I think a 30-30 is more than able to kill a grizzely, however it would not be my first pic and it most cretianly did not go through that much bear even with a partition. I shot a deer full on in the chest with a partition in a 30-remington(30-30 by remington cut for an auto loader) and the bullet never got past the heart and lungs.
Gun Show last Sunday..another passionate discussion about the 30-30 effectiveness...
- Thread starter saturno_v
- Start date
- Status
Racktracker
Member
Even though I have never taken so much as a gopher with a 30-30, I still have a very hard time believing it could penetrate a grizzly, bigger than a cub, from stem to stern. The bullet would have to be a solid or non expanding to get anywhere near that kind of penetration, especially after encountering bone.
I have, however taken many deer, elk and antelope with a 30-06. In my experiences a 150gr psp out of a 06 will penetrate ~36" if no heavy bone is hit. Since the 06 packs considerably more punch than a 30-30, I would suspect the 06 will also provide greater penetration.
I have, however taken many deer, elk and antelope with a 30-06. In my experiences a 150gr psp out of a 06 will penetrate ~36" if no heavy bone is hit. Since the 06 packs considerably more punch than a 30-30, I would suspect the 06 will also provide greater penetration.
Something is wrong here
Either someone of you doesn't know how to shoot or he was using butter bullets!! 
Is not the first time I heard of deer, even a big one, blasted at respectable distance from front to end with the 30-30...
I do not hunt but I witnessed myself 4 by 4 obliterated in half with one shot at 100 yards with regular commercial (Federal) 150 gr soft point loads in 30-30...
Last edited:
Yellowfin
Member
A salient point that may have been unspoken but I hear mentioned all the time is that a .30-30 has more chance than anything of killing whatever the beast in question may be because they are handy enough to always have on hand. They get to where the situation is; they don't sit at home. Whoever is carrying one likely has done so for decades--and EVERY DAY AND EVERYWHERE of that time. Penetration and all that makes for interesting bed time stories but bringing the gun to the fight trumps all. I'll take 100 years of field testing over lab results any day of the week.
I read a 30's vintage American Rifleman article. The writer had gone to Alaska and brought his 30-06. He went seal hunting with the Eskimos. In this period of American history, the 30-06 was considered, especially with the military staff at American Rifleman, "the round", and about the most powerful round the average guy could afford. A box of rounds for a 375 H&H were probably a weeks pay for most people.
The Eskimos had 30-30's. Why? That is what the Trading Store carried. The Trading Store had also convinced the Eskimos that octagonal barrels “shot harder” than round barrels! (Probably because an octagonal barreled 1894 cost a $1.50 more and made more profit for the store) So the Eskimos were making fun of the wimpy round barreled 30-06.
That is until the author shot through two seals with one 30-06 round. I had the impression that a 30-30 would not do that.
One other thing with the Eskimos, they were meat hunters. Bringing home food was a matter of survival. The modern trend of long range shooting at an animal, just to see if you could hit it, and then loosing it, would scare all the game off. And there was no guarantee Mr Eskimo would find another that day, or week. They were into the sure thing.
I suspect they only took on Grizzly if they had to. Or had a lot of buds as backup. If a bear wounded them, infection would set in, and then they were a burden on the others if they recuperated. Since hospitals and ambulances were not around the corner, they also stood a good chance of not recuperating.
As for me, I would want to take something into Grizzly country that was more powerful than a 30-30.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked