Ken
By designed intent, from the man who did so, Mr Ken Waters:
"The 7-30 ballistics speak for themselves-higher velocity, flatter trajectory and greater retained down range energy than a 150 grain 30-30 with less recoil. Accuracy in most rifles is also better......The 7-30 will kill deer like lightening with properly placed shots..."
I agree with all of this, but in so saying, I find the bullet weight to be a drawback since I hunt in whipsticks and heavy brush. Understanding that NO bullet is immune from deflection by brush, the odds favor a heavier bullet such as the 170 grain 30-30, the 200 grain 35 Rem, and the 180 grain 30-06.
In as far as the gun, I have expressed my deep concern for the loss of quality in Winchester guns, but then I've said the same of Browning and Remington.
I know at least two gents who collect older Winchester lever guns. Yes, they have been cycled thousands of times, yes they are "worn" in, yes , yes, yes....But you fall in love with the touch of them, the smoothness of the action, the silver where there once was bluing. You feel the warmth of the oil drenched wood, you see the scars from many hunts, and a man can drift back in time when the 30-30 Winchester lever gun was king. When there was open land to hunt, when a man could travel on foot a day in any direction and not see another soul. When a man could put the sneak on a white tail buck that had probably never seen a man.
We were not a mechanized society then, all our dwellings did not look alike save the color of the paint. Now a man can get a snoot full and end up in the wrong house late in the night as his looks identical to his neighbors.
In those long lamented bygone days, a journeyman machinist was in a trade that would be his livelyhood and handed down to his sons. He took great pride in his work, he cared. Sure, he made a living, but a part of himself went into every gun he made a part for. Back then, an Inspector would reject a metal part because it was out of blueprint tolerance, because the surface finish was not just so. He'd flag a partthat had burrs and swarf left behind from machining operations. You see, back then, maybeso the quota was 10 GOOD rifles to shipping a day, 10 rifles that are now in the hands of collectors because they can never be replaced. We have lost so much in this country.
Sad to say, now, it's all just a numbers game, a P&L, an EBIT line. Quantity drives Corporations, no longer quality. Our wealth of knowledge in new materials, new methods, new processes all drive to a single end, profit. No longer is there a pride in workmanship, how can there be, there is no longevity left in Corporate America. You'll land a job there and stay until your rate exceeds what a foriegn entity can do the job for and you're out the door. I'll lay odds your not there long enough to get vested in the pension fund. Working people quit caring, can you blame them?
I was instrumental in rebuilding Smith & Wesson when the Brits took it over. They invested in new machinery and they produced a superior product, and average, identical, exact replicated handgun that you could not tell if this one was mine or yours. Guess how many people went out the door? You can get "Old World" quality from Smith, but it comes from a handful of dedicated people in the custom shop. These guys do it the old way, on manual machines, with files and stones. I've handled and shot 629's from there that you could double action a cylinder and have all 6 go in a 1 inch bull at 25 yards. They still can do it right!
Kind of drifted off subject here......Todays Winchester, well it's sticky, cranky, rough, loose, shaky, has plain as a stump wood for stocks ( if it even HAS wood ) and short of having a darn good smith work it over, I think you are pretty much looking at what Mother Fabrique thinks is a good value for the dollar. I just happen to be one that does not agree.
If there is "magic" to be done on a Winchester as I do on a Marlin I am not aware of it. Of Marlin I will say, at least they give you something to work with. Myself, I don't take a shine to what I can't take apart and put back together. Hear tell a Winchester can be dismantled, but I have never done so, been a Marlin man for a long spell.
Think I'll sign off on this one before GB starts charging me for blabbering and using up bandwidth :wink:
Coug
