Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Buying a 30-30 was a crazy idea.

As I sit here at the computer, theres an old photograph (blown up and framed) of my Great Grandpa, Grandpa and 5 of his cousins, taken in the late '40s. It was taken up by Eagle River WI. They are kneeling in front of 7 big bucks on the meat pole in camp with their rifles. There are 3) 30-40 Krag "carbines", 2) Winchester 30-30 rifles and 2) Marlin 30-30 carbines. Other than my Grandpa who eventually bought a few more rifles of different calibers, all the other guys owned only one deer rifle, one .22lr and maybe one shotgun. The funny story with the photograph was some city guys from Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL were staying with a guide in tents also, about a 1/4mile away. It was state land and the guys with the guide hadn't seen a deer and my Grandpa's camp was tagged out. So the city guys were leaving and asked my Grandpa if they could take a picture of themselves in front of my Grandpas' camp deer and in return they would take and send pictures to my Grandpa and his relatives. So they said yes and a couple months later 7 color pictures showed up at my Grandpa's house. my Grandpa is 95 and in a nursing home/hospice now and still remembers that year at deer camp and the pictures and laughs, like its yesterday. It's crazy how times and perceptions have changed.

I have downloaded both .375 winchester and .30wcf with cast lead bullets down to around 1200fps or so. Not much more than a .22lr.
few years ago i ran across a winchester in the box fromt he 70's.
it had spent it's life in the box in a swamp cooled house here in phx. 100dollar bill, solid rust on the exterior, inside brand new.
it was beyong my skill set, but took it to a guy who got the rust and pits out and reblued it, except for the alloy reciever, wouldn't hols standard bluing, so he used one of those bake on enamel type paints on the reciever. Nice little rifle today.
I have a real fondness for these levers, and they are much underestimated.

my first lever was circa 1957. I was in a hunter/safety course and kids were making fun of me for the old jap arisaka i had.
My mother made my dad get me a proper rifle. At the local hardware store it was 69dollars a winchester 94, which i still have.
I was around 11, so it was a cannon to me. But i watched him and his friends shoot beercans with it offhand at 100yards. That was the goal i was told to strive for, or get to where i could hit running jackrabbits with it offhand.

Wonderful cartridge with cast bullets.

I currently own 3. Wouldn't be without a least one.

Marlin 336A 24" barrel, old enough the receiver is not drilled and tapped for a scope, wears a Lyman peep.

My fathers Savage 340A

Ruger #1


Have owned NEF, Win 94, pre and post 64, and a converted Schmidt Rubin.

Would like to find a Savage 219 in good shape, not so common here in Western Canada.

Flyer

Now I got the hots for yet another 94!!! Like a plain ol' octogon bbl rifle with enough scratch in' left in the bore to shoot good!!! 30WCF of course.

Move the rear sight the direction you want the bullet to go, lower and left, in your case. You probably know that, but maybe it'll help someone else .
Depending on how high it's shooting, you probably DO need a new front sight, there's a formula for finding the difference, a google search can probably find it, and then you can order a sight pusher and new front sight from the vendor of your choice.

Not really. Not even close to a mile... 21.5" to 23.8".

Rather than compare two completely different cartridge and rifle types, it might make more sense to simply ask if the .30/30 can do the job at say, 300 yards.

The pointy 140 Hornady factory load claims over 800 FPE at 300. The two 160gr loads pack over 1000. Any of them, while not ideal, ought to do the job if properly placed. The question then becomes; are the sights and shooter up to it?

Right, 300 yards seems outside the normal, practical range for either chambering. My thought is/was within 150 yards, or so, there is no practical difference. I would think a regular need or interest in 300 yard capabilities would indicate some other chambering... although I'm no expert and I have no experience at 300 yards using either.

[quote=Flyer01]Wonderful cartridge with cast bullets.

I currently own 3. Wouldn't be without a least one.

Marlin 336A 24" barrel, old enough the receiver is not drilled and tapped for a scope, wears a Lyman peep.

My fathers Savage 340A

Ruger #1




A Ruger #1 in 30/30? WOW, I'd love one of those!

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To get drops like that (21.5" to 23.8") with the Sierra 125g bullet and a MV of 3600fps you have to have a 200 yard zero. My calculations were for 100 yard zeros. By the way, in checking my previous calculations it appears I made some minor errors. Corrected data with 100 yard zeros is shown below. Not a lot of difference but I thought it worth acknowledging my original error.

Again, using these loads:
.30-30 = Sierra 125g FN/HP, BC .119 @ 2600fps, 20” carbine
.257 Bob = Swift 120g A-frame, BC .382 @ 2947fps, 22” barrel Ruger M77
.257 Bob = Nosler 110g AccuBond. BC .418 @ 3163fps, 22” barrel Ruger M77

Corrected data for 300 yards with 100 yard zeros:
Sierra 125g FN/HP = -34.9”, 1065fps, 315fpe
Swift 120g A-Frame = -12.0”, 2298fpe, 1534fpe
Nosler 110g AccuBond = -9.8”, 2516fps, 1546fpe

Now let's compare the two cartridges using a 200 yard zero since that appears to be your preference:
Sierra 125g FN/HP = -22.6”, 1065fpsfps, 315fpe
Swift 120g A-Frame = -7.2"”, 2275fps, 1379fpe
Nosler 110g AccuBond = -5.96”, 2516fps, 1546fpe

And for fun, let's compare both with MPBR (Maximum Point Blank Range) zeros for a target 6" in diameter. This will give a maximum deviation from line of sight of +/- 3" and is how I zero all my rifles:
Sierra 125g FN/HP = zero180 yards, MPBR207 yards, -3", 1378fps, 527fpe
Swift 120g A-Frame = zero246 yards, MPBR288 yards, -3", 2200fps, 1410fpe
Nosler 110g AccuBond = zero264 yards, MPBR310 yards, -3", 2496fps, 1522fpe

Much as I love my .30-30, the facts are it doesn't compare well against the capabilities of my .257 Roberts, especially as the target ranges get longer.

Gotta disagree in both cases.

First, 300 yards is easily within the capabilities of the .257, no doubt about it.

Second, while the trajectory of the Hornady loads might require a bit of figuring, the energy is sufficient, and with the 160gr FTX at least, the impact velocity is within the design window for expansion. Again, not ideal, but for the shooter who knows the rifle and load, no big deal.

On a side note, John Wooters used to run a TCR in .30/30 pretty hard; 150s at about 2600, if I recall correctly. He didn't recommend it to anyone else, but was okay with it for himself. The TCR is a strong rifle, and Wooters a pretty experienced guy.

Exactly right. If the 125g Sierra at 2600fps is a 300 yard bullet, the .257 Roberts with a 110g AccuBond at 3163fps (+P pressures) is a 500 yard cartridge.

.30-30 @ 300yards w/ 125g Sierra and 2600fps MV = -25.8", 1065fps, 315fpe
.257 Roberts @ 500 yards w/ 110g AccuBond and 3163fpsMV = -29.3", 2133fps, 1111fpe

In fact, in terms of fps and fpe, the .257 Roberts with my 110g AccuBond load has more of each at 1000 yards (1352fps, 446fpe) than the 125g Sierra launched at 2600fps has at 300 yards.

It was a Lipsey's special run of them a few years ago. Been wanting one myself, but they almost never come up for sale.