.44 mag vs 30/30 in 16 inch barrel

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Ed76

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Contemplating buying a Marlin Dark series in either 44mag or 30/30 and weighing up the pros and cons.
A lot of the cartridge data for these rounds seems to relate to 44’s fired from revolver length barrels while the 30/30 data is mostly obtained from 24 inch rifle barrels. While these show a significant power advantage to the 30/30 they would be substantially closer with a 16 inch barrel, but how close at 50,100 and 150 yards?.
 
30-30 is going to provide more power overall however 44 is close behind and out of short barrels ill take a .42 caliber over a .308 any day when floating around the expansion threshold in any case. Plus 44 mag bullets are designed to expand out of handguns at close range so out of a 16 in rifle they do a great deal of expanding out to 100 yards easily. What I'm getting at is go with the 44 mag, plus ammo can be cheaper when available depending on shortages.
 
The .44 can be according to some published works be more effective than the 30-30.. within up to 100 yds where it seems most people believe the 30-30s usefulness ends. With the 16 bbl the 30-30 will probably be bested by heavy .44s .
While not having a short 30-30, I do have a 16" 45 colt in a rifle and loaded heavy is very authoritative.
 
I'm a big fan of the 30/30. There's nothing wrong with a .44, and my thoughts are they would be equally effective out to 100 yards - then, the 30/30 has it beat for the next 30-40 yards. Again, my opinion based on 50+ years of shooting/hunting - nothing more - I'm not a physicist. In a 16" barrel I think the 30/30 does lose some umph. But, I had a Trapper in 30/30 and never had a deer take another step when I fired. Shots 'round here in Deep East Texas tend to be 50 yards or less.
I stick with the 30/30 because it is easy to find, easy to reload, and I have a variety of rifles chambered for it in lever, bolt, and break-open actions.
 
Lucky Gunner has a video on 357 and 44 leverguns. Within 100 yards the 44 mag is a powerhouse out of a levergun. However after 100 yards the non aerodymaics of the bullet have it back down to 4 inch handgun velocities and the trajectory is abysmal. The 30-30 will keep it's velocity and trajectory for a good bit further.
 
Hodgdon has rifle reloading data for both. 30-30 would be my choice, if buying a lever action.
But to me, levers are out dated, lack power & accuracy, when compared to modern firearms. :evil:

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Agree, sadly where I am no self loading rifles or shotguns and anything pump action is basically in the same category. I have a few bolt guns, just wanted something that fired a bit quicker close in
 
I have a Win 1894 Trapper 16” .44 and a couple of 20” .30/30’s, also of the 1894 persuasion.

If I knew shots were to be a max of around 100 yds, I’d go with the .44. It packs a wallop within this range that seems beyond its size. This, and the utility of my 629’s in .44, make the .44 Mag a great 1-2 punch for me.

If there was the potential for shots up to 175 or maybe 200 yards, the .30/30. I loaded up a batch of 160 gr Hornady FTX polymer-pointed boattails over a near-max charge of Leverevolution powder and the combo seems to legitimately stretch the useful range and effectiveness of the .30/30 over the conventional RN/FP bullet designs we all grew up with. I have no doubt the FTX load would work well in a 16” trapper if so chosen, but I’d max out at 150-160 yards due to the velocity loss from the 16” barrel.

Buy what sings to you, for within that 100-125 yard window they pretty much overlap. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
If you're planning on most your shots under 100yrds and a max of 150ish, 44mag.

It will flat out break down a mammal and leave one heck of a set of entrance/exit wounds.

The 30-30 isn't bad at those ranges, but not as good. It does let you reach out a little further though.
 
Contemplating buying a Marlin Dark series in either 44mag or 30/30 and weighing up the pros and cons.
A lot of the cartridge data for these rounds seems to relate to 44’s fired from revolver length barrels while the 30/30 data is mostly obtained from 24 inch rifle barrels. While these show a significant power advantage to the 30/30 they would be substantially closer with a 16 inch barrel, but how close at 50,100 and 150 yards?.

Curious as to where you might find one ;) considering Marlin has ceased production as the equipment and IP are being relocated to Arizona?

I am a fan of the .30-30 and using Lever Revolution ammo my 20 inch 336S will shoot MOA for at least the first three rounds at 100 yards. But in East Tex, the Big Thicket, I can see the .44 Magnum. The 16.5 inch barrel in the .44 Magnum or the .45-70 I can appreciate, not so much for the .30-30, start to loose to much.
 
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I thought SAMI spec has the rifle barrel bore bigger .431 vs the pistol/relvolver at .429

if you reload your own ammo that can throw a monkey wrench in things trying to squeeze evey big of accuracy and velocity.

for me I would get the 30-30 and have a solid hunting rilfe, I hunted with an iron sight marlin for 15 years and no deer ever ran very far.
 
Look up data for TC contenders. 44s are bruisers on both ends. The 30-30 is easier to shoot. If I had to pick I would end up flipping a coin. If when the decision was made I didn’t like it, I would flip the coin over and pretend it never happened. I think I would prefer a 44. Having used a 30-30 on deer a few times and a 44 contender it was clear to see that 44 was more destructive, and shooting it through brush I never worried about either one making its way through.

So they are realistically pretty close. 44 mags can be had for about 40 bucks a box, so 80 cents a shot. 30-30 is 20 a box so it’s a dollar a shot. The price per shot flips for reloaders using cast bullets which are great for either caliber because even a 225 or 240gr 44 is heavier than the 150 or 170 gr 30-30 loads commonly used for deer and hogs, and lead costs money. Still close though. 44 is straight wall so it’s legal for hunting in more places.
 
240gr Sierra JHC-$26/100 last I bought them.
H-110-$25/lb two days ago. 22.5gr so 331 loads per pound.
Starline Brass-1000/$150 when I bought mine a couple years ago.
Primers-No idea. I have ~30k large magnum pistol and have had them awhile. So maybe $0.02.
$0.26+$0.07+$0.02 $0.15= $0.50for the first load. $0.35/per on the second load.

I can show you what that combo has done over the last few years for me. Not one bullet recovered. Not one animal lost. This isn’t all the animals either just what it will let me attach in one post. upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg upload_2021-1-5_2-27-39.jpeg
Inside of 100 yards, it’s game over. I have 2 JM 30/30’s. And I love them. The 30/30 is still a potent killer jus like it was 50 years ago. Loaded properly today it’s a 200+ yard cartridge. The 30/30 may be better on paper. There’s a lot of cartridges that are better on paper than the 35Rem, 444, and 45/70 too. But ask those that routinely hunt with them. And the 10+1 is a lot of backup. I have a plethora of rifles I can take each year to go hunt in Arkansas. And every year I end up taking my 44. I keep saying next year I’m going to take something different. But why? It’s not broke. Don’t fix it.

Either way, 44 or 30/30, use the right bullet, put it where it needs to go, and you will harvest your animal. Every one of those animals I shot with my 44 would have fallen to the 30/30. However, they didn’t.
 
I don't think barrel length is an issue here. I have 30-30's with both 16" and 20" barrels. Published ballistics are from 24" barrels with 30-30. The real numbers from common 20" barrels are already considerably slower than the numbers you see published. Going down to 16" looks pretty slow compared to the published numbers, but aren't that much slower than the real numbers you see from 20" barrels. If a 30-30 from a 20" barrel is fast enough, then it's fast enough from a 16" barrel unless you're shooting out to the extreme edge of practical ranges which would be around 200 yards.

Performance wise I'd call it a draw out to 50-75 yards with maybe a slight edge going to the 44. But IME beyond 75 yards or so the 30-30 has the edge. It's not necessarily that the 30-30's terminal performance is better at longer ranges, it has to do with being able to get hits in vital spots. IME 30-30 is more accurate. And past 75 yards trajectory starts to become an issue with 44. Realistically if you can hit it in the vitals either round will kill it. I just find it easier to get good hits with 30-30.
 
Personally, I don't see much diffence in killing ability inside 100 yds.
Does magazine capacity have any bearing on your desicion?
If you reload it might make a difference, regarding components.
 
I use a Henry carbine in 44 mag for whitetail deer, my hand loads run 1700 FPS with a 240 grain XTP. I’ve never had to shoot one more to an once as long as I do my part, and they’ve never gone far once hit. There is pretty impressive damage to the lungs/heart when I field dress them, and I’m comfortable making shots out to 150 yards. I can’t use a 30-30 here in Iowa for deer but even if I could I’d still use the 44. The plus is I use the same loads for my SRH for our late muzzleloader season that allows handguns.
 
If you're planning on most your shots under 100yrds and a max of 150ish, 44mag.

The 30-30 isn't bad at those ranges, but not as good. It does let you reach out a little further though.

That was, basically, what I was going to say.

I would rather have a heavier bullet going a bit slower at shorter ranges over a lighter, skinnier bullet going marginally faster... all else being equal. If you think about it... using a wide meplat cast .44 bullet, even, would probably create as big a wound channel as a lighter JSP .30-30 bullet with reasonable expansion, let alone something like an XTP driven out of a 16" barrel.
 
That was, basically, what I was going to say.

I would rather have a heavier bullet going a bit slower at shorter ranges over a lighter, skinnier bullet going marginally faster... all else being equal. If you think about it... using a wide meplat cast .44 bullet, even, would probably create as big a wound channel as a lighter JSP .30-30 bullet with reasonable expansion, let alone something like an XTP driven out of a 16" barrel.

I can vouch that the 240gr XTP, properly motivated is good deer medicine. Never had a runner. It's enough to punch through both front shoulders but will still expand properly if put into the chest.
 
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