30-30 Ammo Preference

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whippoorwill

New member
I know that this is a Ford-Chevy kind of question, and it's been done to death, but I'd like to hear some new opinions regarding the following.

1) Which bullet weight do you prefer and why? 150 gr. or 170 gr. I don't plan on using LeveRevolution (160 gr.), as I will be using iron sights and don't really see the need for the extra ooomph. I'll be hunting in the mountains of Virginia.

2) Which bullet type do you prefer and why? Silvertip, PowerPoint, Hollowpoint, etc.

By the way, I'm asking because I just purchased a mint Winchester 94 that was made in 1979. It has never been fired, except perhaps a proof round. It's absolutely beautiful. Thanks in advance.

Oh, I don't want to start any arguments. It's okay if we don't all agree on this. :)
 
There is really nothing to argue about. Shoot the ammo that your rifle likes the best. I like 150gr corelokts or 150gr fed powershoks. Many folks who hunt big hogs or bear like the winchester 170gr power points. The last three deer that I killed with my 30-30 was with the hornady lever evolutions...they work good at close range too!
 
I like 150 grain bullets the best I've had great luck with Sierra bullets in my handloading endeavors. But when I have bought factory ammunition I found that the 150 and 170 grain loads from Winchester, Federal or Remington have proven to be about equal in accuracy from my M94. I have tried Leverevolution in my bolt action Rem 788 and it shot sub MOA and I was quite impressed.
 
If you look at my name you might get the impression I like the 30-30 cartridge. I have shot a few head of game with it over the years including elk and buffalo. I also study terminal ballistics with nearly 200 bullets recovered from game animals, so I do have some experence. Unless game bigger than 400 pounds is your primary target, I prefer 150 grain bullets as they shooter flatter and faster making hits easier. Factory preference would be Winchester Powerpoints, over Remington.
 
My wife's 336 really likes Leverevolution. Didn't do so well with rem Corelokt or winchester.

She has a scope on it and until we went to the Leverevolution we were really chasing the groups around at 100 yards. I would shoot Hornady Leverevolution even if I wasn't using a scope.
 
Good topic and great point about Iron sights and not using the hornady round. My first lever a Winchester 94 loved Remington 150 grain. Good load all around. My Marlin with a 2.5 power Maine View Optic Scope like the 170 grain. For what it's worth I always thought the 150 grain worked better on deer but both rounds work well.

Off topic but if you put a six inch paper plate (deer kill zone,) anywhere from 30 yards to 75 yards most people will make more consistent hits with an iron sight (buckhorn or peep), faster with a 30/30 compared to a 270/30'06/300 mag with a scope. I'm talking about real shooting positions not a bench rest!
 
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Federal 170 gr. works best in my 336. Each rifle, even of the same manufacturer, has a personality of its' own so it's best you try different brands and weights to determine which one performs best in YOUR rifle.
 
forget

The space bullets in .30-30 are just a ploy for the ammo companies to make money. Oh, they may shoot flatter, and be a bit more accurate, but for the uses that 95% of all Winlins and Remchesters get used at, it is moot. A plain old cup and core lead bullet would work just fine.

Regards the bullet weights, if all I ever was going to shoot with a .30-30 was 150 lb whitetails, I'd go with 150's and anybody's SP. If I wanted one round to clobber deer, black bear, big hogs, and heaven forbid a moose, I'd shoot 170's.

The original Win Silvertip was the first of the controlled expansion bullets and I'd go that route in 170 for a GP round on all the big critters and deer. If I knew I was gonna shoot a big critter with a .30-30, I'd look into a factory load using Nosler Partitions, I think Federal sells them.
 
It's hard to disagree with any of these guys. The ammo companies have pretty much figured out .30-30 ballistics and how the cartridge is used. I like the 150 grain Remington Core-Lokt, but that's just a personal preference. I'd be hard pressed to defend it against any of the others.

My personal favorite load for the .30-30 is a 170 grain Lyman 311041 bullet pushed to about 1900 fps. It hits hard, does what the caliber is supposed to do out to about 125 yards, and is very inexpensive. The .30-30 is a great caliber and all the companies make good ammo for it.
 
I like 170gr Powerpoints.

My 1978 M94 Trapper likes them too.

Every deer that's dropped to one, hasn't liked them one bit.

Accuracy is in the eye of the shooter.

That's my story - and, I'm stickin' to it............... :p

.
 
Congrats on your new gun,
You will need to find what shoots best in your gun, I now perfer the Hornady Lever Evolutions ammo, one of my guns has a scope and one does not but they both enjoy the Hornady ammo, I am a convert from the Remington Core-lock ammo.
 
I have hunted quite a bit with a Model 94 Winchester 30 30, and found the Remington 170 Grain Hollow Point to be a very effective load on Deer Sized game.
Ive used other loadings with great success, but found that the afore mentioned load is accurate and very effective. They leave a very large exit wound, at 100 yards or less.
 
Nice thing about the 30-30 is you can pretty much shoot anything you can find on the shelves of just about any store that sells ammo and be assured of a successful hunt (at least you can't put much, if any, blame on the ammo) as testimony above presents. ;)

You do your part. Know your limits. Get close when you can. Pass on a shot when you must. Enjoy your new to you 94. A little piece of JMB history in your hands.

Oh yeah, benchrest shooting the little (lightweight) rifle for zero is not as much fun as shooting offhand or in hunting mode. Just be prepared to feel the one but not the other, as it were.

Consider a tang or aperture rear sight sometime down the road as your eyes age. Yours isn't the AE version (early 80s as I recall) so scoping it would be... awkward.

Did ya forget the photos? :D
 
Thanks for all of the input. Sometimes, it's fun going back to one's roots. My first deer fell to a Winchester 94 that I bought at a J.C. Penny. I can't rememebr which town... perhaps Lynchburg, Richmond, or Harrisonburg. In any case, I loved that rifle. I attached a Weaver side mount to it, and added a Weaver 2.5X scope. I'm sure that some of you "old-timers" know the rig. It didn't look "natural", but it worked. Later, I passed the rifle on to my brother. I do have to smile when I think about the time I was on my stand and hadn't seen anything all day. It was really, really cold for Virginia. Just before dark, a nice deer passed by at about 50 yards. I literally could not get my fingers to work because they were so num from the cold. The deer walked out of sight as I was continuing to try and cock the hammer with the base of my hand. Not really a good idea, I know.

Several years after, I bought a 94XTR in 30-30. Was it ever pretty, with the checkering and high polish! I kept it unscoped, as that's how I prefer lever actions now. But, I eventually traded it in on something else that I had to have at the time.

I used to reload for the 30-30. As I recall, I favored Speer bullets and Winchester 748. I'm looking forward to trying out this one. So, thanks again for your suggestions. Baba, you are correct, this one is not angle eject. And, it has no receiver or tang safety, which I appreciate immensely.
 
whippoorwill said:Which bullet weight do you prefer and why? 150 gr. or 170 gr.
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I reload so ether weight mentioned is a possibility for me. But all the same I prefer the 170 gr weights. Seem to stay on target better if having to pass thru some light brush. And to me exhibits a little more carry weight when hitting it's intended animal target too. A few years back when Winchester was discontinuing it's bulk purchasing of Silver Tip Bullets to reloaders. I bought a reasonably large number of their 170gr. F.P. 30 caliber bullets from Powder Valley Inc on a close out sale. Besides my 30-30 Winchesters I use them in my Sav 30-30 & 300 also my 30-06 Rem 742 too.
"For me, the 170 grain weight has always got the job done what ever I unleashed them on." This is not theory but factual._:)_SSMcG
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My Winchester 94 .30-30 was made in the early 70's. I have been shooting the standard Federal, Winchester, and Remington Corelokts in 150 and 170 grain and can't complain about any of them. The
150's are kind of the standard for deer and general work. I use the 170's if it's whats on the shelf or on hand and it works for whatever but it's supposed to be great for the bigger stuff when you might need a heavier tougher bullet. Myself I've never shot anything bigger than a medium sized deer and have never seen first hand how the 170's perform on bigger game. Only heard it from others. I believe you would be perfectly fine with either though.
Nice thing about the 30-30 is you can pretty much shoot anything you can find on the shelves of just about any store that sells ammo and be assured of a successful hunt (at least you can't put much, if any, blame on the ammo) as testimony above presents.
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I agree completely. I don't think you'll get too much debate on which ammo brand, bullet, etc is best in .30-30 you really can't go wrong with what's available. Just stick to any of the big name ammo makers and you really won't be disapointed.
 
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Consider a tang or aperture rear sight sometime down the road as your eyes age. Yours isn't the AE version (early 80s as I recall) so scoping it would be... awkward.
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I've been seriously thinking of doing this myself to my 71' M94 Win. I will go with a rear aperture over the tang sight if I do this. Plus for the realistic range of what the .30-30 can be used effectively you really don't need a scope unless your eyes are just that bad. If they are there are plenty of cheap Marlins out there that lend themselves to a scope better than the Winchester.

The space bullets in .30-30 are just a ploy for the ammo companies to make money. Oh, they may shoot flatter, and be a bit more accurate, but for the uses that 95% of all Winlins and Remchesters get used at, it is moot. A plain old cup and core lead bullet would work just fine.
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I'd agree most of the time but since I have a "Bolt Action" .30-30 besides the traditional lever, like FWB I can run spitzers. 125 grain NBT at 2800 fps give you a lot more range than the normal 150-170 grain bullet in a .30-30 can and for deer sized game the bullet is more than adequate. So far all I've hit with these bullets is a prairie dog at 200 yards out of my M788, but I had a buddy take a pronghorn at 225 yards with the .30-30 AI and this bullet out of a 14" Contender pistol. If you change up the platform that you use to launch bullets from the .30-30 case it becomes a far more versatile round than most people think.
 
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