I got lucky this year and got drawn. Its been 19 years for me since I had a license. Funny thing is, two of my sons who have been applying for years also got drawn, first time ever for them. They only have varmint caliber guns, so we will put together some toys from my collection for them. Kind of a logistical challenge to put together the whole trip, guns being maybe the least of the problem. I've been considering that I'd like to shoot one with my dad's Win 94 in 32 special. Just came into possession of it this year, although dad has been gone for 12 years. I ate a lot of deer meat as a kid that it put on our table. But when you only get drawn every 19 years, and you have better guns, its hard to make the decision to take it, especially since in NB you can only take one gun in moose season.
Got my moose licence! Leverevolution 30-30 worth using?
- Thread starter TheCoachZed
- Start date
Have you looked at the deep hollow point Barnes TSX 30-30 offering? It would have all my attention in your situation.
Look at that expansion, where can I find these! Ohhh my!
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TheCoachZed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The other second gun will most likely be my brother in law with his .308, so we are definitely covered.
Plan we had was for me to take the first shot and him back me up immediately. The less distance we have to haul a moose, the better, so we would rather lose some bloodshot meat than lose a whole moose in a bog.
Hollow Point
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Brunswick
Sounds like a good plan to me. Any time i've gone moose hunting in the past ( a grand total of 3 times) I have used a .308 and it killed moose every time. Although this year I may use my moose tag it as a excuse to purchase a larger caliber. I've always wanted a .416 Rigby for some inexplicable reason.
Have you looked at the deep hollow point Barnes TSX 30-30 offering? It would have all my attention in your situation.
I would be much more confident with those than the 160 leverevolution projectiles. My experiences with them on a couple whitetails didn't leave a great impression they are very soft atleast the early productions were. The 140 grain Monoflex would be my choice if Hornady and a gummy tip is needed.
I can understand wanting to use what you have and a .30-30 certainly is capable of getting the job done and many with either 150 or 170 Corelockts or Power Points. I would spring for some Nosler Partitions myself, or a cartridge with a little more horse power. But I still haven't been drawn for a moose here yet.
MIRAMICHIER
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Miramichi,Nb
Congrats I have a 30-30 its a wall hanger.I have a communal 300 Win that everybody borrows when they get picked.I hope you get him first morning Good Luck.
I have use of the 225 FTX .44 cal and 325 FTX .45/70 bullets on deer and both performed very well. I have shot all of my bulls with archery gear, but my father, uncles and grandfather all shot dozens of moose with .30/30's and .32 Spl's... as far as I know, all with Winchester 170 grain Silver Tip bullets... they did a good job in (most) cases... the ones that were well placed... 
TheCoachZed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I've never seen those 140 grain Monoflex-based Leverevolution for sale here locally. I see their claimed ft-lb at 200 yards is 1143 which is probably sufficient for the job?
Moose did not get tougher over the years, you put that bullet in the right spot and the moose is yours.
I have a Win 94 and my wife a bolt 30-30, the plan for hers if we ever go moose hunting is a 150gr Partition spire point hand load but in the tub mag this is a no go unless you are only loading 1 in the chamber and 1 in the pipe, which is an option.
I wish they made a gummy tip with better construction but the manufacturers don't feel like anyone will use it for anything larger than deer, they must have been given the memo too that moose hides have turned to iron plate in the last 50 years.
If you are keeping it close then a FP 170gr Partition will be just fine, as with any 150 or 170gr cup and core bullets. The 160 FTX, I have heard that they blow up but I have not been able to shoot anything but paper yet with it, accurate though in our guns.
I have a Win 94 and my wife a bolt 30-30, the plan for hers if we ever go moose hunting is a 150gr Partition spire point hand load but in the tub mag this is a no go unless you are only loading 1 in the chamber and 1 in the pipe, which is an option.
I wish they made a gummy tip with better construction but the manufacturers don't feel like anyone will use it for anything larger than deer, they must have been given the memo too that moose hides have turned to iron plate in the last 50 years.
If you are keeping it close then a FP 170gr Partition will be just fine, as with any 150 or 170gr cup and core bullets. The 160 FTX, I have heard that they blow up but I have not been able to shoot anything but paper yet with it, accurate though in our guns.
TheCoachZed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
These numbers aren't as good as the 160 grain FTX loads, but I would love to get my hands on some to try them. Definitely doing much better at 200 yd than the 170 grain Winchester Power Point. But up close, I'd probably want Power Point over these copper bullets.
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/30-30-win-140-gr-monoflex-leverevolution#!/
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/30-30-win-140-gr-monoflex-leverevolution#!/
Just a bad BC on that bullet.
Can they make this with a gummy tip? That would be sweet.
https://www.federalpremium.com/products/rifle/premium-centerfire-rifle/nosler-partition/p3030d
All the discussion of what is a good load for moose in the .30-30 is fine, but I think the answer to the question is easier. If, after nine years of trying, I finally had a moose tag in my pocket, and knew it might be another nine before I had another one, I would NOT use a rifle/cartridge that I had to ask whether it was "worth using" on a hunting forum. I would take a gun that I KNEW was capable of whatever I thought I could do, or that I would expect to ever encounter.
My advice - take enough gun.
My advice - take enough gun.
That is not what he asked at all, what he asked was if the 30-30 with 160gr FTX bullets would perform.
Take enough gun, that is all relative, to some a 375 H&H would not be enough, to those who hunted in the bush in the east a 30-30 has put meat on the table since it came out, that and the 303 Brit, it is what people had and it is what they used and it was not under gunned at all.
People tend to shoot down something that is old because it is old, not because it does not do the job.
I had a guy try to trade me a 44 Mag rifle for my 12ga fully rifled barrelled shotgun saying that I needed a real rifle, he had no clue the power comparison between a 44 Mag and a 12ga, he also said that he could run faster than a 30-30. At the same camp a guy with a 30-30 refused to shoot at a deer at 75 yards because that was well outside the kill range of a 30-30.
Within the safe range, talking eastern bush here, there is no problem using the 30-30 with a good bullet on a moose within its range, which is not 5ft either.
I was looking for the minimum energy numbers that come out for moose, you know the ones that say 1000ft lbs for deer, the first link that came up was for a 308 Win, guy claims that the 308 Win is only adequate for moose within 100 yards, those moose have gotten tougher over the years.
My grandfather shot 50 of the big BC moose with his 30-30. Only one needed a second shot. 30-30 is good enough for moose. A double lung shot is as dead as a moose can be.
I have shot a few moose in New Brunswick. The longest was 100 yards and the closest was 15 yards. One shot each did the job.
N.B. moose are not as big as other moose I have seen.
OP - use whatever 150 or 170 gr Remchester ammo you have zeroed with and just make a good shot. If he walks away, don't panic or do anything. Sometimes the moose don't know they are dead. If you don't spook him he will walk about 25 yards and then lay down to think about what happened.
I have shot a few moose in New Brunswick. The longest was 100 yards and the closest was 15 yards. One shot each did the job.
N.B. moose are not as big as other moose I have seen.
OP - use whatever 150 or 170 gr Remchester ammo you have zeroed with and just make a good shot. If he walks away, don't panic or do anything. Sometimes the moose don't know they are dead. If you don't spook him he will walk about 25 yards and then lay down to think about what happened.
Actually he asked "Got my moose licence! Leverevolution 30-30 worth using?"
I never argued it wouldn't work within its limitations. I argued that he should not accept its limitations for what is obviously a "rare" opportunity for him when there are lots of cartridges that don't have those limitations. To argue that lots of moose have died to the round in the past is just irrelevant to the real question he asked. There is nothing "relative" about it.
TheCoachZed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
LOL
BTW Fox I know a few people in Kempt and I'm sure we have mutual acquaintances.
Last time I went moose hunting, one of the guys I went with thought a .308 was a peashooter and nothing could equal the mighty .30-06. His family agreed. My brother-in-law went with his son a few years later, and the Mighty Hunter aimed his .30-06 at 100 yards at a moose's chest ... and completely missed the vitals, hit the antler. He didn't realize that, couldn't figure out why the moose was still standing there kinda stunned, so he shot again at the vitals ... and hit the moose in the ear. At least that dropped him pretty quickly.
That's what happens when you can't shoot properly for various reasons, including lack of practice and bad recoil management. One of my other family members went last year after blithely putting MAYBE a half-box to practice through a borrowed .30-06 (naturally giving himself a scope eye in the process). He COMPLETELY missed a 32" bull moose at 100 yards. Thankfully my brother-in-law was with him and smashed the moose with a 7mm magnum.
My point is this: I'd rather shoot what I have, and am comfortable with. I know I can kill a moose at 100 yards with a .30-30. What I want to find out is--can LeverEvolution help me extend that range reasonably, or are the bullets too soft? Sounds as if the 160s might be! The 140s supposedly have 1200 ft-lb of energy at 200 yards. My range, if it ever opens again, only goes as far as 200 yards anyway.
I do have a Remington 81 in .300 Savage, and that's what I'd LIKE to take, but -- it's almost impossible to scope without drilling more holes, and it already has enough of those.
He asked for a reason, potentially that is the gun he has been using for 20 years.
Would it make more sense to go get a 300 WM and try to learn that gun over the summer or use a 30-30 that is known and trusted, it is still a 30 caliber bullet and as long as it goes into the vitals it will kill exactly the same way, it is a hole in the lungs and a hole in the lungs will kill no matter what made the hole.
