30-30 for deer
09-11-2003, 03:13 PM
#121
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kountze, Texas
Posts: 5,400
RE: 30-30 for deer
If you can' t quickly, and cleanly kill a deer in the " woods" with a 30/30, I don' t think adding caliber or powder is going to help. The last thing I would want to do with someone so inept is to give them something more powerful.
C. Davis
C. Davis
09-11-2003, 11:34 PM
#123
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location:
Posts: 342
RE: 30-30 for deer
Wow, can' t believe all of the 30-30 bashing going on! Any good hunter should be perfectly capable of killing a deer with a 30-30. Whatever gun one may choose, it is the hunter' s responsibility to practice with it enough to be efficient with it. Any hunter who doesn' t do this, no matter what the weapon is, should not be hunting.
Period!
Period!
09-15-2003, 08:12 AM
#124
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: St. Matthews SC USA
Posts: 11
RE: 30-30 for deer
I' ve been away from the board for awhile but I' m back. I came to this post looking for info. and I get a good laugh to boot. Here' s my story and opinion and it can be the last word and taken to the bank.
I currently hunt with one rifle, a Savage 116 SS .270 with Federal BTSP rounds. I know my gun and when I pull the trigger the deer goes down on the spot. No question about it and I shoot with confidence every time. I am going to buy either a Marlin or Winchester .30-30 soon and slap a scope on it. I will sight it in and find out what rounds it likes and shoots best before I ever go to the stand with it. I hunt 5 stands and know the distances of everyone. Longest shot is 75 yrds. and the others are 50 and less. No fields to shoot across, all in standing pines and small clearings. Therefore, when I do take my .30-30 to the stand I know it' ll shoot straight and the deer will drop on the spot. Why? Because I know the limitations of the rifle and I' ve become comfortable with it through sighting it in and I know where the bullet will hit. I will have the same confidence in it as I do my .270. Anything from a .30-30 on up will drop any deer on the spot at those ranges given proper bullet placement. Forget all the ballistic tables and charts because they don' t matter when shooting at these ranges,none.
The bottom line and moral to the story is this. Buy whatever you want that will fit your budget, hunting style, distances and terrain. In my case a .30-30 will kill just as quick and easily as my .270 in my hunting enviroment and its what I want. I want a gun I can throw behind the seat that is light, compact and rugged. Something I can tote when I go check on the food plots and corn supply. If I jump one I can easily get off a shot with or with out a scope. If I ever hunt somewhere else that has longer shots I' ll just grab my .270. When I hunt my regular stands I can just flip a coin and take the winner because both will work just the same.
I refuse to fall in with the crowd. The ones that buy the lastest big magnum that will kill an elephant and go deer hunting with 100 yds. shots or less. That makes no sense. I don' t need a .300 magnum or larger to shoot that close or a .45-70 that looks identical to a .30-30 for a 50 yd shot when a .30-30 will kill just as quick and easily without the sore shoulder from the recoil. Much less having to lug that cannon to the stand and back out while dragging my kill. By the same token I wouldn' t take a .30-30 out for 150-300+ yard shots nor would I take it for elk, bear or moose hunting etc. I' d take a .300 or .45-70 for that.
Guns are like tools. They each have their own particular use and application. Get the one that fits your needs and application, shoot it to get familiar and confident with it, know its limitations and don' t try to stretch it. Do this and you' ll have a good, reliable rifle that will kill each and every time you pull the trigger. If it doesn' t it was your fault, not a shortcoming in the gun itself.
I currently hunt with one rifle, a Savage 116 SS .270 with Federal BTSP rounds. I know my gun and when I pull the trigger the deer goes down on the spot. No question about it and I shoot with confidence every time. I am going to buy either a Marlin or Winchester .30-30 soon and slap a scope on it. I will sight it in and find out what rounds it likes and shoots best before I ever go to the stand with it. I hunt 5 stands and know the distances of everyone. Longest shot is 75 yrds. and the others are 50 and less. No fields to shoot across, all in standing pines and small clearings. Therefore, when I do take my .30-30 to the stand I know it' ll shoot straight and the deer will drop on the spot. Why? Because I know the limitations of the rifle and I' ve become comfortable with it through sighting it in and I know where the bullet will hit. I will have the same confidence in it as I do my .270. Anything from a .30-30 on up will drop any deer on the spot at those ranges given proper bullet placement. Forget all the ballistic tables and charts because they don' t matter when shooting at these ranges,none.
The bottom line and moral to the story is this. Buy whatever you want that will fit your budget, hunting style, distances and terrain. In my case a .30-30 will kill just as quick and easily as my .270 in my hunting enviroment and its what I want. I want a gun I can throw behind the seat that is light, compact and rugged. Something I can tote when I go check on the food plots and corn supply. If I jump one I can easily get off a shot with or with out a scope. If I ever hunt somewhere else that has longer shots I' ll just grab my .270. When I hunt my regular stands I can just flip a coin and take the winner because both will work just the same.
I refuse to fall in with the crowd. The ones that buy the lastest big magnum that will kill an elephant and go deer hunting with 100 yds. shots or less. That makes no sense. I don' t need a .300 magnum or larger to shoot that close or a .45-70 that looks identical to a .30-30 for a 50 yd shot when a .30-30 will kill just as quick and easily without the sore shoulder from the recoil. Much less having to lug that cannon to the stand and back out while dragging my kill. By the same token I wouldn' t take a .30-30 out for 150-300+ yard shots nor would I take it for elk, bear or moose hunting etc. I' d take a .300 or .45-70 for that.
Guns are like tools. They each have their own particular use and application. Get the one that fits your needs and application, shoot it to get familiar and confident with it, know its limitations and don' t try to stretch it. Do this and you' ll have a good, reliable rifle that will kill each and every time you pull the trigger. If it doesn' t it was your fault, not a shortcoming in the gun itself.
09-15-2003, 09:08 PM
#125
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kountze, Texas
Posts: 5,400
RE: 30-30 for deer
Weasel6,
I too have a .270, and I shoot it just as well as the Marlin. If I were you I would go with the Marlin. I have never even shot a Winchester. Probably nothing wrong with the old 94, I just don' t see how it could beat the Marlin. All but two of my deer were shot with the Marlin, and I, like you hunt in the woods were all shots are under 100 yards. Forget about articles that tell you how to sight it in to be a 200 yard gun, and sight it in dead on at 100 yards. When you do, you will feel like you have total control of the bullet, and yes, mine is scoped.
The first day you spend half hunting, and half scouting, walking with the Marlin strapped across your back will be the day you fall in love with the gun.
C. Davis
I too have a .270, and I shoot it just as well as the Marlin. If I were you I would go with the Marlin. I have never even shot a Winchester. Probably nothing wrong with the old 94, I just don' t see how it could beat the Marlin. All but two of my deer were shot with the Marlin, and I, like you hunt in the woods were all shots are under 100 yards. Forget about articles that tell you how to sight it in to be a 200 yard gun, and sight it in dead on at 100 yards. When you do, you will feel like you have total control of the bullet, and yes, mine is scoped.
The first day you spend half hunting, and half scouting, walking with the Marlin strapped across your back will be the day you fall in love with the gun.
C. Davis
09-16-2003, 07:21 AM
#126
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 1,491
RE: 30-30 for deer
I have owned and used both the Marlin and Winchesters. The current 94' s are very well made just as the 336' s are. (As a matter of fact I currently own a 1894 Marlin .44 Magnum with 16.25" barrel, fitted with an aperature sight. Another nice short-medium range carbine for whitetails.) I would look at both the Wichester and the Marlin...they each feel a little different due to stocks, actions, and forends. Pick the one that feels the best to you and you' ll never regret it!
Good luck...and many good hunts!
P.S. As the wife and I are moving back to Alaska this upcoming spring we are currently looking at both the .45-70 and the .450 Guide Rifles. (I just hope Marlin brings the .450 out in Stainless soon!) It' s primary purpose will be as a packing rifle and a camp gun. It will also be equipped with a large " Ghost ring peep" . One of us will have it, while the other of us carries something with a little more " ranging potential" . Circumstances will dictate exactly " which other rifle" ! (ie. Sheep, Moose, Bear, Caribou, etc.)
Good luck...and many good hunts!
P.S. As the wife and I are moving back to Alaska this upcoming spring we are currently looking at both the .45-70 and the .450 Guide Rifles. (I just hope Marlin brings the .450 out in Stainless soon!) It' s primary purpose will be as a packing rifle and a camp gun. It will also be equipped with a large " Ghost ring peep" . One of us will have it, while the other of us carries something with a little more " ranging potential" . Circumstances will dictate exactly " which other rifle" ! (ie. Sheep, Moose, Bear, Caribou, etc.)
09-16-2003, 04:01 PM
#127
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wall SD USA & Jamestown ND
Posts: 11,474
RE: 30-30 for deer
Good Luck. The Remington Pump 30-06 with five 200 grain Nosler Partitions also makes a great back-up gun. The guide I hunted Bear with says thats all he will carry. That or his Pump 12 gauge. He has had a few bears come back to life on him and for him, the pump is by far the fasted thing he can shoot real well.
09-16-2003, 06:19 PM
#128
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,052
RE: 30-30 for deer
lmao, playa you certainly started a classical funny with this one. The 30/30 kills deer, no doubt there. But equally so does a 22, its where you put the bullet. Now if you were a small squat and or didnt have a rifle I would say ok. But if you have a 7mag, why waste your time and money on an ancient thing like the ol " tutty tutty" ? If you had a Camaro in your driveway, would you carry your moms Corolla on a date?
The 7mag will hammer deer at 50 yds as easily as any 30-30. Yet it will likewise smoke em at 300yds (I know, I' ve dropped em in their tracks at 300 with my 7mag) and with the 30-30 all you can do is sit there with your thumb up your butt and wish you had your 7.
The 30-30 WAS great in its day. But then again so was the original 45/70 blackpowder load. Like anything else, times change and better things come down the pike. Steam locomotives once ruled. But now with the 7 you have a diesel/electric loco and can " crank it on up" .(LOL now with the supermags, I prefer a japanese bullet train!)
I have the 30-30s bigger brother, a 35 Marlin 336. It was handed down to me by my grandfather (rest his soul) and it will likewise go to my first grandson. I carried it out and killed with it once " just because" . I likely will let my boys use it in the future as well, but its more out of novelty than from its sheer effectiveness. My sons first " deer rifle" will be a 243 700ADL Youth. Even that lil popshooter is more effective than the ole " saddle guns" from the 1800s.
DROP EM WHERE THEY STAND!
RA
The 7mag will hammer deer at 50 yds as easily as any 30-30. Yet it will likewise smoke em at 300yds (I know, I' ve dropped em in their tracks at 300 with my 7mag) and with the 30-30 all you can do is sit there with your thumb up your butt and wish you had your 7.
The 30-30 WAS great in its day. But then again so was the original 45/70 blackpowder load. Like anything else, times change and better things come down the pike. Steam locomotives once ruled. But now with the 7 you have a diesel/electric loco and can " crank it on up" .(LOL now with the supermags, I prefer a japanese bullet train!)
I have the 30-30s bigger brother, a 35 Marlin 336. It was handed down to me by my grandfather (rest his soul) and it will likewise go to my first grandson. I carried it out and killed with it once " just because" . I likely will let my boys use it in the future as well, but its more out of novelty than from its sheer effectiveness. My sons first " deer rifle" will be a 243 700ADL Youth. Even that lil popshooter is more effective than the ole " saddle guns" from the 1800s.
DROP EM WHERE THEY STAND!
RA
09-17-2003, 12:10 AM
#129
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wall SD USA & Jamestown ND
Posts: 11,474
RE: 30-30 for deer
Yep I quess the new bionic deer are to tough for us old out of date guys and our old out of date guns. Even the old long clumbsy 7 rem mag it over the hill now. Hope the deer I killed with my 30-30 stay dead. Better sighn off now. Time for my nap. Gotta watch out that the young whipper snappers don,t run over me.
09-17-2003, 07:00 AM
#130
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 1,491
RE: 30-30 for deer
Hi James,
Last time we lived in Alaska among the other rifles I owned and hunted with I had a 760 Carbine in .30-06 and a newer 7600 Rifle chambered for .35 Whelen. Frequently the 760 Carbine stayed in the truck rack. And it was stoked with either the 200 Nosler Partitions or at times factory Remington 220 Corelokts. (I grew up reading both Jack and Elmer and respected both of them for their accomplishments. But I figured the 760 Carbine was not what I would choose for really long shots anyhow....so I might as well have the guaranteed penetration " up close" with the increased sectional density of the longer bullets. The .35 Whelen might have the 250 Corelokts but was much more likely to be loaded with a 250 Nosler Partition. I carried it semi-frequently, but only on " walk-in" hunts, (couldn' t bring myself to put any of my wood and blue steel guns in an ATV gun boot when I had a SS synthetic Ruger 77 in .338 Win. Mag. There were a number of other rifles I carried at different times...depending on conditions....game hunted.....and probably most importantly - my mood! I never had any concerns with either of the pumps, though in all honesty, there was a time or two in really heavy cover I wished for something heavier than the .30-06. I know that .30-06' s with good 220 grain solids have been used quite successfully for elephant culling. But with the admission by the user' s that though it was more than adequate for culling when very precise bullet placement was possible......IT WAS NOT by any stretch of the imagination a " Stopper" . With wounded and or extremely agitated dangerous big game there is little substitute for caliber size, bullet weight, good sectional density....in addition to good shot placement. But under 90% of the conditions I hunted in Alaska...I felt just fine with those rifles in my hand. (Particularly for close to medium range Moose hunting. And not to " undergunned" in the event of bear problems.) Frequently I hunted with either a friend or family member...and you could count of the fact at least one of us was carrying a " good medium" or a stout packing gun. (Like a 12 guage with Brenneke' s or a carbine in heavy caliber, my favorite being a SAKO Mannlicher chambered for .375 H&H.)
P.S. I can' t wait to get back...feel like a kid the night before Christmas!
Last time we lived in Alaska among the other rifles I owned and hunted with I had a 760 Carbine in .30-06 and a newer 7600 Rifle chambered for .35 Whelen. Frequently the 760 Carbine stayed in the truck rack. And it was stoked with either the 200 Nosler Partitions or at times factory Remington 220 Corelokts. (I grew up reading both Jack and Elmer and respected both of them for their accomplishments. But I figured the 760 Carbine was not what I would choose for really long shots anyhow....so I might as well have the guaranteed penetration " up close" with the increased sectional density of the longer bullets. The .35 Whelen might have the 250 Corelokts but was much more likely to be loaded with a 250 Nosler Partition. I carried it semi-frequently, but only on " walk-in" hunts, (couldn' t bring myself to put any of my wood and blue steel guns in an ATV gun boot when I had a SS synthetic Ruger 77 in .338 Win. Mag. There were a number of other rifles I carried at different times...depending on conditions....game hunted.....and probably most importantly - my mood! I never had any concerns with either of the pumps, though in all honesty, there was a time or two in really heavy cover I wished for something heavier than the .30-06. I know that .30-06' s with good 220 grain solids have been used quite successfully for elephant culling. But with the admission by the user' s that though it was more than adequate for culling when very precise bullet placement was possible......IT WAS NOT by any stretch of the imagination a " Stopper" . With wounded and or extremely agitated dangerous big game there is little substitute for caliber size, bullet weight, good sectional density....in addition to good shot placement. But under 90% of the conditions I hunted in Alaska...I felt just fine with those rifles in my hand. (Particularly for close to medium range Moose hunting. And not to " undergunned" in the event of bear problems.) Frequently I hunted with either a friend or family member...and you could count of the fact at least one of us was carrying a " good medium" or a stout packing gun. (Like a 12 guage with Brenneke' s or a carbine in heavy caliber, my favorite being a SAKO Mannlicher chambered for .375 H&H.)
P.S. I can' t wait to get back...feel like a kid the night before Christmas!