My Winchester model 94 30-30 was made in 1938 and I shoot Winchester silver tips with it. This has to be one of the best short range rifles ever made. I personally would not push it past 150 yards and have never taken a shot with it over 60 yards.

For the sake of the creatures you hunt, if you think there is a chance that you might need to shoot 150 yards, then practice at that distance. You will find with open sights this is a hard shot to make. I have seen scopes on them but always felt if they wanted a scoped 30-30 then get a Marlin.

I can not understand why, but the 170 grain silver tip Winchesters I shoot out of it seems to take deer right off their feet. Others have complained about lack of knock down with this caliber but I can not say that.

The gun has had a scope mounted on it, & to tell you the truth, I'd like to remove it. It doesn't have strap mounts on it, (which is just fine w/ me) I like the "classic look" myself & want to keep it looking as it was meant to be. I hunt in the deep woods of the Upper Pennisula of Michigan, & most of the shot I have will be less than 75 yards.

Thanks to all who have responded,
Dale

It has been estimated that more whitetail deer have been killed in the US with a 30-30 than any other caliber over time. That many kills can't be wrong. I have a Marlin and use a Williams rear peep sight with a slightly higher front blade, best drive and brush gun setup I have ever used. I found that with the rear mounted peep that the increased sight radius allowed me to shoot more effectively with open sights. I can hit a coffee can at 100 yards over and over.

Have killed one deer with a Winchester 30-30. Shot it at approx. 40 to 50 yards away - iron sights - shot it through the neck. That deer went down without taking a step and didn't even twitch!

As far as the pressures go, I wouldn't worry about it, As far as things go, the gun isn't really that old, not to mention that the .30-30 isn't what you'd call a high pressure round. Basically, the only problem people really run into with over pressuring old guns is running smokeless rounds in a gun made before smokeless was around, however, in a .30-30, you're safe on that.

The maximum range of any centerfire rifle is mostly dependant on it's accuracy before it's power...I might own a .416Rigby, or .470NE, PLENTY powerful enough to be used on deer, however, if I can't hit anything past 20ft, I'm not going to use them, however, if I've got a .308win that I could hit a deer in the head for every shot at 800yrds, I'd ethically feel confident taking heart shots at that range. I've had .30-30's (Marlin's mind you) that shot under 2" at 200yrds, VERY VERY good accuracy for a leveraction factory rifle....and I would willingly take a shot at a deer at that range with a .30-30. Sights basically only change the accuracy of the gun, so regardless of whether you shoot open sights or a scope, your accuracy should dictate your range.