School me on 30-30

John Y Cannuck said:
I think the 30-30 suffers most from people who just like cranking that lever. Spray and pray doesn't work well when hunting.
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^^^ Yup! I have a brother that falls into that category. Never could get him to slow down and aim.

If you're a handloader, leverevolution powder + 170 gr bullet bumps the .30-30 into the same league as the .300 Savage.
 
I have never hunted with the 30-30, but my brother-in-law killed dozens of moose with his 30-30 (M94). He would fire a shot, sit down, have a smoke or 2, and generally find the moose within 50 feet. I don't remember ever having to track one he had shot.

I killed a good-sized bear with a 7.62 X 39, which is a fair bit lower in power than the 30-30, and my wife shot a huge cow moose at 220 paces with the same rifle. The key is shot placement.

So yes, the 30-30 is plenty of gun in the hands of a competent shot, within the limitations of the rifle. Now, it's true that today's critters seem to be armour-plated, because you need a 499 WhizBang UltraMag to go for gophers, but millions of moose, elk, grizzlies, black bears and polar bears were shot by the 30-30. My grandfather used to keep meat on the table with a 44-40.
 
The 3030 is best with basic cup and core bullets. Its not fancy or flashy but within its limitations does extremely well on thin skinned game. As does anything that spits well expanding bullets at modest velocity. Id stick eith the tried and true 170gr flat nose and keep shots within a 100 yards and avoid big shoulders. Slow soft bullets work best when sent thru soft places like both lungs
 
ljones said:
"Lobbin a Rapalla" = Tossing a Rapalla fishing lure. Translation = The Op is fishing for responses to a question he either already knows the answer to or should know already.
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Lol and as stated before nope I’m a dumb dumb on old calibers... didn’t even think ohhhh that’s the round that everyone shot back then and killed all the buffalo... seriously just a huge gap on my knowledge base.
 
Like many hunters of my vintage, used a 30-30 to harvest both moose and deer. On a different note, a friend built a 30-30 bolt gun that agg’d about 0.3 @ 100M (five 5 shot groups).
 
There's a great reason why the 30-30 is still running strong after more than 100 years...It just works!
As stated above, a good 170gr bullet does very well on deer, bear and moose at sensible ranges, and is capable of more with proper shot placement in the hands of a skilled rifleman.
The newer 160gr FTX load from Hornady will help it reach out further for hunting deer in more open terrain. Here, for some, a scope may be a good option, as our eyes do not get better with time! LOL The open sights are just a lot of fun to shoot and hunt with.
Find the rifle you like and have fun hunting with it! As an admitted lever fan, you'll be glad you did!
 
Slower bullets expand less and penetrate deeper, which kills game just fine, and provides more meat since you are not blowing a baseball sized hole through the animal.
30/30 is well suited for the majority of things we hunt, if you load for it there are tons of options. I plink with 30 carbine 110gr pills, both FMJ and the soft points, cheap and good on little things you want to get rid of.
You can load spritzer in a 30-30 lever as well, just make sure it's one in the chamber, one in the tube only. I've had good results using 300 Savage 150gr SST's loaded that way as well.
 
My grandfather shot 52 moose (northern BC) with a 30-30 rifle. All but one were one shot kills.

He was a good shot.

Bullet placement is 95% of terminal ballistics.

The 30-30 will do its part, if you can do yours.
 
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