I recently picked up this gun and I’ve learned a lot from other posts in the forum. I’ve always wanted a lever action 30-30 so I was excited to pick this up. Upon inspecting it, I’m fairly certain that it’s never been fired. It’s in perfect condition and still has a $179 price tag on it, which was the original retail price at Kmart. Do I have something really special? Should I just shoot it and enjoy it or would I be better off selling to a collector and picking up a different gun to shoot? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you!
Need advice on a model 30 TK 30-30.
Rkubitskey
I recently picked up this gun and I’ve learned a lot from other posts in the forum. I’ve always wanted a lever action 30-30 so I was excited to pick this up. Upon inspecting it, I’m fairly certain that it’s never been fired. It’s in perfect condition and still has a $179 price tag on it, which was the original retail price at Kmart. Do I have something really special? Should I just shoot it and enjoy it or would I be better off selling to a collector and picking up a different gun to shoot? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you!
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I would have done the same thing. You’re a good man.
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Thank you. I never sell guns, but it’s good to know that the value wouldn’t be significantly diminished by shooting it.
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My father has an old Winchester 94 .32 spl. I always wanted a lever action of my own. My 30-06 now has some competition regarding what I’m going to take in the field…
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51 Posts
Well, I have one of those as well, and have enjoyed shooting it and carring it hunting for years. I was surprised how different it feels from a full magazine, 20" rifle it feels.
I put a Williams peep sight on it because it carries so easily with one hand in front of the lever. It's my favorite woods rifle.
Whether or not you shoot it is, naturally, up to you. My personal take on it is that all Marlins were made to shoot, not look at, but that's just me. YMMV. I have been surprised how many have surfaced on this forum given that there must have been a relatively small number made.
Does anyone know how many there were?
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810 Posts
Check the asking price on this one Marlin Model 30 TK .30-30 Carbine ***Extremely Rare*** for sale
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695 Posts
Did you buy it or was it given to you. Curious as to what you paid for it if you did purchase it. Also take a little Murphy's oil soap and clean the wood with it. Then get some Birchwood stock wax and rub that in a few times and it will restore the original color and shine to the stock.
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31 Posts
I picked one up about 7-8 years ago from a guy who purchased it back in 1990 from a local K-Mart. His family had some land and he wanted to go deer hunting so he bought it, had an inexpensive Tasco scope installed, went to the range sighted the rifle in and hunted "one" time. I don't think he really cared for the hunting part? Gun was never fired beyond that one deer hunting trip in 1990. Gun went into a gun case until he showed it to me almost 30 years later and I bought it from him for about $300. I put a better scope on it and got it sighted in and now I use it on occasion, but am very mindful as the wood has absolutely no scratches or dings on it...... It looks brand new.
BTW, the camouflage sling was part of the K-Mart gun package when you purchased that Marlin 30 TK rifle back in 1989-1990 time period.
BTW, the camouflage sling was part of the K-Mart gun package when you purchased that Marlin 30 TK rifle back in 1989-1990 time period.
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1,176 Posts
What is the serial number of this rifle? I don't know when the push button safety entered production on this type of rifle, but it seems to me that $179 and bought at K-Mart does not seem realistic. The rifle does look good but $179 for a lawyer safety rifle doesn't seem right.
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2,349 Posts
Marlin put crossbolt safety on all their 336, 1894 and 1895 lever guns starting in 1983.....therefor all 30 TK had the safety.
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If he gets that price, I’ll kiss YOUR ass… thanks for sharing but the highest I’ve seen one sell for was $1250, and it was as nice as mine.
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It was sold to me by a friend who acquired several guns in exchange for a debt owed. I paid $250, which he was more than happy with. And so am I now that I know more about it.
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It doesn’t seem like it was really meant to be used, either. It’s high and awkward. For me, the hammer is the safety, the button is definitely an afterthought to satisfy a law.
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They came with the cross bolt safety and did sell at Kmart for $179. I bought one in 1990 and one of my best friend bought one after I did for that price. Mine I purchased from a distributor for $149. If I knew how good they shot, would have bought more.
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I use the hammer as the safety, but I do like the cross bolt safety when unloading. Just some added safety! At first I didn't like looks of crossbolt safety but now don't even notice it.
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Pretty much everything I know about the rifle came from various threads in this forum. The consensus is exactly what you wrote. The only conflicting information I’ve seen is that some say they were sold in Kmart from 1988-1990, some say 1989-1990. That detail doesn’t matter to me at all, but aside from that, the information I’ve gotten here has been very, very consistent.
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Can I ask you for a scope/rings recommendation?
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I have a Leupold 2.5x scope on my 30TK, I like the small scope on it, it’s the one on the bottom in the pic
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