Author Topic: what do you hunt with a 30-30? (Read 4326 times)

wipartimer · « **on:** October 08, 2003, 04:09:17 PM »

Hi Guys, I recently won a Winchester'94 in 30-30 from a raffle. I already have a few other rifles(30-06,7m-08,.300 winmag) so at first I thought I would just sell the 30-30. Then I went to get it and as soon as i took the li'l thing out of the box, I fell in love with it. its my first lever gun, but boy does it feel nice in my hands! What I'm wondering is, what critters, other than deer, do you hunt with your 30-30's? i know i have to do a bunch of shooting to get to know the gun and how I can shoot with it.

John Y Cannuck · « **Reply #1 on:** October 08, 2003, 04:27:21 PM »

Deer, Black bear, hogs, rabbits, varmints of all types (use a hard bullet for the varmints and rabbits if you want something besides little bitty pieces.) I've taken many grouse with it (head shots)
It has been stretched to moose, and elk by a great many hunters in the past, but not recomended by todays hunters. Shots would have to be very close, and well placed.

Bob/FLA · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2003, 01:58:41 AM »

A friend of mine uses his every year to bag his elk in Wyoming. Never had to take a shot over 75 yards. That's why it's called hunting and not shooting.

WD45 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2003, 05:12:26 AM »

Are you a hand loading or going off the shelf for ammo ?
If you are hand loading you can get more power out of a 30 30 than most people think and throws a lot more into the equation on what a 30 30 is effective for. I see posts from people that live in places like Alaska that dont seem to feel under gunned with a 30 30 yet people that DON'T live in an area where what you are hunting might eat you think a 30 30 is not even a deer rifle. Kind of interesting isn't it :-)
I would like to here from some of those people and see what their take on the ole 30 30 is along with good and bad experience.
People will probably still be dragging this issue around when we are all dead and gone :lol:

Bighorn75 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2003, 06:25:50 AM »

I can't imagine anyone who has actually taken game with a 30-30 trying to make the claim it is not enough gun. My guess is that most people who run down the 30-30 have never really used one. Get to know the 30-30 well--its cheap to shoot--and you will be rewarded tenfold. I've taken numerous deer with this cartridge and can tell you it is a superb hunting round.

I never bought into the 100-yard gun stuff either. The greatest distance at which I have taken a deer with any cartridge was 225 yards and that was with an unscoped model 94 in 30-30. The wound channel was literally big enough to stick your fist into. I had spent the Summer using that rifle for groundhogs and I knew the gun and its capabilities well. Of course, this was back in mid-seventies. I was still in high school and there was no one around to tell me that what I was doing was not possible with a 30-30. I just knew I had a rifle and assumed it would do what any other rifle would do.

WD45 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2003, 07:55:04 AM »

Bighorn,
you use off the shelf or load yer own ?
Just curious :-)

coug2wolfs · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2003, 10:44:55 AM »

With the recent claims of humungous hog kills with 22 rimfires, and in ridiculous consideration that even ELEPHANTS have been killed very dead with 22 shorts, why that 30-30 with a good 170 grainer should be capable of killin anything on the planet :lol:

All kiddin aside, deer, black bear, anything smaller. Moose I think is stretching it, though at close range I'd bet it would work well enough.

If you hunt rooters close up and personal it'll do. At 300 yards it will piss em off, but then, the thutty thutty was never intended to be a gee whiz long distance affair.

Use it within it's killing range and you'll have a long time friend.

wipartimer · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2003, 04:31:18 PM »

:grin: Thanks Guys. i'll be shooting factory loads as I don't handload. I guess it'll make a great backup deer gun (won't give up ol' faithful) . But I got this trip to Texas planned for February to see if the deer hunters there leftany hogs for me , think I may have me a new hog gun!

Bighorn75 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2003, 06:03:28 PM »

WD45, I've never hand loaded but that day is coming for me. Back then, I was shooting off-the-shelf stuff--usually Remington or Winchester. I grew up on a farm and went through boxes of ammo shooting groundhogs and targets. The best practice was shooting into recently plowed fields when the dirt was dry. Set a target out there at 300 yards and start with a point blank aim and its easy to see how you need to adjust from the dust that was kicked up.

At one of the other forums I visit, there is a guy loading cast bullets for 1000 yard shots at silhouette matches and he's hitting the target. Its funny to read him tell about how people are always stunned and impressed to find out he's using a 30-30.

I hunt with a Savage Model 99 in 300 Savage now, but if you make a 30-30 your round and forget about the crap these gun writers are prostituting themselves to publish--your rifle will work in any hunting situation with the versatility of a 30-06. And thats doubly true if you hand load.

Cknight98, I am also guilty of being lax in my shooting over the years. Those days with my model 94 30-30 are cherished memories as much for my youth and ignorance as they were for the experience. They now serve as a valuable lesson in the joys of relying on human ingenuity rather than advanced technology. Sure wish I did more of it these days.

qweeksdraw · « **Reply #9 on:** October 11, 2003, 06:13:31 AM »

Het Yall,
I guess I'll Put my 2 cents in this post. You need to think back over 100 yrs ago when John Browning invented this amazing firearm. I hear tell that everybody had to have one of these to upgrade from a single shot. 100 yrs. latter it still lives!! And oh yes does it feel good in your hands. I love this gun, Its light to carry, holds many rounds, has low recoil. good knockdown power. 2-3 in. groups at hundred yds. Many loading options from 125 grs. to 170. what a universel weapon. If you don't have at least one, your life just isn't complete.

3shotz1hol2u

qweeksdraw

williamlayton · « **Reply #10 on:** October 12, 2003, 02:17:42 AM »

growing up in e. texas-hunting in woods and real heavy brush-the 30/30 was what everbody used. i'm found of tha load and effectiveness of tha gun. a p.s.-nobody ever reloaded in those days--it was always off tha shelf, factory ammo.
blessings

NM Brushpopper · « **Reply #11 on:** October 14, 2003, 04:32:53 PM »

'partimer,

Congrats on winning an example of the finest hunting tool ever developed. I have used my pr-64 94 in five different states for everything from pests, deer, black-bear, elk, antelope, cougars, bobcats and things that go bump in the night. I have only one other big game rifle a 1917 Winchester Enfield in '06, and it hasn't been used for awhile.

I do not know how to reload and only buy what is on sale, I cannot see much difference between 20 grains nor have the animals that I have harvested so both 150s and 170s work fine. Give your other rifles a break and enjoy your new found prize, put it to work like a new power tool!

Dand · « **Reply #12 on:** October 15, 2003, 05:06:07 PM »

I shot a moose once with my 30-30. Anchored with 1 shot. But needed a finisher. I wouldn't rush out and try it again but if it was all I had I'd use it. I have shot some blacktail deer (they're pretty small) on Kodiak too - but that was before the bears decided gun shots were the dinner bell. A friend of mine loves the 30-30 for caribou - he usually takes them at 20 to 50 yards when they are migrating near his village.

Winter Hawk · « **Reply #13 on:** October 22, 2003, 02:12:10 PM »

I remember an article I read a number of years ago, or maybe it was a chapter in a book. Anyway, it was from an Alaskan guide who had a client show up for a sheep hunt with a .30-30. The writer said he took the guy out but that the cartridge wasn't up to the job.

However, when I came up here in '66 half the population used the .30-30, especially those in the villages. The other favorite was the .30-06.

Lots of moose ended up on the table with the .30-30, that's for sure.

-Kees-

cjcocn · « **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2003, 12:58:52 PM »

Here is my two cents:

I took my first moose with a 30-30 when I was 14. My first shot clipped his ear (I checked later), so after I realized I missed, I then realized that I was too excited. I calmed myself down and followed the routine (slow breathing, focus, focus!, etc.), then put a hole through his heart. Took us all night to pack it out to the truck, so between the kill and the work I was one proud fella when we pulled into the yard.

Hunted with that rifle for the next 6 years and never had a complaint with it. It has put a hole in a few or more hearts and has taken a few heads off rabbits and chickens.

One thing though, used a buddy's 30-30 on a running moose last winter and put three shots into his lungs at a little over 200 yards before he slowed down. By then it was time to reload, I did so and watched him as I knew that he wasn't stopping just to smell the flowers. He dropped and was dead before I got over to him, but I can't help but think that if it were a few months earlier (ie. mating season) and he was pi$$ed off and heading my way, I may have had a tussle on my hands if I couldn't have put him down with a neck shot.

Never had cause to shoot a bear or anything else of size, but moose and deer (usually!) fall just as quick with a well placed shot from a 30-30.

.... keep the change.

Graycg · « **Reply #15 on:** October 23, 2003, 02:47:27 PM »

I shoot groundhogs with cast bullets loaded hot out of my 788 Remington, use Lyman 311041 over max loads of RX7, great fun and pretty much easy to hit anything out to 200 yards with ease, after that you really need to dope the wind and estimate the ranges well.

regards,
Graycg

Swany · « **Reply #16 on:** November 03, 2003, 10:21:28 AM »

I have had many 30-30s over the yrs, bolts and levers and 2 singleshots. Currently, have the 30-30s cousin, the 32Win Special. With 170gn jacketed hand loads this rifle takes deer like they been hit with a thunderbolt. Now with 170gn cast and 7gns of unique it goes rabbit and squirrel hunting, since I have been loading the cast for it my .22 is getting lonesome and craving attn.

eroyd · « **Reply #17 on:** November 03, 2003, 05:17:06 PM »

I was up in northern BC visiting my brother. We'd hunted the morning but my brother had to work the PM shift at the mine. From the bus on the way to the work he'd seen a bull moose cross the road. He phoned me from work and I headed out the door to see if I could spot the tracks.

It was pretty obvious in the snow where the moose had come down the cut bank, crossed the road and headed down into the densely forested creek bottom. With my 3030 I reluctantly headed down the steep slope. It had been at least an hour since the moose had crossed, the snow was starting to come down heavy and it was a ugly hole of a spot. At about 50 yards in I reached the bottom and that little shallow creek. At the little splash of my first step into the water I heard the commotion of what was the bedded bull taking to his feet. I raised the old '94, leveled the front bead behind the shoulder and let fly. The moose shrugged and then ran up through the timber and over the far side of the little valley.

When all was quiet, I followed. Found some hair, a little blood. Just over the far lip of the canyon I was awed to find the huge black hulk lying still about 70 yards from where I'd shot him. The bonus was that the the bull had expired within 20yard of a old logging spur road.

The 170 grain bullet had entered just behind the left shoulder, punched the near lung, clipped the heart and stopped against the inside of the far shoulder. I've always been impressed by the penetration of the 3030 and its modest velocity. I have taken several deer with it while hunting "christmas trees" and timber. On deer I have never recovered a bullet.

The 3030 would not now be my choice for moose hunting, but it will do in a pinch as it did on my first moose. I was 16.

BrushBuster · « **Reply #18 on:** November 04, 2003, 06:42:58 AM »

I have followed this post for a while hoping to see mention of another aspect of the capability of certain cartridges like the 30-30.

If we are hunters in the best sense of the word, then does not our responsibility toward the animal determine where we draw the line on capability? The ability to consistently kill instantly and cleanly at specific distances with a 30-30 (with the emphasis on consistently) has been proven years ago.How did this "proof" manifest itself? Through honest admission of failure when shooting at longer distance.

I will never hear from anyone on this forum about the gut-shot buck that got away after being hit at 250 yards with an iron-sighted 30-30!

Why quote our lucky success, and give the impression that one would be using the right cartridge for the right distance and circumstance? There's surely enough wounded and lost game out there without prolonging this seemingly unending topic.

If you can't afford the right tool for the job, then don't use it. The 30-30 is a great cartridge; the practical limits are well known.

Lawdog · « **Reply #19 on:** November 04, 2003, 09:54:53 AM »

On top of all the critters that have been named the lever action in .30-30 isn't a bad home defense weapon either. Lawdog

Winter Hawk · « **Reply #20 on:** November 05, 2003, 03:04:19 PM »

True story: When I lived in Fairbanks 30+ years ago, we would visit with an older couple, Rusty and Irene. They had a couple of boys and lived in a log house she built one summer with the boys while Rusty was working. It was a neat house, but somewhat dark. One day we were over there and I noticed a buffalo head mount up high in a corner. When I asked about it, Rusty told me the story.

Every year the whole family put in for the drawing for a buffalo tag. When the youngest boy was 12, his name was drawn. The kid had never even shot a .22 before. Rusty had a month to teach him to shoot, and he worked up to the .30-30. On the day of the hunt he meets up with the Fish & Game fellow because at the time you were told which individual animal you were to shoot. The Fish & Game guy is carrying a big magnum rifle as back up. They find the buffalo and the boy downs him with one shot from a model 94 .30-30.

End of story.

So what do YOU use the .30-30 on?

-Kees-

williamlayton · « **Reply #21 on:** November 07, 2003, 03:51:30 PM »

bunch of us was sittin round in a local gunshop--jest drinkin coffee an socializin-talkin bout all kid o thangs, well, er those thangs too( me-i'm jest listenen-honest).
now sum of these fellers i knew, sum i kinda knew and others. i mentioned this discussion. now these fellers all shoot boomers ta big boomers. the jest of tha whole thang was that they said they rarely had a shot moe than 75-100 yds- a lot more at a shorter distance than that, than at a longer distance (well read it two or three times an ya wii catch on ta whut it is i'm tryin ta say). they all-to a man- agreed that a 30/30 or 45 in a lever gun was more than sufficient. then they started justifying tha boomers and talking bout tha new one they wanted ta get.
anywho i thought it was funny.
blessings

wipartimer · « **Reply #22 on:** November 07, 2003, 04:46:02 PM »

Sorry boys, I havent been here in awhile, didn't think this would go too far. Anyway, after the first couple replys, I decided to keep thegun (had 3 poeple wanting to buy it) so i went to walmart and bought the cheapest 3-9x40 scope they had and threw it on the rifle. I gotta say I was VERY impressed with the groups I was getting at 100yds!! WAY better then I expected! The trigger has alot of travel and breaks very hard, But overall, i am much happier then expected with this rifle, Thanks for all your advice! :-D

Silverado · « **Reply #23 on:** November 15, 2003, 09:14:34 AM »

http://www.chuckhawks.com/30-30Win.htm

This link gives a fine treatise on the capabilities of the 30-30. Based on this info, I'm buying a 336 stainless this week for the last week's hunt in real woodsy country. I'll keep the 7MM RemMag for the long shots though.

Prince of Wales · « **Reply #24 on:** November 25, 2003, 09:17:52 AM »

You would be doing well to go to the library and order (if they do`nt have) a copy of Sam Fadala`s book "30-30 Winchester Americas Favorite.
Here is an entire book on the subject and might i add a very good one. One chapter "Hunting Year Round With The 30-30 is particularly suited to your question. Best of luck. POW

Cottonwood · « **Reply #25 on:** November 26, 2003, 08:20:01 PM »

I just bought my son a nice Marlin 336CC 30-30, he or I saw no reason for any other cartridge for him to own.

williamlayton · « **Reply #26 on:** November 27, 2003, 12:42:53 AM »

i like this post--been rememberin way back-- tha 30-30 was a lot of fun an it made a bigger bang than the 22's- killed them turtles, snakes, possums, armadillos real good-not to mention deer in tha big thicket. it's a fun discussion.
blessings

ba_50 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 09, 2003, 05:19:27 AM »

Bighorn,

I was wondering if the 1000 yard shooter had a tang sight for a lot of elevation adjustment? Thanks. ba_50

litman252 · « **Reply #28 on:** January 04, 2004, 12:01:29 PM »

The 30-30 is a piss poor rifle on paper, much the same for the .243 win.
When people get these calibers out in the fields in there pet gun, any thing can happen.
Now for my limited use of a 30-30 and .243, both in levers. I can't think of any other gun or caliber that is needed in WI. From 30 yards deer to 300 yard 'yotes these calibers and guns get the job done. Any one who has killed any animal on paper please let me know.
Tony