[scchokedaddy]

any comments on this round

[nathangdad]

I have nothing critical to say in any way of the thought or design behind this round.

However, as I have often pointed out, it is incredibly difficult for a new cartridge to:

A. Generate initial demand

B. Sustain demand to keep economical production going.

Just look at some gun magazines from four or five years ago to understand this idea.

I have seen many, many cartridge designs come and go in my lifetime.

If you buy into this cartridge always do so with the understanding that in a few years the price per round of this ammo may go very high as production drops. You may be eventually reduced to handloading as the only viable option.

Best of luck.

[texnmidwest]

Round is basically a 308 in lever action. Very intriguing round. I echo nathangdad though. Hard to say if the round will survive. BUT one can not argue with the platform it is fired though!

Worst thing that would happen is that you would have to handload. But, I would venture a guess that if anyone can make the round fly it would be marlin. Lots of folk, me included love their lever guns.

[big shrek]

From what I hear & read, it works well

.308 Express has a VERY similar flight charactersistic to the normal .308 round...which makes for a VERY good hunting round.

Quote:      

All of which brings me to the subject of this article, the .308 Marlin Express. Of all the new (and mostly redundant) cartridge introductions in the past half-decade, this round makes the most sense. It makes the Marlin 336 rifle, one of the most dependable, adaptable and well balanced hunting instruments ever created, a universal North American big game rifle. For years I used bolt action rifles for many hunts when I would have preferred a lever action. While first shot capability is paramount for successful hunting and no one advocates blazing away at game, a lever action delivers second and third rounds immediately with a minimum of sight displacement. Those critics who claim a hunter can make repeat shots with a bolt action almost as quickly as a lever action are shoveling a significant amount of horse poop and calling it roses! “Almost” is simply the most promising comparison they could make. I have some very quick bolt actions that I have trained myself to shoot from the shoulder for bolting second and third rounds and I’m pretty good at it, but in no way do they compare to the speed and on target recovery time of the lever action. What I’ve always wanted is a lever action with the balance of a Marlin 336 and the approximate power of a Browning BLR in .30-06 or .308 Win.

Read the whole article HERE...Hunting with the .308 Marlin Express

Here's a nice comparison.

Cartridge Mass Muzzle velocity Muzzle energy
.308 Marlin Express 160 grains (10 g) 2,660 ft/s (810 m/s) 2,513 ft·lbf (3,407 N·m)
.30-30 Winchester 160 grains (10 g) 2,300 ft/s (700 m/s) 1,880 ft·lbf (2,550 N·m)
.307 Winchester 150 grains (9.7 g) 2,693 ft/s (821 m/s) 2,416 ft·lbf (3,276 N·m)
.307 Winchester 160 grains (10 g) 2,675 ft/s (815 m/s) 2,540 ft·lbf (3,440 N·m)
.307 Winchester 170 grains (11 g) 2,570 ft/s (780 m/s) 2,494 ft·lbf (3,381 N·m)
.308 Winchester 150 grains (9.7 g) 2,809 ft/s (856 m/s) 2,629 ft·lbf (3,564 N·m)
.308 Winchester 160 grains (10 g) 2,770 ft/s (840 m/s) 2,720 ft·lbf (3,690 N·m)
.308 Winchester 168 grains (10.9g) 2,712 ft/s (827 m/s) 2,744 ft·lbf (3,720 N·m)
.300 Savage 150 grains (9.7 g) 2,765 ft/s (843 m/s) 2,547 ft·lbf (3,453 N·m)
.300 Savage 160 grains (10 g) 2,505 ft/s (764 m/s) 2,230 ft·lbf (3,020 N·m)
.300 Savage 170 grains (11 g) 2,676 ft/s (816 m/s) 2,624 ft·lbf (3,558 N·m)


Hope all this helps.

Marlin's already sold over 10,000 .308 Marlin Express rifles...and a passel of .338's, which mimic the .30-06 in performance.

If you like Lever-action...chances are it'll be around for awhile. Remington is now making .308 ME in Core-Lokt...and we all know Remington isn't going to make anything that ain't gonna be around for awhile

[scchokedaddy]

thanks enjoyed article. will be totin her tommorow for first time