Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The .30-30 Winchester. Love it or hate it?

I was raised to dislike rimmed cartridges, so it has taken awhile for me to embrace the 30-30. If used within it performance envelope and with good sights, an accurate rifle, and a guy behind the trigger who can shoot, it is a very capable medium game cartridge. I particularly like it in the Marlin 336 series and the Savage 170s.

Hard to beat an iron sighted 30/30 for a walking rifle in the woods. Mine is a 1923 vintage savage 99 featherweight takedown, redfield receiver sight. Light, accurate, very easy to carry in hand all day with that flat-sided round bottom profile and no scope in the way. Sure, I hunt with a scoped .308 bolt action too, have taken deer with both (and other rifles), but most deer taken with the .308 would have been just as dead with my 30/30. Not all, my buck this year would have been a tough shot with open sights, but hey, that's why I have more than one rifle!! And it's the sights that would have been the issue not the cartridge.
And I'm old-school enough that I think newbies aught to learn to HUNT with a rifle with a moderate cartridge and iron sights before moving on to shooting with scoped 300 yd plus rifles.
Just my opinion, of course, but I'd start a new hunter of any age out on a 30/30 before any cartridge starting with a 2.

I wouldn't. Recoil from a .30-30, especially something like a 94, can be an issue for a small-framed kid. A .243, or a .223 where legal, gets around those problems quite well. Hell, on an AR platform with an adjustable stock the 5.56, 6x45, or 6.5Grendel make HUGE sense as a starter rifle for a kid, especially over a .30-30 lever gun.

JMHO, of course.

I like the .30-30, quite a bit, but there are things that is and things that it ain't, and some things are done better by other cartridges.

Between my two gramdfathers one was a .30-06 guy and he said the .30-30 was a hundred yard gun max and he heavily disliked them. My other grandfather was a .30-30 guy and he would say if you use a .30-06 you'll just hit a tree. That was his way of saying you couldn't take advantage of the Aught Sixes extra range in the woods. These were the two camps I remember from growing up in PA. The .30-30 camp and the .30-06 camp.
Me? I've killed around 10 deer with the .30-30 including a buck at 200 yards. But I've killed most of my game with the .30-06. I've nothing but respect for the .30-30 but I've moved on.

Hate it...it doesn't pack much punch but at least it doesn't have a great trajectory.

Fan

Sam Fadala's book on the 30-30 is a good read and JOC wrote a nice chapter on the 30-30 in The Hunting Rifle.

Winchester's 30-30 Model 94 - Sam Fadala, 1986

The Hunting Rifle - JOC, 1970

I have only shot a couple of deer with a 30.30, but it did fine on those. While like many guys I have moved on to bolt guns in higher pressure cases, I probably could have shot 90 or maybe 95% of everything I have ever shot with a decent 30.30 with little practical disadvantage and that includes my elk and moose too.

I have bolt guns that are as light as a 94 in 30.30 but none that carry like a 94. Maybe the decline in levers the last 20 years has as much to do with folks hunting more from a stand and less on their feet than anything else.

30-30 is a fine short range cartridge here`s my problem with this cartridge getting a bad rap.any 30-30 lever that does not have a safety its just not that safe of gun to use for many people and all youths,unloading them its just kinda dangerous with hammer always cock with no safety.i used them when I was kid and my brother`s went off once. I would never let any of my family ever use any of those levers without a safety when I was adult, ya I still have them but they are just stay`n in the safe if that lever has no safety. when it comes to cartridges for rifles they all kill game ,heck I do just fine with a bow and arrow.

The "safety" that works is the one between the ears. Amazing how many people managed to shuck rounds out of ADL style bolt guns (hint; safety off then, too) without shooting themselves. It doesn't have to be done that way, but a lot do.

The proper use of a firearms is about training, not design.

Have a Marlin and a 94.. Used them on antelope, mulies, whitetails and mt. lion.. Would love a 54 in .30-30.

Love it. A little carbine is perfect for my hunts in thickets and woodlots where I grew up and still hunt occasionally. Plus, that handy little carbine is perfect when hunting in the confines of a blind. One 30-30 carbine will always be in my inventory.

The 30-30 is a wounder? Can't kill? Holy non-shooting dumbchits... Nothing like someone inadvertently commenting on their shooting ability (or lack thereof). It's not the gun or cartridge...hint.

Er, when you unload a .30-30 lever with just a half-notch safety, you are not suppose to have your trigger finger up inside the trigger guard portion of the lever. Of course it could go off.

Your are suppose to just put your thumb inside the lever loop, squeeze your hand tight, and work the lever briskly, with the rifle pointed down into the ground in front of you

Or, you can just put your last three fingers in the lever loop, and leave your trigger finger totally outside of the lever and pointing down to the ground. Very safe.

I load for and hunt with a bunch of calibers. .30/30s are some of my favorites. Got 4 rifles right now and a Contender 10" barrel that I've killed a big pile of deer with. Would buy another in a heartbeat..

I love the 30 WCF. I enjoy loading it, as it doesn't take two hats full of powder to make it go. I like that it is a low pressure cartridge that is easy on the ears, and the shooter's shoulder.

I especially like that it is a deadly cartridge on game the size of deer and hogs. I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't work as good on Black Bears too.

I really do wish that Ruger would make another run of their 1A and maybe a No.1, RSI in it too.

Love it. When used within it's capabilities, it's hard to beat. I have used several and never had a failure of any sort. Wish someone made a new bolt rifle in 30-30.

I know how to unload a Winchester 30-30 very well what I am saying is for a lot of people, these people young and old do have trouble with these levers with no safety ! its a safety issue us as hunters,reloaders,gun collecters and just people who like to shoot need to help make things safer, so we as gun people don`t cause any more harm to owning guns and when someone criticizes some of us for bringing these things to attention with a post you are the problem with negative comments. VERY FOOLISH !

Put me in the fan camp. I have had 30-30s for years. I will say that while they are not necessairly ideal for long range hunting but frankly I'd rather have to connect on a 250 yd shot with a receiver sighted 30-30 than at 500 yds with a scoped 30-06.
My long time buddy and I had a couple of 94 rifles with 24" octagon bbls and we spent a lot of afternoons shooting at rocks at a high wall at a old strip mine. Both were fitted with williams receiver sights and with a little practice hits to 300 yds were pretty easy. I do agree with the poster above that the commonly maligned carbine is a victim of the poor quality open sights. I challenge some of the 30-06 and 270 fans to shoot at a pie plate with open sights at 300 yds. Most will find that flat shooting laser to be quite a challenge.

I own a brand new Winchester 94 30-30 in the Sporter version 24 inch barrel. Before I bought it I tried my friend's that was the new rifle same as bought. He had a scope on it? I only fired it on my range but it was very accurate out to 200 yards. I still have not fired the one I did buy myself as found myself able to finally get a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Compact in .243 and to make the purchase easier I might trade the new 30-30 in. I regret it might come to that. My son who really knows rifles was impressed with this new 94 30-30 and both of us think it would not only be an ideal woods rifle but if I chose to scope it it could be used to over 200 yards I am sure. However I bought it to,use with iron sights and I already know it is a keeper used that way. The workmanship on the Miroku 94 30-30 is superb!

As a cartridge with a history, the 30-30 is a superb addition to a rifle collection. I own many western movies and as a cowboy for,years, and still own a ranch with my brother, I should keep the 30-30! Besides I will take a $400 loss on the new unfired 94. But just owning it and having some nice photos of me holding it in splendid autumn settings was worth the investment. If one considers himself a collector, it is I think a must!
Apparently my farming and ranching career did not bring in such a windfall of dollars to keep a rifle although there are bolt actions and even a 94 Winchester .22 LR from 1973 that I will keep in this lifetime.

This Winchester Model 70 .243 Featherweight Compact may well be the last new rifle I buy. Unless I get some farm income and then I'd be inclined to get a 94 30-30! Guess that says I rate the 30-30 as a marvelous round.
It has done very well for many years. I also am positive that the 30-30 could kill about anything on Planet Earth with a properly placed shot!
One of the most ardent hunters and owners, even down to having a FFL,
Used the 30-06 as his only deer rifle! He also killed very few deer in his life.
I could shoot deer just about any day I am out working. I have seen deer killed pretty quickly with .22 LR. But if I were to chose a deer cartridge, .243, 257 Roberts, or 30-30 would seem about right.

Love it.