Just how BAD is the 30/30 ?

[Deaf Smith]

My first five deer were with a 30/30. Worked fine. Yes I have a .308 now,but I still have a 30/30!

Since most deer are within 200 yards, a good scoped 30/30 will do fine. Like Jeff Cooper said, "If you can't do it with a 30/30, then you probably can't do it period!"

 

[scrat]

I'm trying to figure out who said the .30/30 was bad?

i believe it was shawnee. the lever action 30-30 hater.

he is in a club of his own. only member

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Being an avid backpacker/hiker/nature walker type, I have a hard time finding a better weapon than the levergun for deep woods stuff. And, really, that's where I prefer to spend my time.
It chucks up into the ski straps on my pack when I'm hiking and it holds all the ammo I need for a trip in the tube.
And, 30/30 is a super round in the lever gun when you have black bear, deer, and small game in the area.
I love the 30/30.
Issues with the lack of a safety are fine for some people, but using the hammer properly is part of basic weapon handling skills.
But, 30/30? Does the job, is cheap, and is easy for most to use.
What's not to like.

 

[Baba Louie]

Just how BAD is the 30/30?

To coin a phrase... It is what it is. It was "The First". To me it's "The Yardstick". Old, and slow. A nice rainbow.

To coin another phrase... A Man's gotta know his limitations. (and his equipment's)

Load up some pointy bullets into the old brass over some H4895 and go bolt action and it'll still not be a .308, a .30-06 or a .300 Win magnum... and you might have to actually get all sneaky hunting and stalk something to get closer (how DID the native american indians do it with just a simple stick and string?) or pass up a shot.

But for close up deer, black bear or even elk, maybe even the occasional odd polar bear, caribou, slow/blind goat (or if you're desparate or have big cajones, a Brownie), when you do your part, a 150/170 gr. piece of jacketed lead traveling around 2200-2400 fps, well, it can be pretty BAD. As history and daily fact show. (I once read about a hunter killing a Kodiak Isle Brownie with his Buck 110... course he was a little tore up as well... and it's probably not what he really wanted to be doing that day... or ever!)

If you've GOT to shoot something at 300 yds+, you can hit it, but you might not kill it. And that'd be REALLY BAD.

The 112 year old round is one thing. A tube magazined lever action another. Together they're a pretty nice little combination. Within their 150-200 yd. limits.

Nice little comparison chart Shawnee.

 

[rcmodel]

If you've GOT to shoot something at 300 yds+, you can hit it,

Who exactly, says you can hit it?
300 yards is a Fur Piece when the bullet meets the atmosphere!

Many new to the shooting discipline buy a new 7mm or .300 Earga-Splitten Louden-Boomer Magelum, with a 12-24x-50mm sniper scope on it, and then do well to get it almost sighted in at 100 yards.
(before they are flinching so bad they can't call a shot on the target at even 25 yards!)

I see them every year, over & over again every year at the range.

(The only thing that has changed in the last 20 years or so is the inflated/excessive power of the scopes they buy.)

IMHO: There would be an acute shortage of adult deer, (perhaps an endangered species in some areas,) if everyone was forced to start out hunting, and learn how to hunt, the first 5 years or so with a 30-30 lever-action & open sights!


rcmodel

 

[northwolf]

Re: 30-30

You know, up here in MY neck of the woods the Moose and Bear killed with a 30-30 or 32 Special is immense!! With the advent of MilSurp .303 the 30-30 was and still is (to some extend) the MOST used cartridge by NATIVES and white folks alike!
The "Modern" hunter is now using EVERYTHING from .270 to .375!!
WHY????
The "OLD" hunters knew how to sneak up to a Moose and kill it!! While the "Modern" hunter NOW uses ATV, Argo and Cross Country Bikes to locate and come "close" to the game!!
So, you have to shoot at distances of 200 PLUS!
I have a "Stone Old" Savage BA a Native gave me. He lost the Bolt! I gave him an Israeli (German) Mauser in .308. (Those are the ones with the swastika punched out) I gave him 2 Boxes of MY reloads, and every time he shoots a Moose, I get some steaks. He didn't come back for Amo, since it is ONE shot kills!! HE is DEFINITELY a better hunter than me and I believe a lot of us!!!!!!
So, I still think the 30-30 in "The Right Hands" is a cartridge NOT to be overlooked!
I know, I know, the lure of bigger and better and more is in all of us non subsistence meat hunters, BUT, People use the tools they have and use them to the best of their ability!
That's MY 0.02 CANADIAN (Now about par...)

 

[Shawnee]

"IMHO: There would be an acute shortage of adult deer,... if everyone was forced to start out hunting, and learn how to hunt, the first 5 years or so with a 30-30 lever-action & open sights!"

Amen, RC !!

 

[retrieverman]

This is an interesting thread, and I personally love my Marlin 336 30-30's. Though I choose to hunt with other calibers, I "could" kill everything that I hunt with a 30-30. Here is a 200+ lb boar that I killed in September with my 336SS and LeverEvs at 150 yards and a 140 class Oklahoma buck my son killed Thanksgiving day with my 336 and LeverEvs at 90 yards. Both were BANG/FLOPS.

 

[Yellowtail3]

Today was the last day of deer season, a couple hours ago... and I got a nice big doe at 5:20pm. About 90 yards, light fading... a good shot right behind shoulder, shooting my 336W with 4x scope. Load was Federal Power-shok 150gr. Deer went three or four yards and dropped.

30-30 will do the job just fine. I should have gotten one of these 25 years ago, and skipped the 30-06 and 270

 

[Shawnee]

Hi Yellowtail...

"I should have gotten one of these 25 years ago, and skipped the 30-06 and 270"

There are a few hundred-thousand hunters out there who would do well to heed that idea, Yellowtail. High-5 to Ya !

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

The .30-30 must be pretty bad as it has stood the test of time. I can't say that for most of the new ctgs. brought out recentely. I've been hunting deer/hogs with an older marlin for about 35 years and as long as I limit my range to about 150 yds. it does just fine. The biggest advantage to the .30-30 lies in the weapons it's commonly chambered in. Lever guns that are light and handle like a dream. They shoulder quickly and carry well in the field. That's why the .30-30 lives on.

 

[LR-308Hunter]

I have a winchester ranger 30-30 lever and i' have used it to hunt deer it's also a great brush buster when comes deer season