In the Contender the 30-30 barrel is a very good hunting barrel. Every bit as good as the 7-30 Waters. Based on the same case. the 7-30 will fire a 145 grain bullet at a little over 2200 fps while the 30-30 will fire the 150 grain Speer Mag tip at about the same velocity. Both are deadly but In my expierence the 150 Mag tip is king of the contender hunting bullets.