Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Need some honest advice on 30-30ish loads for close range elk

Ok guys here it is...a very good friend of mine has some pretty severe eye issues and as such cannot tolerate recoil at all. AT ALL. He is currently using a CZ 527 with a muzzle brake (you read that correctly) in 7.62x39. Its topped with a Sworovski 1-4 z6 iirc. He has used this to great effect on white tail deer out to the 175-200 yard mark for several years at this point taking at least 10 or so mature deer. Its a very nice shooting little rifle and has the recoil of a 10-22. He is VERY accurate with it.

He has been hankering for an elk hunt for several years and is getting closer to making it happen while his legs are in good enough shape for it. His current load is a 150gr psp at 2100 fps across the chronograph. Bullet is a sierra pro hunter .311 likely made for the .303 British. Ballistics show roughly 1000 ft/lbs at 200 and about 1600 fps remaining.


For a close range elk cartridge with careful shot placement...will this get the job done? We are certainly thinking of inside of 200 yards here...basicly 30-30 range. While i know the 30-30 has been used in the past, i don't know anyone who's used it.

What do you guys think? He is not interested in buying another rifle but is concerned an outfitter may not let him use it.

I would add...i personally would have no hesitation but I'm not a very experienced elk hunter.

I know of a lot of elk taken with the .30-30.

Keep the distance inside the velocity window and shoot them through the lungs. I’d avoid the big bones in the shoulder.

Tell the outfitter his limitations right up front - you are right, some might not want to take the job.

But I think a really good one will!

I have taken elk with a 30-30. It's not hard to do, but as with every rifle ,you have to consider t it's limit.I'd be more worried about the recoil for him from the 30-30 if it is a Model 94 Winchester.Those stocks kick like heck.

170 gr Flat Point , 3031 powder

Sure it will work with a good but and shot placement

If I was in his boat, I think I'd like to try a few shots with a .35 Remington...I've seen how it kills at sensible ranges, it was impressive. Elk, in my very limited experience, are tenacious and have a will to keep going with a hit another critter would just give up. Recoil being a matter of physics and hard to swim upstream with....my first place to visit would be to increase rifle weight. You didn't say how old the man is, and I sympathize with his disability, but at some time he may need to lower his sights a little, maybe go deer hunting with a .22 Savage Hi Power or something.
Lots of guys on here swear by a .243 as a dandy elk cartridge, and brag on stunt shots with the .22-250. Friends in the packing business hate to see anything less than a .270. Like I say, I'm no elk outfitter.

For the record guys his rifle is a 7.62x39 cz. Shooting 150gr flat base spritzer soft points at 2100 FPS. Should be the full equal of real world velocity 30-30s.

Felt recoil is also a function of stock design until you get into the realm of extreme shoulder thumpers.As for elk being hard to kill, I have killed elk with a 44 mag carbine, 30 -30, 50 caliber muzzle loader, 308, 30-06, 7mag. I have never seen any difference in the killing ability of any of them. The only elk that died hard were ones that I screwed up and put the bullet in the wrong place.

Others I have known claiming elk were hard to kill was because of the wrong selection of the bullet to do the job.
If the guy can shoot the 7.62x39 accurately, if it is legal where he is hunting, and limits his distance shooting, it will do the job.

I once asked the most experienced elk outfitter I've met what he considered a good minimum round. Without hesitating he said, ".257!"

I asked, "Roberts or Weatherby?"

He said, "Either one!" This was because he'd seen his clients use both with fine results.

My wife also has recoil issues, both from a bad shoulder and headaches, and has killed elk with the .257 quite handily. But her "big" rifle these days is a .308 Winchester, also with a muzzle brake, using the 130-grain Barnes TTSX at around 2800 fps. The last elk she killed was a huge cow, as large as many mature bulls, at 250 yards. It was quartering toward her at 250 yards, and she put the bullet in the shoulder. The cow was obviously doomed at impact, but managed to stagger 20 yards before keeling over. The bullet broke the leg just above the big joint, and was found under the hide in the middle of the ribs on the other side.

The retained energy was about what your buddy's rifle would have at around 150 yards.

As others have said I'd be more concerned with recoil of a light thin straight back stock than the effectiveness of the round.

A bolt action stock may provide better results.

I think you need to repeat this a few more times......

Well it sure ain't equal to my 30-30 using 150 fn bullets with 38.5 grs of Leverevolution out of the Hodgon manual running 2500+ fps from a 24" barrel. I imagine you'll find some stunt shooter here that think it 's enough load but not me. Maybe you should see.how fast you can load a 130 gr TTSX and see how or if they will shoot in that gun? I've heard and know of others using them on elk out of the 308. Mb

FYI I found a load for 150 gr Sierra using H322 powder getting 2100 fps. Couple of reloading manuals show a load for a 135 gr bullet in the 7.62 as about 2100 fps and similar load of a 30-30, 125 gr, for about 2100fps with a mid range loads.A 30-30 can be jacked up to a higher velocity but his load will do the job.

I shot my first elk with a 30-30. Don't recall if I was using 150's or 170's but I think you're friend will be just fine. Thanks to you for helping him get the opportunity to do this.

My buddy has shot 3 cow elk with plain old Remington core loc in 170 grain

Should work.

Hope he gets a big one and has a fun time.

Scoped, big bore hunting handgun.

You can say that again!

Some people need to read, reread and read the original post again.

I been using 160 FTX outta old 300 savage Lever actions for years.

Been thumping cow elk exiting hayfields, most shots been 200 yards or more.

So 30/30 velocity at point blank range outta work great. I used Lever ever lotion powder for loads.