Hey guys,
I live and hunt here in SD. I have had a fascination with the model 94 for years. I hunt big game here in the state which is fairly wide open. I use bolt actions etc. I have been looking at purchasing a 94 but not just for collecting. I would like to actually hunt with it...just on occasion to fill doe tag maybe. Question is..in the 30-30 caliber..what is the ethical range? I have always "heard" 100yds. I know they're not terribly long but want to know from actual user. How difficult is it to mount a scope? Might not want to for the challenge.
thanks for info

If you get an AE (Angle Eject) model it's easy to mount a scope. The scope will only extend the range you can sight the deer and you'll have to be more careful when one's riding on top of a 30-30. You'll be able to sight a deer a lot further than a 30-30 is good for. Some of these plastic tipped, pointed bullet loads will go out a ways with less drop and enough energy, but I'd say safely 200-225 yards and that is with a pointed bullet load.

I have, use, and love .30-30 rifles, but if I expect to shoot farther than 100 yd. I will bring something else. I'm not saying it can't be done, but shooting at 200 yd. is so much easier with typical bolt action calibers that comparatively using a .30-30 is a stunt. Putting a scope on a lever action takes away much of what makes it appealing in the first place. YMMV.

With a proper sight-in, you should be able to take deer with an iron sighted .30/30 to at least 150 yards with no particular problem and no holdover required. An aperture sight makes a Model 94 much easier to use in the field.

I shot a deer at a lasered 236 yard in '09 with an open sighted M94, though it was with Peeps in the rear and an aftermarket (Marbles) in the front. I knew the load, and had been shooting at paper plates at 200 yards, and could hit them regularly.

I wouldn't have tried it with the factory sights, but with the factory front and the peep rear, it would be doable.

The shot was a broadside shot, and the bullet still went completely through. The animal went 20 yards and laid down.

If you can reliably determine the range, and have a sight capable of it, 200 yards is completely in the realm of the .30-30.

There are a couple of guys here who shoot bprc that 200 yards is a chip shot to.

ok thanks guys. Not sure if I'll get one or not..really like them but quite honestly, aren't real practicle here. Not sure when the last time I shot a deer under 150. But would be fun with iron sights sneaking up on a doe in a slough.

I've taken several deer at ranges between 200 and 250 yards and one at 314 yards with a reciever sighted model 94 .30-30. None of those deer traveled more than 70 yds. after bullet impact and none required more than a single shot. The one shot at 314 yds. was a complete passthrough just behing the shoulders on a broadside presentation with a 150 gr. Remington core-lokt factory load.

put a peep sight rear and a big orange front sight and try those new Hornady superformance pointed 160gr bullets....you will make a new rifle out of that ole '94 and killin deer inside 200yds should not be a problem.....

Using good ol' lead bullets shouldn't be a problem for 200 and in.

If you can shoot and know your rifle, 300 yards should not be a problem with a Model 94. I do it all the time with my Marlin 336 and Core-Loks. A 30-30 ain't exactly a popgun.

Verg, if I lived in South Dakota and wanted a Model 94, I would seek out a 25-35. When I first began hunting Mule deer and Antelope on my two Uncles ranches in Montana back in the 1960's, those two were killing deer and antelope with their M94 25-35's with amazing regularity.

When the uncles lived in Wisconsin during the 1940s they used M94 30-30s on Whitetails and took those rifles with them when they bought ranches next to each other. Early on they got rid of them and bought the 25-35s. Young, naive me inquired why.

One uncle said the 30-30 is nothing but a "leg breaker" SOB. and second uncle confirmed. I didn't argue.

Well I never broke a leg with any of my multiple .30-30's and I've killed a couple big truckloads of deer with them. They're deer killin' SOB's and that's a fact.

I can't argue with success, your's or the two old ranchers.

Me neither ! If those .25-35's worked good for your uncles I ain't gonna argue. Always wanted to try a .25-35 myself. Maybe someday !

thanks for all the ideas guys. If I do find a 94..it would be more of a fun gun. Like mentioned, shoot my does with it. I use a win model 70 .270 for all my deer and often have to shoot up to 400yds..which i've become pretty good at. In researching the 94, I have more of a crush on the gun more than anything. I could buy one and let it sit like many others do for collection but I just don't believe in owning guns that I don't shoot. Again, thanks for insight

Yep, the 94 is a cute little peach of a gun. One of the nicest lookin', most graceful, easiest carrying carbines ever made. I don't know how anybody could resist owning at least one.

as far as you can keep your shots on a paper plate with open or peep sights. The 30-30 shoots much flatter than most people would think.

I hunted the Black Hills for many years with Winchester AE 30-30. Never felt the need for any more distance shooting than 150 yards or so.

30-30 is a keeper!

Sherwood

I've got a receiver sight on my 94, 200 yards isn't a problem.I always believed the 100 yard thing too, until I actually started shooting a .30-30.

My 94's good out to 300 yards - but it's a .356 Winchester BigBore 94. .

.

30-30 Win 160 gr FTX� LEVERevolution�

According to Hornady's ballistics table, grandpa's 30-30 is a viable 300 yard deer harvesting machine.

Buy one. Lay in a supply of the Hornady pointy ammo, and spend the summer shooting at groundhogs, coyotes and crows. When deer season rolls around, you'll be deadlier than anthrax.

+1 and put an aperature rear sight and a smaller blade sight on it. The aperature will get you on target faster and, atleast for me, became a "must have". Much easier to hit at distance with a little finer front sight, particularly on smaller targets than deer, ie when you try it for varmints. Try the factory sights then try the upgraded sights on targets out to 200 yards or so. You will be surprised at the diference.

For me anyway, scopes belong on bolt guns. They ruin the balance and easy of carry of the M94 that helped it become a classic.

Just before New Year's I took my Winchester '94 to Georgia to harvest my last deer of the season. As mentioned above, I have a peep sight and a big orange front sight that helps 61 y/o eyes. I was shooting those new flex tips that I had reloaded using 160 gr FTX over 32.0gr of AA2520 at about 2300fps (IIRC) Here is the surprise. I shot a doe at about 50 yds, broadside just behind the left shoulder, thru the heart, and out the edge of the right shoulder. I was not prepared for the devastaing tissue destroying holes, especially the exit. Wowzer, that little bullet did more damage than my 7STW!! My first and only deer with a 30/30 (couldnt afford one back in the day) and a salute to the old ways I guess. Just don't think it is a pipsqueak load, especially with these new hornady bullets.

I hand load for my .30-30s, my .32 Special and my .25-35s and would not hesitate to shoot a deer out to 200 with any of them. With my Model 94 .30-30s, I would go out to 300 under the right conditions. One wears a Williams Foolproof receiver sight and the other a Lyman tang sight. Both have gold beads up front. One of my .25-35s also has a Lyman tang sight and an ivory bead up front. I have killed coyotes dumb enough to stand around out to well beyond 200 yards with it. I have yet to try any of Hornady's new ammo or components, but will get around to them eventually.

according to historical account, Tom Horn shot rustlers with regularity beyond 500 yards, of course he used a rifle, not a carbine, the 30-30 model 1894 was his preferred long range rifle

Just remember one thing! Their have been more deer taken down with 3030 then any other rifle.

Well, any other centerfire cartridge, anyway.

Thanks for the correction crimson tide your right.
what the heck was I thinking . I just got caught up in the moment

That would be pretty gol-dang hard to prove and I personally doubt it. The .30-06 has been around almost as long as the .30-30 and has out ranked it in yearly ammunition sales since it first displaced the .30-30 from the #1 spot back in the 1960's.

But, the 30-06 is so fast that most of the time, the bullet just zips through before it can expand...

I agree, the '06 would be close competition, but the good ol' .30-30 has certainly taken it's share. On a personal note, I have killed more with a .30-30 than anything else, but that's me.

I've killed more with the .30-30 than any other cartridge myself. I've owned several .30-06's over the years and still have one in my cabinet. I've killed deer with the old '06 in the past but it's been nothing but a dust collector for the last 10 years or so while my old Marlin .30-30 still collects venison every season.

I've got an '06 I built in May of last year. Zero'd it, and put it away.

This year, a close friend of mine's rifle was being flaky, so I told him to use that '06. He killed 3 deer with and and now wants me to sell it to him. I told him he's welcome to use it, but I'll keep it.

About half the deer I kill is with a .30-30, the other half with all the others I own, combined. That is generally split between my .308 and my Guide gun.

Let's see I think the 3030 centerfire has been around since 1895. That's a lot of deer.

A muzzleloader bullet killed a girl 1 1/2 miles away , so I imagine a 30-30 would do nearly as good.

A 30-30 with a 150 gr. bullet has a remarkably flat practical trajectory.

That's just because them .30/06 scope users have to shoot their scopes in all the time....on the other hand seven million Win 94's, however many Marlins, plus Savage 99's in .30/30...all of them still out there working at it since 1895..

Verg, I live in eastern Montana so my country isn't that much different than yours. I've been shooting and killing deer and antelope (and elk, moose, bighorn, a wolf, etc...) with lever actions for going on 50 years. I started with a .25-20, then carried a .25-35 for years, and have had several .30-30s. My present truck gun is a Model 94 cut down to 18" with a William FireSight on front. I filled my deer A and B tags with it this year. I have several Marlins including the new .308ME. Even with open sights if you practice and get to know the load you are shooting you can be pretty confident out to 225 yards. Just look at it as the challenge of "hunting" as opposed to the skill of "shooting." There is nothing more satisfying than cleaning taking game with a firearm you have an affection for. With the new gummy-tip bullets you can certainly be confident to 200 yards, so, go for it!

And antelope, and sheep, and goats, and elk, and moose, and bear.

Despite all the talk of long shooting with a 94 and irons, probably 125 yd. would be my max distance with the 94..NOT from lack of power but due to the iron sights...while it is possible to hit at a much greater distance, a misque and the animal suffers..I have used my old Marlin 24" half mag. with a 4x scope quite a bit..due to the better sighing I have taken antelope and deer out to 175 yd' with little problem..the cartridge can do it, but the sights on the old 94 leave much to be desired for me...as for the cartridge, I found the old .30-30 to be a much more reliable killer than the newer 243 or even the 250 savage..it is a great rifle and caliber if we use it responsibly....

I doubt those on here that are limiting the 30-30 for short ranges have never shot or hunted with one. they will suprise you with their power.

I'm a believer. I have been guilty of underestimating the cartridge for years, but when I broke down and actually took one to the deer woods this past fall, I was very pleased with it's actual performance.