30-30 WCF

[rustyguns]

How many of you fine gentlemen, hunt with a 30-30 exclusively. I had an uncle when I was young who had experience with many rifles but preferred to continue to hunt Black tails and bears with his 30-30 . He always said " If you can't kill one with a 30-30 you don't need to be in the woods" This man hunted Boar along the Rhine river when the fighting was over during WW2 with an M-1 Carbine. But that is another story....Even when he moved to Texas he stuck with the 30-30. Anyway...Those words have always kept coming back to me. I have hunted with most every thing from 223 -300 win Mag..... but I just keep getting drawn back to basics and his words. People say " Well..... when that once in a life time buck steps out at 300 yds you'll be sorry, but honestly... part of hunting is all about getting close enough to take the shot. And a 55 yrs It's more than "all about the kill" Anybody else see it this way?

[Stan in SC]

Yes, definitely. Although I do hunt a lot with my combination gun, I also hunt a lot with my Marlin 30-30.
Been using a 30-30 since 1977.It has always done what I needed it to do.

Stan in SC

[rjohns94]

I think most here see it that way but I certainly won't speak for them. 30 WCF is plenty Gun for the right situation across much of North America. I'm thinking most here have a variety of calibers in their leverguns that are suitable. Some like the 30-30 for its versatility and for shooting cast bullets. Some use it for CAS. Some for Steel plinking. If you had to pick one caliber it would rank high. Then there is 32 special, 35 remington, .444, 45-70, .33, 38-55, and ........... A fine levergun is the common theme for most.

[Pete44ru]

.

A .30-30 Winchester Trapper is my main CF rifle, as is one of our board members from Alaska (dimrod) - who drops Alaskan Moose with his.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... ilit=moose



.

[ollogger]

Rusty I hear you loud & clear!, this year I will hunt Antelope with a old 94 in 32 special
or maybe a 38-55, ive used a 30-30 a lot & 1 is in my pickup at all times, but its time to use a few others before I hang it up, this year will be my 48th year hunting big game & if the big one shows up at 300 yards ill see if I can still sneak up on him



ollogger

[Shrapnel]

30-30 is too much gun. The real deal is a 25-35. I have killed plenty of big game with it including a Grizzly Bear. The 117 grain bullet is a real killer and does well in moderate ranges...







They won't bounce off the Grizzly skull like many people think...

[Malamute]

Nice head shot picture of the bear skull.

[Grizz]

what's the velocity on the 117 grain load?

what bullet, shape, style, make, model, etc?

just curious.

love the head shot, my favorite.

Grizz

[Shrapnel]

what's the velocity on the 117 grain load?

what bullet, shape, style, make, model, etc?

just curious.

love the head shot, my favorite.

Grizz

The bullet is 117 grain round nose, which is almost impossible to find anymore. I use Hornady 117 grainers and load them to about 2200 FPS and crimp the bullet in the crimping groove. This is what they do to the innards of an antelope...

[Daisyman]

I've got a 25-35 octagon but I've never hunted with it. Just couldn't give up the 71, 348. A really nice one you got there.

Irv

[Shrapnel]

Broaden your horizons. If I just hunted with one lever action I would die. Another one we took out today for slaying gophers. 1895 in 40-72. Life is too short to hunt with only 1 lever action...

[Grizz]

Thanks for the info. Just about the exact ballistics of 115gr from the 300 BLK. Don't think I've seen the round nose though.

Really like seeing your firearms, they're doozies.

Grizz

[Sixgun]

Rusty guns,
Not many people hunt with the same gun anymore...too much money in today's times. The 30 WCF is an excellent cartridge when used for what it was designed for. I killed my first deer with it back in '68 and have shot many many thousands of rounds out of a dozen or so rifles since....most with cast.

The 30-30, like the 30-40 K., 303 Sav. and a mess of other cartridges that shoot a decent bullet of good sectional density at the magic velocity of 2000 to 2400 will always be with us.

Shrapnel.....nice pics. ----6

[Canuck Bob]

I stuck with my 444 but recently picked up a 32 S in a 94 for deer if I hunt again.

To me the lever action peep sighted rifle was akin to a sporting limit like a bowhunter faces. The 30-30 is a dandy and setting personal limits to make things more challenging is a worthy effort. Mega magnums and trick scopes are another statement.

I'm hoping to end my hunting with a flintlock and a whitetail if lucky. Put a Lyman receiver sight on a lefty .54 Deerstalker for the day. Won't be concerned with mils, ballistic coefficients, or vld bullets.

[Grizz]

My Dad was a sporting type hunter, he took two (2) cartridges with him in case he needed a finisher.

[.45colt]

The 30-30 is illegal to use in Ohio for Deer. it is just too under powered for the giant whitetails that abound in this state.
That is why when the ODNR made rifle caliber guns legal to use last year they included the 50-100. I took Mine last year with the 45-70 and felt under gunned. but some how I was able to bring mine down. I may stop using the 300gr loads and go for a bigger bullet.

[Shrapnel]

The 30-30 is illegal to use in Ohio for Deer. it is just too under powered for the giant whitetails that abound in this state.
That is why when the ODNR made rifle caliber guns legal to use last year they included the 50-100. I took Mine last year with the 45-70 and felt under gunned. but some how I was able to bring mine down. I may stop using the 300gr loads and go for a bigger bullet.

All a bigger bullet will do is hit the dirt harder on the other side...

[AJMD429]

Living in the 'close-in' part of the Midwest, where shots past 150 yards are extremely rare, and the biggest game is a whitetail, I feel the same, only about the 44 Magnum. It is still pretty much the go-to for me. It's only been around for half a century, so it is a 'newcomer', but nothing in the realm of hunting I do that I really need anything else for, except I guess I'd have to do head-shots if I hunted squirrels...

Still, the non-hunter part of me (the target-shooter/gun-collector part) just likes the incredible variety of cartridges available in an equally incredible variety of both modern and vintage firearms. If I were Bill Gates I'd have a half-dozen of everything out there, and spend lots of time shooting and comparing and worrying about things like if 30-06 is really better than 308, or if a Remington model 700 is really better than a Winchester model 70. Prolly spend some time studyin' whether a 70 Shelby Mustang is really better than a Corvette, too... Definitely would figure out whether a 375 CheyTac was better than the same rig in 338 Lapua...

[.45colt]

Shrapnel wrote; "All a bigger bullet will do is hit the dirt harder on the other side...".... but the peace of mind will be worth it. .

[2571]

Beware a man who has just one gun -- he probably knows how to shoot it.

[Shrapnel]

Beware a man who has just one gun -- he probably knows how to shoot it.

Written by a loser with only one gun...

[7.62 Precision]

Just today here on Kodiak, I looked at a beautifully well-used Winchester 94 trapper .30-30, with lots of areas of cleaned-off surface rust on the receiver. Front sight dovetailed into the barrel (no ramp), simple wide V rear sight, saddle ring.

The owner has a number of rifles, in a number of calibers, is a reloader and shooter. He said, "It just occurred to me that with all the fancy rifles I have, everything I have ever killed, I killed with this rifle."

[1894c]

I hunt in the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest and I'm the only one among my hunting bud's who hunts with either a Glenfield 30A in .30WCF or a Rossi 92 in .357mag. I've used other calibers, .444, 45/70, .44mag, and a .270win bolt-gun, but in the end it's a levergun in either 30-30 or .357mag... life is goiod... :)

[kevind6]

Just try to convince this buck that grandpa's .30-30 doesn't pack enough punch....



My grand dad used to try to chide my uncles and others that their scoped .270's and 30/06's were just for road hunters and "them that ain't got no sneak!" He never failed to keep his Wyoming smokehouse filled deer, elk, and moose meat.

[M. M. Wright]

This is my 25-35 which I've had for over 50 years. My 3 oldest boys killed their first deer with it and I still hunt with it some.



Has always been with 115 grain round nose but I don't remember the load right now.

With the photo uploaded you can see the load and velocities are on the target.

[BigSky56]

rustyguns I grew up with a 94 30-30 in my hand and on a saddle from grouse up to deer, elk and marauding bears. my suggestion put a receiver peep sight on and a sourdough blade on the front end with the new powders out there handloaded 170's run as fast as the factory 150's and penetrate. you can do anything with cast that you can do with jacketed in the 30-30. my hunting load is a 173 beartooth HCGC pushed with max load of AA 5744 (http://www.accuratepowder.com/) another powder I have used is RE-15 with cast and jacketed. If you stay with jacketed you would be hard pressed to beat speer hotcor 170's. danny

[OldWin]

The 30WCF was a "high powered rifle" when it came out, and to me it still is. It is one of todays most underrated cartridges IMO.
I've heard that a lot of the old codgers around here tried it when it came out but many went back to their 38-40's and 38-55's." That newfangled 30WCF is just ridiculous".

[tman]

2 very good points made here! [1] The 30WCF in the hands of a rifleman and hunter will cover all North American game. [2] There all too many good choices out there to limit yourself just to the .30WCF.

[hfcable]

I love my 30 wcf rifles, but agree that using just one is too limited. I am thinking of having two bags, like golf club bags, put on my four wheeler and taking a whole set of lever rifles with me each time....just like playing golf ! everything from a 22 lr and a 25/20 up to my 50/95 model 1876 !

[hfcable]

lets see, I have lever guns in :
17 HMR
22 LR
22 WMR
219 ZIPPER
25/20 WCF
256 Winchester magnum
25/35 WCF
25/36 Marlin
25 Remington
7 x 30 waters
30 carbine
30 WCF
303 Savage
307 Winchester
308 winchester
30/06
7.62x54R
32 H&R
32/40 WCF
32 special
38/357
35 remington
35 WCF
356 Winchester
38/55
41 magnum
405 WCF
410 2 1/2 " shotgun
44 Evans short
44 Evans long
44/40 WCF
44 magnum
45 colt
454
45/70
45/90
480 ruger
50/95 WCF
56/52 Spencer

course I might need short barrel and long barrel versions of some of these......maybe two bags is not enough ?

and there's several calibers I don't have, though I might need them?

[Homer]

I like the 30-30 and own a couple or two, and hunt with a scoped Marlin 336 when out hunting with one on purpose. However, now that I'm getting as old as my friends Grizz and Ranch 13, and since I've always preferred elk and deer steaks over beef, I hunt with a scoped Ruger American chambered in 308 Winchester. Oh, I've done my time (a couple decades) as a sport hunter, mostly using a handgun where shooting distances were measured in feet instead of yards, but nowadays I do everything I can to ensure the meat leaves the mountain and comes home with me. And, I'm getting too fat and slow to close the distance like I used to, and I can't remember the last time I could actually see my iron sights. So although I love my 30-30s and will still use them - when I want meat I will revert back to my old subsistence hunting days and use whatever it takes, under most conditions, to be successful. And successful to me is a skillet full of onions, peppers, and fresh game meat.

Maybe I don't belong in the same "real hunter" class as you guys, but I don't care, especially when feeding on elk, hot black coffee, and apple pie smothered in cheddar.

[t.r.]

For my deer hunting it's a toss up between 44MAG Ruger carbine or 30-30 carbine. Both are excellent tools for the job where we hunt. Shots rarely exceed 75 yards or so. But for larger animals, I prefer to hunt with my Marlin in 35 Remington. That big 200 grain bullet carries a bit more power to get the job done.

I agree that the old 30-30 is a tough one to overlook. It has it all: 1) good accuracy 2) just the right amount of power 3) moderate recoil 4) comes in highly portable carbines for easy carry through the forests and foothills.

30-30 is a keeper!
TR

[7.62 Precision]

Maybe I don't belong in the same "real hunter" class as you guys, but I don't care, especially when feeding on elk, hot black coffee, and apple pie smothered in cheddar.

The real hunter is the guy who knows how to bring meat home to feed his family, whatever he uses to do it.

[Griff]

The 30-30 is illegal to use in Ohio for Deer. it is just too under powered for the giant whitetails that abound in this state.
That is why when the ODNR made rifle caliber guns legal to use last year they included the 50-100. I took Mine last year with the 45-70 and felt under gunned. but some how I was able to bring mine down. I may stop using the 300gr loads and go for a bigger bullet.

All a bigger bullet will do is hit the dirt harder on the other side...

That's why I use the 150 or 125 grain pills in my .30-30s.

[.45colt]

Boy Griff, just like at work I love to hear from a "real" ex-pert. You Da Man....Thanks.... .

[rustyguns]

Thanks for the replies....Knew I was asking the right guys !!!

[1894c]

And successful to me is a skillet full of onions, peppers, and fresh game meat.

Homer -- I like this, I like it allot... :)

[Homer]

And successful to me is a skillet full of onions, peppers, and fresh game meat.

Homer -- I like this, I like it allot...

And I like this!