Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .30/30 Winchester? THAT old thing?

Mule,
I hear more good things about that particular bullet than bad. The only negative I've ever heard about it was when it was planted on steep angle shots and didn't penetrate quite as well as it should. If you plan on anything other than broadside lung shots; then maybe the Speer 130 FN would be a bit better choice. That 125 HP does get some real speed out of a .30/30 when pushed to the max though, and in a scoped rifle of decent accuracy probably gives you real 200-250 yard potential. I've fired a few boxes of them out of Federal factory ammo several years ago and thought they had some promise as a coyote load for a .30/30. For a varmint handload, I dabbled with a few hundred of the little Speer 110 grain HP's, (flat nose) and found them to be an explosive little pill on small stuff at virtually any normal speeds out of a .30/30.AW

Sorry, 7400
I was on a project at a nuke plant in IL. 1/6/03 -2/07/03.
Came home to a bunch of over ripe honey doos, plus a bunch of unfinished gun projects.
After hanging out with the full time nuke guys and the post 9/11 security measures, it'll take a month to regain full use of my mental facilties.
People think its a pain to get a carry on bag thru airport security. Try getting 4 tractor and trailer loads of equipment in to a nuke facility!
But, I guess it pays for the important stuff.
One of my projects is to get one of my Marlin 30/30 rifles set-up with a peep sight.

I've taken a lot of deer with the 30-30, some with factory, some with Hornady Interlocks, some with cast bullets. None fell out of my sight, I use 170 grain bullets, and my shots range from 10 feet to maybe 85 yards. Many were running shots, and a few took more than one bullet. Thats just me, I believe in keep shooting 'till it hits the ground, needed or not.
Not a running shot fan? too bad, I'm pretty good at it, it does take practice.

People disrespect the .30-30 Win because deer have gotten toughter over the years <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Don't you see all those armor plated deer running around? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

People have killed deer with anything from a .22 LR up. People have also lost deer with belted magnums.

The .30-30 is a fine choice if you respect it's abilities and limitations. I've never had a problem with the killing power of 170g FP loaded to about 2200 fps. You can only kill something so dead!

I think the 30/30 is just great, but it has its limits and is NOT an "all-around" gun. Therfore, most guys buy an '06 (or 270 or 308) first, and maybe never get around to using the 30/30.

I bought a Savage 99 in 308 because it will cleanly take anything in the continental US (Not AK) out to my maximum range of 250 yards (the animals are pretty safe from me if they are beyond that range).

I dislike the shooting press for the Hyping the Super Ultra Mags as well as for belittling perfectly acceptable cartridges such as the 30/30. Almost no one who hunts varied terrain and multiple types of game (as most of us do) should be taking shots at 400 yards. All that extra punch of the 300 Ultra Mag is just a waste in the field.

Just my 2 cents.

BMT

Hey Adobe!
Imagine you standin' up for my beloved .30 WCF! Nothin' new there! (LOL)
I've thought about this quite a bit. Most places I've lived in Canada, the .30-30 is considered a perfectly adequate DEER round. Just a bit light for moose. What has changed, largely due to .270-class guns and good optics, is our "hunting" tactics. My dad and uncles, as late as the '60s and '70s, drove deer and moose, or sat in small clearings or on the edge of burns, and shot game at 30 or so yards....maybe a real long shot of 100 yards on occasion. In some of these areas, the game remains the same; in fact deer numbers are up, but my generation lacks woodsmanship skills, myself included. Now more moose hunters like to sit cutlines with a .300 mag so they can reach out 300 yards for a moose. I'm not criticizing these fellas; this is what they've been taught to do. And so, since they figure this is how deer and moose are hunted, this is what you need. To not be prepared to take a 300 yard shot would be, to their notion, irresponsible. What people don't realize is that the millions of deer taken with .30-30s and the like were laid low by skilled hunters at close range, not by snipers with a good vantage point.
It's so very strange that a fellow who goes after moose with a bow and arrow is "accepting a challenge", while the nimrod who elects to chase the swamp donkey with a .30-30 is sometimes seen as irresponsible, the reason being that people assume he will hunt as though he were .30-06 equipped. But people do have strange preferences. My Dad, who had to be a successful hunter to feed his family, still felt that deer deserved a sporting chance. To him, this means no scope, unless your eyesight is real bad. No treestands, EVER. No camo clothes. And if you actually think you NEED anything bigger than a .351 Winchester, you should learn more about getting close. Boy, do I ever NOT measure up! If I do a mental inventory of the family favourites of old, I come up with the .30-30, .351, .25-20 (deer only), .38-55, .303 (Savage and British)and .40-82. Mine's the .280, but I'm younger!
Take care, Adobe. K.C.

I like that 30-30 round! I try to hit bone with either 150's or 170's.

Fish280...guess you know that the old levergun will make just as good a pointy bullet single (or twoshoooter) as the NEF. Looks and carries a heck of a lot better IMHO.

Ream it to 30-30 AI and you are looking at near .307 power in the same light favorite carbine. Plus you get a trueblue wildcat round to play with....forget your reloads? Just run some regular 30-30's through your AI and save the brass till you get back to the house.

30-30's and deer... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

buster, AW, et al:

handled a winchester 94 black shadow (you know, the one with the half mag and black syn stock) at a gun show today. i liked it. fella had one in .30-30 and one in .444 marlin. $100 difference. new in boxes. that syn stock might be heresey to some, but i think it made up a real neat package with that half mag. now if only my money will come in before the show closes tomorrow. i sure am tempted. probably could get either one for $50 less he's asking ($299 for the .30-30, $399 for the .444).

thoughts?

I like the Black Shadow alot; I think it has a 24" barrel. Loaded with the new Winchester 150 grain Supreme loading, it will spit them out at 2450 fps. That is the fastest production 30-30 rifle/cartridge available today. The T/C contender carbine might be 24" barreled as well.

One thing, the new '94's have had the safety moved to the tang. If the rifle you looked at is the old style with the push button hammer block in the side of the reciever, you may be able to get an even better price. Old style safety and all.

Also, drop by www.winchester-guns.com and check out the Legacy model. I like that one alot also, but it is pricey. Seems they have dropped the Black Shadow '94. More bargaining room!

Hope you got that Black Shadow 30-30. I've had one for several years now with an old Weaver 3x mounted in Leupold bases and rings. I love the thing. Had it at the range several weeks ago and shot it with some factory Winchester 170 Silvertips. Four three shot groups in a row and none over an inch at 100 yards! Don't ever let anyone tell you a Model 94 levergun won't shoot! As for dropping deer, it does as well as anything I have ever used and I have used just about everything. I presently have three Model 94 30-30s and will probably buy another before long when they get out with the new tang mounted safety. Good shooting.

nope, no black shadow. money didn't come in time to go back to show, and still is not in. considering now an NEF synthetic stocked .30-30 if and when money comes in. had a wood-stocked one that shot like the blazes, throwing hand-loaded 165-grain spire points at 2400 fps.

I've used 130gr Sierra bullets over a full charge of 3031 for blacktail deer with
great results at close range. The buck was small and bed down 40 ft away. He
never stood up. The bullet enterance hole was anbout a half dollar and exited as
big as my fist. A year after that I hit a larger buck at 40 ft with a 280 Ren. I used
a 140gr Sierra sp over 4250. The shot took out both luns and nicked the liver and
heart. It ran 25 yrds. How I'll never know! Last year was two buck at 150 yrds with
the same load. Both buck droped in their tracks. Go figure.
I like the 130 Sierra bullets in the 30-30. at close range on small deer I don't feel
I need the heaver bullet. I like the idea od 4895. I'm not into recoil either. BTW
I've seen the 7 Mag pin hole at 75 yrds, It wasn't fun tracking that deer.

Kilo,,,I agreed totally with you.I grew up hunting with a 30-30 and I killed/even dropped/several deer,but from 80yds in.During the same time my dad hunted huge clear cuts with his 30-06 and made kills out to 250yds.Well I liked my 30-30,but I now hunt with a 300ultra mag,,,,,,,,,,,,,no deer I see will be out of my range.

I didn't read gun magazines for many years. So I did not know the 30-30 was worthless for hunting big game in my home state of Wyoming. In my ignorance, I simply took my Marlin carbine out into the foothills and shot a mule deer each Fall. When my eyesight began to weaken at age 26, I installed a 4X Weaver scope.

Since 1967, I have killed over 50 deer, 2 elk, and about a dozen antelope with my aging 30-30 carbine. Last year, I upgraded to a Simmons 2X-7X scope. Its a good shooter out to about 200 yards. I'll be keeping this Marlin carbine indefinately.

For elk, I've been hunting with a BLR in .308 since 1976.
For antelope, I hunt with a Remington pump action in .243 since 1970.
Both have more reach for hunting these animals than the 30-30. But like I said earlier, the 30-30 will get the job done, too. Tougher to get within range and may not be able to tag an animal each year.

For hunting mulies in the foothills and forests, I feel the 30-30 is ideal. Short, light, accurate, and hard hitting out to 200 yards or so. No mulie can stand up to a well placed 170 gr softnose.

Gun writers who hate the 30-30 are fools and I have nothing more to say about them.
Jack

Lever Lad,

What bullets did use on the elk and how did they perform?

30-30? Bah! Why that two year old bull moose went durned near 50 yards after a double lung shot at 50yds with 170 grain silvertip. Scared the crap out of me, dying like that about 40 feet to my left (he had no idea where the shot came from, almost went down, caught himself, and took off running for the closest patch of spruce, which I was standing in). Complete penetration, by the way. Marlin 336, & my first moose . No one told me it wasn't a moose gun. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The only moose that died any quicker with a similar hit was shot with a .243, at about 80 yards, 100 gr bullet. Also not a recommended moose gun. I haven't noticed that moose taken with '06, .338, .308 Norma Mag, 12 ga slug, or .270 died any less or more swiftly with similar hits. I often carry my Dad's 94 on walkabouts- and this is brown bear country. It has more muzzle energy than a 44 Mag handgun, which seems to be much more popular (and more carry friendly). Still, if it came to that, I'd prefer the .338- or better yet, a 5 inch Naval gun.

I mean to shoot a moose with the 94 some day (the 336 is sleeping with the fishes)- first that sidelock .45 ML needs a workout. I'd sure like to acquire another 336, tho. Great guns.

Adobe Walls
Did you catch my post on calibers? I didn't say anything about calibers. My dad was a lifetime member of Adobe Walls gun club in Borger,Texas. Just wondered if you were from around there? Thanks

Ed C