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
