I was at the range today having a grand time with a Marlin 336AS complete with a Tasco Golden Antler 4X scope that has a T. V. shaped view. It shoots about like one would expect, no surprises here. I got to thinking that it had been a while since i had taken a deer with a .30-30. When I got home and looked it up I found that it had been even longer than I had thought, 1999. I assume most of have taken a deer with a .30-30 at one point or another. When was the last time you did? If you never did chime-in anyway.

Used one in 2006 and 2007 on sunny days. It was made in 1902. Took a nice 5x5 and a couple baldies with it. I really like that old gun. It was my great-uncles and bought it from his kid.

Sorry, should had added that it is a Winchester Std. rifle.

I have shot a lot of deer and elk with a 30-30 in my youth and I recall the last one I shot was about 5 years ago..but I have shot at least one deer every year for the past 10 years, I guess with my old Win. SRC in 25-35 and 117 gr. factory ammo..I do this because I enjoy doing it, I like to hunt and stalk, get close and pull off a good shot..I limit my shots to 200 yards standing or no further than 100 yards if they are running and only broadside. Guess thats the reason some folks hunt with bows, I know it has been for me, but I don't bow hunt any more.

Apparently ya'll haven't been reading the gun rags. The 30/30 is too weak for any serious hunting. Last pig I shot I had to push the barrel though the wound channel.

.30-30's are okay, I guess, but when I get the urge to hunt with an old levergun it's usually my .303 Savage, much better deer killer, don't you know...

October 2001, doe whitetail at 50 or so yards.

1986 was the last time I shot anything with my Winchester 94. It was also the last time I shot my rifle. I have thought about using it but I never seem to remember when the hunting season starts. Nothing wrong with a 30-30.

That only shows how much some of the gun writer know.

Last deer with a .30WCF?

Forked horn blacktail in October 2006. Hit him tight behind the shoulder at about 30yds and he dropped at the shot. Was dead before I got to him.

I shot my first deer with my first centerfire rifle, a model 1894 Winchester in 30 WCF. That was in 1992. I took it with me as backup in 2001 and shot a coyote that was running by at about 50 yards. Put a small scope on it a couple of years later and took it w/ me for regular deer hunt in '05 but didn't see any deer until I came home and had my muzzle loader with me (in Michigan you can't hunt w/ centerfire rifle north of a certain line, and I live south of it).

This year I took a young man from my church to deer camp with me. He'd shot my 30-30 quite a lot, I now have a wonderful little Weaver 2.5x on it. He didn't shoot a deer but likes the rifle... what isn't to like??

This Thursday I'm going out to the range and will bring that little carbine along. I love it to death. To this day it is the only rifle I "need" but I'm such a rifle crank that I WANT more. Nice thing is that I have settled on one load for this rifle its no muss no fuss... 36 gr RL-15 under 150 gr Win PP in Win brass. I'm never without a hundred or so when I'm at the range. With that litte scope I can hit the ram at 150 yards 100% of the time over sticks. Great activity for when other rifles are cooling between groups.

Last November I got one with my Marlin 336.

I actually bought one of the Davidson's "special edition" trapper-model 30-30's with the 16.25" barrel and straight stock for my "walking around" rifle next season.

1973. The year before I got a 270. I should get it out and warm it up again.

270

Don't own one and have never even shot a 30-30

Last time I took a deer was in 05 the 30-30 is all I've carried for years either a 336W or 336C, daughter took one this fall with a 336C. I will have another in 30-30 soon, the Marlin trapper has my eye this time.

Last time was 1966, with a Winchester 94. I loved that rifle, but when I picked up stakes and moved from Ontario to BC, I gave it to a friend. I still kick myself in the azz every day for that stupid move. I'd love to have it now.

I can still see that last shot. 75 yards and the buck tried to take one step and fell over. He sure tasted good.

1976, Model 94, Blacktail, Tuolumne County, CA. It was what most people in that time and place used.
They don't work so well in NV.

My dad gave me a mdl 94 for a gift when I earned my Eagle Scout award. Years later I killed my largest blacktail with that rifle in Oct 1989. That was the last season I seriously hunted with it. I still shoot it quite a bit. I'll never get ride of it.

Two years ago I shot all my deer (3) for the year with a 30-30. I had bought a Marlin 336W from walmart and it shot so well with lever evolution bullets that I got very interested in it. Darn thing knocks the deer right down and is good out to 200 yards. I'm now looking at that 338 they make.

The boy took his first with an old family pass down, just last yr.

2002

Here's the story:

Ode to a 30-30


Mooseboy used that Marlin for a few years and then traded up to my M1 Garand for deer hunting. It stayed in the safe for quite a while. KYHillChick shot it a bit just for plinking. Finally Angus came to an age when he was ready for his first deer. He bagged a nice doe with the Marlin this past Fall.

My plans for the Marlin is to retire it from service on deer either this year or next. Angus wants to use a Mosin Nagant next Fall. The Marlin will be repurposed to coyote with lighter bullets.

I never have.
But that is very likely to change this year.
I actually won a super clean Marlin 336 yesterday on a Gunbroker auction.
Comes with sling swivels,hammer extention,and Leupold rings and base.
Pre safety model to boot.
Now to find a decent scope to put on it.
Cant wait to get it!!
Still find it hard to believe i got it so cheaply without some guy out bidding me.
Must be the economy.

Must have been 2004 or so the last time I shot a deer with my 30-30 Marlin 336. I carried it a few times that season and smacked a 7pt at 50 yards with a handload of 150 Rem CL, 32grns H4895, WLR, and R+P brass.

I've taken several nice bucks with that 30-30 and when I think back nearly all of them were DRTs. I shot a heck of an 8pt that scored 136 in the mid 90s. Never forget that one, it was late and I ended up hittin a tree 10 feet my side of the buck, the CL blew through the 1.5" sapling and dropped the buck on the spot. It's a wonder it didn't deflect, but I guess you get lucky once in a while

loder

Just this past fall. Doe, 30 yards, broadside and oblivious. It worked just fine...she ran about 25 yards and that was that.

in 1988 i was 13 and i shot a small doe near my house(my first deer). it was when federal first started loading 150gr. partitions. the bullet passed through both lungs and out the other side. i think since then deer have evolved into a near bullet proof animal needing a minimum of a 30cal. w/180 gr. bullets going at least 3000fps. i still have that 30-30 and shoot it often but i have not had it hunting in about 3 years.

An intersting thread. I would bet it has been since about 1991 or 1992 since I have shot something with a 30-30. I have carried one off and on over the years though. The high light over the past five years was being able to carry my great-grandfathers 1894 Winny, 1895 production, with the 26" octogon barrel in 30 WCF. The only reason I haven't carried one more, especially as of late, is because my Remington 7600 carbine in 35 Remington is getting used almost exclusively.

A friend and I were talking about rifles today and we both wondered why a person needs anything more than a 30-30. One could shoot the Hornady Leverevolution for some extra range if needed. Top it off with quality optics and a guy really could be set. Granted, there are many different hunting scenarios, but for many hunters, why use more?

Back in the early 80's I killed a few deer with 180gr. cast bullets at around 1800fps. Soft lead at that velocity, properly placed in the boiler room, made for some no-fooling-around kills. Certainly on a par with factory stuff.

Fast forward to 2005 'til I killed another one with a .30/30. Savage 99, W-W 170gr. Silvertip. Hit high in the shoulder, smashed spinal column. Bang-flop, needless to say.

Probably the most spectacular shot made with a .30/30 wasn't on a deer. 1992, swung on a running fox at around 75-100 yds in an open field. First shot hit about 2 feet behind him. Second shot at Br'er Fox was probably 50 yds. further on with him now in overdrive. Couldn't tell you how much I led him, but the shot took him through the right eyeball. Talk about luck.

I have killed a mountain of deer and hogs with a Marlin 336 30-30, but though I own five 336's, I haven't carried one afield in a couple of years.

Must have been back in ought-five.

Still hunting into the wind led to snoozing into the wind on a sunny hill side with my 336.

A bit of crunching on the trail behind me stirred me. Slowly I turned my head and there he was...My partner Larry.

I got up off the ground and walked over to the trail for a BS session, BSing into the wind, of course.

It was day 2 or three and none of the four of us had pulled the trigger. It was darn warm and no snow and the deer didnt seem to be moving much, at least not close enough to wake me.

Then in the draw beside us there came a crashing through the down fall(gramp says deer never even walk down there). A doe on the run.

I whistled and she stopped to look at us. Bang, kick, jump. She was hit good and we heard her crash then stop.

"Larry, I shot a deer"

"Whats that noise?!"

"Its the buck!! Whistle whistle whistle..."


The Buck stopped to my whistle and before Larry even saw it the little marlin barked again. I was still whistling when I pulled the trigger. So was Larry. Kick, jump, crash, over the hill and down he went.

"Larry, I shot a Buck"

Both deer took two or three bounds before crashing, which put them both within feet of the logging trail on the other side of the hill.


That story is known in camp as "BSing into the wind". Larry and I often take time to hunt together and some of my best hunting memorys will always be of deer shot by him or me when we hunt side by side.

I killed my first deer, which is still my best racked deer, with my Great Grandad's Win model 94(1927 production) in the 30-30 improved: 32 Win Special. I also used it to put down a wounded hog that my buddy hit too high and back. I must say the pucker factor was high, and I was glad to have the short, quick handling, and fast shooting rifle in my hands over my Kimber 8400 270 WSM.

1974 was the last time I carried a 30-30.

I like that

Last deer shot with 30-30 was in 1985. Now I mostly fireform 30-30 cases to straight case and seat a .379 cast bullet. Can't say it's better than a 30-30, just different.

Norm

Would have been about 2003. My pet Win.M64 " Deer Hunter's Special" 170 gr. silvertip. The year before I aced one with grand dads 1927 vintage M94. Now my eyes are too old even for the receiver sight on the m64, I can't guarantee a quick humane kill, so I went to modern telescopic sights for everything...Da*#! LOVED to hunt with that Model 64!

I have only killed one deer with a Enfield Model 31 30-30. A hundred yard broadside shot to a three point Blacktail. The deer bucked and ran off. Found him 50 yards away with a chest filled with destroyed lung tissue. I have seen three other deer killed by 30-30's. Two of them (lung shot) ran off and died less then 50 yards away. The other dropped in his tracks with a neck shot.

I have never shot a deer with a .30 WCF. I don't even own one right now. There is a .32 special in the safe though, and if the hunting is better next year than it was this year, I may drag it out and try to take one with it.

Never havehunted with one but bought a beat up 336 built 1952, from a dealer friend, I didnt need it; he needed the business. I had another friend refinish and reblue. look's good now and will have to hunt with it.
Coop

I have taken a whitetail every year with my 1953 vintage 336 Marlin since 1996. You just can't improve on that gun. I am a little biased since it was a gift from my Grandpa. He actually handed me the gun and it is my most prised possession. I shoot the new Hornady LE ammo and it does a great job. Both of my kids will use the gun when they are old enough to hunt and I will be proud to hand it down to them!!!!

My only kill with a 30-30 is a "No Shooting" poster at Orange County Public Landfill, Spring 1979.

(Yeah, I know. But teenagers are stupid).

BMT

My 30-30 hold's a special spot to me. The man I bought it from was fighting Lou Gehrig's disease whitch he lost.
The Friend who refinished it is a 84 yr old gunsmith served three yrs with Patton before he had to leave and 1952 happen's to be the year I was born, a lot of memories in a rifle I havent used
Coop

Sugarfoot:

Take that 30-30 out next time for Bambi and let it bark. I bet the original owner and the fellow that refinished it would heartily approve...

Be safe
Patty

I plan on using it, paid 150.00 for it and is one gun I won't sell. Both people where special in there own way
Coop

Took my first deer with a .30-30; Marlin 336. In a fit of stupidity (teenager), I traded that rifle. And thus, the sickness began......

I have been deer hunting since 1976 and this past season was the first time I ever shot a deer with a 30/30 (owned the WIN M94 Carbine for years). Shot a doe in the heart at about 50 yards with the 160 Leverevolution load - deer ran about 75 yards before piling up dead.

The last time I hunted with a Marlin, 30-30, was back in 1970. Killed one buck in Maine with it and that was that. For some odd reason, I never hunted with it a gain or shot it again. I bought a 7mm RM Remington 700 for a hunt in 1971 and well I became a bolt action guy. I have been looking at the Marlin 308 in the lever evolution load and the rifle it comes in. Its a nice light package that I could really like, for the kind of hunting I do now.

Took two deer the same day in November '07. I've also loaned .30-30s on Youth Hunts in which I've acted as mentor/guide. Two of the youngsters I took last September filled their tags with the lowly .30-30--one with a Marlin 336 and the other with a NEF Handi-rifle of the same persuasion. .30-30s and deer hunting go together like peanut butter and jelly. (smile)

PC

I started big game hunting with a 30-30 and shot a number of deer with one in the 70's. I think the last deer would have been in 1975. Also got my first elk with my 336 in 1972 (or so).

ttpoz

I've killed quite a few deer with the .30-30. I have a Winchester M94 from 1948 with a Redfield aperture sight and a 1968 vintage Marlin 336C that wears an El Paso Weaver V4.5 variable scope. In the Missouri Ozark timber both knock down whitetails with zero trouble and are more than capable... as they've been for a long time now. I don't hunt with the .30-30 every year, but now and again I'll pull one out, check the sighting, and cruise the timber with it during the firearms season. Either of them also makes coyotes coming to the call in the brush country real sick - real fast.

I have never shot a deer with a 30-30 but i wouldnt hesitate to use one. Great cartridge that has killed train loads of deer and would work like a charm here in the east.

Killed a 7 pointer and doe with my BLR in .358 win this year and i must admit, i really like that combo.....

Why is it these .30-30 threads get me more fired up about deer hunting than any other caliber?

Because it just reeks of leaf mold, woodsmoke, and wet wool. It fairly defines "deer rifle" in our lexicon.

200# 9 pointer in Nov,07. 80 yard shot and the buck piled up after a 30 yard run. Mine is a late 40s/early 50's vintage 336 my Grand Dad gave me when I was 14. It won't ever leave here. I carry it at least a couple of days a year.

Killed my first deer in 1978 with my 94 in 30-30 and still use it. Took my last 30-30 deer with a Savage 1899A in 30-30 made in 1916. Deer was shot in Nov 2008. Have killed over 70% of my deer with various 30-30's over the years and all have died with one shot. But most of my shots are 50-75 yards or less. Makes it easier that way.

I remember as if it yesterday, it was 1968 I had turned 14 had killed bucks 2 years running with a old single shot 20 gauge. This year I had a 30-30!

Hunting with my uncle charlie he had pushed 3 does my way, they kept looking back down the trail, sure enough a six point buck was coming! That was my first buck with a centerfire, one shot broadside thru the heart. He ran down hill 40 yards and dropped!

The GUN, I can remember the day, the feeling and pride of having my own rifle. My mom (dad had passed away when I was 7) took me to a local gun shop and purchased a new Winchester 94 30-30. Money was tight and I had worked cutting grass, etc to pay half the rest was my Christmas gift. The price was $67.00 I handed over my half and home we went.

I hunted with that gun thru high school, college and the first couple of years while getting started in my career. It was replaced with a Ruger safety tang 30-06, put in the back of the closet until giving it to a friend for his cousins son. Another young man growing up without a dad...

Just 6 hours ago. Not a deer, but a pig.

Story here:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...owflat/Number/2809401/page/1#Post2809401

Works.

When I'm still hunting my 336 is my constant companion. On the stand either my 257 Bob or 270 is my choice.Can't beat the 336 for carrying though and its also my hog gun.

Thanks for sharing Ted, Great story.

I use a Marlin 336 in .30-30 or a Marlin 1894 in .44Mag for most of my deer hunting.
Killed a smallish doe this year with my 336Y, and a nice 6 pt buck last year with the same rifle.
Just counting on my hands, I can recall about 10 deer killed with a .30-30 since 1994.
I used to use Remington 170 grain CoreLokt factory cartridges, but I load my own now with a 170 grain Speer FP bullet.

1967....and I'm ashamed of myself. That needs correcting this fall.

A couple years I guess, but I watch a whole lot more that I shoot. The factory loads, with soft bullets at modest speeds, make the 30-30 perform perfectly for a .30 caliber bullet, at close range. Most of us prepare for 400 yrds., then shoot 'em at 40 anyhow.

It's been a while since I whacked anything with the 30-30. Though I can remember the few I have taken were very impressed with the little 30. I shoot the Sierra 170's. They have always exited and left a short trail if any to the animals. Not that I have abandoned the lever guns, I just use my 375 Win a little more often.

Joseph

My first deer gun was Dad's .32 Special Model 94. I missed my first buck with that gun, and shortly thereafter succumbed to the horrible disease known as owning Savage Model 99's. 'Love the feel of the old Winny's, but they just ain't a 99. That being said, this thread has me waxing nostalgic about simpler times and there just might have to be a 30-30 hunt in my future here, although I'll have to store the darned thing in another gun cabinet, lest my 99's figure out I'm cheating on them.

January 2009.

Nice thing about a 99 is they are forgiving. One horse kick with the steel butplate, and you are branded with the war bonnet of love. I,m not man enough, so Dad gave his 99 to my youngest daughter who thinks it the best rifle ever made.
Randy

My 30-30 is a virgin, at least in my hands.

hello! new here. just got 3030 in a 1910 ventage savage 99! it loves the hornady leaverlution load. 3/4 inch a couple times at 100yd. tang sights!!!!!!

I hunted with my 99 H 30-30 this last season, just never, found the right deer to shoot, with it!

I've got 2 pre-64 Winchester 94, 30-30's and a 1942 Winchester 64 in 30-30. Haven't killed anything with any of the three yet.
They sure are great for brush hunting here in western Oregon.
Virgil B.

Good on you Ted...

I hunted from 1974 'till 1981 with my Winchester Model 94 30-30 with iron sights. Lots of deer fell and actually had more DRT with that little rifle than others since. The 170 grain Remington Core-Lokt hammers them hard!

I never took one with a 30-30. Heck, I've never hunted with a 30-30. I think I'll have to fix that.

30-30

Killed a six point with a Marlin 336 three years ago at 15 paces.

The boy killed a five point two yaers ago with his Marlin 336 at 30 paces and then killed a doe last year with the same rifle, at 25 paces.

30-30 A REAL GOOD ROUND.. What do those gun writers know ?

I think them gun writers don't like to talk much 'bout the 30-30 cause it ain't some kind of long armed cannon with recoil pads and fancy camo or a push feed or a extra high power scope or it has to kick the chit out of you to be cool. I'll bet there ain't one gun writer who hasn't had a 30-30 or has one right now.
..

Jeezsh...you cuys should really learn to hunt, and get close to those animals.

tzone,

Yep, we likes to get close. The boy killed a bigggggg, as in 160 lbs,that's big for'round here in WV, 6 point on opening day,that was Nov 23, with his 20 gauge slug gun at 50 paces.

The next day ol' Dad,me, killed a Biggggggggggg 8 point 180 lbs at 30 paces with a Rem 7400 308.

I say all that to get to this point....30-30 would have done the job. I think I'll sell the Rem 7400.
..

Thanksgiving week this year...visiting family and went out with a cousin one morning. 170 gr Powerpoint about 60 yards. No drama. I like a '94 when hunting in the woods. Lyman rec sight and a sheared bead up front. 8 points, dressed out 190 on the old scale in the barn. Good day.
Bill

I've taken a couple of mule deer, an antelope, 2 elk and 2 whitetails with my 30-30
several coyotes have also fallen to it.

now that you mention it it has been a few years since I've killed anything with it, I guess it will be what I take to chickenbuck in january

Took 3 bucks in Nov. 2009 with my 30-30. Its a 336 and I have worked up my own reloads with the hornady leverevoluton bullet. Pics are on the 2009-10 deer harvest thread.

I have a 99a in a 30/30 that I am going to dust off...

Never had it out in the woods..

I was thinking because it is not feed by a tube I could work up a load using NBT ?? Is that right or am I off the road, again??

Your right, if it does not have a tubular magazine, you can load up what you want to as far as the bullet goes. Be sure to not over do the pressure. I'm no expert on this, but I have a friend that has a bolt action 30-30 shooting nozler ballistic tips at over 2650 on the chronograph. He has been doing this for years. Until he got the bolt action 30-30, he would use 2 shells in his tube magazine gun. 1 in the barrel and 1 in the magazine. Sounds strange, but it worked fine.

I've got my Great-grandfather's Marlin 1893 .30-30 take-down rifle that he carried through most of his 40-year career as a Texas Ranger. We've been able to document that he killed at least one bad guy with it: a fugitive murderer that he and his partner cornered in Arkansas.

He gave it to me before he died and urged me to use it. The bore is badly corroded to the point that it won't stabilize jacketed bullets any more, so I used to shoot unsized cast bullets in it. The barrel/receiver lockup is sorta loose now, so that plus the bad bore makes for shotgun patterns. So, haven't hunted with it.

Been thinking about having the barrel relined and having the barrel/receiver juncture tightened up again so it would be more usable. That's what Great-granddaddy would have wanted. He didn't believe in having guns as wall-hangers.

This kid got his first-ever Buck on 11/22/09 with my old .30-.30 Win (vintage 1975); the smile says it all.



The .30-.30 is all I use for Whitetails in the Adirondacks. Most shots are 50-60 yds at most. I've got an old Savage 99 that was handed down over the years from my grandfather to my father to me; it does the trick. Here's an 11 Ptr I killed a couple season ago with it.

My ex's Dad had a really old 99 in 30-30, I fired it in 68, it probably had not been fired in 30 years.

Wish I had talked him out of the gun. It would sure look good slinging cast boolits for me today.

I don't think there is a gun in existence with more beautiful lines than the 99.

I agree, the 99 has the look and the feel like no other; I forgot to mention mine is from 1933, ordered from Montgomery Ward.

My 1st thought is don't mess with it... BUT if he said use,THEN USE IT......

Cool Thanks... I will keep an eye on the pressures..

Never killed a deer with the 30-30, but has worked well enough on several caribou, and moose, among other things. I'd trade a bit of accuracy many times for the quick, reliable way an old lever gun delivers.

Nice buck toothless. Sounds like the 99 is a .30-30 also. I used a .32 Winchester Special this year, but didn't take anything with it. I should have been using it on opening day when I got one with a different rifle.

Last October I traded in the .30-30 AS on a Marlin from the 50's in 35 Remington with a 24" bbl and half magazine. Maybe next year I'll use a .30-30, a Winchester 94AE.

No 30-30 in my background and I grewup in the UP. There has been a parade of guns and cartridges starting in the 60s. The past several years have mostly carried a 30/40 Krag single shot in a Ruger #3 or a Contender.

Briefly owned a new M94 in 30-30 many years ago, never shot it, sold it to a cousin.

Killed my first deer almost 40 years ago with a 1920s vintage M94 in 32 Special, which is about as close as I've come to killing one with a 30-30. Also have a M336SC in 35 Rem, but might buy a 30-30 someday, just for the helluvit?

Have seen more than a few whitetails dropped by one. They seem to work fairly well for it? ;O)

I never hunted with one. Briefly owned a Win. 94 in 30/30, with a trigger of around 8 lbs and lots of creep. Could not shoot the damn thing. Also it bucked in that stock configuration. Looks cute but shooter unfriendly.
However the natives up north shoot bear/moose/deer/bison with it.

First deer I killed was in 1987 with my 30/30. Used the gun for 3-4 years, gettin deer each year. Then I stepped up to a 7RM and sold the 30/30. This summer I had a hankerin to get my hands on a another 30/30 and picked one up, mounted a Nikon 2x7 on it and cleaned the heck out of the barrel. After target shooting a 1" group I was all geeked. I managed to kill a doe on a drive and missed two others then noticed my scope was loose. First time ever for that. End of story I killed a deer after 20 years without using a 30/30. Fun Fun stuff, even the missing part. I even got the barrel hot! yeee haaawwww!
20 years is way too long to go. Not gonna let that happen again.

How well did the 30-30 perform on the elk?

I took my last buck in Nov. 2005 with a .30-30. The son missed a small spike on his first hunt ever this year with that same .30-30. Great handling little rifle.

For me no rifle carries, handles or shoots better than my Marlin 30.30. Especially when huting in the woods. I have had a couple occasions when a youngster was being encouraged to shoot a .243 that was intimidating them and I offered to let them shoot my 30.30. Both times they prefered the 30.30. They liked it better and shot it better. I take at least one deer a year with my Marlin.

Was I somehow responsible for resurrecting this thread?

I can only hope so. (See "Another Nice Mississippi 9-Point")

I can't think of a more perfect combination than whitetails and lever-action .30-30's. Deer, because of their size, are meant to be shot at less than 200 yards, at least it's more enjoyable that way in my opinion.

I put an after-market peep on the rear leaf and it made this rifle MUCH more accurate. I still get a quick follow-up acquisition but it usually is not needed.

Mine handles really well with open sights, and I would never consider a scope for it primarily because I could not get a good stockweld even with low mounts.

What I have noticed, in my circles, is that when I uncase that .30-30 around a bunch of scoped, bolt-action rifles, guys take me seriously. It needs no explaining.

Taylor

"...I would never consider a scope for it...."

Ahh, just wait a few years, my friend!

Two of my hunting buddies have taken 3 nice Whitetails with their Marlin 30-30's in the last 3 years. One was a big 10-point that dressed-out to 180 lbs., one was a nice doe, and one was a big-bodied skanky 5-point buck that needed culling out. All one-shot kills at 40 to 80 yards. Fun stuff.

Last 30-30 deer for me would have been about 1975.

I hunted the Missouri thickets for many years armed with my Marlin 1894 44mag. I lost track of how many deer I harvested with it. Someone stole it from behind the seat of my truck so I got an insurance check and bought a 336 30-30 with that check. It's one of the 1970 vintage guns in real good shape. It has been sitting in the gun cabinet for a long time and has been pretty much ignored. However after reading this entire thread I am headed to the gun room to retrieve it. I think I'll sit in my chair and rub some Wonder Lube all over it.

It's kinda funny how everything comes full circle with age in regards to guns of choice. I started out with that old lever gun and have since used much of the latest and greatest shiny and black stuff that'll kill em as far as you can see em. However nothing compares to sitting in the woods with an old blued steel/ walnut lever gun laying across ones lap.

Heck after I get some Wonder lube smeared all over it I'll just go load some thutty thutties. Wonder if mother will notice if I put the old gun under the covers with us tonight!

This thread has been a good read! Thanks for stirring the coals in regards to the 30-30!

No 30-30 but a win53 in 32-20 for my 1st deer back in '62.

Funny, but of all the guns I've hunted deer with over the years, the only one I never killed a deer with was a well worn model 94 Winchester. Mine was chambered for .32 Winchester Special. Just reading this makes me want to go find an old Marlin and carry it next fall. I like the old beat up ones. Dad was never one for dressed out guns. Guns were tools and meant to be used as such. Dad would look at a tired old rifle sitting on a gun rack in some little gun shop out in the middle of nowhere and say, "look at those scratches son-every one of them was earned."

Years ago I hunted with a Marlin 30-30 due to being left handed.In 1992 I acquired a bolt action .308.Later traded the 30-30 off.This year I bought me for Christmas a Winchester 94 trapper in 30-30.Gonna hunt with it next year.


Dtan in SC

While I've killed deer and elk with my Marlin 1875 in .45-70, antelope with my Marlin 375 in .375 Win and deer with my Browning B92 in .44 Mag, my Marlin 336 .30-30 remains a vigin.

I've been shooting various bullets in it at the range but my hunting loads have been 170 Speer FP and Nosler Partition RNs. Last weekend I tried the Hornady 165g FTX and was surprised that accuracy improved significantly (several 4-shot strings under 1" at 100 using two different powders and 0.5g increments between loads).

I think I've found a new hunting bullet and hope to "break in" the .30-30 this fall.

I broke in my Marlin Christmas present yesterday on a doe. Will have to get a scope mounted. My olds eyes are just not as good as they used to be. The gun did just fine, just the operator didn't want to miss. About an 90 yard shot. Did not have time for the range, so was just hoping this rifle shot where I pointed it. Used 30/30 Winchester 150 grain BT factory loads.

I've wanted a Model 54 Win for a long time in 30/30.

1965 with Savage 99.

March 09

Grand little carbine and cartridge.

Veddy cool cmg

I didnt scroll back through the whole thread, but I have liked the .30-30 for a LONG time..
Have used one in four different configurations, a Single Shot Savage 219, A Rem 788, a Win 94 and my fave a Win.M64....

Shot a couple literal tons of deer with them, and I feel the 30-30 is pretty much what the old gun books touted it to be...a near perfect close range ( under 200 yds) deer cartridge...

Kills cleanly, leaves a good blood trail, doesnt mess up too much meat...




Ingwe

I have never shot a deer with the 30-30 but have used it a lot hunting pigs in lignum swamps. It was/is a great round for those conditions where 1oo yards would be a long shot. My last 30-30 was a Winchester 94 and I have just passed it on to my 18 year old son. May he now have fun with it.

The .30-30 is (probably) still the #1 deer rifle in Michigan, with the .30-06 a near second. I still occasionally carry my Stevens model 325 (that my dad bought new in 1946). A great gun for Michigan woods (mostly <100 yard shots) especially if you're going to climb up in a tree - although it doesn't have that sweet levergun look. That Stevens has taken around 40 deer in it's 63 years and will be my son or daughter's first deer rifle in about 6 more years.

Good question.

The last deer that I shot with a .30-30 that I tagged was probably 1980. It was probably also the first deer I tagged that I shot myself.

Times 'n' attitude change, huh?

The rifle was a Savage/Stevens 840 wearing a Western Field brand. Dad had bought 2, one for Mom, one for Grandma, for Valentines Day. (Takes nuts or is nuts, you decide for yourself.) Grandma didn't hunt so I inherited hers. Being a box magazine, we loaded pointy bullets. The load was 150 grain Sierra flat base spitzer over 30.3 grains of IMR 3031. Expansion was basically non-existent.

I've shot several deer with lever actions in more recent years but none were .30-30. I've used .38-55, .44 mag, and .45-70 that I can think of right off. I wouldn't mind a good .30-30 but there hasn't been a configuration I'd buy offered in several years. The most recent was the Marlin Cowboy 336.

Tom

Used my 30-30 for the first time in three years today. All I can say is its still got it.

Pretty sweet see-thrus....

You somewhere in Wisconsin???


Lookin like good eats at your place this winter!!!


Ingwe

That is a sweet day!

Yeah I put the see thrus on it before I knew any better as a kid, its getting a makeover this summer. I am thinking williams peep sight.

You can probably guess what I think of THAT idea by looking at my .30-30!



But don't let me or anybody else kid you, the see thrus are apparently working!
Meat on the ground!


Ingwe

Those 64s are, without a doubt, the best looking M94s ever to come down the pike.

Thanks...me all time fave too...

" Deer Hunters Special"

Put on the Red Plaid, Knee high lace up boots, and you are GTG!!

Ingwe

And a Stormy Kromer cap. Then you must be vewy, vewy quiet.

I have one of those Stormy Kromers, and I hear that all the time.

I've hunted with a 336 in .30-30 a fair number of years but never got a shot with it. I just killed a doe with a .25-06 but even before I got home was thinking I'd tote that .30-30 next year. I reckon I will.

Exactamundo!!!!


Ingwe

Youper:

I've only taken one deer with my Marlin 336, 30-30. That was about ten years ago when I went on a whitetail hunt in Mississippi.

When I was very young and he was very old, my grandfather told me some of his experiences when he was young. He started shooting an old Winchester '76, 45-70 as a teenager. He said that when he first shot a 30-30 with modern smokeless powder, he thought that it just about defied gravity because the trajectory was so flat. When he fought in WWI, he was issued a Springfield 30-06 and he said that the range was twice as far using the '06 and he was amazed again.

One could make a strong argument for stating that the 30-30 caliber has taken more big game animals than any other because for fifty years it was the caliber of choice for blue collar hunters all over the country. And in the late '30s there was a vigorous debate between proponents of the 30-30 and 30-06.

The debate was pretty much put to rest by the M1 Garand (30-06), which was issued to servicemen during WWII. So hunting changed after WWII and most big game hunters started using calibers with more aerodynamic bullets, higher muzzle velocities, flatter trajectories, longer range and more hitting power.

To some degree, the debate has rekindled with the introduction of 30-30 Leverevolution ammo using bullets with pointed rubber tips that exhibit better aerodynamics. But even with that improvement, the 30-30 can't perform as well as more modern 30 caliber ammunition and probably never will.

I own rifles in several calibers as I suspect you do also. The Lever action 30-30 looks great hanging in a rifle rack on the wall. But I use a 30-06 for big game hunting in Colorado. However as you suggest, a lever action 30-30 is hard to beat for a 200 yard gun.

KC

I love my Marlin 336 in 30-30, have taken several does with it, 2008 was my latest. It's deadly accurate with almost any round I chamber in it. I mostly bow hunt now, but just yesterday I realized I'v never taken a buck with my Marlin, so that is the goal for next season.

This has been a great thread to read!

While I would love to have a model 54 Winchester in 30/30,
I do have 3 of them in lever action..

a Model 94 that my step dad bought at the Alconbury Rod and Gun Club just before we left England in June 1966... killed my first deer with it at Ft Bragg in 1967. Still have it and will pass it on to my son who is now 15.

a Marlin that is stainless and wood, when they originally made a limited run of them.

and also when they were still cheap, a Model 94 Legacy with a 26 inch barrel, was nostalgic for me to pick up one with a long barrel., I actually don't like the 20 inch barrel on the other two.. 24 inch would be more to my liking...

I have had it on my agenda to get an New England single shot in 30/30 for a long time. I actually like to load up 110 grain RN's at about 2700 or so fps, to take out an shoot some varmints with it.

Last time in Montana shooting prairie dogs with my buddy out of Billings, I took the 30/30 and a 100 rounds of the 110 gr Handloads.. problem was, I got to shoot about 10 shots with it..

my buddy and his son were fighting over it to shoot the remaining 90 rounds at prairie dogs...

Seafire,
You wouldn't happen to recall what that 110 grain load was? I've been messing around w. light bullets in the .30-30 using some of Paco's data, would be interested in what you found worked. Thanks. Sounds like a good time.

Ella

Last deer I killed with a 30/30 was 1982 - Remington 788. The deer ran the farthest of any I've ever shot. No blood, hair or tissue for for about 100 yds. or so. I figured I simply missed it and returned to my stand and continued to hunt.

As we were leaving I searched one more time and found a few drops of blood several yds beyond where I had previously stopped searching. Across a fence and about another 30-40 yds beyond, found the deer laying head down hill on a small knoll in a uncut soybean field.

Even with the heart, a lung, and liver being penetrated, apparently, my bullet failed to expand. Entrance/exit holes (L/shoulder-RT/rear rib cage) were both the same .30 cal. size. The bullet was a Silver Tip but don't recall now whether a 150 or 170 gr. Body cavity was absolutely full of blood.

Ella,

I have all sorts of loads I use for that combo, depending on velocity desired etc at the time.

one can use Rl 7 ( a favorite for accuracy) from 22 to 34 grains is what I play with.. at 34 grains, in mine I am about 3000 fps with the 110 grainers.

Sr 4759 is also a fun load, as it has reduced recoil, kids love it. 15 to 20 grains usually works out fine. that maxes out in the 2600 fps range.

30 grains of 4198....

as always, work up from a lower point.

for 50 yds or so, a case full of Trail Boss with give you the MV of a 22 LR, but with a 110 grain 30 caliber bullet.

Cast bullet loads also with a 115 grain cast bullet from Laser Cast is also a fun afternoon shooting economically, using Unique.
Laser Casts web site has some useful load data for that kind of plinking.

if you single shot a Model 94 or Marlin 336, the 110 grain V Max or the 110 Sierra HP will also make a fun varminter, especially on prairie dogs.

Load it with the new 150 gr TSX bucket mouth and you will be happily surprised on how well it kills.

(same bullet is also fun on Yotes from a 300 Magnum...PETA would not approve.)

I got one for my boy. I loaded the 150 grain Speer to 2250 fps out of a 20" barrel. At 12 years old he plugged one at 50 yards behind the shoulder and their was lung tissue strewn all over the brush on the other side. Then at 13 years old, he shot one from a tree stand with my coaching at 250 yard DRT.

I have been very impressed with the 150 Speer.

Anyone else have any particular 30-30 loads they dote on?

1987 for deer
2002 for antelope.

Good thread!

I only hunted once with a .30-30 on my first dear hunt at 14. I got my chance at a small 2x2 across a canyon, probably 150 yards away. I was pretty clueless about ballistics and how much bullets drop at different distances. I couldn't believe shot after shot were all hitting down by his feet. I had never fired a gun farther than 100 yards at the range or at probably 35 to 50 yards in the woods plinking at cans. I fired all 5 rounds from the magazine and had nothing to show for it but an exasperated father. The young buck lived and learned (and so did an ignorant young hunter).

Seafire, thanks for the pointers. I have some 4759 around somewhere, might have to try that out. I've used heavier lasercast bullets at slow speeds--the 170 grainers, no gas check--they've been working well w. under 7 grains of 2400 for under 100 yard plinking. 700x also works well. I just love doodling around w. a lever in this caliber. Light loads are just a hoot.

On the thread's general topic, my most recent hunting w. the .30-30 was earlier last month in N Georgia, took a couple of very tasty piglets from a litter I happened on by accident, Winchester power points over RL-15 I believe. Through the heart, flop. The rifle is a bubba-ed up Glenfield w. a truckbed liner painted stock and a Williams peep sight and Marble sourdough front sight. It has one of those after market flopless triggers on it and is a joy to take with.

Killed my first Deer with a Savage 219 30-30,and a bunch more after that with the same rifle. I have a model 94 30-30 that is a 1947 model that has had 10 rounds thru it. It was my FIL's. I bought it 35 or forty years ago from him and have never put a shell in it. I just don't care for them.(94 Winchester,s that is)
The 30-30 for short range work is fine.

I never shot a 30-30 for blood. (A crime, isn't it)

I started with a Savage 99 in 308 and never looked back.

BMT

The last deer I shot with the 30/30 was in 2005.
I was shooting my dad's 1956 vintage 94.
The deer ran out of the really thick under brush to my right and slightly behind me.
She was running at full speed in full bound and didn't see me.
I heard her coming and was "at the ready" when she came busting out of the cover.
I had to shoot in self defense at almost muzzle contact distance or she would have landed on top me.
After the shot their was blood on the rifle barrel believe it or not.
Eric

Well eric what about the deer

The doe field dressed was about 150 lbs.
She dropped about 5 feet away from me.

Shot my first deer this past season with my 336

I'm either putting a scope on it, or maybe using my SKS next year. I'm also buying a 338 ME with tax returns

Is it wrong to go through life without owning at least one 30-30?

Well I guess not, but it doesn't hurt to have one. I'm down to one now.

I bought a Winchester M94 in 1985. Didn't shoot worth a crap. Sold it and bought a 700 ADL 30-06 which I never should have sold. But on a positive note my uncle took my grandfathers 40's vintage M94 30-30 out one day and showed me how a real 30-30 should shoot. Quite impressive.

Feeling pretty bad about letting the little Trapper Carbine seen in the thread below lay fallow this season. Moved the Aimpoint to my issued SBS...

Need to pic up an elevator for the rear sight and may put an XS front sight on it, and hope it works with these 50-year-old eyeballs.

Seafire or anyone, do you think going to a 125 or 110 bullet would get the velocity and tissue damage up to a useable level?

The several stories about standard loads just poking through are unsettling and I suspect the problem would be exacerbated by lower velocities from a 16-in. bbl.

Snubnosed Thutty Thutty

Don't remember the last one with a 30-30 but this was my first buck with my dads Mod 94 30-30....60 years ago, Ellsworth Michigan

Back in '06 I walked up on the stupidest doe in history .I was walking in to restock my corn piles and damn near tripped over her.1 shot from my Marlin 336 30-30 made her meat for the table

I kill Florida and Georgia Whitetails dead as you would want, with a Marlin 336Y Spikehorn. That is a 16 inch barrel, and I use 170 grain handloads. Never had a deer walk away from a solid hit.
If the .30-30 were a poor deer cartridge, it would have died out years ago. Just saying..........

The regular 150 and 170 grain power point, core-lokt and Federal ammo is fine for deer hunting.
No worries about anything "penciling through". It is designed to expand at 30-30 speeds and has been refined
for 115 or so years by the ammo companies.

What a great picture!!! I can look at old pictures like that for hours..the 30/30, the old cars...rural Americana...

I love hunting with my leverguns. I've a Model 94 carbine, Model 64 both in .30-30 and a Savage 1899A in .303. I've killed deer with all three using 170 gr Remington bullets. I've never had a problem with performance.

if you are having problems due to low velocity, in that 16 inch barrel, I can recommend some load data with RL7 and 110 grain bullets can get some MV of 2800 fps or better in 22 inch barrels... consult the Hodgdon # 26 manual..

for myself tho, I load SR 4759 in my 30/30s.. the 1966 purchased one isn't overly accurate unless with that powder, using MV's of 1900-2000 fps with a 150 grainer, and 1800 fps with a 170...

seems to work well in my two newer 30/30s..
I love loading this cartridge for nostalgia reasons..every time I see threads on it, I am still reminded, one of the rifles I'd love to have in chambered in it, is a Model 54 Win in 30/30... I could also warm up to a Savage 99 in one..

Although I've never killed a deer with a .30-30, I now own two of them.

I did, however, kill my first deer, a spike muley, back in 1965 with a .32 Special that I borrowed from one of my college roommates.

When I got out of the Army in the early 70's I decided I needed a .30-30 so I bought a "Canadian Centennial" Model 94 Winchester. I also had a .30-06 back then and it was my first choice for all my deer and elk hunting. That Canadian Centennial has basically sat in my safe for 40 years.

Then last year I decided I needed a field going .30-30. After a few weeks of watching Gunbroker, and I now have a good field going Model 94. The problem now is that Laser Eye Surgery I had a couple of years ago gave me 20/15 far vision, but the sights of my "new" Model 94 are a blur.

I'm a beneficiary of Lasik too. I can still see irons, but its easier with a receiver sight. My suggestion is to put a Williams receiver sight on it and remove the insert.

I like this thread, fun to read everyones responses.

I shot my last deer with a 30-30 in 1991, a spike mule deer when I was 16 years old, unfortunately haven't shot one with it since. In fact I killed the first 6 deer of my life with my 30-30, a Savage model 340 with open sights, including the biggest deer I have ever killed to this day- a big 7x3 mulie I shot when I was 14. Still the biggest I've shot out of 21 deer and 22 years of carrying a rifle, many rifles that were much bigger than a 30-30.

I'm finally gonna hunt deer in two different states this year, maybe I'll pull the little bugger out and hunt with it again in one of the states, I miss it and it would just be fun to hunt with open sights again.

mnimrod45

Last one? November 23, 2009, 11:10 AM, Eastern Upper Peninsula, 40 yards, pop-up ground blind tucked away in the cedar thickets, Hornady Custom 170 gr., 2-7x Bushnell Elite w/firefly reticle and Leupold base and rings (lapped),gunsmith trigger job. Will probably swap scope out for a Leupold 1-4x because that's all I really need where I hunt. Shoots consistent 2" groups at 100 yards with the occasional 1" group...it's a keeper fer sure. Perfect thick cover deer rifles and they have no peer in an enclosed ground blind. Had both the '06 and the 30-30 in camp but the '06 never made it out the cabin door. This round is a blast to shoot and it continues to kill stuff.

I will die with my old thutty-thutty in the rifle rack. I would also bet that my Savage .30-30 over 12 gauge is still there when they throw dirt in my face. The Savage is one of the unsung and under appreciated great guns that just about anybody can use now and again. Accurate enough for deer out to 250 yards - and since it is a single shot I load 125 grain Nosler BTs and the deer fall like wheat before the sythe. Also works just great for turkey - and would, with slugs, make a dandy back-up survival gun if bear or other large predatory type creatures were a potential problem.

Terry

I have really been wanting to get a 30-30 for some time now, it's next on my list of rifles after I find a good .375 h&h. Who on earth thinks a 30-30 is too weak for hogs and deer?! I would definitely think that anyone who has gained that belief through field experience is lacking in the aiming department..... Anywho, i've been looking at marlins and really like them... Does anyone have recommendations on these guns or other lever makers? I'm looking for a lever rifle that will be used for deer... And anything else I find the need to use it for

Once you go lever gun you wonn't go back. Marlin, Winchester and Savage 30.30s are fun to shoot and hunt with. You can't go wrong with any of them. FWIW I shoot a Marlin.