.307 Winchester
There once was a time when the Winchester
Model 94 and Marlin Model 336 were used by more eastern deer and bear hunters
than any other rifle. During those innocent days, a large number of those
hunters would have mortgaged the old homeplace to buy a Model 94 or Model
336 chambered for a cartridge with the performance of the great .300 Savage.
The .30-30 Ackley Improved came close to what they wanted, but few hunters
who used those handy little carbines were handloaders.
In 1982, U.S. Repeating Arms responded to the demand by introducing the Model
94 Angle Eject in .307 Winchester. Unfortunately, it came about two decades
too late. Most of the hunters who had yearned for such a cartridge were either
no longer with us, had switched to bolt actions, pumps, and autoloaders,
or perhaps had taken up golf. Marlin also announced the availability of the
Model 336 in this chambering but, except for a few experimental rifles none
were ever built. This makes the Model 94 the only factory rifle ever available
in .307 Winchester.
All of this is sad indeed since the .307 Winchester may be the finest woods
cartridge ever available to American hunters who prefer the old classic lever
actions. Recoil is tolerable, accuracy in the Model 94 is quite good, and
its velocity makes the .307 a dead ringer for the
.300 Savage.
Exactly what so many hunters asked for.
Olin engineers who developed the .307 recommended that only flat nose bullets
be used in handloads. For this reason, the various 170 grain bullets made
for the .30-30
Winchester are preferred for all around use in this cartridge. A number
of powders are quite suitable for the .307 Winchester, but the handloader
can do no better than stick with
H335,
W-748, or
IMR-4064.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
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