30-30 vs 7.62x39

SKS's and mini-30's have taken a lot of deer over the years. If you want to compensate for the lighter x39 bullets, Corbon makes a real dandy 150gr sp @2300 fps.
That'll put a whoopin on a deer just as well as a 30-30, but with a better BC since it's not a flatnose.
Damn expensive though. Practice with the cheap stuff, and then break out a box of that and sight in before deer season and you'll have 30-30 power in your favorite inexpensive, low recoiling, semi-auto.
 
A friend of mine once told me that the .30-30 used to be the benchrest shooting community's baby, much like the 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges are now. They'd chamber it in various bolt guns and let loose with .308 match bullets loaded in the case and shoot little bughole groups with it back in the 50's and 60's.
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While a few guys did chamber bolt action rifles for the .30 WCF, it was never a popular BR "baby". In the 50s and 60s the .22 caliber cartridges ruled the BR roost with the .22-250 a darling for awhile. The .219 Donaldson Wasp was very popular, and it was formed from the .30 WCF case.

While the .30WCF could certainly shoot very well in a 'built' rifle at short ranges, it will never compete with the .308 at longer ranges due to low velocity. Too, its case shape is antiquated and not optimum for extreme accuracy. The .30 BR with similar ballistics would easily outshoot it in a BR match.


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Years back I put together an Arisaka to shoot 7.62x39. I still have it and still use it. I chopped it and it uses Mini-.30 magazines. The barrel is .312 but I shoot 150 grain .308 Core Lokts through it. It is really accurate that way, and I can not get 150 grain .312 bullets to shoot as well. I have shot deer at 90-100 yards between the eyes and feel totally comfortable taking a shot like that. I hit one trotting up a slope and hit the shoulder instead of behind it and it dropped like a bag of cement. I am up on the max load in the Hodgdon Manuel, but that is what it likes. The 30-30 is O.K., but the 7.62x39 is no slouch in a good rifle. As far as souping up the 30-30, I have a 7-30 waters, and shooting 140 grain F/points it is most unimpressive on deer.
 
It seems the 30-30 has it for hunting but what about self defense? I'm just guessing but I would think an 170gr soft or hollowpoint would be pretty deadly.
 
shot both, most will never be able to tell the difference... depends on what type of rifle you want to shoot... a semi auto 7.62x39 or a single shot 3030 manual type action... not quite sure if anybody ever made a semi auto 30 30, never looked into it...

they will both do just fine for hunting midsized game out to 300 yards...

cheers
 
It seems the 30-30 has it for hunting but what about self defense? I'm just guessing but I would think an 170gr soft or hollowpoint would be pretty deadly.
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Add to that the relative availability of 30-30 rifles for a decent price. AKs can be had for similar, but then you get issues of quality between all the different makers, which for some people may be more than they want to deal with. Winchesters and Marlins are pretty consistent in terms of reliability. If it needs fixing most gunsmiths can easily and cheaply handle fixing a Winchester or Marlin, fewer want to deal with a malfing AK.

The 30-30 also has a massive advantage in terms of availability of expanding soft-point/HP ammunition. Not everyone wants to have to order their ammunition online. Not everyone shoots enough to make ordering online cost effective.
 
Nope. The 30/30 handles a 170 grain bullet at 2100 fps which makes it feasible for Bear, Elk, and Moose. the 7.62X39 does no such things and is not suitable for anything beyond short range deer.
 
Nope. The 30/30 handles a 170 grain bullet at 2100 fps which makes it feasible for Bear, Elk, and Moose. the 7.62X39 does no such things and is not suitable for anything beyond short range deer.
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I don't know if I agree with that statement. I prefer the .30-30 as well overall as a cartridge and rifle but they have nearly identical case capacities so if the bullets are available the 7.6x39 could be used for elk. Sierra makes a 180 grain Pro Hunter in .311 caliber so if it groups well and is used in a bolt action rifle like a CZ or single shot rifle where you aren't worried so much about loading to fit a magazine then realistically you should be about the same as a .30-30 with a 170 grain bullet. In either case the .30-30 or 7.62X39 are still better suited for game smaller than elk or moose and both are what I'd consider short range firearms.
 
Compare apples to apples, load each caliber with the same bullet, you get the same ballistics. A .30-30 with a 130 gr spitzer tip or a 7.62 with 170 gr round nose, they act like what they are. It's not the case as much as the bullet.

Action design does limit that, as there aren't many commercial spitzer loads for a tubular magazine fed rifle - the lever has nothing to do with it. Stacking a spitzer tip directly against a primer has it's unintended consequences.

The real issue is whether the 7.62 crowd of plinking shooters understands they are getting .30-30 performance - not uber tacticool or long distance precision rifle caliber performance. Read enough posts here and there, some don't have a realistic view of what either really does, and the main misunderstanding is that they are largely limited to 300 yards effective range in most loadings. It has something to do with the yard of drop or more beyond that distance. Few practice at the distance and learn the holdover is beyond their sight mechanism. It's truly Kentucky windage.
 
Heck no....

My 30/30's have A LOT more character and good-looks than any commie gun/round! LOL. Just janking on ya....Actually, my "survival" gun IS a 30/30 - and old Winchester I bought for around 200 and refinished. It rides around in the trunk of my car and pretty much serves the functions that a lot of people use their AK's for. People forget that for a LOOOOONG time, the 30/30 was considered state of the art, and a flat-shooting cartridge compared to the pistol-cartridges most lever guns were chambered for. Heck, Pancho Villa still insisted his men carry them in the Mexican revolution even when the opposing forces had the newer Mausers.

J
 
tirod said:
Few practice at the distance and learn the holdover is beyond their sight mechanism. It's truly Kentucky windage.
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Actually, I've shot them both at 300 yards. Adjusting for that distance is well within the capabilities of any set of sight mechanism for those rifles, that I have ever encountered. My old 94 will do it slick as a whistle at the third step on the sight elevator.
 
I remember reading Col. Cooper discussing his .30/30 lever action being used at rifle contests (at Big Bear, CA ?) and doing quite well against "better" guns. He always recommended using a "Brooklyn Assult Rifle."
 
The Model 94 Winchester is a very nice, slim easy handeling Rifle.
the Cartridge is perfect for deep woods deer hunting.
The SKS is also a good rifle for the same use.
The Cartridges are very similar in performance.
I guess its all up to the man using the gun, what he prefers, either will do the job.
 
I've also seen single shot rifles in 30-30 that were plenty accurate. There is nothing wrong with the 30-30.
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I can vouch for it's accuracy. My T/C Contender handgun in .30-30 is quite sweet at 100 yards, even with factory ammunition.
 
The 7.62X39 has a case volume of 35.6 grain H2O. The 30/30 has a case volume of 40.299 grains H2O. Therefore the 30/30 can hold more powder and will outperform the lesser round. Especially if you load a 170 grain bullet into the smaller Soviet case it will reall eat up the available powder space. The 30/30's long neck makes it ideal for the long 170 bullets. I've even loaded the 30/30 with 180 grain round nose bullets and got good results. Incidentally the 30/30 saved my hide with a bull moose once so I know it works for them.
 
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