cal30_sniper
Member
If you put the 30-30 in a bolt action, like the Savage or Remington 788, and load it up to its potential with a spitzer bullet, a 20" 30-30 will actually outperform a 16" 308, using factory ammo in the latter. I dont give a hoot for any 30-30, understand, just stating the ballistic facts of the matter.
You do realize that a maximum load 150grn .30-30 coming out of a 24" barrel is only moving about 2300 fps. A .308 150 grn bullet is running somewhere in the mid 2900 fps coming out of the same length barrel. You're talking the difference between a 40,000 psi cartridge and a 60,000 psi cartridge with a much larger case capacity.
The .30-30 probably loses almost as much velocity going from 24" to 20" as the .308 loses going from 24" to 16". Heck, lets put it into perspective here. There's 200fps more difference between the .30-30 and the .308 than there is between the .308 and a .300 Win Mag. You're in a completely different class of cartridges, not comparable at all.
I like .30-30 just as much as the next guy, and have a rack of 94s chambered for it back home. Just keep in mind that it's only slightly more powerful than a 7.62x39, and really isn't suitable for shooting anything outside of 200 yards. Even inside of 200, you better make sure what you're shooting isn't biting back.