Usefullness of 30-30 in "Modern Combat"

[MCgunner]

BLRs aren't offered in .30-30, but you can get one in .325 WSM....

 

[Cosmoline]

The .30-30's biggest advantage over modern military weapons isn't the design but the bullets. Virtually every factory load for the .30 WCF is an expanding round designed expressly to kill medium thin-skinned game. They are vastly more lethal than any military FMJ. There is no Hague Convention in the woods.

OTOH, if you load a x39 or .308 with a proper expanding round they can equal or exceed the lethality of the .30-30. But the military won't do that.

 

[gdcpony]

If you ask me what makes the 30-30 so lethal has to do with the same thing that makes it so undesirable. The round nose bullet really sucks to be hit with. The energy transfer is so much more immediate.

 

[shevrock]

Just how fragile is a lever action rifle?

 

[Acera]

shevrock wrote: Just how fragile is a lever action rifle?

Not very fragile at all, pretty tough and reliable from my experience.

 

[W.E.G.]

Just how fragile is a lever action rifle?

Back your truck over it, just go out to the shed and fix it up with whatever screws and hob-nails you can find in the old blue mason jar.





Splurge and put on a new stock from Cabela's

 

[shevrock]

I'm just wondering if you hit some[thing/one] with it, if the stock would get all screwy. also what's the best place for bulk ammo. say 100-500rnds at a time without getting my pant pulled down over the price. I really don't care about the accuracy quality of it because i will start reloading my own bullets when i get a hunting rifle.

 

[MT GUNNY]

Good Package for short to Mid range Hunting.

The Military might have a use for a Maresleg.

 

[Coyote_Hunter_]

While I have a number of other rifles in the safe, the .30-30 would suit me just fine in most defensive situations. Mine is a Marlin 336 with a 20” barrel. Zeroed for Maximum Point Blank Range for a 6” diameter target (maximum 3” rise), MPBR is 218 yards using a 170g Speer FN at 2260fps (my handloads). I shoot it out to 300 yards on a regular basis (-17”), at which range it still has considerably more velocity (1562fps) and almost double the energy (921fpe) my 185g .45ACP loads have at the muzzle.

Light, handy, low recoil, plenty of thump and it can be reloaded as needed without removing the magazine or opening the bolt. Lots of things to like about it.

That said, I have several handguns, shotguns and plenty of other lever and bolt guns. If I ever get in a 700-yard defensive shoot-out, the .30-30 isn’t what I’d want in my hands. For realistic scenarios, it isn’t a bad choice.

 

[notorious]

The Zombie Survival Guide also gives the lever 30-30 big ups for great all-around utility.

 

[shevrock]

It does doesn't it. So in reloading would casting and using lead bullets decrease anything?

 

[Big Bill]

This is my idea of a combat force:

 

[Big Bill]

I'd take this fighting force over many others...

 

[Duelist]

Good ol' 336 is a great truck gun for places where an SKS (esp if tacticool-ed out) might be frowned upon. It blends better, IMHO looks cooler, (would you rather look like John Wayne, or a Viet Cong) and has a very simple manual of arms.

 

[Harve Curry]

Hey Big Bill,
Nice old photograph but, everyman there is armed with a 1873Winchester. More then likely all 44wcf and the revolvers to shoot the same.

 

[Big Bill]

Harve - I know, but it's the thought that counts - right?

BTW, 44 wfc - that'd do it for me!

Do you notice how small these guys are? They could probably sneak perty good.

 

[PhaedrusTheMad]

In a small scale / guerilla scenario, the 30-30 is very useful.

I'd wager that many of the naysayers in this thread have little if any experience with levers and/or the 30-30. Proper bullet placement with my old 94 will easily drop a 200+ lb. animal at 200+ yards. I'd take a 94 over an SKS any day and in a bug out with one rifle situation, I'd rather have a 30-30 than a 5.56.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

SGM, US Army, Retired

Thanks for serving!

I'd take a 94 over an SKS any day

Why? I'm not saying the 30-30 isn't a good round, but if you're going to use it to fight a war, it seems the best use select-fire rifles with high-capacity magazines.(The SKS isn't that either, but still)

in a bug out with one rifle situation, I'd rather have a 30-30 than a 5.56.

This thread talks about "modern combat", which presumably means war. The 30-30 is heavier than 5.56,which is part of the reason they switched away from .7.62x51, and when you've got to carry it through the desert for miles, I'd imagine that weight can add up rather quickly.
Now deer hunting, the 30-30 wins, no question.

 

[kiawahman]

Sold my Marlin 336 in 35 Remington yesterday, bought a Marlin 336 in 30-30 today.

Happy happy.

 

[PhaedrusTheMad]

Why? I'm not saying the 30-30 isn't a good round, but if you're going to use it to fight a war, it seems the best use select-fire rifles with high-capacity magazines.(The SKS isn't that either, but still)

This thread talks about "modern combat", which presumably means war. The 30-30 is heavier than 5.56,which is part of the reason they switched away from .7.62x51, and when you've got to carry it through the desert for miles, I'd imagine that weight can add up rather quickly.
Now deer hunting, the 30-30 wins, no question.

I'm not active in the military. If I enlisted or were drafted, I'd probably be provided with a weapon so that point is moot. Unless this occurs, my war would be defending my family in the country. And I don't own a fortress, so we'd most likely have to flee. Therefore stockpiling thousands of rounds does me no good if I have to leave them behind. Realistically, I'll only be able to carry a small amount of ammunition. Selective-fire high-capacity does me no good when I quickly run out.

I'd argue that 30-30 is the most widely available ammunition around. It seems like you can find 30-30 in every store that sells ammunition, which is not always the case with scary military calibers (sarcasm). And, unlike military ball, it is ammunition designed to expand and destroy flesh. And if I'm going to shoot a man, I'd rather have a rifle designed to kill with one shot a 200+ pound animal than one that, IMHO, is designed to wound (5.56). Ask any hunters about 5.56 and they'll likely tell you, "Nothing bigger than a coyote." I also think that my pre-64 Winchester 94 in 30-30 is better than an SKS because of quality of manufacture (made in USA back when we made good things), more PC, and designed by John Moses by God Browning.

 

[outerlimit]

According to another thread, it looks like the Lever Revolution bullets by Hornady are now going to be available to hand loaders.

 

[Deadmanwalking_05]

If things went south and I had a Marlin Model 336 in hand,I'd be doing some hunting alright,it wouldn't be for antlers it would be for badges of rank.

The 7.62x39mm round is good at the same ranges as the ol' 30-30 but as another poster has said I'd rather be seen as J.W. instead of V.C.

And it would work very well for ambushes on troop columns,and for close in sharp shooter work (Not to mention a damn fine tool to get my grubby mitts on a rifle that uses the same mags and ammo as the enemy).

 

[bonza]

I can't believe I read through five pages of comments & nobody picked up on this statement:

but you have to remember, many of the early machine guns used in the Americas were chambered for the .30-30

Please, anyone, show me a machine gun, American-made or otherwise, that was chambered for the .30/30 (.30WCF). Possibly .30/03, certainly the .303 British, most definately .30/06, & of course, the .308Win (7.62 Nato).

 

[shevrock]

I thought the maxim guns were 30-30?

Either way i think i'm getting a 30-30. where's a good place for marlin 336 parts online[bigger loop].

 

[notorious]

The Maxims were not chambered in 30-30 and neither were the Gatlings.