While I certainly don' t consider the 30-30 to be an adequate elk rifle in a center fire modern cartrige, in the right hands it could proove to be plenty adequate. I also wouldn' t reccomend the 30-30 to any one asking if they should use it on elk because the vast majority of people wouldn' t have the dicipline it would take to use the 30-30 and if they are asking that tells me that they probably have never hunted elk before.

For a person that hunts in deep dark timber and stalks to within less than 100 yards it would have enough power to get the job done well. Much like bow hunting and muzzle loader hunting, they would need to have the dicipline to pick their shots and respect the range limitations that he or she would be imposing on themselves. Essentially they would be ML hunting with a center fire rifle.

A 30-30 with a 170 grain nosler partition would certainly have much better killing ability than a traditional ML shooting a lead round ball backed by 80 or 90 grains of BP.

While it certainly isn' t for the majority of people out there hunting elk, in the hands of the skilled few that have the dicipline it takes to use the 30-30 it would be plenty enough gun for elk.