Well after reading 14 pages of this I'm going to step into the pit with my .02 cents.
Alot of good things have been said, one of which the rifles have made the cartridge. The Marlin 1893's, 36's and now 336's are well built, good handling, tough little guns. Take into account the Winny 94 and you have about 10 million guns floating around, so is the 30-30 on its way out..NOT. Oh sorry, Henry and Mossberg(again) make them now too.
Now take the cartridge itself, it just gets the job done in about 95% of the situations it is used for. Here in New England and i'll go to include the Northeast(PA and NY) it is still widely used and again gets the job done(can't speak for other areas but suspect the same in the southeast, pacific NW, etc.). Is the 308 a better round??? Yes it is, Is the 30-06 better than the 308? Yes it is and both can be had in lever guns.
Other advantages, cheap ammo, low recoil, cheap to reload with adequate power and speed for deer and other med game within 150-200 yds..what is not to like.
Now back to the 308 and 30-06 lever guns. The Browning BLR, Savage 99 and Winny 1895, say what you want, are not as well balanced and handling as the Marlin 336 and Winny 94, except for maybe the 99 and there you can get it in the 30-30 also.
Yes, I do love the 30-30, first CF rifle I owned, 1st to take a deer for me. Do I use it anymore, on occassion as now my interest have gone to lightweight, fast handling bolt guns. In my last 10 yrs of hunting, I can only think of one shot I took where the 30-30 would not have worked.
Last edited by ChipM; 01/10/11.
