My old friend is joining me in my home state of Wyoming for an elk hunt.I have grown up with a Remington 700 in a 30-06 that has harvested many animals over the years. My whitetail hunting friend loves his Marlin ,lever 30-30, is this rifle appropriate for elk? in what grain? I have received a variety of local responses and would like to put this question to the hunting public. My first reaction was to tell my friend to buy a new rifle .270 and up, but I would like to hear from others. Thanks

Obviously your friend would be better off with a 30/06 like yourself with a good 180grn bullet. If he is stubborn and insistent on using it I hope he will be shooting at nothing over 125yds with 170grn bullets. We've personally taken several bulls with a 30/30 but no shot was over 80yds and it always took more than one shot to put him down even though they were hit smack in the lungs. the 30/30 just does'nt offer a lot of knock down power, like I said it will get it done when you're close but why take the chance especially if this is his first elk hunt. elknut1.

www.elknut.com
Bugling Bulls & Beyond!

If he shoots straight and keeps the shots close, then the 30-30 will kill an elk until it dies from it.

Use the 170 grain silvertip bullets.

Like elknut said he would be better off with a heavier rifle, but the 30-30 will work just fine.

"Hey ya'll, watch this"

If he wants to use his 30-30 use a 170gr. Nosler Partition (Federal), or a 150gr. Barnes X (PMC Starfire HP). Good luck.



Edited by - handloader1 on 01/23/2003 00:47:18

I'm afraid my response will be a little stronger than the prior three! I have a Win 94 30-30, it was my dad's and it was the first "high power" rifle I ever shot! With that said it has kept its position in my gun safe only as a family heirloom - it hasn't been fired in over 20 years. Why? Because in my humble opinion a 30-30 is a pathetic cartridge which has probably injured more game in history than any other - not fit for hunting much more than tiny deer in the brush or coyotes that aren't smart enough to stay more than 150 yards away.

In my case, friend or not, no one is hunting elk with a 30-30 in my camp! Doesn't matter what grain or type of bullet or type of rifle - no way. He can borrow my .30-06 backup rifle if he wants but that is about the minimum. We've got a responsibility to the elk to "use enough gun." If someone is buying a rifle "just for elk" they shouldn't stop at .270 - step it up a notch - go 7mmMag/30-06 or beyond.

Deer at 250 lb. versus Elk at 600 lbs. is like the difference between high school football and the NFL - come on - gear up! This isn't Bambi popping.

EKM

Good judgment comes from bad experience! Half of elk hunting is knowing what NOT to do!

Edited by - ELKampMaster on 01/23/2003 10:36:43

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I have to agree that the 30-30 is no rifle to hunt elk with. Its killed elk in the past but with what there is availble now days leave the 30-30 at home. It is a horrible elk cartridge with an extremely limited range and if you hit bone like the shoulder you'll never see it again. Some say you need 2000 ft-lbs of energy to take an elk but I believe to be closer to 1800. Just so you get an idea Federal makes a 170gr partition for the 30-30 and out of the muzzle it has 1830 ft-lbs of energy and 1320 at 100yds. So unless your friend plans on "holding up" an elk this cartridge should not be used. A .270 is better than the 30-30 but I don't believe that to be a very good choice either. My personal minimum for elk is a 30-06.

As most have said it don't make the best elk rifle around . I had a friend that used one for a couple years and it always meant a tracking job . He has a 300 win now and thats all he talks about how fast they go down .

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The original question was NOT "will a 30/30 kill an elk?" That would be a silly question because any cartridge, enen a .22 cal short will kill an elk.

The question was "is this rifle appropriate for elk?". And the answer would likley be NO. If you go elk hunting with one you could see a lot of elk that you could shoot with a more "appropriate" cartridge that you should not attempt to shoot with a 30/30.

On the other hand I bet there are lots of bow hunters who have said "I couldn't take the shot with my bow but he was standing there broadside at 65 yds. and I could have shot him with a 30/30."

Robin



Edited by - Duffy on 01/23/2003 16:34:23