TScottW99

Yeah me to Guess I better tell my ol' 94' that it isn' t any good, even though it has never wounded a deer. Guess I better tell myself also that I know nothing about guns and I only carry a 30-30 because grandpa told me to. Now if someone would please remind me when Grandpa told me this since he never deer hunted a day in his life, neither of them???? []

8mm/06

Simply stated, it is an adequate deer round in the hands of an experienced hunting rifle shot...out to 125-140 yards. It is no more or less than that...IMO. In the fastest loadings of the 170 grain ball, it is quite lethal within ints limitations. It is no wonder round, despite the # of deer that have been taken with it.
It quickly becomes a liability beyond 150 yards.

benhuntin

I shoot my Marlin 30-30 with a 150 grain soft point and low power 2-7 scope. I own several other larger caliber guns but when it comes to hunting the thick stuff i' ll take the 30-30 everytime. Its light, fast and very pleasant to shoot and carry.
Here in Florida the deer tend to be a little smaller bodied on average than most of the more northern states. I have killed over 50 deer with this gun and only lost one that I can recall. That deer would have escaped no matter what gun you shot it with. I see alot of people shooting deer down here with .300 mags , 30.06' s,
and 7mm' s when most of their shots are 50 yards or less. A little over kill to me.
Shooting the 30-30 well within its limits, (less than 100 yards for me), and you have a very potent thick woods weapon. Ive had my Marlin for 20 years and its still putting meat in the freezer.[:-]

adkfreeridex

100 yards is the longest shot i' ll take with my 30/30. I won' t wound an aniaml at that range with it. People can bash it all they want, but the fact of the matter is that it is not a .300 ultra mag. Bowhunters don' t wound thier game (in a perfect world) and that is because they are not taking 40, 50, 60 yards shots on deer. Just as the 30/30 shouldn' t be takign 150-200+ yard shots on deer. Its like a trolling motor on a boat. It' s not the fastest or most efficient motor, that is why people do not cross lakes with them. But its good for close manuevering (i.e. brush hunting). Hit a deer in the kill zone every time and the 30/30 will be just as effective as a .300 mag, but not as loud or with as much kick.

loner

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE 30-30! WE HAVE ALL GOTTEN SPOILED BY NEW AND EXCITING GUNS AND CALIBERS.I HAVE KILLED DEER WITH ABOUT EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE 30-30 AND THE BOTTOM LINE IS JUST ABOUT ANYTHING WILL KILL A DEER IF YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GUN YOU ARE SHOOTING.SURE THERE ARE DEER CRIPPLED,BUT I ASSURE YOU IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A BAD SHOT BY THE SHOOTER MORE TIMES THAN NOT.I OWN A 30-06 AND A 300 WBY MAG BUT I WONDER WHAT WE WOULD HAVE DONE IF WE HAD BEEN BORN IN " GOOD OLD DAYS" WHEN THE CHOICES WERE A LOT FEWER?

frizzellr

There is nothing right with it either. BTW, that Caps Lock button is between the Tab key and the left Shift key. Try it sometime.

ELKampMaster

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING? Whoops, must have had the CapsLock key on!

An unqualified " nothing" ? Don' t be so provincial! Maybe if your query never goes beyond southern (small) deer and heavy (short range) woods --- however, there is another world out there beyond that.

Not much difference really. Even then, there were excellent choices available (and still available now).
Lets see, " turn" of the last century.....
1906 - 30-06
1911 - 416 Rigby
1912 - 375 Holland and Holland

Further back? okay....
7x57 Mauser
30-40 Krag

Further? okay....
45-70
45-120
50 Sharps

The use of whimpy shooting irons when better firearms were available has and will continue ad nauseum...... There is just something about ole grandpa' s " deer rifle" .

Sigh,
EKM

loner

yes, i know where the caps lock is not that has anything to do with the discussion. furthermore,the original post spoke of shots of less than 150 yds at deer,not elephant,elk,bear or other large game.anyone using a 416 for deer must be very insecure of their shooting skills.also, anyone that makes the comment that a 30-30 is not adequete for deer either doen' t know anything about deer hunting or just likes to blow hot air!

James B

You hit it in the head loner. There is nothing where I hunt except large mule deer. The thirty thirty in the hands of a good hunter is good deer medicine. Its worked for me for 47 years now. Unless the deer get on steroids I expect it will continue to work. Most of the time I will keep using my 6.5x55. Many of our shots are over 200 yards. Praire river breaks.

ELKampMaster

loner,
The long list of great cartridges from yesteryear was in direct response to your
" I WONDER WHAT WE WOULD HAVE DONE IF WE HAD BEEN BORN IN " GOOD OLD DAYS" WHEN THE CHOICES WERE A LOT FEWER?...." question, which seemed to imply that if we were all back in the " good old days" we would all be shooting 30-30-ish " pop guns" or similar ilk because we all would have had no other choice -- not so, some of us would have bought lesser and some of us would have bought stronger as there was lots to choose from even then -- no " evil" intent in my pointing it out.

james,
Sounds like the 6.5 x 55 is doing a right fine job for you. It probably has some " reach" to it to allow you to better push the 200 yard mark you alluded to and thus better " work" those prairie river breaks. What kind of rifle is it? Do you go scoped or go with iron sights?

FYI,
I' ve got ole dad' s M94 30-30 in the safe, first " high power" rifle I ever shot as a kid. Gave up on it at 13, got a 270 at 14 and never looked back. Haven' t shot more than a handfull of rounds thru that 30-30 in 30 some years -- nice little nostalgia piece though -- when I take it out during a " gun safe shuffle" I' ll pause & throw it up to my shoulder -- nice memories -- but it still feels like a toy. I' m afraid I just don' t go much for self imposed limitations or " just get by" cartridges.

However, I do understand some folks, who are really on top of their game, do like to create a challenge for themselves (bowhunting being a great example) and then work with in those limitations -- IF they have the talent, and the patience, and the iron ethic NOT to take that (easily) compromised shot -- then that' s fine. Problem is lots of folks cruise these websites that don' t have those attributes, they tend to take what is being said here as absolute (because so few posters qualify their opinions, many just rant) and then these folks buy their first rifle and end up with something " marginal" AND THEN they lack the corresponding talent or experience to make it work out right -- that' s not so fine.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM