What is the deal with 30-30?

[Bake]

Hey Paul,

I had the Lyman Ammo Maker Kit [it came with the 310 tool, all the dies, bullet mold, and all the other goodies] in 30-30 Win. After I ran out of Gas Checks, I tried "Paper Patching" my cast bullets (100% Lead or at least close to it).

My first Deer was a Mulely I shot in '63 in Northcentral Oregon, the rifle was a Mod. 94 [ I hated that rifle and sold it not long after that ] . . .

 

[COSteve]

It's hard to beat a Savage 1899. I had a 1922 vintage 30.30 1899 that was a takedown.
Sadly a former friend stole it. Love those old Savages, I've been keeping my eyes open, Savage made the 1899 in a lot of calibers.
The 30.30 is fairly hard to find. Most are found in .303

True. However, out here it seems that the 300 Savage is almost as common as the .303. I have a 1949 Savage 99 EG in 300 Savage and performance wise, it's 2/3 the way up from 30-30 to .308 in terms of velocities using a 150grn bullet in all three. While it's fun to shoot it's not my favorite as the action is OK but the trigger is mediocre. My favorite hunting levergun is reserved for my 1959 Winchester 88 in .308. Beautiful lines, smooth action and surprisingly, I got one with a decent trigger which I understand is sort of rare in 88s.

 

[USAF Ret]

Wal-Mart had one box of Federal 150 grain soft point. An yeah, several boxes of .350 Legend.

 

[Drm50]

30/30 is much more useful cartridge than 45, 44mg, ect. Not that they aren’t good short range deer guns. I’m in Ohio where we have to use straight case 38cal minimum. I have a 45/70 - 1895 and 44mg - 1894, both Marlins. I’m using a Ruger #3 in 375Win for my deer gun. I would sell all three if they allowed us 30/30s. I have used 30/30 & 35Rem to take many deer in eastern woods were I could have used any rifle. Most deer shot at -100yds but 200yds isn’t out of the question. Now I know I’m going to hear 200yd plus stories with the pistol cartridges. I once shot a groundhog about 200yds with a Ruger SBH 44mg. That was in late 60s. To do it again I would still be shooting today. 200yd not practical with 45/44 pistol cartridge.

 

[COSteve]

Drm50, you just need to practice more. I've got two 24" long leverguns, a Rossi in .357mag and a Uberti in .45 Colt in addition to my carbines in the same calibers.

I use both for shooting at bowling pins at 200 yds and I'll be 73 right after the election. Bowling pins are 15" high but only have a small, 2-3" high region in the 'belly' where they are 2 MOA targets at 200 yds so they are challenging, especially with tang and globe iron sights. But that makes them fun.

All it takes is practice, patience and a good target aperture in the tang sight. I shoot 99% of all my long gun practice shots at 200-300 yds to keep sharp and all of mine are zero'd at 200 yds. 'Aim small, miss small.' is a good motto as practicing at longer ranges forces you to pay attention to the fundamentals.

Further, while my Uberti's std pressure 45 Colt handloads don't have the 'oomph' to be consistent at 300 yds, my Rossi is frequently called upon to smack those pesky pins at 300 yds as well.

 

[meaves]

44 mag may have been easy to find back before the gun rush, but now it's one of those unobtainable calibers and if you do find any it's for big dollars now.

Keep looking. I went into an Academy in Dallas recently and 44 mag and 30-06 were all that was on the shelves. There was a ton of 44.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Have a 1899 takedown in 30-30. Well used as the first shot tightens up its action to where it becomes quite 100 yrd accurate till its broke down again. Have a Williams Fool Proof peep on it. (no aperture) Only time it comes deer hunting with me. >MN green swamp deer drives. I need a small rifle that's quick to maneuver in Tag Elders. Sav 1899 T/d is about the best rifle for the (above) purpose. 170 gr Hornady Tipped reloads. Sometimes Gas/checked Range Lead used._ Sometimes 170 gr home cast #8 brindle hardness (paper Patched). No matter any cartridges I make for the little Savage will anchor em to the ground usually one shot.

 

[stagpanther]

If you consider reloading--44 mag is IMO the easiest to reload cartridge there is--get a lee anniversary press, hornady carbide dies, 8 lbs of H110 and a few hundred 240 gr xtp's and cases and you'll be set for a long time for both handguns and rifles.

 

[stagpanther]

You inspired me COSteve--I just ordered a Lyman tang sight for my Henry big boy 45-70.

 

[Bayou]

Haven't seen 30-30 on the shelves around here (SE LA) for a while. I suppose because it is such a common rifle round...

Bayou

 

[COSteve]

You inspired me COSteve--I just ordered a Lyman tang sight for my Henry big boy 45-70.

Good for you. It's actually a lot more fun shooting a levergun at longer ranges as it takes practice, patience, and paying attention. But the payoff is always a huge smile when one of those pesky bowling pins or clay pigeons gets smacked at 200yds.

For me, shooting is about enjoying myself. I'm not 'practicing for the coming armageddon' as I'll leave that to you younger folks. No, I go out shooting to impress no one but myself. To enjoy the outdoors, fresh air, and shooting with my self tuned firearms and my handloaded ammo. No scopes, not much paper targets (except sighting in), only reactive targets at longer ranges.

Nope, I go out to have fun. To put a smile on my face and forget about all of life's other issues. We've been naturally 'social distancing' at our range since 1956 as the shooting stations are some 7' apart and being outdoors it's a great way to enjoy the outdoors. Yes, we have to shut down the range at times when the herd of elk or one of the herds of deer who we share the space with wander in but all-in-all it's great times.

I recently added a bolt top peep sight to my 20" Rossi .357mag carbine and with the .042" target aperture and the increase to a 22" sight radius, I'm now able to use it for 200yd bowling pins. Yes, it's harder than with the 30" sight radius rifle but that's a good thing!! So the 24" rifle is now for 300yds pins.

BTW, I've tried the pins with my Mossberg 464 30-30 but my older eyes just can't see the front sight and target clearly without the aide of the target aperture close to my eye and it's resultant increase in Depth of Field. I'm considering adding a Skinner Lo-Pro rear peep sight much like the one on my Rossi with a target aperture but I don't know for sure it I will. I have developed a plinking load that's pretty accurate as my son with much younger and better eyes has tried it on the pins with decent success.

 

[Rebelson137]

Academy sports has 30-30 announced well at least in my area

 

[musicmatty]

I traveled from Maryland to Pennsylvania yesterday making six stops which included three Walmarts and three gun shops. I was only able to find one box of 3030 ammo at a Walmart.

 

[stagpanther]

I traveled from Maryland to Pennsylvania yesterday making six stops which included three Walmarts and three gun shops. I was only able to find one box of 3030 ammo at a Walmart.

A wild guess--hunting season is about to open? Seriously, a vet I know who works at the local Wally World tells me they made an administrative decision to pull most of the ammo from shelves; as well as guns, in fear of a pandemic apocalypse crowd overwhelming them and breaking into their stash resulting in D-Day USA.

 

[stagpanther]

Well Steve, the tang sight came in and I had to do some heavy soul-searching, the hardest part of the install was deciding whether or not to drill and tap the Henry receiver, cause once the drilling starts there's no turning back (so to speak). In the final analysis, I think I paid all of $675 for it at wallyworld so I went for it. I sure as heck hope it actually works.

 

[COSteve]

Don't be worried about getting your eye up close, the recoil with not cause it to smack you as your head will move with the stock because you have a good cheek weld. Don't shoot with sunglasses, in fact, yellow tinted shooting glasses will give you the best results as they help with edge clarity. Use the smallest aperture possible under the conditions for the largest DoF increase and you'll find that you're more comfortable with your thumb laying along side your tang rather than laying over it.

 

[COSteve]

BTW, I got a Skinner Lo-Pro peep sight for my Mossy 30-30 recently and when I took it out to the range the 'fuzz' on the front sight and targets was magically gone. I sighted it in at 200yds with full power loads which gives me 150yds with my plinkers and the fun is in.

Being able to actually see the sight is wonderful and in bright light I can use either the .040" target aperture or the .070" general purpose one as well so I'm going to use the .070" to start.

 

[ammo.crafter]

Deer rifle

If the 44 mag is lacking for you, pick up a 444 Marlin.

If you have any interest, PM me.

 

[stagpanther]

Don't be worried about getting your eye up close, the recoil with not cause it to smack you as your head will move with the stock because you have a good cheek weld. Don't shoot with sunglasses, in fact, yellow tinted shooting glasses will give you the best results as they help with edge clarity. Use the smallest aperture possible under the conditions for the largest DoF increase and you'll find that you're more comfortable with your thumb laying along side your tang rather than laying over it.

I'm not worried about muzzle flip. Even with the target aperture the rear hole looks pretty big close to the eye, but the sight radius on a 22" barrel is nice--though I do get a bit of "the fuzzies" like you say. Thumb parallel is how I try to shoot all my bolt guns though it's a bit of a challenge with the heavy trigger pull ones.

 

[stagpanther]

Well, this is what happens when you (me) are massively stupid and don't check for fitment and operational functionality BEFORE installing! Despite having read that the Lyman # 2 sight will work on my model of Henry--clearly it does not clear the bolt. So all I did was waste time and money ruining the value of the receiver for my carelessness.

Clearly this will be good for some laughs at least.