Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire M1 30 carbine for deer

Does anyone hunt with one? Recommendation for factory load? I know it's not the most ideal cartridge for deer, but it's my Aunts rifle who has killed a ton of deer with it. She's in her 70s and hasn't hunted deer in awhile so I asked her if I could try to fill a tag or two with it this year. I plan on picking my shots wisely and keeping them to 50 yards.

If you must, the best factory load would be the Winchester hollow point. The hollow point is tiny, about 1/16", but a big pistol hollow point is neither needed nor desirable at carbine velocities. Keep in mind that you are dealing with magnum pistol ballistics and a very light for caliber bullet, so careful shooting and archery range is called for. Check your local laws because the M1 Carbine is sometimes specifically not allowed for deer. With good reason.

why would a 30 carbine not be allowed for deer? they allow 357 pistols

I used a 30 carbine though from a Ruger Blackhawk on a couple of deer. The soft nose Remington load did not expand much but it penetrated well. I would not use the Blackhawk again for deer but it worked for me twice.

Cool . I bet you could go to 100 yds

Good advice from natman,

Not a lot to choose from as far as factory loads - that Winchester load he mentioned is probably about as good as any that you'll find easily.

If your Aunt has killed a ton of deer with it, why not just ask her what load she was using if she's still around or maybe another family member can remember what it was??

I just picked up one that I was gonna tote some for back-up this year. Will be interesting...

I certainly wouldn’t consider anything over 50 yds.

A few years ago I bought a Marlin 62 lever action so chambered and at some point I intend to point it at a doe. I had planned to use the Hornady FTX load but they're not terribly accurate in this gun. A few months ago I picked up a box of Herters brand hollow points similar to the Winchester load but haven't had a chance to try them yet.

I killed a couple of average size blacktail deer at around that range years ago - one about 90yds & the other around 110 yds.
Clean kills with complete penetration just behind the shoulder on both with cheap factory Remington soft points.

I wouldn't go any farther than that, and closer if you can, and stay off the shoulders and large bones - just my
.02cts.

My late uncle started using one after he was busted up in a work accident. He was the best shot in the family and he had trouble with the deer running after being hit and being hard to recover. He tried different factory loads and finally had me loading for the rifle. I don't remember the bullets that were reloaded, but they had better stopping power.

There are a lot of factors that make a bullet work - diameter, weight, velocity, sectional density. The only one the M1 Carbine has going for it is velocity. It's small diameter (by pistol standards) and light, so it has little sectional density. Combine that with a not very aerodynamic shape and velocity drops off quickly. Sure, if you hit a deer just right at 100 yards with a soft point it won't do its health much good if things go right. But you should choose a cartridge that will still work if - no, when - things go wrong. There's not much extra anything with the M1 Carbine. Keep the range short.

It's been several years now but originally the .30 cal. carbine round was not allowed for deer in Kentucky. During the same period .240 caliber was the minimum legal cartridge allowed. Both are legal here now though.

Hard to figure how both the .30 carbine and .223 were acceptable cartridges for military issue and killed countless enemies but considered not up to par to kill a deer with.

105 yards easy

I killed my first head of big game, a tiny mule deer buck when I was 11 years old. I used a 30 carbine and Winchester 110 grain hollow points. One behind the should shot into the heart at @100 yards put a quickened step to the 100 lb deer. It ran @50 yards and died. I recovered the perfectly mushroomed bullet. Penetration was minimal. I lost the bullet during my wild teen years and would really like to have it back. I would not use a carbine again on deer sized game. I recovered a 110 grain Speer Varmiter hollow point from a 4 pound racoon.

Deer deserve to be treated with more respect than that.
Just saying.....

Heck, I recovered a 255 gr. Luballoy .45 Colt bullet from a raccoon once upon a time, and we also got a couple 230 .45ACP ball bullets from the same coon! They can absorb a lot of lead now and then. We finally killed the danged thing with a .22 rifle, and had to pry it off the tree limb.

I've killed a bunch of coons with .22 Short HPs, but they're tough little fuggers.

As you said, short range, pick your shot. Killed my first deer with a 30 carbine, 20 yards, just where the neck joins the head. DRT.

WTF does that even mean?

I’ve seen several killed with the .30 carbine. Works fine if you can shoot. Place a bad shot and it’s about like any thing else.