Is 30/30 a good caliber to hunt deer?

Superbrad said:
Pick any more modern round with a proper load for what you want to do with it.... .270 and above... Longer range, flatter trajectory, more knockdown power....
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Did you read this part of the OP?:confused:

target said:
Thinking about going deer hunting with my boy and I'm assuming most of it would be at fairly close range (under 100 yds.) and in the bush.........
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And for the record, you do not "knock down" a deer. You drill a hole through it to let the blood out of the places it should be for the deer to remain alive. A 30-30 will accomplish that within the conditions set out by the OP.
 
I dont own one, wish I did, but a a Marlin 336BL .30.30 would make an excellent deer rifle. Dont worry about the snotty remarks here either Target. Its a fair question, and, I'm glad I could answer it.
 
Love my marlin 30-30. Also love my 300 winmag. In the bush, 30-30. On the prairie 300 Winmag. In grizz county .45-70.
 
ryan32 said:
People generally don't like to hear this , because its much more fun to be a gun nut and get caliber specific but whitetail deer are very easy to kill. a large area of them is vital. If you shoot deer at over 200 yards i'd go to somthing else juist because the rifles that 30-30's come in are generally 3-4 MOA in my experince. Its really not that hard to make a first round hit offhand on a 12x12 steel plate at 200 yards with my 32 and yes that its bigger than the vitals but you get the idea. so my answer is if your shooting under 200 yards 30-30 is fine
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On the prairies as an example,speaking from personal experience.As a general rule deer are running when being hunted.It is a toss up,either lead them two bushes ahead,or shoot where they will be tommorow and you might hit them in the ass.There are far better choices aroud.Try one out and find out for yourself.Nothing like first hand experience.I did, and I will not foget the performance.
 
Most people are over gunned for deer as noted by many of the comments above. Have yourself a 30-30 and a Very Merry Christmas. Enjoy.

We need new Westerns on T.V. to bring back the popularity of the 30-30 and levers. Now who could replace; Roy Rogers, the "Cartwrights", John Wayne, Chuck Conners, James Arness, Richard Boone? Our kids are missing out.
 
Target, as mentioned numerous times, the 30/30 is great within the range most folks shoot a deer. I prefer a bolt action, but no collection of hunting rifles would be truly complete without a lever action 30-30. They're super fun to shoot(low recoil), cheap ammo, lightweight. If you and your son prefer lever action, then go for it. Handle a lever, handle a bolt, then go from there. Happy hunting!
 
gtrussell said:
On the prairies as an example,speaking from personal experience.As a general rule deer are running when being hunted.It is a toss up,either lead them two bushes ahead,or shoot where they will be tommorow and you might hit them in the ass.There are far better choices aroud.Try one out and find out for yourself.Nothing like first hand experience.I did, and I will not foget the performance.
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Certainly most of them seem to run when they see me, but most of the times that I see them when they haven't seen me, I find that they aren't running. From this, I surmise that they prefer walking to running and only run when they believe they are imminently threatened, which is certainly not all of the time when they actually are being hunted. And I find that if I hunt well, I get opportunities to shoot them when they are standing still, or sometimes moving at a slow walk, so that is what I do. I don't try to shoot them when they are running.

I hunt on the prairies, and this is my personal experience.
 
Josh Smith said:
What's it doing?

What's the rules on trading firearms across the border..? :redface:
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It's just a bit of everything. The rounds in the tube magazine are going back into the receiver, making it impossible to cycle (or unload) once you load the mag. The catch isn't working, but the rifle has less than 200 rounds down the pipe.

I wasn't able to actually fire the gun for a while because the little button between the lever and the stock wasn't compressing, allowing for the trigger to break.

Then I had to purchase a ramp, rear sight, and front sight hood. The hole on the end of the mag tube is squished, making it so that you can't undo the screw that secures the tube barrel band to the end of the barrel.

I took down the receiver on the gun once, and instantly decided that I'm going to give the rifle away once it's fixed to a friend.
 
oopswasthatyourdog? said:
I love this thread......it's giving us .243 fans a break...... :stirthepot2:
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LOL! Indeed. :D

I have met plenty of hunters over the years that use nothing but a 30/30 rifle for hunting on our Westcoast Island, they seem to do well with filling their tags and freezers each season with our blacktail deer and even Black Bear.
 
No discussion with the caliber, it should be call the deer rifle but as far of Marlin, i would make sure to handle it and look at the finish, marlington is really a cie at the end of the food chain, hope they recover... JP.
 
caramel said:
No discussion with the caliber, it should be call the deer rifle but as far of Marlin, i would make sure to handle it and look at the finish, marlington is really a cie at the end of the food chain, hope they recover... JP.
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I think lever guns are going to go the way of revolvers soon. There won't be a market for cheap ones, and people will want to buy them for for finesse.

Wait for it, S&W will celebrate the creation of the Winchester model 94 with a $1000.00 limited edition gun in a case.
 
Bearcat said:
I would bet more deer are killed every year in Canada & USA , with a 30 30 than all the other calibres put together !!
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I think that old and often repeated idea is a bad bet. I haven't seen anyone using a .30-30 in the field where I hunt in over 20 years, and the last one I saw was my sister.

It's just not even close to true. That doesn't mean the .30-30 won't work perfectly well if you use one properly.
 
Bearcat said:
I would bet more deer are killed every year in Canada & USA , with a 30 30 than all the other calibres put together !!
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I've only ever seen one guy hunting with a 30-30, and I live in really rough terrain.

I took a model 94 lever gun hunting ONCE and it will be the last time I ever try that. The gun is going to be leaving my collection hopefully very soon.
 
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