Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 30-30 brass. Trade or buy a 30-30?

I have a friend with most of a 5 gallon bucket of once fired 30-30 brass. From another friend’s estate.

He wants to know if I think he should get a 30-30, or trade for other brass/components

What do you guys think?

We live out west, but a 30-30 for “social engagements” might be just the ticket.

Always nice to have a 30-30 around

I'd recommend getting a 30-30 to the guy. Social purposes aside, it's a great hunting cartridge for timber, and it's fun to shoot.

This is a rhetorical question, right???? What kind of commie doesn't have a 30-30?????

5 gallon bucket? That's enough to buy 2 .30-30s.

I have 3, two M94 Winchesters and a 14" Contender. One of the M94s was my Father's and is basically retired, just a sentimental possession, the other one kills the hell out of deer.

I don't know what to do with the Contender. My proficiency with it is.....well......not proficient.

I’ve got this doorknob, guess I have to build a house! Of course you need a 30-30.

Old70

We've got at least a dozen 30-30's around here. Only one model 94, the rest Savages. That brass makes a bunch of other stuff I have here too.

First CF rifle I owned was a .30-30 lever-matic. Still have it. Then I bought another. And another. Then I sold one. Won’t sell the remainder, ever. Have enough components to last.

To the OP, buy one. You won’t regret it.

I bought a 22 Magnum because I found a box of cartridges in a used car I had just bought.

Im in the woods of Idaho and always have a 30-30 around. They are a mild and splendid little rifle that is nice to work with iron sights. There are a couple of things one should have

AR15 5.56 with 22lr dedicated upper
30-30 levergun
308 rifle
30-06 bolt action
Shotgun

Thats the real essentials. If theres extras other than these your blessed. Despite what some may think or say a 30-30 can do a lot and with deer sized game and larger its got much better range than the pistol caliber leverguns. Its pretty darn good and an old Winchester 94 carries like nothing else.

Mine has 24" barrel mild and easy to shoot well it's a theodore roosevelt m94 commemorative. I didn't ignore the 20" carbine either but it's 32 win special. Easy to reload ,shoot cast well in the 3030. What the hell are you waiting for? Mb

everybody should have a 30/30 imo. doubt you'll ever have problems finding cheap ammo. good newbie training round too.

I need a 30-30, don’t have one right now.

i like the 25-35 better but they are hard find and more money. so i have a 94 with 125 sierra hp loaded.

With things the way they are (bullets, primers, & propellant in such short supply) I’d trade for stuff you need more.

That’s to say nothing of used rifle prices right now...

On the other hand, others are correct that no red blooded American should be lacking a thuddy-thuddy!

Sir, you are correct!

this looks like a sign from heaven. Buy a .30-30

I've had lots of trouble finding any kind of 30-30 ammo for most of this year

I have 2 94 carbine that belonged to my neighbor and a Marling 24” half mag. I also have my dad’s 94 .32 spl..in carbine.. And a .25-35 similar to the Marlin.. I have killed game with all.. The .30-30 is the easiest to get components for and empty brass can almost be found any where,, I like them all very much.. Lots of times I put in a .30-30 when we are going camping or on a road trip.. Buy a nice Marlin or a 94 what ever you like... The Marlin can easily be scoped...

I have seen 94 WInchesters marked "WSP", IIRC. Never underestimate the value of a quality 30-30. Easy to shoot. Powerful enough, even if it may be a tad slow to load.

Why not both?
Keep 2 gallons of brass, get the 30-30 and trade the rest. Win-Win. No pun intended.

ya i haven't looked for it for years. gander had a good sale years back and i bought a chitload of 170 corelokts. ended up with a bunch of boxes of 170 hollow points too by mistake. i didn't even know they made them. i haven't shot anything with those yet. my boy is the 30/30 hunter.

The 30-30 is an easy and cheap round to reload and has plenty of uses in the real world. I'd have to get a rifle to go with the brass. I feel naked without at least one 30-30 around.

You need one if you don't have one. Fun gun to have around and to hunt with. You don't always need a 300 Concussion to hunt with.

In Pa almost every deer hunter has at least one 30-30,,,I have two, a Marlin 336 "Texan" with XS peep sights and a 336 RC with a Redfield 1" tube scope with a post reticle. I have also had M94s in the past and like them all...I have about 500 cases and recently have been buying other 30-30 suitable components, whatever I can get.

The 30-30 kills deer and black bear as good or better than any caliber here where the ranges are generally short. This has been my actual experience and observation of other hunters. My favorite deer bullet is the Sierra 170G flat point but ammo and bullet makers have had over a century to come up with the right bullet construction needed for 30-30 velocities and what the cartridge is mostly used for and that's hunting Whitetails.

FWIW, Col Jeff Cooper opined that a M94 or 336 Carbine, in 30-30 or 44 Mag, would make the perfect "urban police rifle"

Buy one!

I have a confession to make. Being a long time rifle looney, I have never owned a 30-30!

I have looked at a bunch of rifles so chambered, but have never found one that grabbed me. I do have a 45-70, and have owned a 444, and 348. The 32 Winchester cartridge intrigues me, and have looked at a couple of rifles so chambered. But never bought them.

Maybe with Ruger taking over the Marlin production, I will find a 30-30 in a rifle that I just have to have!

OK, I know you're new here but I'm stealing that.

Go for it! LOL

I'll make it easy for your friend. I already have a Marlin 336a 30-30. Tell him to fill up a USPS large flat rate box with that 1x-fired 30-30 brass, and send it to ME. I will pay shipping.

And besides, everyone knows that .30-30's aren't very accurate, right?



They really suck with cast bullets too.

The 30-30 is under estimated by folks these days, but I think it is a good SHTF round as well as a tried and true deer round. Many a black bear and moose have fallen to the 30-30 in the past as well. It is easy to reload, the brass lasts a long time, uses less powder, does well with cast bullets, and can be "tuned down" for smaller varmints around the farm, etc. I was without one for many years, and luckily listened to my gut and bought a Marlin back when nobody wanted them as much. Shortly after that the price nearly doubled. I also must mention, they are pleasant to shoot!

30-30 references allways made me laugh when gunwriters called them 100-150 yard outfits max. Then the Contender came out and all of a sudden it was a 250 yard cartridge in a single shot pistol. Lol

No 30-30 in my collection. I do have my late father's Winchester 94 in .32 special. I don't think that it's had a full box of shells put through it in all the years Dad had it.

If you like the idea of pistol hunting with the extra challenge and the practice to become good, get a TC Encore barrel. Thread it and shoot subsonic Hornadys. You can add a cool dimension to your hunt. YMMV Be Well, RZ.

Everybody should own a 30/30 lever gun

That makes sense to me. 😂

I just got a 20" threaded SSK Contender barrel last week.

It's a sexy beast with a Gemtech Tracker threaded on.

don't forget there are a bunch of savage 99 out there. use and kind or shape bullet in them no problem .

My 30-06 is the last gun I would ever part with, but my win 94 30-30 runs a close 2nd.
It just plain kills deer very effectively at the ranges we generally wind up shooting deer at, which is between 50 and 200 yards.
Bang-Flop.
Got 500 170gr partitions, and enough LeverEvolution and primers and brass to load them all...
As Martha says, “It’s a good thing”.

Cheers

I was at a gun auction last Saturday, Jan 30th 2021, and watched 280 rounds of factory 30-30 Win go for $900 plus the 15% to the auction house! Right now there's an eBay auction for a new 30-30 Win Lee factory crimp die that's at $75 and climbing!