.25MOA

First off I don't intend this post to tick anyone off, or begin a flame war of any sort, just a concerted discussion of ACTUAL EXPERIENCES...thats what we're shooting for here. That being said:

Over my slightly better than one decade of time spent in the deer woods, Ive assisted in the trailing of 13-15 wounded deer. Im proud to say NONE of those were my deer, and the majority were found in short order. Of those deer, nearly every one to the deer save maybe a few were 30-30 shot. I have been a student of firearms from a very young age, and I am well aware of the sheer tonnage of venison that rifle has put in the freezer. But JUST THIS SEASON Ive seen 2 deer walk away from solid, close range hits, with plenty of blood sign, one of those with a 170 gr Partition courtesy of Federal. We hunt some thick, thick country and if they can cover 40+ yards, you may or may not find your animal. Anyhow, I just wanted to open a discussion on everyones, and I repeat, ACTUAL EXPERIANCE with this round on deer. Thanks for the replys!!

Bocajnala

Ive killed four deer with it. And two with one shot (lucky I had two doe tags) one of them went farther than twenty yards.... The 2 with one shot happened when a group of five doe jumped up. I shot the lead doe, it went through her chest and through another doe's, that i didn't see about ten yeards behindthe first ones,chest. The second deer dropped on the spot, the first one went about fifteen yards and was dead midjump.
I love the .30-.30 I only carry it while I am driving, but it is a great quick shooter.
-Jake

kodiakhuntmaster

I've taken around a dozen deer with the 30-30 including my best whitetail about 8 years ago (shown in pic). All the deer I've shot with it have dropped on the spot. For all of them I was using plain old 150 grain Winchester Power Point ammo.

So I guess you know where I stand on this issue. I've never had a bad experience with a 30-30 and wouldn't think twice about hunting with one again.

Swampdog

Seen more with a .243. SHOT PLACEMENT!

mauser06

shot placement and bullet selection is key to any round doing its job...

UncleNorby

"Solid hits" may or may not put a deer on the ground, regardless of the caliber or cartridge. I've seen quite a few deer hit in the ribs that went a long way. It boils down to shot placement, and then exactly how the bullet moves through the animal and what it hits along the way. A deer can't tell you whether the .308", 150 gr. projectile that just hit it was fired at 2200 fps (30/30)or 2700 fps (308 Win).

A 30/30 will always be more than adequate for deer out to 150 yds, powerwise. I'll bet that a good percentage of deer lost that were shot with a 30/30 are due to limitations inherent to the aiming system. May 30/30's are iron sighted guns, which for me at least, are more difficult to aim precisely in comparison to a scope. Irons are awesome out to 50 yds for me. But the white bead on the front sight of my Win 94 covers a lot of area at 100 yds. So, a hunter may swear he hit the deer "right in the boiler works" but actually made a marginal hit.

skb2706

Crippler is a term used to describe the shooter not the gun.

stalkingbear

Of the deer I've personally seen shot or shot with the 30-30 myself,They seem to drop quicker using 125 gr(sierra flatnose hollow point),or 150 grof slightly softer construction. The ol 30-30 don't have thespeed of faster rounds so it seems to me that bullet expansion is a bit more critical than with a bullet traveling at 2800-3100 fps. it don't have the sheer horsepower of faster rounds.With a well placed shot and easily expanding bullets-it'll ALWAYS be plenty for deer. I just can't agree with using the heavier 170 gr bullet in it as it don't expand as easy as the lighter bullets. The marlin I've had since the 70s LOVESthe sierra 125 gr hps and does a great job of putting them down within it's limits. It STILL wears the same old steel tube (bombproof) weaver w/duplex and "microtrac" K2.5.

RugerM77.270

From actual experiences: It can't be called a solid hit until you have the deer and have verified the hit by putting your hands on it.

Shot placement is the key.

The only deer I have ever lost was with my 30-30 but it was my fault I hit her a bit back and started tracking to soon and ended up jumping her to the next property.

I have killed several deer with the 30-30 and its a great round here is the proof.

30 yards two shots second was insurance dead in 10 seconds.


160 yards ran 50 yards.

Shot 105 yards went 15 yards.

100 yards DRT

DannyD

5 Shots with my 30-30 at deer, 5 dead deer (all 5 werebucks albeit 1 was a button)all recovered within 50 yards (2 never took another step). Longest shot was 125 yards closest shot was @ 5 yards