biscuit jake

Just curious... what the biggest game is that you know for sure has been taken with this old timer. When you look at the ballistics, they are better than many of the handguns that have been used for big game, plus the SD is higher than pistol bullets. I have heard of eskimos using it on big bear but I never could verify it with a living witness.

ox1443

I killed a Elk at 213 With a 30-30 with Federal 170 Grains

bronko22000

I'm not sure if anyone can answer that. But I know that I think it was 2003, here in PA, the heaviest black bear ever taken in PA, 824 lb, was taken with one shot from a 30-30.
I'm sure there have been a few moose and bison taken as well. And these critters can weigh up to 1800 lb.

broey1

I've seen plenty of big 200+ pound bucks taken with them over the years. That's what I've seen.... now I haven't laid witness to the others, but I'd bet my left leg that buffalo, elk, moose, black bear, grizz, and brown bear have also all fallen to the 30-30 over the past hundred+ years. Believe it or not, there was a time when the 30-30 and 300 Savage was considered "overkill" for deer!!!!

bigbulls

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that every single animal in North America has been killed with the 30-30. From rabbits to polar bears and everything in between.

whitetaildreamer

I've harvested a 300 plus black bear with my Marlin 30-30.

eldeguello

I don't know about the .30-30, but I once read ofan instance where an American hunter killed an African elephant with a .32 Winchester Special in a Win. Model 94. It was either a person who was with T.R. on his African Safari, or occurred at around that same time. I do not know what kind of ammo (bullet type) was used, or how big the elephant was. But I can't seem to recall where I got that information.

mcawful

My mother-in-law, if she ever moves in with us.[:@]

DM

More than one big brown bear has been taken with a 30-30... More than one guy has been mauled while carrying a 30-30 too...

I remember back in the 70's, there was an old timer who lived in the bush and was found dead and mostly eaten. He carriednothing but an old Winchester30-30. The 30-30 had been fired one time and was near by his body.

A couple years later, near that same spot, a guy was charged by a big bear and shot it several times with a 30-06 killing it. When the bear's skull was skinned out, you could clearly see where eariler a bullet had hit that bear in the head and gouged a groove in it, with the bullet slideing over the forehead. There's was no doubt it was the same bear that killed the old fellow... The bear was very old and didn't have much for teeth left, so he took to killing and eating what ever he could get to stay alive.

One of the biggest bears ever killed was shot by a native women who got chased into the loft of her cabin, shooting the bear with a single shot 22lr, killing the bear. She had happen to hit it in the eye at an angle that allowed the bullet to get into the brain. No doubt it was the luckiest day of her life!

DM

Paul L Mohr

I'm with Bigbulls, I'm sure at some point or another every critter in North America has been killed with a 30-30 lever action. They were extremely popular for a long time. Not much more than a 100 years ago that was a pretty high tech weapon. Large game has been killed for a hundred years before that with much less.

Paul