stolen. A LOT of them. They prey upon gun buyers.
I don’t know if guns international is one, but I’d be willing to bet it is.
On June 22, 2023 at 11:19 pm, Elmo said:
They really have nothing to do with the sale other than as a middleman and advertiser for the seller. They’ve been around for a long time and I’ve never heard anything negative about them.
I’ve bought two rifles through Gun Broker, both Ruger No.1s, and both transactions have gone smooth as silk. Both rifles were exactly as described. Both rifles are still in my gun safe. To tell you the truth, I was more worried about the rifles disappearing in the UPS shipping process or with the possibility of a problem with the receiving FFL than I did with the seller or the financial transaction.
I wouldn’t be a bit reluctant to call any of the three folks selling those Winchesters on Guns International, talk to them and see how you feel about both them and the GI website. You might be pleasantly surprised.
If you don’t trust any online sales of firearms you’ll be entirely dependent on a Winchester 94 7-30 Waters miraculously showing up at a local gun store, and the odds of that happening are probably slim and none.
On June 23, 2023 at 5:58 am, SamlAdams said:
Used a Leupold 1.5-5x set up on a Ruger RSI .308 for deer in the 80s and 90s. Almost all shots were under 75 yards. Usually just left it dialed to 1.5 and it functioned like a red dot. Fantastic set up for brush. Wish I still had it. With old eyes have converted just about everything to peep sights, just can’t do buckhorns anymore.