Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles tell me some hunting story's with the 30/30

But literally, that means it’s half cocked. It won’t go off unless you beat it with a hammer and the notch fails. If the notch merely fails, the hammer won’t fall far enough to set off the primer. It is literally uncocked with nothing touching the firing pin.

First deer I ever killed with a 30-30 I killed twice! The little buck walked out in a power line and stood broadside to me. He swung his head around to lick his off side when I pulled the trigger. The bullet went through his chest then into and out of his neck. Two entry and two exit holes, either would have been fatal.

JoeBob, I hear you, and there is a correct way to engage the half cock:

3.To Move the Hammer
to the Half Cock Position

First put the hammer block safety on
SAFE. The hammer may be moved from
Full Cock to the Half Cock position by firmly
holding the hammer in the Full Cock
position with your thumb. Keep your thumb
on the hammer as you pull the trigger. As
soon as you feel the hammer exerting forward
pressure against your thumb, remove
your finger from the trigger and ease the hammer slowly forward to the Half Cock
position (See E & F). The hammer is now
in the traditional Half Cock “Safe” position.

I prefer to move about with no round in the chamber. Because, as unlikely as it may be, this is where Murphy can come in:

"Therefore the sear is mechanically linked to the hammer at this state of operation and thus the rifle is safe, unless either the hammer breaks from a very large external force such that the forward edge of the half-cock notch is sheared off, or if the hammer is manipulated back towards the full-cock notch by the user so that the sear may slip out of the deep half-cock notch."

Had a decent buck chase a doe by my stand, I swung and fired. He was 40yds and angling away. The bullet entered the left hip just missing the femur, went diagonal and broke the right shoulder almost exiting. That was with a Marlin 336 and factory 170 corelokts.

Great thread. If you can tell by my name I am kind of fond of the little round. Killed nearly all my elk, deer, antelope and assorted game with more powerful scoped guns. But I have some experience with the little round. I carried a 94 carbine across the west, usually when packing out game, or wandering in bear country. One rides in about every vehicle when I go anywhere. Here are a few experiences. And I never load a round in the chamber unless I am sitting. I hunt in very rugged places and a dozen falls a day is about normal. My wife went ass over teacup down a mountain with an elk quarter on her back and a 94 in her hands. On the 3rd or 4th roll she lost the carbine. Couldn't imagine a round in the chamber.

This year my 12 year old grandson shot his first head of big game, an antelope with a pre safety Marlin 336 30/30 using reduced loads with 125 grain Sierra HP. Kind of a cluster. He got it killed at 150 yards though.

I killed a large cow elk with a Winchester 54 30WCF using older Remington Cor-Lokt 170 grain HP. One lung shot at 200 yards and the elk ran with the herd. I caught up with her and a second lung shot and she collapsed. One bullet exited and one was recovered and in my spent bullet collection. With no lead and exposed and extended range it was an unsatisfactory combo but I had elk that winter.

A 4 point, western count, mule deer buck was put into the freezer using the same Winchester 54 and 170 grain Nosler Partition. Range around 50 yards. One lung hit and a short run.

A large bull buffalo was shot at point blank range in the head with a 300 Win Mag. Instant collapse but he was still breathing and unconscious 10 minutes later. A finishing lung shot was required and was taken with the 54 Winchester using the older Remington hollow point. Range was mere feet away. Bullet entered brisket and lodged in spine. 30 seconds later it took its last breath.

Thinking I was pursuing a wounded mule deer buck, a 4 point, I took a hail Mary shot at him running straight away at 300 plus yards. Using a 1931 vintage 94 Winchester carbine and 180 grain cast bullets, I planted one next to the spine at the root of the tail. The bullet exited his throat. One drop of blood in the neck was all the evidence in the field that the bullet exited. Deer ran about 10 yards. DOA.

I know there are more and as I remember them I will relate the stories.

Had a hand me down marlin 336 that my dad shot his 1st deer with. I missed a first deer with it when I was 12. I didn't carry it much again until in my early 20s. Took it on a doe hunt. I was still hunting along an old logging road when a big doe stepped out about 100 yards. She saw me, but I already had the rifle shouldered. I fired. The shot felt good, but I wasn't sure. I found her about 50 yards from where she'd been.

Y2k, when all the planes were supposed to crash, my cousin and I were flying to Idaho for a lion hunt with hounds and I brought the old .30-30. Day 4 we treed a nice Tom with a belly full of deer. Cat came out of the tree almost on us at the shot, but was dead when he hit the snow.

A few years later I was doe hunting with my nephew for his first deer. He was using my .30-30. We were on a bench overlooking a hardwood bottom, when I spotted some deer about 125 yards. A nice doe stepped into the open and he got on it using a rest I'd made. He shot and the deer ran about 30 yards and went down, but he did see it. I kept him in suspense while we walked up and found the trail and the deer. I was mighty proud of him. I figured he should have the rifle he killed his first deer with, so I gave it to him.

all my kills in 3030 have been with a savage 99. first was wt doe strong angel shot last rib to off shoulder. 15 min later small 8 point shoulder shot D R T ! late same day head shot turkey at about 50 yards. hogs hate the 3030. they run up to 20 yards max and fall over D R T ! doe aoudad hit in chest at 120 yards facing me. reared up and fell over D R T ! all these were with hornady leaver evelution 160 gr. still haven't had to track anything. I was worried about hogs but works every time, cool. longest shot was nice mule deer at ranged 188. hit tight behind shoulder, he ran in a 1/2 circle about 5 yards and was dead when I got to him. aim small miss small, it will work just fine. I know a older man that has taken 13 elk with 15 shots he said none went far enough to loose sight of. have to take his word for that. he is using a mod 94 made in 1910. y'all have fun and aim small.

This one happened last Saturday. There’s not a lot of story other than I was drawn for a hunt in a place I’d never been. All I knew is that it was very thick and shots were pretty short. I put this rifle together just for places like that. The night before I shot this one I killed a huge pig that almost ran me over while hunting on the ground. I’d never hunted with a lever action until last weekend, but I was impressed with how it killed and how quick follow up shots were. The only thing I could have been impressed with more was how I felt after I packed that whole deer back in one trip. Toting a 135 pound pack back a mile and a half might not have been my best decision ever. If the pack was made for that it might not have been as bad.

A couple of us used to get to cull hunt quite a
way back when on some primo properties
One of the first ones was south and west of
here a few hours. I was talking to someone
about it beforehand and I mentioned we'd be
using 30/30's. He was unimpressed and said
that whole trip would be a miserable failure.
Didn't I have a 30/06 or 7 mag to use?
It was a pretty floosy highbrow place, and all
the rich regular clients all used the same make
of rifle and scope and ammo. I won't go into
too much detail because some of that group
are probably reading and are likely members.
No need to stir up ca ca .
We used my cheap Speer bulleted reloads.
Long story short- I tagged out with 5 deer, my
buddy got 4, his oldest son got his 1st and I
got to witness it. All the deer we took were 1
shot kills with a 1950 Marlin lever and a Handi
rifle I paid $60.00 for in a pawn shop. All 30/30.
The rich hunters fired 11 expensive
rounds of ammo for a total of 1 buck for a
dozen hunters and 1 poorly hit and not recovered

I don't/can't use bolt rifles and just know
the basics about them, but aren't they
cocked and ready to go whenever there
is a round chambered, depending on the
safety to prevent discharge until ready
to fire? Like pretty much every long gun
that has an internal hammer or striker?
I wouldn't think they'd be any more safe
than an exposed hammer gun.
I believe it depends on the operator
either way

My Marlin .30-30 gets a lot of playing time, and has a reputation as a lucky gun. Game just tends to walk out in front of it. A few years back, I was sneaking along a ridge covered in large white pines, when I spotted what turned out to be a six pointer, down in the holler below me. The deer was moving at a good clip, and there were quite a few trees obscuring him at any given time. I picked out an opening in the trees/brush and waited for him to appear. The shot was true and he ran maybe 20 yards. A lever gun in .30-30 just seems ideal for this type of hunting. My .30-30 will go hunting this Saturday!

I have killed 9 deer with a 30-30, the last one only about 1 month ago.

I had a Marlin 336 rifle in 30-30 back in the 80s and I killed 3 deer with it using 150 grain bullets, all factory loads. 2 Remingtons and 1 Winchester. All 3 gave me picture perfect mushrooms and all 3 stopped in the deer. Next I used a WW 170 grain Power Point and it went clear through. I then used a Remington factory 170 CL and it also exited. So I got some Speer 170 grain bullets and got good straight wounds and exits with them too. So that made 8 deer.

Well, a month ago I killed my 9th deer with a 30-30, and I used 2 rounds of the Speer 170 grain and one was not as good as I wanted. The 1st shot was at 208 yards according to the laser. I have a Williams peep sight on this rifle (not the same one I had back in the 80s, but nearly identical) My zero is a centered bead in the peep, with the bullet hitting at 12:00 on the bead at 100 yards. At 200 it hits in the center of the bead. I held the bead to cover the chest of the deer and fired and the deer dropped instantly. But when I got to it I found my bullet had hit at the rear of the chest instead of in the middle of the chest and the deer was quartering towards me. So my bullet went through the body and broke off the right femur and exited. That deer tried to run off on 3 legs but I shot again at about 10 yards hitting the middle of the chest on the other side, and that 170 grain Speer came completely apart. I recovered a piece of the core, (obviously the base section) and it weight only 31 grains now, and the jacket and the rest of the core broke up completely. I was very surprised. I thought the Speer 170 would hold itself together from a 30-30, and the 2 I killed deer with back in the 80s were very good examples of bullet performance. The 1st one I shot at this deer first performance very well but of course the velocity was down to about 1600 FPS when it hit at a bit over 200 yards . The 2 deer I killed in the 80s were not very far from me and those bullets also worked very well. One deer was at about 60 yards and the other at maybe 85.
But this last shot, a month ago, was the closest one of the 3 I killed with those Speer bullets so maybe the jacket broke up badly because most of the shots from a 30-30 are not as close as that last one, and also my Marlin is a rifle, not a carbine, and with a 24" barrel and get a bit more speed then most 20" guns.

Anyway I have a supply of 170 Gr Remington CLs and I may go back to them and see how well I do. The old Core-Lokts bullet had a scalloped jacket but these are not the same. They have a large exposed lead nose, but no scallops so I don't know if they will be as good as the old 1980s CL bullet were.

Rattled this blacktail in on the last day of season a few years ago and killed it deadern hell. First time shooting the wifes 16" 30-30, impressed the hell outa me. Now I own quite a few of them but all Savages.

my wife bought an old battered 94 from the late 30's at a yard sale of all places for 75 bucks. i checked it out and it looked sound. shot it and it shot perfectly. took it out for doe that year and dropped a big doe in its tracks. my other 30/30 is a marlin 336 sdt with the stainless and laminate and a 16" barrel. before i had a chance to take one with it, my son claimed it and has gotten quite a few with it. i bought it when davidsons came out with them and paid 550. i should have bought more because i have seen them go for $3k+ on GB.

Killed my first buck with a 30-30, a 1894 made in 1916. I was 16, over 50 years ago.

Killed my first buck with a 30-30, a 1894 made in 1916. I was 16, over 50 years ago.

I've killed a few whitetails with a variety of rifles chambered in 30-30 and think that it is quite capable if used within the parameters of its performance envelope. I grew up in a rural area of New England where Winchester 94s in 30-30 could usually be found behind a door or in a closet and a few loose rounds of ammo could be scrounged up from the kitchen's junk drawer. I've hunted with 30-30 lever guns from Marlin, Mossberg, Savage, and Winchester, plus the Savage 340 bolt action and 170 pump gun.

I think that JOC's chapter on the 30-30 in The Hunting Rifle is as fair a treatment of the 30-30 as a person is likely to find and Sam Fadala's book on the Winchester 94 are good reading for anyone who is interested in such things.

I like the much maligned Savage 170 pump gun for still-hunting through cover, as the motion of cycling a pump gun comes more naturally to me than that of cycling a lever action. I have wanted to like the Savage 24 combination guns in 30-30 over 20 gauge more than I do, but the inability to regulate the barrels has been a sticking point.

My first 30-30 ended up not being a 30-30. I had saved my money for a Marlin 336 30-30 and happened to spot one deeply discounted at Service Merchandise in Huntsville, AL with my mother. I was not 16 so she filled out the paperwork and bought it for me. When I got it home and was admiring it, I read on the barrel "35 Remington". What the hell? I had never heard of 35 Remington. I bought some ammo for it and used it happily for many years until I got an actual Marlin 30-30.

these are super cool story's!!!! lets have some more please!

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