I have 2 30-30' s a winchester model 94 made in 1947 that i have taken over 20 deer in the last few years with and a marlin 336 given to me by my grandfather. They are great guns and will definetly take deer. I took a large doe with mine a few years back at around 120 yards with open sights she dropped like i was using a .300. I really like the remington core-lokts in 170 gr. I finally retired the ol lever gun and got a model 700 in 7mm mag but the 30-30 is still my main back up gun because i know it is going to be there if i need it. Im sure if you did some research the 30-30 is in the top5 guns for taking the most game animals in history.