30-30 Winchester for deer

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Also funny how a Contender with less or equal ballistics gets more respect as far as hunting is concerned.
 
Steve, its a known fact that when the hyper velocity rifles came out, the old .30-30 lost its ability to kill Deer, Elk, Bear, Moose, and everything else it had killed for years and years.:rolleyes: I guess the animals started wearing body armor of something.
 
reynolds357 said:
Steve, its a known fact that when the hyper velocity rifles came out, the old .30-30 lost its ability to kill Deer, Elk, Bear, Moose, and everything else it had killed for years and years.:rolleyes: I guess the animals started wearing body armor of something.
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You've got that backwards.... the magnums were introduced when the animals grew armor plating due to exposure to radioactive fallout from the nuclear tests during the 40s/50s.

Before then, the 30-30 and similar rounds were foundational hunting rounds, providing for families across the nation. Now, you've got to deal with the armor plating.

Ask anyone on the internet. .30-30 will barely kill a groundhog now.
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The 30-30 has been a deer harvester for quite a long time. I believe almost any factory soft point would work great on deer. I personally use Remington Cor Lokt 15o grain.
 
I always thought the jacketed bullets I used killed a deer as dead as one could possibly be. Now I have learned they can be killed even "deader" with the use of cast bullets at 1700 fps?
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"Reading something on the intewebz" =/= "learning"....
 
Ask anyone on the internet. .30-30 will barely kill a groundhog now.
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IT WILL???? EVEN WITH THE ARMOR PLATING???? Next you'll be trying to tell me a .460 Weatherby mag is TOO MUCH gun for squirrels.
 
You can never have too much gun, especially for squirrels. I like the never released 20mm Eargensplitten Loudenboomber Mark II at over 20,000 fps :eek: On a serious note (kinda) I've been shooting 170gr Sierras over either 3031 or H335 for many years. I do my job, the rifle does its. I've used 150gr Sierra and Speer and didn't have a problem either. LE bullets don't like my rifle - factory or had loads.
 
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170 grain has been my choice for a jacketed lead core bullet type but have strayed to try a couple boxes of Barnes 30-30 150 grain TSX-FN to see how they compare ! I love this caliber......easy to handle even in light lever guns !
 
30-30 bullets also have the advantage of being designed to work at a pretty narrow variation of velocities.
 
I have owned a few 30-30's over the years, but last year was the first time I hunted with one. I was not impressed. The doe I shot (Through both lungs) skipped off and went about 75 yards. Yes, it killed it, but there was a ravine behind where it dropped that would make most people dizzy looking down. The 30-30 does not have near the shock effect I thought it would. I was using 170 GR Rem Corlockts. Had I been using my 7MM Mauser or .260, I doubt it would have gone 50 yards at a flat out run if hit in the same place.
 
I have seen monster moose only take 8 steps and fall over from a 30-30 so there are too many variables to generalize.
 
Had I been using my 7MM Mauser or .260, I doubt it would have gone 50 yards at a flat out run if hit in the same place.
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You never can tell- I've seen 'em run 300 yards with their heart blown in two from a hot loaded .270WIN, and I've seen 'em flipped over backwards into the dieing cockroach position by a short barrelled, very lightly loaded 8mm Commission Rifle..... every one is different.
 
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Had I been using my 7MM Mauser or .260, I doubt it would have gone 50 yards at a flat out run if hit in the same place.

You never can tell- I've seen 'em run 300 yards with their heart blown in two from a hot loaded .270WIN, and I've seen 'em flipped over backwards into the dieing cockroach position by a short barrelled, very lightly loaded 8mm Commission Rifle..... every one is different.
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I haven't had a deer run more than about 30 yards in the past few years. Guess I've just gotten lucky. What has really amazed me this year is the performance of my new muzzleloader. I got a T/C Impact .50 caliber and I use 250 gr Barnes TMZ's and 100 volumetric grains of Blackhorn 209. I've taken two healthy size does with it this year and they both were dead before they hit the ground. Instant rigor mortis. No kicking or anything. I've had several DRT kills with my centerfire rifles but none as instant as these two kills.

How does this relate to the topic of the .30-30? Just because you don't have blazing velocity doesn't mean you can't put a deer down with the quickness. My load for my muzzleloader has a MV around 1900-2000 fps. I shot both those deer right at a hundred yards so that bullet had lost a little steam by then. But the bullet I was using was made to open up even at very slow velocities.

On the other side of that, If you were to load a bullet designed for .30-30 velocity in a .300wm for example, you would most likely have a very large, explosive varmint round.

A bullet made to open up at the right velocity and proper shot placement makes all the difference
 
This is why the 30-30 gets dismissed these days and its a shame. Everyone equates speed to killing power and its not always the case. We are getting a new bunch of shooter/snipers and not hunters.
 
I fear that you will eventually see slower cartridges like the .30-30 slip off into obsolescence (what ones haven't already), except for the ones that are made to be chambered in an AR rifle.

And it's entirely the fault of my generation (I'm 25). Guys my age want a huge overkill magnum or something with a detachable mag and picatinny rails all over it to hunt with. "Tactical" is the name of the game for the future of firearms, sadly it has even infected the .30-30 lever action rifle:

http://mossberg.com/product/rifles-lever-action-centerfire-464-spx/41026
 
It came up with a Mossborg header but page not available. Hopefully they discontinued the abomination.
 
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