Sure didn't take too awfully long for this to become a pizzing match.
I've killed a few deer with the 30-30 and none ran very far after being shot. These days I consider the 30-30 a fun gun; one I shoot for pleasure. FWIW, over half the deer I took with the 30-30 were shot with a 170 gr. cast bullet. These days the 30-30 goes on desert hikes usually load with my pet cast bullet load. Just fun walking around scaring the bejabbers out of running jackrabbits and taking an occasional coyote.
These days I do use more modern cartridges and like the .308, 30-06 .300 Win. Mag. and .35 Whelen, especially the latter if I'm after elk. However, I'm in the middle of a love affair with the 7x57 as far as pleasant shooting goes but have yet to hunt game. Stuff just keeps getting in the way.
My take on the .243 is I really do not like it. Years back when I lived in a small Nevada town, I took neighbor kids on their first deer hunts. They used the .243 Mauser I had at the time. Load was a near max and the 100 gr. Hornady. Four deer were taken. One dropped on the spot, two ran 50 to 75 yards before dropping and one easily 250 yards before running into a fence, then falling back and running into the fence again before expiring. Upon opening it up the heart and most of the lungs were Jello. I never could figure out what kept that deer on its feet.
Would I ever shoot another deer with on of my 30-30s? You never can tell. If the situation was right I see no reason why I shouldn't take the shot.
There's a story in an old Outdoor Life where a guy shot a grizzly bear that tied the world's record. He couldn't enter it in the books because he shot the bear though the head with his (GASP!) 30-30.
Paul B.
