Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Elk with the 30-30 Winchester?

I don't have elk experience, but I have been doing some .30-30 reloading. I found the Nosler 170 gr partition round nose to shoot great over 36 gr of Leverevolution. Velocities chrono just around 2300 fps from a 20" barrel. I'm loading it for deer, but it should be as good as a .30-30 can get for about anything you could shoot with it.

I had loaded some Speer 170 Hot Cor in a friends 30-30 Improved going a tad over 2400fps. I was with him when he shot a "almost 300lb" sow with it. At 30yds he shot her between the neck/left shoulder and it went through the neck bones, chest organs, and made a quarter size exit hole behind her right shoulder, she did the DRT thing! I was very impressed at the damage that bullet did. They have since shut the place down there at Corinne, Utah. A big hog is an excellent bullet test for elk! ha They are just solid, like a big stump.

A fellow I know had a real sweet setup and could rely on shots at well under 100 yards, often under 50 yards. He shot mostly cow elk with his old Winchester 30-30, often with his handloads. I think he mostly used 170 grain bullets, but from various makers. He put elk in the freezer regularly for several years.

Modest range shots using the factory sights and 170 grain soft points. Seemed to work out well for him.

Guy

yes a 30-30 would work fine if you live there in that state, have plenty time and have a resident license . but if you have limited time ,have to drive there , rent or camp , you are from another state and have to buy a expensive none resident license thru a lottery type draw then no a 30-30 is not want you wanna use . that is when you will want a bigger cartridge rifle for a better chance of filling your tag easier. yes a 30-30 can get it done but your odds are poorer , myself i would never carry a 30-30 rifle for elk during the rifle season i have limited time , money and would have to buy a non-resident if drawn`n and i have killed elk with a bow and arrow during the archery season . good luck what ever you decide ,Pete53

Weight doesn't equate toughness.

The 170 Partition is probably as soft of a bullet as you could find for the 30-30.

As far as other makes, manufacturers probably adjust jacket thickness, lead hardness to accommodate for the reduced velocity.

I killed a cow with a Winchester model 54 in 30 WCF. Being a student of bullet performance, I often test older bullets just because. Remington before 1955, produced a true Cor-Lokt bullet with a heavy belt near the cannelure. Do not confuse these with their modern counterpart. To toughen things up even more, they completely enclosed the nose in a jacket leaving just a small hollow point. Their first attempt at a truly controlled expansion. Next, they used a heavier jacket than they used on their pointed soft points of the same caliber and weight. Having seen a few recovered slugs of this design, I decided to use them on elk. Catching the cow in the open the shot was broadside at 200 yards. She hunched up and joined the rest of the herd. She dropped out within 2 hundred yards and was in the throes of breathing her last when I put another of the 170 grain Remington Mushroom Cor-Lok in the same region and she was done and on her way to the freezer. I recovered one bullet, the other exited. The bullet showed only minor mushroom attesting to the fact the 30-30 was at the far extent of its range as the velocity had fallen off too much to expand the bullet properly.

Hey Jim, a couple of my buddies used to run a hog hunt operation in Corinne years ago. Not sure if the same or if there was more than one operation going on up there. UDWR has a zero tolerance policy on wild pigs!

I’m trying to decide whether to use a 30-30 lever gun or a 223 on my cow this year.

I suspect that if the facts were known, over the last 120 years, most people would be amazed at the numbers of Elk and Moose that have been killed with the 30/30, and from north of the border, the 303 Brit and 303 Savage. I remember reading an article when I was a kid, about how, in 1894, when the 30/30 was introduced, it was hailed as a flat shooting, powerful round and it was, compared to most of the old blackpowder cartridges of the time. It said that it was readily embaced in Alaska by Griz/Moose hunters who raved about its killing power!

When I was growing up in CO my grandfather used a 30-30 on deer, elk, bear and pronghorn and he killed a trainload of game. Put a 30-30 bullet in the lungs and you can get the skinning knife out. Game isn't any tougher now than it was then and what worked then will work now.

Studying old hunters, their guns and gear has been a hobby for 60 plus years. Having only killed 38 elk myself, I am gaining experience. However, working and living in elk country, and working as an elk guide for 9 years, I have been in on the harvest of over 100 elk. My admiration for the 30-30 cartridge is so that my call sign is 30-30 remchester. However, it is far from being a good choice for elk hunters in most areas. Where I live a prime area in which they reside is a 5-mile flat plain that has a total of 2 trees. Shots have to be taken at long ranges if you want to eat elk through the winter. An old elk "poacher" - rancher I knew well, killed well over 100 elk in his lifetime and started out with a 30-30 as did all his cohorts. However soon as he had made some money, he bought a new at that time, 1949, Winchester model 70 in 270 Win. with a 2 power Weaver scope and never looked back. Said it was a far better elk gun. Hard hunting here MAY result in one opportunity to kill an elk a season. I would not want my only chance to occur while I was holding a 30-30 as ranges are often extended beyond 30-30 range. And for the uninformed I will clear up a misconception that a cowboy is an excellent hunter and shot. OMG, they are no better than the next man and are often less experienced and their equipment is far from the best made and best maintained. I have seen 2 Winchester 94's broken in half, not the stock but the metal ears behind the hammer, and one 94 rifle with a barrel so bent from being used as a wrecking bar to extract a horse leg caught in a lava slide, that the sights were moved so far to the right to accommodate for the bent barrel that they had to be arc welded onto the side of the barrel. All owned by cow hands.

cool story, bro.....

Hey Elksnort- its the same place there in Corinne. I went to another place ( took a friend who used my 30-06) out of Castle Dale. We got two nice hogs off there too, but of course, this was right before the State said no hogs! ha The closest place to here now for hogs is at Little Creek Ranch, over near Grand Junction.

Pete and others- I'm with you guys, I would not take a 30-30 on a major hunt. There are lots of places I can hunt on my own and never get a shot over 75yds, cow or bull. That would be where I rotated rifles , hunting on my own with several days to do it in.

Keep the stories coming guys! Love it!

An interesting thread and responses. One thing that few will admit is their misses or not recovered game. As a high school kid, I hunted once with a fellow student who used his grandpa's 30-30 to hunt deer. He shot over a box that day and got 2 small bucks and swore to the killing power of grandpa's gun. Just an inexperienced kid. I don't often get one shot kills. This thread got me reminiscing though. I have killed more elk with a prewar Colt Woodsman (2) than a 30-30.

Studying old timers and their guns is a great pastime of mine. Sixty plus year and I have seen enough that have had scope bases arc welded, Teflon tape on barrel threads to keep the barrels from falling off, holes drilled, and bolts added for various reasons, duct tape and epoxy galore. People who use guns daily seldom have pristine stuff. Wally Johnson, a world-renowned elephant guide and hunter, carried a prewar model Winchester model 70 in 375 and the stock was worn smooth and glued and doweled together. The picture of Bella Twin who shot the world record grizzly with a 22 long shows her hold her single shot 22 Cooley in a way to hide the electrical tape that was holding her gun together. Just a tool, like a shovel or hammer to most.

How did cowboys 100 years ago shoot elk and bear with 30/30, we’ll never know

Think it might be safe to say those older guy's doing it with 32 sprc and 30-30 hunted for the food, not the thrill of the hunt. The were hunters, not shooter's. Today guy's thing 400yds is nothing and need something to shoot 400yds, ya know, just in case. I believe it was different back then for most hunter's, they hunted for meat supply!

Jim, I've no doubt you hunted with my friends Owen and/or Clint. I know they also were in Castle Dale too. Small world!

Most older hunters simply used what they had for hunting. Meat was the main goal, but as times good better, folks were able buy better rifles. You have to remember the .30-30 was pretty new on the market 100 years ago, and a potent rifle compared to many black powder rifles. But even then certain guys still bought the best rifles they could. As far as being better hunters, maybe. Probably better than most today, and they did often shoot beyond 400 or even 400 due to the lack of speed of their rifles.

Im sure more elk have been taken with a 44-40 than a 30-30

Your sure?