What the 30-30 is good for in Africa??

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TR,

What kind of animal is that? It doesn't look like an elk I'd say it's a red deer also known as Hirsch in Germany?

If it is an elk it's very small bull with very odd coloration.
 
Plains are flat and open. That's why they're plains.

The .30-30 isn't exactly the rifle of choice for antelope
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Well neither is a bow and arrow, but they've all been taken with one, including the top five. I'd much rather have my old Ted Williams 100 than the !!!BEST!!! stick and string.
 
That said, I wouldn't take my 30-30 on a hunt in Africa. If spending that much cash, I want to take a gun that has enough punch to take any of the plains game out past 300 yds if the shot were to present itself.
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That was my point -- NOT that a .30-30 can't be used to hunt ____. Fill in the blank with whatever you want.

Since I don't hang out in Africa, I would be looking at limitations of time frame and geography.
 
DSC01160.jpg

The photo is a bronze medal red stag recently taken with my Winchester 94 Legasy model with angle-eject feature. Plain Winchester Power Point ammo worked quite well indeed.

Paco Kelly has a website named leverguns.com Each year he leads a group of hunters to South Africa where they hunt a variety of plains game with their lever action carbines.

Over the years, Sam Fadala has written a number of books and countless articles about big game hunting. He has taken many trophies with 30-30. Sam is a licensed PH in South Africa and a couple other African nations as well. Sam has toppled some very large animals with his Marlin in 45-70 using Garrett bullets.

In summary, lever action rifles and carbines are here to stay. Although this action is not for everyone, the fans number in the scores of thousands and continue to grow.

TR
 
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Doc:

I hunted at Double D Ranch in southern Ohio not far from Kentucky. The country is steep and heavily wooded like Pennsylvania. Danny and his wife Nina operate an ethical hunting ranch. The red deer are born in the wild and not penned at all. The first day of my hunt, I didn't even see a red stag.

This stag was taken on second day of the hunt after a long stalk which went bad; a female (hind) spotted us from 150 yards away in heavy timber and led the rest of the herd across the ridge to safety. But my guide suggested I kneel behind a colossal hickory while he circled the ridge to spook the animals towards my position. His plan worked well and my 30-30 did the job quite nicely.

Not meaning to brag at all but I've taken many animals with 30-30 carbines including Dakota antelope, Nebraska whitetails, many mule deer and Wyoming elk. Those medium velocity soft tip bullets really tear up chest organs and produce far more damage than most guys realize.

30-30 is a KEEPER!!

ADVISE: Nope, 30-30 is NOT a 270 or 30-06. Watch your distance and wait for a broadside shot. 30-30 plain factory ammo will do the rest. Don't be ashamed to shoot twice or more. That's why you're hunting with a repeater after all.

Good hunting and stalking to you.

TR
 
Dispite what the nae sayers think. The old thutty thutty with 170 gr bullets is a killer on par with anything else within it's range. Most of those who dought it have never used it. Of that I am sure.
 
Shoot I got nothing against the 30-30, I am a Minnesota native and grew up on the wonders of the fine round. I have taken a few Mulies and an Antelope with my contender and gave my 94 to my daughter to shoot her Mtn. Lion with. (she chose a 270??)
I'm fond of levers and have taken elk with a 99 in 308 and 45-70 GG.
It is not the round some try to claim it is and there are many I would pick before it for the land I hunt.
 
Dispite what the nae sayers think. The old thutty thutty with 170 gr bullets is a killer on par with anything else within it's range. Most of those who dought it have never used it. Of that I am sure.
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Mmm, okay, but personally, if I was facing a charging cape buffalo or elephant, a .505 Gibbs would feel too small. A .30-30 would be like shooting airsoft at a hog. :rolleyes: I mean, I've never hunted those animals, but I've seen "Tracks Across Africa" and those elephants resemble a mobile home with legs.:what:
 
The thutty-thutty may be plenty good for whatever you are hunting. But somebody with you oughta have enough gun for whatever might be hunting you. If you're out there by your lonesome, odds are much improved for getting back to camp if you're totin' a .375.
 
Obviously, if you're talking about hunting deer-sized game at <250 yards, or elk-sized game closer in, the .30-30 will work just as well in Africa as it does in Idaho. The ethnicity of the game has no known impact on terminal ballistics.

I mean, pheasant is from Mongolia, and yet I've brought home pheasants with shotguns made in Italy and Japan, loaded with American shells, and even some Italian ones.:D

The only reason I wouldn't take a .30-30 to Africa is that I'm not wealthy, nor a levergun badass. I'd be more than happy to take some game with whatever rifle seemed to be ideal for it. Maybe after enough trips to the place, I'd have more to prove to myself, but I'm nowhere near imagining that at this point.:)
 
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Art up where I'm from its called a turdy turdy.
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You're bohemian from Abbot, Texas? :D Ya know, Third street in Freeport got renamed "Broadway" for that reason, or that's the story I heard.

My best friend aggie buddy is from West, north of Waco, spoke Czech until the age of about 5. I have gotten used to "trow it in the thrash can" after 40 years. :rolleyes:
 
Hi eveyone, I'm kinda new here but couldn't pass up this thread.

I went on a short hunt in South Africa last summer. The PH had a .25-06, my buddy had a 7x64 that I borrowed and another had a .303. No complaints from any of them and said they would take anything up to Eland (bigger than Elk) with any of those rifles. Where we were hunting we had Sprinbok, Red Hartbeest, Wildebeest, Eland, Kudu and a few others.

I'm not sure how far off a .303 is from a .30-30 but like the others state, if you can keep the range under 150yards and you aren't going after dangerous game you should be just fine.

BTW I took a Springbok at about 125 meters with the 7x64. I could only afford to take a shot at Springbok or Gemsbok (you take the shot, you pay, regardless). This was also my first hunt and my first kill - pretty exciting. I could have easily done the same thing with a .30-30.

gt13.jpg

(Yeah I know he's not as impressive as a big elk...)
 
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Plenty of Afrikaner farmers and natives have used the old thuddy thuddy to dispatch threats to livestock over there--up to and including lions! Not that I'd suggest it for lion hunting, but the .30 WCF has served as fine medicine for a lot of big critters. The rounds expand very reliably, penetrate reasonably well and come in a very quick and fast-cycling package. This last factor may be the biggest in favor of the cartridge. The biggest weakness is the size of the bullet (low SD) and the limitations of penetration. But for the soft skin game, even the violent nasty ones like lions, it does a lot of damage.

In fact, here's an interesting old Google News account of a man in Idaho burning down an escaped lion with a .30-30:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...7cSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5380,1216114
 
Welcome to THR, StoneDog.

Beautiful Springbok.


As others have mentioned, the 30-30 has been around a long time, and their bullets expand and penetrate reliably, without drama. You can count on the 30-30 to take out vital organs, if the shooter does their job of placement. It can do the job within reason in Africa or Alaska.



NCsmitty
 
When I go on a hunting safari in Africa with my Mod 94 30-30, I think it will do the job on anything I want to shoot. Just to see that it does, I'll take along 5 helpers with .375's to make sure.
 
Plenty of Afrikaner farmers and natives have used the old thuddy thuddy to dispatch threats to livestock over there--up to and including lions! Not that I'd suggest it for lion hunting, but the .30 WCF has served as fine medicine for a lot of big critters. The rounds expand very reliably, penetrate reasonably well and come in a very quick and fast-cycling package. This last factor may be the biggest in favor of the cartridge. The biggest weakness is the size of the bullet (low SD) and the limitations of penetration. But for the soft skin game, even the violent nasty ones like lions, it does a lot of damage.

In fact, here's an interesting old Google News account of a man in Idaho burning down an escaped lion with a .30-30:
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170-190 gr. bullets hvae a fairly high SD, especially against a soft skinned animals like you said.

And yes. a flat nosed 170 gr. bullet fired from a 30-30 at short distances is an hell of a slap....

The bit more powerful 303 British dispatched a lot of dangerous thin skinned African game.
 
The bit more powerful 303 British dispatched a lot of dangerous thin skinned African game.
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Between the two I'd have to give the edge to the .303 for sure, esp if shooting the old 215 softpoints. Those are practically crossbow bolts and will out-penetrate any .30-30 round.
 
African game animals are no more bulletproof than American game animals. I'd say a .30/30 with good ammo is fine for most of the game you're likely to see in the bush, including most antelope and gazelles . . . just as it works fine for deer in the Pennsylvania or Minnesota woods. It's a bit lighter than I'd prefer for kudu, gemsbok, zebra, wildebeest, and larger game, (where a .30/06 is a good choice), but it will do the job so long as you place your shot very carefully . . . which you ought to be doing anyway. (It works on elk, doesn't it?)

It would not be a good choice where ranges can be quite long (as on the Kafue Flats) and I really would rather not hunt anything thick-skinned or dangerous with it.
 
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