Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters WHY 30-30 NOT 308 Win?

How old are you?

I will be 62 in 3 weeks and my eldest son is 42?

Jayco

I'm older than your son

Okay...Step one.....Even though you won't state your age...

My first name is Ron..What is yours?

Jayco

The OP's question isn't as far fetched as I thought when I first read it. I can picture a young guy just starting out asking that very question- someone who maybe has been exposed to a boat-load of slick magazine writing, TV hunting shows, and advertising (letting said stuff influence his understanding of real-world shooting) and hasn't personally experienced the "less really is more" beauty of this hoary (look it up) round.

I've been around the barn a few times in over 40 years of rifle shooting and find myself always coming back to the .30/30-class of cartridges. They work, period. My choice for a day at the range? A couple of .30/30's (or one of it's kissin' cousins) ranging from carbines to target rifles and a sack full of reduced cast bullet loads. My choice for a day spent mooching around the deer woods? .30/30 (or .303 Savage). My choice for a day of varmint hunting? Probably not a .30/30. My choice for "big game" hunting ( whatever that means)? Probably not a .30/30. My point? Pick the right tool for the job at hand, that works for you (and don't sell the old stuff short just because it's "old").

P.S. by the way, the .300 Savage is 91 years old this year, not 60.

Heywood

Naw..I no better..Scott..

See,fear is a mans worst enemy, that makes him make mistakes he normally would not.


Jayco

No, it's Heywood Jablome.

The fact that you think 1) there is any fear in me and 2) that I've made a mistake, only further proves how obtuse you truly are.

Do you know anything about the Basque population and there tradition for a son to be a man?

Jayco

I'm not into that sick stuff.

It is mild to shoot and kills well to 125-150 yards with today's ammo.

It makes for a great starter deer round for our smaller younger hunters. They don't develop bad habits like flinching and trigger jerking as readily.

Besides, it is a cool old round that brought us here in the USA into the smokeless powder age. It also works well in combination guns like Steelhead's beautiful drilling.

gnoahhh: I'm not a novice or young(no offense taken)either. I'm 61yr. and been shooting & hunting since a child.

My question is posed based upon RETROSPECT from my perspective. I can't think of ONE ocassion IN MY EXPERIENCE where a 30-30 would have been preferred to 308,243,270,06,etc.

From my hunting experience a LEVER 308 would have done everything BETTER than a 30-30. Just IME.

REMEMBER from my experiences: I have seen & heard of a few HERE where the 30-30 is QUITE appropriate. In this discussion some may see another caliber to be better suited. OTHERS may see that a 30-30 is just what they need.

THANKS to EVERYONE who has offered useful info.
There's been too much material OFF SUBJECT and UNREQUESTED but it seems that happens on nearly every subject.

Any or All pertinent info & discussion is INVITED.

JWALL
_______________

Son I Don't Know You Well Enough To Miss You..........Johnny Cash

To think the majority of the old timers that settled this area used the likes of the .25-35/30-30/32 Special and the big boomer/35 Remington all in lever actions.

Quick handling lever/saddle guns with devastating round nose and flat point bullets from chipmunks to big Bears fed there families and ammo for most was everywhere..

Jayco

My apologies sir, for my part, in what should never have happened..It ends here for me!!!!

The 30-30 is one of those let's beat up on it calibers on the net,for the most part,yet I know several people still alive that only use there beat up 30-30's because it is one of the best saddle guns and truck guns and the flat point and round nosed bullets,do more harm than alot of the new ones.


Jayco

I don't agree about doing more harm, whatever that is.

logcutter: Apology accepted & I didn't feel you owed me one, but THANKS anyway.

I considered for quite some time before posting this question. I tried to make it clear the time frame and perspective from which I asked. It's IMPOSSIBLE to put in words EVERY thot & intent of any question or subject unless VERBOSITY & BLOVIATION are used.

I've seen the ridicule and accusations of some, which if they had PAID ATTENTION to OP, were unnecessary. I have CHOSEN to ignore most of them.

My philosophy is Don't Fuel a Fire & It'll Go Out.

The MAJORITY of this discussion has been interesting and some of it enlightening. I've seen a few different perspectives. I might be wrong but I think others COULD benefit from one side or the other.

THANKS AGAIN

JWALL

.30-30's okay if you haven't got a .303 Savage.

JWALL

Yes..We have some arrogant idiots here that slam people just for asking a question they are curious about...

Anyone and I mean anyone that answers with something like this has been asked 10 zillions times or your question is stupid,is a poor one to listen to on anything.

Some people want the glory but don't have any patients for the new guys and are probably bad parents.

One of my good friends in McCall Idaho shoots Elk every year with his Marlin 30-30 and I dare any person here to tell him anything..He is one tuff SOB.

No flies on the 308 either.It's all your point of aim and the bullet used!!!!!!!!

Jayco

I've got both, and tend to carry the .308 more than the .30-30, due more to sighting system rather than the distance potential of the cartridge. As a matter of fact, I've killed a deer at a longer distance with the .30-30 than I have with the .308, but would have preferred the latter. Nonetheless, familiarity with the rifle and it's trajectory allowed me to make the shot.

The .308 is a Ruger Hawkeye All-Weather with a Leupold scope, the .30-30 is a Winchester M94 (non-AE) with a Williams FP rear sight and Marble's front sight.

Where and how I hunt, most shots will be within 100 yards, typically half of that, so either one is quite usable.

I just got back from the range sighting in my .45-70 that I had just installed a Leupold FX-II 2.5 Ultralight on, and using Speer 300 grain UniCors at 2200 fps, got groups from .970" to just over 1.5" at 100 yards. This bullet, at this speed, closely duplicates a .30-30's trajectory.

The Ruger and the Winchester may be out of a job next year (grin).

The Unicore is out and the Swirl is in....The Unicore is a much better bullet..Hope you stocked up on the Unicores,I did along with the 300 Nosler Partions,also replaced with a 300 ballistic tip.

Jayco