30/30 Rifle Cartridge

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dts686

New member
Please help someone who is trying to decide on a rifle caliber.

Will a large 30/30 through a 24" barrel take any game in North America?

I know you are going to tell me many times that I should get a 30/06 but I'm looking for a bullet that will do the job and not kick like a mule. Why? So my son can use it when he he's older, say 10 or 12 years old.

Thank You for your help!!!
David
 
You can pretty much double your range with a 243 without any more recoil.
The 7mm08 is a good one to.
 
I know you are going to tell me many times that I should get a 30/06 but I'm looking for a bullet that will do the job and not kick like a mule. Why? So my son can use it when he he's older, say 10 or 12 years old.
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If you learn to handload, you can make reduced loads for him that kick like a gnat breaking wind* to start with, and increase the power level as he gets older ...... not as cheap as getting him a .22 to learn on ......

Will a .30/30 do for Grizzly Bears to woodchucks? I would not bet MY life on it. YMMV. It will most certainly limit your effective range.

*100 gain bullet leaving a 9 pound rifle at 1500 f/sec
 
30-30...

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All North American game...EXCEPT the Brown Bear, Elk, and Moose.
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The same can be said for a sharp stick, too: You'd have as much luck with said stick as a .30/30 on Antelope, in most situations.

Will it do the trick? Yes- A bow and arrow will, too, but there are better tools for the job.
 
a 30/30 rifle with leverevolution cartridge can reach out to 200 yds.
(at which point, you have about barely enough energy to get an elk)

However - pronghorn and elk usually require a longer range (at least here in Colorado).

I have a Remington 788 in 30-30 that I might give a chance in the field with the high performance cartridge.
 
However - pronghorn and elk usually require a longer range (at least here in Colorado).
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I would count that as a "sort of". Lots of bow hunters successfully take both pronghorn and elk every year with a bow. The difference is the technique they use. If you want to be successful hunting either with a 30-30, you're going to need to use archery-type techniques.
 
I would count that as a "sort of". Lots of bow hunters successfully take both pronghorn and elk every year with a bow. The difference is the technique they use. If you want to be successful hunting either with a 30-30, you're going to need to use archery-type techniques.
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Either by waiting in a blind by a stock tank, or having a buddy carry a "cow-blind" for you both to hide behind as you stalk to within shooting range......

....I have heard of people using a white flag to lure bucks in during the rut.....

It's much easier to have a gun capable of making open country shots in open country ..... these calibers work equally well in shorter range situations, too.
 
I would say inside 125 yards, the 30-30 would do well. I have a 13 yo that uses my J.C. Higgins 30-30 and it kicks less that his .270 w/130 gr core lockt. The remington Core Lockt 150 gr is great for the 30-30 at stopping whitetail and kicks less than the 180 gr.
 
Do you handload?

I would say inside 125 yards, the 30-30 would do well. I have a 13 yo that uses my J.C. Higgins 30-30 and it kicks less that his .270 w/130 gr core lockt.
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I have a daughter that was a bit recoil shy .... I loaded up some 130 Speer SPs to 2800 f/sec (47 gr of IMR4064) .... mild recoil and dropped bambi like a bad habit...... she does not want to take her .30/30 back.
 
30/30

My father did the same with me as you are suggesting. I started on a Marlin 30/30 for deer. Killed my first doe with one with a well placed shot to the heart while it was running. I was 12 or13 can't remember. Point is I practiced my you know what off with the thing. Shot all the time when we were on the farm or at camp.

That Marlin 336 with a 3x9 by 40 (don't ask me what brand scope) and a military surplus sling is my most treasured gun. Every young hunter in our family (male and female) has taken their first deer with that thing and it is a treasure. It spends its time in the safe now but is my backup gun as it was for my old man and I still shoot it better than any other rifle I own.

The point is less about the rifle and more about the experience. This gun could just as easily have been a bolt action .270 or a Mossy 500 slug setup. The point is it was my first and it was practiced with a ton by all who carried it.
 
I am not a hunter, I will restrict myself to the Old Standby of using a round within its effective range and Yes, Shot Placement IS Critical. The 30/30 is usually called a 100-150 round cartridge. My 1978 vintage Marlin 336 is plenty accurate when
I do my part, back in 1979 I fired a 1.25" at 100 yards (off a rest) with factory ammunition. Iron sights.
 
The 30-30 Winchester is a great cartridge if you limit your shots to a maximum of 200 yards. At that range you are on the edge of it's capability for use on thin skinned game like white tail deer. Wouldn't want to use it on brown bears or larger, although black bear is fine inside 75 yards. It would be a better idea to limit yourself to 150 yards as this is where it will perform best on deer.

As a rule rifle cartridges are tested from a 24 inch barrel and this is where you will usually get the full velocity out of a rifle loading based on the manufacturer's specs. I have done quite a bit of experimenting and research on a fairly broad spectrum of ammuntion. The 30-30 in the 20 inch version loses about 100 fps of velocity. Expect real velocities for 170 grain bullets to be 2100- 2150 fps and 150 in the 2200-2250 range in the common 20 inch length. This isn't to say there that your particular rifle won't do better, but this is what is typical.

I sight my 336 Marlin in for 150 yards and call it good. This puts my 150gr Cor lokt rounds 2 inches high at 100 yards and 2 inches low at 175. On a calm day soda pop cans are in real danger or old scratched up CDs. At 200 the round is about 5 inches low and getting real questionable for the 10 inch vital zone of most venison without hold over and having enough power. Placement becomes paramount and only a broadside shot is recommend.

If you were to use it in the Cowboy Assault Rifle role it is capable out to 250 yards under most circumstances and that isn't all that bad. The fact that the 30-30 uses FP bullets limits it's range a good bit, but a FP hits harder than a FMJ. So in this role it is a better performer on soft targets than even the 7.62x39 cartridge. A lot of folks don't understand that flat faced bullets have a real nasty effect on flesh. Spitzers may buck the wind, but they also slip through flesh easier. So as an all around short to medium short range rifle for thin skinned game averaging 200-250 lbs it is pretty good.

Now if you are looking for a near do it all round, the .308 Winchester is a better choice and the 30-06 Springfield even more so. Those rounds can take nearly any animal in North America under nearly all conditions. Save the heaviest game. Those are still supceptable too with a good broadside shot.
 
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You'll have to be very picky on shot placement if you go for game like elk and moose with a .30-30. I wouldn't want to use one as a big bear stopper, but it will kill them just as dead as any other cartridge if you put the bullet in the right place. Hornady's new FTX bullet and Leverevolution ammunition will help extend your range of what you can take with a .30-30 Win.

Now ask your self if you want a bolt action, lever, or single shot rifle. The easiest to find will be the lever, but there are several single shot and bolt action rifles out there. Besides my M94 Win I have a Rem M788 as well, and used to own an H&R single shot chambered in .30-30. Good thing about the bolt and single shot actions is they open up a lot of bullet choices if you aren't going to stick with factory ammunition.
 
How old is your son now? I asked because when my oldest boy was 10 I did the same thing you're doing, worrying about something you don't need to. Here in CA you have to be 12 years old to hunt big game. I started my son hunting at the age of 10 so he had 2 years of shooting 12 gauge shotguns under his belt before I took him to the range and started him on high powered rifles. I let him shoot a Savage 99 in 300 Savage and a 1903 Springfield in 30/06 and he like the 30/06!
 
I cannot understand why you are choosing a 30-30. The cartridge does have significant recoil at 150 grain level, and the steel buttplates that are common and straight stocks are not helpful to recoil.

My choice would be to lower bullet weight, increase velocity, and extend range.

My suggestion would be to get a full sized bolt rifle in either a 6 or 7mm caliber, maybe a 250 savage, even. A semiauto would remove a huge amount of recoil. a recoil pad would be a must. if the rifle was too large, a carbine or mountain rifle in bold for 7mm-08 or 6mm caliber would be useable.

As was said, a .243 winchester is easily the equal of a .30-30 with better range, and with proper bullets, easily as lethal on moderate sized game. a 7mm-08 equipped with recoil pad can be fired with 125 grain bullets far more comfortably than a 30-30, especially if it is a carbine with no recoil pad.

The 30-30 is an old classic that still has a niche, but it is not the answer to every question. In giving a rifle to a child, you would, IMO, be far better served with a lighter bullet with better ballistics and a more carefully chosen package than to fall back on the old standby, a 30-30 lever.

I would even suggest a ruger mini 30 or other 7.62 commie semiauto as long as accuracy is acceptable.
 
My advice is to do what you want, but one of the worst recoiling rifles I ever had the displeasure to shoot was a Winchester model 94 in .30-.30.

My Winchester model 70 in .243 win just kind of whispers when 100 gr bullets leave the barrel around 3000 fps and my .270 win with 130 gr bullets around the same velocity is also very soft shooting. Both rifles have nice recoil pads which makes a difference to any rifle. Both the .243 will have a longer effective range than a .30-.30. But, as I said in the beginning, "do what you want".
 
JFMarlin.jpg


This is a northern California coastal deer taken with 30-30. The buck never knew what hit him!

30-30 is a keeper but watch your distance. This old work horse of a hunting cartridge does its BEST work under 150 yards or so.

I've read that more caribou have been taken with 30-30 carbines than any other hunting cartridge. Meat-hunting native tribes have depended on their carbines for over 100 years. A full grown caribou out-weighs a big mountain muley but smaller than elk. Yet caribou are not armor-plated.

Jack
 
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