has the old 30/30 died or dying?

Officers'Wife said:

IIRC the 30-30 was originally a BP cartridge necked down to 30 caliber. Thing is, weapons are still manufactured for 30-30. The gunshops in this area all have at least one chambered for the old cartridge, I'm told the pawnshops very rarely have one.

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30-30 was designed from the ground up as a smokeless cartridge and was never a BP cartridge.

Now, as to the supposed "viability" of the 30-30: Yes, it's still viable. I plan on picking one up this summer. They have limited use out here where the average shot on deer is over 200 yards, but I want one anyway. It'll probably be fed mostly cast bullets and be used for mostly plinking. Plus, I need a lever action for my rifle class so I can quit borrowing them.

I've only hunted with one once and that was about 15 years ago, but never got a good opportunity to shoot a deer with it. It was a 336 with a fixed 4X scope and I was able to hit pop cans at 150 yards with it easily after I had figured out the trajectory.

Matt

Like Morcey said; 30 caliber with 30 grns of "smokeless" for 2300 fps (150 grn),
I have two, a Model 94 w/peep site and a Savage M-170 pump action w/3-9 x 40 scope, they are both 200 yard guns, albeit the 94 (me) shoots bigger groups @ 200. But they will both get the job done at those ranges or less and the 30-30 puts em down with authority! It will always be one of my favorites for the tight timbers of western Washington.

Hmm...outliving the go-fast rounds. Not so hard to do when they start eating out the barrels of the rifles they are chambered in.

My first deer rifle was a 7mm RM, a Leupold-scoped model 70 Winchester. Very accurate, very pretty,very loud, very expensive to shoot.

Realizing early on that such power was a tad much for a 100lb hill-country whitetail, I started using a.270. Then a .308. Then a .243. Still, deer are falling just as effectively, and in butchering I cannot tell a difference in the amount of damage between these rounds.

A widow at church asks me if I would take her late husbands model 94 off her hands as she needed the cash, so I did. The next season, I walked up a pretty doe and that weak, slow, flat-nose shooting carbine snapped her neck like a twig. Down she went with a thud.

3 more .30-30's have found their way into my rotation. While I still occasionally sit a blind with a .308, my 336 sees by far the most deer duty. No complaints, it plain works.

I believe it was Jeff Cooper who said he thought the 30-30 lever action carbine was the perfect urban defense long gun.

It has a lot of positive features including reasonable magazine capacity, easy to store in a corner with magazine loaded and chamber empty, simple to operate especially under stress, powerful enough for one shot stops, good range 150 yds, in a urban setting is quite a ways, ammunition commonly available and affordable. 6+ extra rounds can be carried with a cartridge holder on the buttstock.

Another big plus is with magazine limits and certain features on AR / AK rifles being banned the 30-30 lever gun does not fall under those limitsr.

I have a Marlin 35 Remington and a Winchester 30-30 and, for me, they are as different as night and day.

The Marlin is much heavier and handles differently. I have it set up for hunting hogs and is a awesome hog killer. I have not found that 200 gr. RN bullet to be wanting.

Ah the Winchester is lighter, trimmer and easier to handle. It carries easily in a scabbard when riding horses. The 30-30 like the 35 Remington is a very capable deer and hog killer. For urban / riot / gang / whatever else self-defense the Winchester is close to ideal for a woman. Shorten the buttstock a bit if necessary and she has a powerful, light recoiling long gun at her disposal. Another desirable feature is since it does not use a detachable magazine it is a perfect grab and go gun whether for S.D. or hunting. With the AR without the magazine it is a single shot.

Almost all of the gun stores and at the gun shows have used AR's for sale. Good used 30-30's are another story and are hard to find.

I guess I am a lever gun fan. I feel well armed with both my rifle and pistol round carbines.

Yes, the 30-30 is dead. Useless. Entirely obsolete.

As a service to the gun owning community, I am initiating a 30-30 buy back program. I will take any safe, fully functional Savage, Marlin, Winchester, Henry, or Mossberg 30-30 rifle (sorry, no Rossis at this time) off your hands and give you $100 to aid you in the purchase of an AR, Super Short Ultra Awesome Magnum, or Incredible Hyper Velocity Super Tiny Caliber that you choose to replace it with.


No thanks necessary, that's just how I roll.

I am not a hunter any more but I am a JM Marlin lever fan. Right in the middle of my meager assembly is a Ted Williams 30-30. Someday I need to swap that out for a JM 336.

There was a blog on this a couple years back...

http://www.americanhunter.org/blogs/30-30-winchester-for-deer

The Maybe it is a Myth Statement: “More deer have been taken with the .30-30 Winchester cartridge than any other.”

While this quote is often uttered as fact among hunters, what is not revealed is how it was calculated.

[...]

So I want to know: Is this myth true?

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The author contacted people from three large ammo companies and asked...

While most manufacturers will not reveal their actual sales data, knowledgeable company staffers made the following statements:

Hornady Ammunition: “The 30-30 Win. 160 gr FTX LEVERevolution was our No. 1 [selling] hunting ammo last year, excluding all varmint ammo.”

[...]

Federal Cartridge Co.: “We currently sell about twice as much 30-06 as we do 30-30. I’m sure it’s not all for hunting, but given the total deer kill and total bullets out there, it shouldn’t even be close.”

[...]

Winchester Ammunition: “The .30-30 Win continues to be at the first or second position in hunting ammo sales in recent history. I would argue that over history the 30-30 Win. as a single caliber versus any other single caliber, is at the top for deer harvested in the USA.”

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Which does surprise me a little, I would have expected its popularity to have waned, most hunters round here at least, seem to be using something other than .30-30s. It works just as well as ever but many people think they need long range capability and more power in a flat-shooting bolt rifle.

"Leverevolution" is all I have to say!

It still seems quite popular with deer hunters in my neck of the woods. If you are shooting in heavy forest or other areas where shots over 100 yards are unlikely, the .30-30 is more than sufficient to handle deer size game, and comes in generally light, handy guns.

Marlin? Now Remington and a lot of knowledgeable buyers are avoiding it due to quality control issues. Mossberg? They have their fans, but it's not been a Brand known for a lever gun much in the past

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Which is better, Marlin or Mossberg lever action in .30-30?

peacebutready said:

Which is better, Marlin or Mossberg lever action in .30-30?

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A JM 336 is the best mass produced lever gun in 30-30.

Allegedly, Remington has finally figured out how to build one. However, I would want to hold a Mossberg and a Remlin side by side and give them a good handling before I answered that question now.

A used Marlin (pre-Remlin) is what you are looking for. Remlins have had quite a few issues since Marlin was taken over by Freedom group with issues that range from ugly finishes and poor fitting parts on to sights that might be on the top of the barrel...or not and other functional issues.
As far as Mossberg anything they sell, I would also check it over VERY closely. Never looked into a Mossberg lever action (never had a need for a .30-30 with an M4 stock and rails) but I seen two 20 gauge shotguns at the Scheels store in Minot that I was interested in getting until I made a closer inspection. In both cases, the front sight wasn't even close to centered on the top of the barrel so that screams something to be about their QC these days. Lord knows they can put on weed whacker handles on shotguns and .50 BMG style muzzle brakes on a .22 bolt action rifle all day long but asking them to make sure anything that has a serious use is good to go seems to be beyond them.
Nope, go with a used Marlin or an older used Winchester 94 if you want a real .30-30 rifle. Both of mine are older with the Marlin 336 and Winchester 1894 both being made well before the "idiot button" was ever considered to be a desirable feature by the corporate lawyers. I'd pass on anything newer than that.

BSA1 said:

I believe it was Jeff Cooper who said he thought the 30-30 lever action carbine was the perfect urban defense long gun.

It has a lot of positive features including reasonable magazine capacity, easy to store in a corner with magazine loaded and chamber empty, simple to operate especially under stress, powerful enough for one shot stops, good range 150 yds, in a urban setting is quite a ways, ammunition commonly available and affordable. 6+ extra rounds can be carried with a cartridge holder on the buttstock.

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The .357 lever rifles hold 10 round rather than 6 and the ammo is cheaper. I'm not sure how many rounds the .44 lever rifles hold.

Grunt said:

Never looked into a Mossberg lever action (never had a need for a .30-30 with an M4 stock and rails)

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They make traditional models with wood stocks.

History will find the Lever action 30-30 win. right next to rocks, clubs, knives, bows and spears.

The 30/30 is one of those rounds that's intricately woven into a single gun- the 94 Winchester. As long as that gun survives the round will survive. Sure, there are other guns available chambered for the 30/30 but that round in that gun is the Platonic ideal.

It's hardly an 'ideal' cartridge for deer; there's probably not a single thing it does that couldn't be done better by another round. But what it does it does well, and it's pretty versatile. I expect it will be around for many years to come.

Here is my bolt action Stevens Mod. 325 in 30-30. With the Williams aperture sight and cast bullets it is deadly out to 100 yards.

30-30 is not going anywhere.

ldlfh7 said:

30-30 is not going anywhere.

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I agree that it leaves a little to be desired in the velocity department, but it's not that bad.

at a hundred yards its just a little weaker than a 300 win mag at 400. I wouldnt be afraid to shoot anythong at 400 with a 300winmag. 30.30 was built with 100-150 in mind and its is palenty for deer black bear and hogs.

The new spire bullets make it even better.

I went out and bought me one sunday

Hornady is still making advances in the 30-30 world. The new LeverEvolution ammo is a new thang. So there has been some news in 30-30 recently.

30-30 is not going anywhere.

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It doesn't have to -- it's already been there.

There are so many .30-30s out there that ammo companies will be still be producing .30-30 ammo for the next century.

Personally the only rifle I hunt with is my Marlin 336. Deer, feral pigs. Inherited it from my father, it's a model from sometime in the 70's. I've been looking into getting a Magnum Research BFR in 30-30 that I think would be a nice pairing for it as well.