30-30 not powerful enough !

[willyp]

Well that was my thoughts for years.
The last 3 seasons my son in law has taken a deer with his 30-30 Marlin. 
I load him Sierra 170 fn  bullets .  He has shot deer at 60 to 75 yards with these and i want to tell you the damage was terrific to the deer!  Shoulder shots destroyed a lot of meat !  He hit one this year in the rear hips and at 75 yards ruined both rear quarters !!!!!! 
I have changed my thoughts on this little gun folks !
I may did out my old Model 340 Savage for next season ?

[Deleted]

The 30-30 was powerful enough to stop this guy as he was about to charge me


Attachment Deleted

[bushmaster]

Love my 30/30, she gets it done.

[GlennD]

I have killed a lot of deer with my old Marlin lever in .30-30. But, it would not anchor a big old boar bear one year. :/. I took the lever gun since I knew I was going to spend the day in the laurel where in most places I could not see 20 feet. As luck had it, I had climbed up on a big rock and saw the bear at about 100 yards. knocked him down, but he got back up. I tracked him around in the laurel most of the day and never did get him.

[3212]

I took 16 whitetails with a Marlin 30-30.One was an adult doe well beyond 150 yards.It had a 3 power scope.

[dennyf]

Favorite farm boy cousin killed dozens and dozens of deer for 30 years starting in 1959, with the old M94 30-30 his gramps gave him at the age of 12. Then his wife got him a new Savage 110 bolt action in 30-06. None of us have seen much difference, than when he was still killing deer with the 30-30?

[Deleted]

The 30-30 is the single most reliable cartridge I've used on deer. I've killed around 10 with one. The longest was a 6 point at 200 yards. I've killed deer with about 8 different cartridges but none have been better than the 30-30. I know you need more for Bear though so I took my Bear with a .32 Special.

[dennyf]

Ha, ha! Killed numerous deer with my first deer rifle, an ancient M94 32 Special.

Have yet to get a whack at one with the M64 30-30 and it pains me somethin' fierce. Should've been carrying that on opening day this year, could've killed my wee buck with it.

[davet]

Well, I've not taken my Win 38-55, Win 32-40, or Win 30-30, Win 32 special hunting. The 32-40 is considered "weak" for deer and frankly.....I think I agree. My two 38-55's shoot a 260gr at 1,600fps which, within reason, is more than enough to take a whitetail. And of course.....the 30-30 and 32 Special just will do the job when called upon. I've filled the freezer with my 45-70, 6.5 Swede, and 308 lots of times.

[Deleted]

The 32-40 can be loaded to push a 165 grain bullet at 2,000 fps which is plenty for deer.

[Dutch]

Saw a video from PA of a guy using a 25/20 to kill a doe. Old lever gun.

[dennyf]

Ol' boy that once had a farm down the road from camp, hunted for years with a M92 25-20. For the most part he managed to wound a deer just about every year with it and someone else either finished the deer off, or it kept on going.

Then a few years before he sold out and moved away, he got a crusty old Swede 6.5. Much better cartridge, not much improvement on his deer slayer abilities.

His house and outbuildings stood abandoned there for over a decade. One year when I came down off the hill above the place in deer season, noticed the door was kicked open, so poked around a bit inside. Almost a full box of WW 25-20 brass on the kitchen table.

The ol' boy's son married a Potter Cousin's daughter years after that farm had been sold. I mentioned that box of brass to him, he got mad and demanded I turn it over to him. That brass had likely sat there on the table for over ten years, before I scarfed it up.

[fleroo]

Dec 22, 2017 7:32:15 GMT -5 Dutch said:

Saw a video from PA of a guy using a 25/20 to kill a doe. Old lever gun.

The kid from Leather Outdoors. I give that kid credit, I think he spends 380 days/year doing something outdoorsy. They even had a video bow-shooting frogs.

Oh, and... in one video, he even had a perty little gal along fishing in, of all things, a Kayak. The lad get's 'er done on multiple levels.

[ridgecommander]

30/30 is plenty for deer and most other big game.

True story from this rifle season. I monitor the radio channel of the crew up the road from where I hunt. One of them shot a doe with a 30/30 and wounded it. The shooter said, "I hit it right in the shoulder" "this gun must not have enough knock down power".... The eventually got the deer about 1/2 later and had to put a finisher in it. Me thinks the shot location was more to blame than the caliber......

[Deleted]

My current 30-30Attachment Deleted

[davet]

Dec 21, 2017 21:39:57 GMT -5 moosemike said:

The 32-40 can be loaded to push a 165 grain bullet at 2,000 fps which is plenty for deer.

I can't get my John Wayne 32-40 up to that velocity without losing accuracy big time. I would have to look at what the velocity is, but I'm loading a 170gr over Unique. It's about as accurate as it gets......but IRR the velocity is only about 1300fps.

[Deleted]

Gotcha. That's not fast enough for a small/medium bore.

[dennyf]

Gene, seems to me most people seldom admit they'd ever made a bad shot and tend to blame the ammo or the broad head.

I made a less than perfect shot this year on the buck and had to trail it maybe 50 yards into some nasty stuff.

Was cursing myself as I fought my way into that tangled mess, not the 100gr Btip. Because I've killed well over a dozen deer with that load over the past 25 years in two different 25-06s and most dripped where hit. First time I've ever had to look for a deer shot with that load.

Step son called me up at camp on the first Saturday night, said he had a misfire with the Ruger 25-06 I gave back to him some years ago. Still shooting the 100gr Btip loads that came with it. Asked if he'd been fogging the rifle with WD40 again - Yep. Told him to dry fire it a time or two before loading it, see how that worked.

Second week he texted me a pic of a dead doe taken with it.

[CoureurDeBois]

I agree, the 30-30 just isn't up to the task. That's why both my leaver actions are in 32 Winchester Special.

[3212]

A high school buddy and his dad had .32 specials.When I went to the Navy store at discharge thats what I was looking for.All they had was Marlin 30-30 for 65 bucks in 1964 plus free shipping to the closest railroad depot to my home.So I took it and was happy to go deer hunting.

[dennyf]

One of dad's older brothers had a Marlin 336 sporting carbine in 32 Special. Wanted that thing something awful when he passed away, but his son gave it to one of his daughters to hunt with.

According to the uncle, the 32 had "more of a bark" than the mundane 30-30 and was therefore, the more potent round.

[Deleted]

I had the SC in 30-30, 32 Special, and 35 Remington. Didn't notice either of the first two to have more bark but the 35 seemed to.

[Deleted]

I personally feel the 30-30 is a better deer cartridge than the 30-06.

[dennyf]

Had an SC in 35 for years, great little rifle. So accurate with 200gr Core Lokts, never did get around to loading for it.

[Loggy]

Cut my teeth with a 30-30.  Never had a deer refuse a 30-30 hit.