I've long pondered this. I'm certain that when I began hunting thirty some years ago the 30-30 was in the lead but now? I think there's a strong possibility the 30-06 has now passed it. Some folks like to throw the 44-40 into the mix because it was popular in the days before the turn of the century and they say there was more deer then. But the deer here in the east had become scarce by the Civil War and the 38-40 was a much bigger thing around here than the 44-40. Even the 32-20 was more popular. The 44-40 was a big seller out west.
