I love this forum!! Thank you for the replies and synopsis of your own experiences. Exactly what I was looking for. All but one of my deer have been shot with 7mm Mag and a high-stepping 140 B-tip handload, very messy, but VERY VERY quick killer. One of the reasons for my post here is my own lack of personal experience with the round other than the aforementioned tracking jobs. Ive never personally pulled the trigger with a 30-30 on a deer. I think UncleNorby may have hit on something solid, as I have never seen a 30-30 equipped with what I would call a quality optical sight. Most have "scopes" I wouldn't put on my 6 yr old cousin's Red Ryder bb gun. As well, the lighter bullet theory may hold water, with velocities of the 170 gr pills treading dangerously close to the minimum expansion threshold of many modern jacketed bullets at fairly close ranges (~1700-1800 fps in most designes). Again, thank you guys for taking the time!!

.25,
I failed to mention that i used 150 g Core-lokt on the first 3 and the new Hornady Leverrevolution on the next 2. I do have a decent Nikon Prostaff on top of the gun


Good Hunting

I like the 170 grain bullets on hogs. They actually held together better than the Winchester 180 grain Ballistic Silvertip bullets out of my .300 win mag! But those are more made for rapid expansion as oppose to the 170 grain bullets out of the 30-30 which are made for deeper more controlled expansion.

It's all about bullet design, the velocity that it's pushed at, and shot placement.

The only two deer I've ever seen that were lost after being shot with a high-powered rifle were shot with a .30/'30. However, since they were lost, I have no idea where they were hit! I do know both were leaving a very poor blood trail, and that blood was dark red in color, indicating a peripheral,muscle wound. (ie., a bad hit).

I have never personally shot a deer with any cartridge in the.30/30 class, the smallest round being the 6.5X55mm. The deer was abig NM mulie deer that field-dressed254 pounds. I shot him with a 6.5X55mm at about 150 yardsor so. He managed to "bounce"on about 30 yards after the bullet, a 140-grain Sierra PSPBT, went through him (kicked up dust on the far side) before going down.

Due to their low velocity, I suppose it is POSSIBLE for a game animal to survive a lung hit with the .30/30 or .32 Special. At least long enough to leave the area. This is provided the bullet did not hit any major blood vessel or the heart, of course. The slow bullets leave a pretty narrow wound channel, especially if the range is long enough to permit the bullet to slow down significantly.

OK-go ahead and pick on my old weaver steel tube. I decided long ago that as soon as it even sneezed,I'd replace it with a leupold. But it never has SO FAR.

I haven't ever had any trouble with the 30/30. I have a stevens 325 and shoot 170 gr core-lokts. Shot placement is king. The furthest a deer has ran after a hit is 10 yds. It's a great brush gun.

I killed the first on from my previous post with a 150 gr corelokt, the second 170 gr. corelokt, and the other two were with Hornady LR ammo.

I would NEVER pick on the steel-tube Weavers made in El Paso, TX. Have a number of them still on various guns, & some in reserve! Even the J2.5X and J4 are useful.

I once built a 6.5X55mm Swedish Mauser carbine with a J2.5 on it. It weighed 5.5 pounds, and slung across my back, the muzzle was below my shoulder. Very easy packin' mountain carbine, and easy in the brush too!. And accurate. Those old Weaver J- scopes have Looong eye relief. On a heavy kicker (like a Deerslayer) they could be mounted far forward, so as not to brain you when shooting.

The Series 60B model Weavers are still plenty good too!

DannyD - Five yards? Why didn't you just stick out your knife and save a round!

I have killed 2 bucks with a 30-30. Neither ran more than 30-40 yards. It did alot of damage inside the deer, but one was at about 50 yards and had a small exit wound, and the other was at maybe 15 yards and the bullet was stuck in the fat and hair on the exit wound . (Barely made it through) I would prefer not to use it over maybe 75 yards, but it is an excellent gunfor tight quarters hunting.