Question about Marlin 1893 (not 1894 like I originally thought)

[Lumin]

I was recently gifted a Marlin 1894 in 30-30 (hex barrel) by my grandfather. It was his first hunting rifle that he bought from his uncle in 1950 (or a little earlier). He maintains that he was ripped off when he paid $40 for it. For a rifle that he used for years it is in excellent condition.

My question is whether it's OK to run modern 30-30 ammo through the gun?

I'd like to shoot it a little bit, but I also don't want to ruin what I consider a family heirloom.

[easy]

Depends on when rifle was made. Check the serial number and rifle characteristics against this list;
http://marlin-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7218

Looking at that...are you sure it's a 1894 and not a 336 'Texan'? List does not show a 1894 30/30.

[Lumin]

It's actually a '93 that was possibly made in 1917. I changed the title to reflect that.

[easy]

'93 or 1893? For correct ammo there seems to be a big difference. looks like 1893 would be black powder round. '93 would be smokeless powder. Could ask at Marlin Owners - http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/forum.php

Again, serial number range is important.

[Gunfixr]

The 30-30 was always a smokeless cartridge. It was one of, if not the first cartridge developed for the then new smokeless powder.
It was given a two digit name (30-30) so it would seem similar to the earlier blackpowder cartridges, such as 45-70, or 44-40.

The only potential problem that crosses my mind, other than the mechanical condition of the gun, is that those early smokeless powders were not nearly as powerful as today's powders. I don't know what kind of chamber pressures were developed by the early cartridges vs today's cartridges. The gun might not blow up, but it might get real loose real quick.

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[Lumin]

I'd speculate that mechanically the gun is sound. He stopped using it to upgrade to a fancy Savage Model 99 in .308, since he could put a scope on it (he still uses this setup today at 83).

My big concern was if it fell into the same category as 45-70, where some of the older guns really weren't designed to handle the pressures that modern ammo can be fired at.

[Gunfixr]

Yes, that's my concern. The original 30-30 loads being somewhat weaker than today's loads.

Now, marlin 30-30 rifles are built on the 1895 style action, which is notably stronger. Internally, they work the same, but the 95 is stronger since the bolt is totally surrounded by the receiver, as opposed to only on 3 sides in the 93.
The 93 was originally chambered in cartridges like the 38-55, which was a blackpowder cartridge.

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