Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Favorite 30-30 factory load for deer

Sportsmansguide is still showing them as being in stock for $30 per box.

LeverEvolution either factory or handloads are my favorite. Get yourself a Cabelas Lever Action Scope on your 30-30
and never look back. My Grandson can hit the gong at 300 yards with this set-up with regularity.

I have an older batch of Hornady Leverevolution 160 grainers that shoot tremendously well in my .30-30. That is all that I hunt with now. I'll be bummin when I run out of them, as the new batches don't shoot quite as well. They changed something, just not sure what.

Interesting!

Loved the old 170 Silver tips. Now I use either the 170 Win power point or the Hornady rubber tipped 160s. I was fortunate enough many years ago to stockpile silver tips for my 32 Win Sp.

Yep the old Silvertips were my favorite of course Winchester just had to "improve" them. Seems like they can't let a good thing alone Their new AA hulls are a prime example.

I've killed deer across North America due to USAF assignments during 23 years of service. Biggest mule deer I toppled was during a hunt near the Badlands in South Dakota shooting 150 grain core-lokt ammo from my Glenfield carbine. One shot through the chest organs at approx 125 yards did the job quickly. I've had much good luck with Winchester Power Points, too. Their 170 grain version shoots amazingly well with groups averaging 3 inches at 150 yards! I feel that this 170 grain loading is my best choice for long shots. Last year, I downed two deer in Pennsylvania shooting 150 grain ammo by Herter's which produced one shot kills as well. Both were taken at about 75 yards or so in steep country.

The ammo companies have had over 100 years to figure out jacket thickness and other factors to produce rapid expansion for the 30-30 cartridge. I'd say they got it right.

Sherwood

The .30-30 just works. It's a gun I find myself grabbing at some point every season it seems like. Usually on a rainy nasty day. I've always like levers, and use allot of them. But it's tough to beat a .30-30 for a whitetail shooter.
-Jake

I picked LeverEvolution powder and the Barnes 150 when I loaded for my 336 30-30. When I hit 25.5 grains of LE the gun started shooting perfect little 3/4 inch clover leafs and the chrony was telling me very consistently 2400 FPS. I tested them into water jugs and got ad copy expansion down to either 1100 or 1300 FPS. I'd have to dig out the load book to be sure which. Either way though, it's plenty of margin for killing deer at any range I might be willing to shoot one with a 30-30 since I have never killed one beyond fifty yards with that caliber. Was I looking to shoot factory ammo I'd be looking for Vor-Tx or the Hog Hammer stuff and I'd snatch up plenty enough to last me. I think both are loaded by Barnes and the Remington and the Rems are just in a different box.

Experimented with several factory brands and bullet weights and my Marlin 336 took to Hornady's American Whitetail 150 grain right off the bat. The 30-30 is the only center fire I don't reload.

170 Hornady FP

I'll second the TSX....not needed, but decidedly wicked on energy transfers, at least anecdotally. The old PMC star fire was similar. Seriously, it probably doesn't matter that much....any 125-170 through the pumps will kill deer/hogs out of a slooo dirty thirty.

I always wondered why no one mentions the Speer 130. It grouped little bitty groups in my last 30-30 but never seen deer when carrying it. It would group way less that half what a 150 or 170 would.

I killed a antelope doe using a 130gr hornady spire point in a 30/30 T/ C encore with a 24'' barrel worked really good, I would use the 130gr speer flat point in my winchester mod 64 any day.

Mooshoo, that's good to know. I sold my 30-30, but was going to load them in my 308 win for the grandsons.

I haven't killed a deer with a 30-30 for 30 years but the 150 and 170 worked about the same for me...being young and wanting more vol I loaded som 130 s....I can't recal ever shooting a deer with one tho....

Yeah, I used to load up a lot of 130 Speers for the range and for groundhogs. I'd always switch back to 170's for Bear and Deer though. It was because of Bear season immediately preceding deer season. I didn't have the time or take the time to sight back in for 130's for deer. Then the PGC started running bear and deer concurrently and ended all thoughts on my part of taking a deer with the 130's.

I use the 150 grain Winchester PP in my M94

150 grain Silvertip and 170 Core Loke..

150gr Powermax is the best 30-30 on the market for me.