Is 30/30 a good caliber to hunt deer?

Not enough.

Dogleg said:
Here's a story with that doesn't have anything to do with 30-30s.


I was about 13 or so, and in my age group in our tiny school I was about the best high jumper there. If I would have quit then I may have retained a shred of self respect, but nooooooooooooo I had to go on the the division meet.


Long story short, they set the bar about a foot higher than I had ever jumped in my life, and that was just the warm-ups.:redface: You would have thought someone would have warned me?:rolleyes:

If you want to experience exactly how I felt, just take your 30-30 hunting where we go, it will be a perfect example was what "hopelessly out of your league" means and if you are in search of life lessons thats a good one.. You will probably be happier staying in your little bushy corner of the world, but if not theres your warning.
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Well put,and speaking from first hand experience,carries alot more weight than second hand accounts.They do have their place,but I have not seen it yet.
 
MiG25 said:
i don't recall ever hearing about shotguns or seeing one in any old photos from the old days around here (interior BC). being outside of a flyway, guess there wasn't much use for one.

i wasn't around, but pre WWII i know my great-grandfather had a 30-40 and a .45 and my grandfather had a 30WCF. these guns where used on sheep, goats, and deer (maybe not the .45).

IMO within it's limitations (with a peep sight i'd say 200 yards), the win 94 in 30WCF is a better hunting rifle than many others currently on the market. i've taken deer with cartridges ranging from the 22 hornet to 9.3x57 (and 12 gauge) with about 10 or 12 stops in between, including the 30WCF, and the end result has always been the same. so in other words, at open sight ranges, whatever that means to you, the 30WCF is perfect for deer. of course this isn't new information.
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Hmmm.... the fact that I have always lived in a flyway may have something to do with it.... good thinking.... see, for us a 12 gauge was a one gun for everything gun.... and for most youngsters around here it is still usually their first purchase.....
 
I inherited 2 firearms from my Grampa
1 cooey 22
and 1 30 30 lever action winchester
Mom said they were so broke a lot of the time he would go out with only one bullet and return with a moose
This is totaly believable to me as the front sight has infact been replaced with 1/4 of a penny the stock has been bolted together and wrapped with black tape
this rifle had not been fired in 20 years up untill this summer, i took it out and fired a couple rounds thru her...trusty ol girl worked flawlessly:)
I see no reason not to expect it to work well on deer
as a matter of fact every moose i have killed with my 30 06 was close enough that the 30 30 woulda made it just as dead;)
 
gtrussell said:
Simple answer is still,no.
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There are 2 primary variables in the hunting equation that determines deer hunting capability in order of importance 1) the shooter, 2) the gun.

The track record of the .30-30 WCF as a deer hunting cartridge is undeniable and irrefutable.

People embarrass themselves by default when they declare that the venerable "Thutty-Thutty" is not an effective deer cartridge.
 
Huntsman said:
Honestly I think the variables have isolated themselves down to ignorance, attitude & ##### size.
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I checked when I had my last shower (sometime in September I think) and I don't qualify under criterion 3. ;)

Ooops, sorry I forgot that this is a family board. :eek:
 
30-30

Complicated answer: it has and still does work for me as well as many others... will do for long time to come....maybe it won't work for some...probably because they don"t want it to...that doesn't mean it's not effective.
 
Dogleg said:
Here's a story with that doesn't have anything to do with 30-30s.


I was about 13 or so, and in my age group in our tiny school I was about the best high jumper there. If I would have quit then I may have retained a shred of self respect, but nooooooooooooo I had to go on the the division meet.


Long story short, they set the bar about a foot higher than I had ever jumped in my life, and that was just the warm-ups.:redface: You would have thought someone would have warned me?:rolleyes:

If you want to experience exactly how I felt, just take your 30-30 hunting where we go, it will be a perfect example was what "hopelessly out of your league" means and if you are in search of life lessons thats a good one.. You will probably be happier staying in your little bushy corner of the world, but if not theres your warning.
Click to expand...

Funny, Karamojo Bell didn't feel limited by a cartridge that mimicked 30-30 ballistics. He went on to kill over 1000 elephant with 7x57 Rigbys. Using an average of 1.5 shots each. But we're not talking Africa, or once in a life time (for most of us) hunts. Just regular run of the mill deer. At moderate range.

Just curious, if a 30-30 is too small for deer, how do you justify a paltry 5200 ft./lbs. on a cape buffalo that weighs 7 times as much and bones like iron? By my estimation you need something around 18 000 ft./lbs. for your African exploits!

95% of the time a 30-30 is great, but if I need to kill at 600 yards I guess I would want a 7.62 Warbird or similar.

gtrussell said:
Well put,and speaking from first hand experience,carries alot more weight than second hand accounts.They do have their place,but I have not seen it yet.
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Just where do you get that? Most of us have used 30-30 for deer, and if you re-read you'll find a plethora of 1st hand accounts. Dogleg did not mention that he has used a 30-30 for anything. So how did the 30-30 fail you?

Most important is bullet weight and construction. I have heard many accounts of bullets driven too fast for their purpose. Recently a .300 Weatherby loaded with 110 gr. for deer and a 30-06 loaded with 130 for moose. The 130 blew up on a shoulder. A recipe for disaster. With such poor pairings, I suppose one might think that some cartridges are sub-par and need to move up some?

The venerable 30-30 loaded with proper 150-170s would have beat either combo by a factor of 10.
 
Dont confuse muzzle energy figures for the 30 30 with down range figures, sure that and the early mauser cartridges werent a world apart but the 7 x 57 carries that energy and accuracy a lot further. Also using solids on elephants was sensible.
Now the only limits of any calibre is the person using it!
If you think the deer is too far away then get closer or learn to shoot at that distance. In wooded country 100 yards is quite a distance and most cartridges will kill the deer dead provided its hit in the right place!
Get your rifle and dont scrimp on practise until you can snap shoot from all positions accurately. That is woodland deer hunting!
 
The 30-30 is plenty rifle for deer out to 250 yards and beyond if ya know what you are doing. Moose, I would go to 200 yards.

I've shot so many animals with my 30-30, I was gonna just put " super whiz bang magnum" on it with permanent marker so as to be accepted...lol
 
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