You can't really go wrong with either 243 or 7mm-08. Both are great calibers for hunting with minimal recoil. If you want to reduce the felt recoil for the 30-30, try one of the Limb saver pads. They make slip-on pads so you don't have to alter the gun. On the safety issue, I've never had an issue with an older Winchester 94 I own (made in the 50's) but then I'm really careful when I carry it. There's a few gunsmiths on here that can probably give you a much better answer on that.