At the ranges you are talking about, You better believe it. At those ranges the 30-30 will kill an elk evry bit as fast as any other rifle. You can bet there have been thousands of elk taken with the 30-30. Most with the Model 94 as it has been popular throughout the west for longer than most of us have ben around.. 170 grain Hornady Flat point. My grandpa shot lots of winter meat including elk with an old 44-40 lever gun. I just looked at that old gun about a month ago. There were still shells in the butt stock shell holder. He shot most of his game hunting horse back.