Is 30/30 a good caliber to hunt deer?

target said:
I want to comment on some of the discussion that is going on and also say thanks for all of the opinions and insight.

Here are some things I did consider especially since it also involves my son who's 11.

He has his own guns, .22's and enjoys firing them at fairly close distances <50 yds.

He is apprehensive about recoil since he has seen me shoot my 12 ga. and the .303 so I don't want a repeat of a situation years ago with someone and "recoil fear". I know he's not going to want to shoot the .303 and it's too big for him. As for gun safety of a lever action, he has plenty of experience with gun safety and handling.

Yes I can go with a .223 or a similar but this too sometimes gets debated regarding effectiveness, etc., etc. Also I don't see us or myself going often on hunting trips for all different animals and needing a "big" calibre, long distance gun.

My boy is very sensitive toward animals and I have already warned him that killing a deer could be a little upsetting for him, but he still wants to go. Besides wanting to get meat himself, he wants to experience first hand what it's like to hunt for something and then kill it.

So with this in mind and the fact that I always kind of wanted a lever in my collection, all I wanted to know was the calibre's ability on deer at fairly close range since it may get used for this purpose infrequently and maybe used on the odd Coyote instead or at the gravel pit.

I also wanted to know if the Marlin 336BL was any good.

I think those questions have been answered and I thank all those that commented.
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I appreciate that you have elaborated here and that you are teaching your son firearms handling and hunting with his own particular sensitivities in mind..... I woudl DEFINITELY take the .30-30 over .223 for deer.... Were I in your shoes I would be looking at a .243 or even .270..... and if you are dead set on a lever I woudl buy a Browning BLR..... but again... that's just me....
 
"My boy is very sensitive toward animals and I have already warned him that killing a deer could be a little upsetting for him, but he still wants to go. Besides wanting to get meat himself, he wants to experience first hand what it's like to hunt for something and then kill it."

This. Has he killed a gopher, squirrel, grouse? Crow? A deer may be an overwhelming kill for him at that age. A grouse may be an easier place to start if he wants to experience the kill and eat .
 
Calum said:
Clearly you don't sound like you know how these work. If you ask nice I'm sure a 30/30 lever owner would be happy to show you how to handle one of these safely.

Bottom line is it's up to every firearms owner to learn how to operate their firearms design safely.

Speaking of which, here is how it's done... Muzzle pointed in safe direction, note how this guys finger is not in the trigger portion of the guard while cycling the action to unload...
[youtube]_jQ8sdBsE58[/youtube]
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Clearly you don't know how to safely handle a firearm..... the 1894 he is holding in that video has no crossbolt safety.... he cycle the action once which ejects a round from the chamber then grabs one from the mag and puts it in the chamber.... at this point the hammer is cocked and ready to fire.... note how he again cycles the action WITHOUT returning the firearm to a safe condition (he never lowers the hammer between cycles)..... look at him cycling that rifle like a madman, fingers just inches away from that exposed trigger..... if you or any of us would have done that during our firearm safety exam we would have failed.....
 
Superbrad said:
Clearly you don't know how to safely handle a firearm..... the 1894 he is holding in that video has no crossbolt safety.... he cycle the action once which ejects a round from the chamber then grabs one from the mag and puts it in the chamber.... at this point the hammer is cocked and ready to fire.... note how he again cycles the action WITHOUT returning the firearm to a safe condition (he never lowers the hammer between cycles)..... look at him cycling that rifle like a madman, fingers just inches away from that exposed trigger..... if you or any of us would have done that during our firearm safety exam we would have failed.....
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Er... yeah, that's the way it's done. There is no reason to lower the hammer between cycles. The way he's doing it has less chance of accidental discharge. Just like unloading a pump shotgun (the normal way) and there is no provision on the rifle to take it out the front. That is the correct way as far as firearms instruction as well and that is the way it's taught.
 
Superbrad said:
Clearly you don't know how to safely handle a firearm..... the 1894 he is holding in that video has no crossbolt safety.... he cycle the action once which ejects a round from the chamber then grabs one from the mag and puts it in the chamber.... at this point the hammer is cocked and ready to fire.... note how he again cycles the action WITHOUT returning the firearm to a safe condition (he never lowers the hammer between cycles)..... look at him cycling that rifle like a madman, fingers just inches away from that exposed trigger..... if you or any of us would have done that during our firearm safety exam we would have failed.....
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It's a friggin entertainment video fer krips sake.
He's useing dummy rounds & he knows it + the fact he's preaching to the thousands of non gun type that wouldn't know a 1894 from a 94 from a BLR!
Are you a spell check cop too :cool:
 
tactical lever said:
Er... yeah, that's the way it's done. There is no reason to lower the hammer between cycles. The way he's doing it has less chance of accidental discharge. Just like unloading a pump shotgun (the normal way) and there is no provision on the rifle to take it out the front. That is the correct way as far as firearms instruction as well and that is the way it's taught.
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No... Not the correct way... And a pump action has a safety that can be engaged while the rifle. Is being emptied... Unlike that old 1894... Look... I see we have a few lever nuts here so I digress... Not trying to start a fight... I personally think levers are very cool and cowboy.... They just would never be the choice for my boys first rifle... And my reasons are listed...
 
senior said:
It's a friggin entertainment video fer krips sake.
He's useing dummy rounds & he knows it + the fact he's preaching to the thousands of non gun type that wouldn't know a 1894 from a 94 from a BLR!
Are you a spell check cop too :cool:
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No... I can't type worth a crap...lol... And the person who posted that said it was the correct way to handle a lever action... It wasn't me who posted it..
 
Superbrad said:
No... Not the correct way... And a pump action has a safety that can be engaged while the rifle. Is being emptied... Unlike that old 1894... Look... I see we have a few lever nuts here so I digress... Not trying to start a fight... I personally think levers are very cool and cowboy.... They just would never be the choice for my boys first rifle... And my reasons are listed...
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Up until a few years ago none of the lever actions had a cross bolt safety. Lowering the hammer inbetween makes no sense.
 
tactical lever said:
Up until a few years ago none of the lever actions had a cross bolt safety. Lowering the hammer inbetween makes no sense.
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Quite frankly, the more modern 1894 models have a top tang safety also... Which makes it acceptable to. Do what the fella in the video did... Unfortunately his had no outside safety but the hammer... Which is wrong in my opinion...
 
Superbrad said:
I appreciate that you have elaborated here and that you are teaching your son firearms handling and hunting with his own particular sensitivities in mind..... I woudl DEFINITELY take the .30-30 over .223 for deer.... Were I in your shoes I would be looking at a .243 or even .270..... and if you are dead set on a lever I woudl buy a Browning BLR..... but again... that's just me....
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The 243 (and even the .270 with a 130 gr. bullet) actually scores lower on the Taylor Knock Out scale as well as the Hornady terminal performance scale. Maybe not the comprehensive measure of a cartridge, most people will agree that taking less than 2/3 the weight while not gaining any fpe is going backwards in terms of on game performance. Another point against the .270 is that it does it with significantly more muzzle blast and recoil.

The slower .308 bullet offers more momentum and is much easier to make work as far as holding together while going through bone and mushrooming.
 
Superbrad said:
Quite frankly, the more modern 1894 models have a top tang safety also... Which makes it acceptable to. Do what the fella in the video did... Unfortunately his had no outside safety but the hammer... Which is wrong in my opinion...
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Of course all the new ones have, but what do you do when they don't? Keep it in a safe direction.

Is it as safe? I don't know, only my newest lever has the safety and I've always managed to not swing it around while unloading. We should never rely on a mechanical safety. Whether the gun is safe, starts and ends with us, regardless of what kind of safeties or lack thereof.

Lot's of guys don't like the new safety; while it doesn't bother me, I don't usually use it either. The only time of course is unloading, which can be kind of nice.
 
tactical lever said:
The 243 (and even the .270 with a 130 gr. bullet) actually scores lower on the Taylor Knock Out scale as well as the Hornady terminal performance scale. Maybe not the comprehensive measure of a cartridge, most people will agree that taking less than 2/3 the weight while not gaining any fpe is going backwards in terms of on game performance. Another point against the .270 is that it does it with significantly more muzzle blast and recoil.

The slower .308 bullet offers more momentum and is much easier to make work as far as holding together while going through bone and mushrooming.
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Look friend... We have a difference of opinion here... I think you make some great points... I have taken 3 deer with a 30-30 myself... But that being said, I don't think they make good learning rifles...

The bottom line is that everything is relative and I just think there arte better options out there...

Again my opinion...
 
tactical lever said:
Of course all the new ones have, but what do you do when they don't? Keep it in a safe direction.

Is it as safe? I don't know, only my newest lever has the safety and I've always managed to not swing it around while unloading. We should never rely on a mechanical safety. Whether the gun is safe, starts and ends with us, regardless of what kind of safeties or lack thereof.

Lot's of guys don't like the new safety; while it doesn't bother me, I don't usually use it either. The only time of course is unloading, which can be kind of nice.
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What do you do when they don't?... You don't make 'em your boy's first rifle...
 
By the way tactical... I would like to point out that this all started when your self righteous post insinuated that anyone recommending something better than a 30-30 was a magnum pushing citiot that knows nothing... The op did not ask if a 30-30 was good enough... They asked if it was good
 
Superbrad said:
What do you do when they don't?... You don't make 'em your boy's first rifle...
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Not his 1st rifle. He has a .22 and maybe more, but not a big game rifle yet. And he would be about the same age as I was when I received my 1st lever action, which was not my 1st rifle either. While I believe that the 1st rifle be a manually cocked single shot for a young shooter, there is a time to move to the next step. If he's going hunting with his dad, this is a good one.

Superbrad said:
By the way tactical... I would like to point out that this all started when your self righteous post insinuated that anyone recommending something better than a 30-30 was a magnum pushing citiot that knows nothing... The op did not ask if a 30-30 was good enough... They asked if it was good
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Don't take it to heart. It's only typed in jest with reference to an (slight) exaggeration that takes place almost every time someone new to hunting picks a gun. I think if you think back to the 1st one you bought with your own money, or some of your friends first deer rifles it may sound a little familiar to most of us... Especially with all the "flavour of the week" cartridges out lately, and the push to bigger and faster.

Confusion and inner conflict does not make you a cidiot. It's an exciting thing to get your 1st "real" hunting rifle.

We were all there at the counter at one time or another, except I never, ever had camo ginch. (Oh drat, now I have to get some)

I wholeheartedly endorsed the OP's 1st choice for a rifle, without thrusting different actions and cartridges upon him. The same however could not be said for all of us here... Who's self righteous again?

Of course I strongly identify with his choice, so it's that much easier. Not self righteous....but I am however, right! ;)
 
Calum said:
[youtube]_jQ8sdBsE58[/youtube]
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Hey THANKS Target for re-sparking my interest in the 30-30 ;) I just bought me another one today :D Thats makes 3 :rockOn:, this ones a post 64 version of the one in the vid that Calum posted.
Here's my newest;
PB260696.jpg
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