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

Just curious, has anyone here ( or you were with them) who used the 30-30 to kill elk (probably more cows than bulls) and what bullet did they use? I know "of" a few young people here in Utah's Youth elk season who use them. Its been awhile, but back then they used Federal Premium with the 170 Nosler. Lets here it?

I shot my first elk (rag horn bull) with a 30-30. I wasn't keeping any sort of notes in those days so I'm speaking from memory. I think the distance was 80-100 yards. I can't be sure of the bullet but it was most likely a 170 gr Sierra and would have been some of my earliest handloads. Nothing wrong with an old 30-30 if you can get within 150 yards or so of an elk.

The generation who regularly killed their elk with the 30-30 and 32 special are nearly all gone. However they still work to put a 170 grain Coreloct or Power Point through the vitals of you do your part of correctly directing it there. The rifle your using them in has a great deal to do with range as it's and your accuracy with it determine where that bullet goes. For example if you had a 1/2" rifle with scope in either caliber, 200 yards, maybe 250 is still no problem penetrating. If you can only hit that 8" circle at a limit of 100 yards, then that is your range limit.
Best regards,
F01

Knew a couple guys before I moved to Alaska who used 30-30s for elk and were successful more than not. Both still hunted in the timber and got a ways of the roads. Both used 170 grain Remington CLs.

After moving to Alaska I came to know a few guys who were tipping over moose and caribou on a regular basis with 30-30s and 32 Specials. There was a spot I liked to go to sit and look for caribou. It was where a glacier had pushed up a ridge that gave you some elevation above the valley floor. This particular ridge went out for several hundred yards and had about a 50 yard gap in the ridge and then continued on for close to a mile. It was a great place to sit and watch. And pick low bush cranberries while I waited. The gap had a well used caribou trail in it. Every time I went there there would be a single 30-30 case close to where I liked to sit and watch. Always had a Federal head stamp on it. I assumed it must have come from a guy with a tier 1 permit whose season opened before the draw season which I was hunting. He must have been coming to the same spot every season and watching the same trail. And apparently was a competent shooter. Never found a second shell.

I never have but I know about 7-8 cowboys who have. All know how to hunt and get close enough that the 30-30 works well. One man and his son have killed over 60 with 30-30s.
If you know how to hunt you can (and I have) killed elk with a sharp stick. That's what arrows are.
The trend is to make up with equipment what you lack in drive or skill (or both) so the marketers will tell us all over and over you NEED a new wizz-bang uber-ultra,super short/long fat Ultra magnum. And the big magnums work fine if you use a good bullet in them. But the so-called need for them is not there. It never has been. I have killed many elk with guns that are far less powerful then the gun-rags tell me I need, and one with a wood arrow from a wood bow.

Some of the guns I have used that are at the opposite end of the ballistic spectrum in power or in realistic range are:
44 magnum from handguns 7
454 Casull handgun with iron sights 3
300 Savage with iron sights 1
308 Winchester with iron sights 1
30-06 with irons sights 7
45-70 with iron sights 1
58 cal cap lock with iron sights 1
62 cal flintlock with iron sights. 3

I omit the ones I have killed with my 270s, various 7MMs, Various 300 mags, various 338s and my 375H&H because they do fall into the list of usual cartridge's often suggested, and as I said, they all work fine. But so many seem to think if you do not have one of the "approved" guns you are unarmed. That's simply not true.


One elk I killed with a Browning M95 Lever action I shot 2 times.
ALL the rest in this list above WERE 1 SHOT KILLS.

Right on! Now it seems to be SHOOTING and no need for stalking or know your game skills.

I've done it and so have a few friends. Mine used a 150 gr Hornady, others Ive known used regular 170 gr Remington factory stuff.

Its not my first choice, but as others have said, get close and make your shots count...it will work. ( mine was at 50 yds)

But everyone knows you're a trick shooter


Still hunting in the dark timber it will be fine. Bob

If it worked 100 years ago, or more. No reason it wwon't work now.

The 30-30 and 32 Special will both kill Elk, i've done it way more than once, Can't remember shooting an Elk over about 75 yards with either rifle, but they were DRT. Rio7

I shot my first moose - a 3 year old bull, probably - with a Marlin 336 30-30. I think I used a 170 Silvertip (Win). I wish I still had that rifle, but it's sleeping with the fishes, after a kid got my boat sucked under a log jam. Really. Got 2 other guns too. I've re-supplied.

Like Mainer related on another post, I used the same shooting technique he did , as it was too dark to see the sights against the moose, maybe 100-150 yards away. 3 times I lined the open sights up against the sky, where I could see them, then dropped them onto the moose, raised them back up. When I was sure I had it down, the 3rd time, I made a double lung shot with exit. Used reasonably, the 30-30 has killed a lot of elk and moose.

The muzzle flash was rather impressive, I remember.

The bull ran toward me and died about 10 yards to my left in a huddle of a half dozen or so little spruce. Memorable!

My Dad's '94 is my carry rifle here on walk-about. I should kill something with it again- my last with the rifle being a ND deer in 1966. I might try it with the re-installed aperture sight I grew up with (I have a mount and 3X Leupold, somewhere, that I took off when I re-acquired it after 25 years) on a caribou hunt. I know a spot that I could likely get a 200 yd or less chance, but I'll have a back-up scoped rifle as well. "Trick shooting"....

Or on a moose. I've every confidence it is up to the task. I bought some Leverlution ?160 gr. FSX? ammo last year for it, just for the chance I might get to use it. It groups well. Or well enough.

So did a Model T.

As long as you know your and your 30-30 limitations, it'll do the job

I'd be curious to know what kind of expansion you'd get from a 170gr soft point at the .30-30's practical range limits?

I killed a big hog at 175 yards using a WInchester 150gr hollow point and still had excellent bullet performance. I'm not convinced the tougher bullets are the way to go when the .30-30 is starting out so slow already. Unless you know your shots are going to be well within 100 yards.

You certainly can with the right bullet. My choice is this one https://hammerbullets.com/product/308-cal-143g-lever-hammer/. That said I prefer more horsepower.
With my luck I would see a 7x7 at 250 yards....a chip shot with a 30-06 or more powerful.

I've shot more elk with my muzzleloader than with a center-fire. All were inside 50 yards with most inside 20 feet.

I met a guy one season hunting the same area. He was over 80 years old, from the deep south, and using a 30-30.. He asked my opinion. I said I thought it would work fine if he put one through the lungs. Unfortunately, he didn't get a shot that year. It would have been terrific to see him do it.

My dads supervisors at work used to go to Montana or Wyoming almost every year and hunt moose. One of the guides for the outfitter was a Sioux Indian and always carried a 35 Marlin, he would help guys sight in their rifles and was very patient with everyone. More than one hunter asked him why he never bought a larger gun for moose and the guide would tell them he was happy with what he was using.

I am going to load up some 190gr from Gold Country for this rifle, see if I can get it to shoot. Thanks for the replies gentleman, always good to hear from experience! Thanks a bunch, Jim

I've wanted to do it for years, it has just never happened. I've had limited time to hunt as an adult, so I never wanted to have missed opportunities because I wasn't carrying the right tool. So I usually settled on a .270 Win or .30-06.

My trying stuff out usually happens when I head to OK, to hunt deer. I can have a couple different firearms with me in the blind. Of course shooting a whitetail with a .30-30 isn't as cool as an elk, but it does scratch the itch.

When I started hunting the Flat Tops in NW Colorado or so, I met an old rancher who told me where to find the elk.We became friends and I stopped at his place several times. He had elk antlers nailed up all over his barn and out buildings.I asked him what he shot them with and he showed me his old Model 94 30-30.It had no bluing left on it and the stock was about bare of any coating, scratched, and dented.

Since then I have killed a few elk with one. My list isn't as impressive as Zihn's, but I have killed quite a few elk in58 year with quite a few different rifles ranging from a 30-30, muzzle loaders, to a 7 mag in New Mexico and Colorado. I can't say I have seen much difference in how they died as long as I kept in mind their limitations

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?

I once read an article about a Winchester 1 of 1,000 1876 45-75 in a museum. It was presented to teamster of noted fame for heroic action in the protection of law and order. What was interesting was that the rifle was used to take elk seen along the road from the seat of a wagon. Elk used to feed a town.

Not sure how common such practice was. Likely not too common after 1895?

Pretty good point's been made about the extravagant demands of some types of hunts. Maybe a good argument for using a better suited rifle? I can't remember why the man I discussed in a previous post used his 30-30 for elk. I've seen hunters with lots of fancy shiny new gear. He didn't fit that discription.

One of my Grandad’s buddies brought a friend or cousin to camp one year in the 50’s. He says he was a nice enough young guy who’d never been hunting before.

He went to a sporting goods store and bought some wool clothes, a knife, pack, and a brand new 94 in 30/30. He got the 30/30 because it was cheaper than a bolt action and he wasn’t sure if he was going to like hunting and stick with it.

They sent him up to a clear cut that was starting to grow back over and suggested he sit on a stump and be still and quiet and watch the clearing.

He killed a deer, a forkie if I remember the story right. Got out his knife and got it dressed, threw a rope around it’s neck and started dragging.

When he got to camp he realized he’d forgotten his rifle up on the mountain. Looked for it for several days and never found it. Turns out hunting didn’t stick and he never came back.
So I guess not all old time 30/30 toters were the seasoned, meat hunting, Indian stalking, straight shooting, woodswise types.

Remember the Outdoor Life story where the guy in Alaska killed a charging, humongous, Brown Bear ( or was it an Inland Grizzly?) with his 30-30? Feet away, one shot between the eyes, ha. It "had" to work, ha ha

I never carried a 30-30 liking for elk.
A fellow I know that lives near the Black Hills carried a 25-35 and killed a n elk. He was a kid at the time and his dad had a lot of good elk hunting land. He lied in wait until his elk walked in front of him.
If a 30-30 was the only rifle I owned and I couldn’t beg, borrow or steel something bigger, I’d go with the 30-30 and would be careful to place the bullet where it needed to be.

It has been said before. There has probably been more game, including elk, killed with a 30-30 than any other cartridge.

I used the 170gr Remington.