I know that you know that thousands and Thousands of deer have been killed with a 30/30. Actuallyit wasmy first deer rifle as a kid hunting the East Texas Piney Woods where 75 yards is a long shot. The problem I found with the 30/30 when shooting soft point bulletswas that the bullet does not exand very much because of the lack of velocity. However you can find hollow point rounds for the 30/30 that really aid in bullet exansion. I have shot several deer with those hollowpoints and never had one go over 40 or 50 yards after being shot through the ribs, and all of them left a blood trail Ray Charles could follow. Just a tip you may want to pass on to your buddies who have had trouble with not recovering deer.