Does any one else usa a 30-30?

[DeanoZ]

My first Rifle was a Marlin 336C Lever in the 30-30.  I use it to this day and as a matter of fact used it during the Nov Deer Season in NY.  Great brush gun.

[69Viking]

I started hunting 5 years ago and spent a lot of time online researching different guns and then decided the best choice was the Marlin 30-30 Leveraction.  It is by far my favorite gun even after shooting several other kinds that friends have.  A couple of years ago I also discovered the Hornady LeveRevolution bullet that allows me to easily knock deer down at 200+ yards.  If you haven't tried this ammo give it a try, you'll be impressed at what it does to extend the 30-30's range. 

[gunther89]

I used to use a 30-30 for 3 years.  Got a deer every year I used it but went to a 30-06 because it was given to me by my grandpa and it means more to me.  None the less the 30-30 is a great gun to use!

[JOEL]

     marlin 336c in 30/30 is my fave                        

[Nubs]

I shoveled horse manure on my uncles farm for a whole summer, saved every dime I earned and bought a Marlin 30-30 lever action rifle for deer hunting. I killed my first buck with it and my first doe. I have since bought a 7mm savage for my deer rifle but I still have my 30-30. I plan on giving it to my son when he becomes old enough to hunt. 5 more years and counting! My dad has always used a 30-30 and has killed many deer with it. My brother has a 30-30 rifle that has been passed down in my family for 4 generations now, that gun is no longer used for hunting purposes but the legacy behind it is cool.

[shaman]

My dealings with the 30-30 are just a bit checkered.  For starters, I'll turn you on to this:

Ode to a 30-30 Pts I thru III

After that episode, I spent the next few years trying to figure out why I was having poor luck with the 30-30.   Mooseboy kept trying the 30-30 and it did not work for him any better.  He lost a deer in 2004. In 2005, we had to finish one off. All this while, I really wanted to believe the 30-30 was a good cartridge. 

Adobe Walls over at the 24hourcampfire told me to try  Winchester 150 gr. Powerpoint bullets.  However, also right about then Mooseboy switched to M1 Garand and further load development for the Marlin 336 got shelved. The change to 30-06 changed everything.

It wasn't until this year that #3 son, Angus, came of age and decided to use the Marlin for his first deer hunt.  He shot a nice fat doe  and I could not have asked for better performance from any of my 30-06 rifles. It took a few years to vindicate it,  but I am glad we can put this behind us.

In retrospect, I think the trouble I had from the Marlin 336 was a combination of the kid getting nervous and the various Hornady bullets not expanding enough. My experience with the 30-30 was somewhat anomalous.

The comment has already been made:  more deer have been killed by 30-30 than any other cartridge.   Yes, and I would also add that 30-30 has caused more deer to be lost than any other.  According to a poll here back in the fall, most folks take the majority of their deer within 80 yards.  At that range the 30-30 is just as good as any other cartridge, but at 150 yards I do not consider it a match for a 30-06. As long as you know the 30-30's limitations it is a fine round.  I would say the same for the 35 Rem and the 44 Mag.



As it is, the Marlin 336 is probably going to be pulled off deer duty either this season or next.  Angus has decided he wants to move up to a Mosin Nagant and a deer load  which I have downloaded to 300 Savage levels.  The 336 is going to be repurposed as a dedicated coyote killer with 110gr to 130 grain bullets.

[69Viking]

Shaman, sorry to hear you haven't had good luck with the 30-30 but I can assure you it's an excellent rifle for shots up to and over 200 yards.  The Hornady rounds and even some from the other manufacturers allow this caliber to easily take deer in the 100-200 yard range.  I shot a 6 point buck that weighed around 180 pounds at 175 yards and he dropped in his tracks without taking a single step.  In 5 years I've shot 6 deer and all but one of them were taken in the 100-200 range with my Marlin 30-30 using the Hornady LeveRevolution 160 gr. bullet.  How you can say the 30-30 has caused more deer to be lost than any other is beyond me, I have yet to lose a deer and just don't see it.     

[shaman]

My point in the previous post was simply that a 30-30 rifle and cartridge, without some modification (or special ammo), cannot be used the same as something like a 30-06.  Please don't get me wrong about the 30-30.  It's a great round for what it does.

Where I see it going wrong is:
a) Folks trying to shoot at deer out of the operating range of the round
b) Folks taking marginal shots
c) Folks just not bothering to aim at all.

A bunch of my neighbors all shoot 30-30, and they all seem to have the same bad habit of unloading the rifle at a deer or a herd of deer.  It's the hunter, not the rifle to be certain.  When you hear a string of 5 shots all strung out with a slight delay, you can tell it's a lever instead of a semi-auto at work. You can also bet their meat pole is going to be empty when you go past.

#2 son did the same thing the first time he saw a herd of deer at 150 yards-- he threw up the rifle and started blasting away with no thought of seriously aiming, and had a couple of shots off before I could stop him.  That was it for hunting for that day.  We were standing next to a hay bale; if he had been smart about it, he might have been able to use the bale as a rest and pick one off.

What the little booger didn't know is that I'd taken a few grains of powder out of the load before giving it to him.  By the time the bullet was out that far, it was several feet low.  I finally clued Mooseboy into my secret about a year ago. He'd been under orders not to  shoot anything beyond 50 yards, but I kind of half expected what had happened.  Mooseboy didn't get a deer that day, but he learned an important lesson about keeping his cool.

I've heard great things about the Hornady LeveRevolution ammo, but I have heard a few bum reports as well.  The special thing about these loads is the pointy rubber tip that makes them safe in a tube magazine, while still having a superior ballistic coefficient.   As with any cartridge, it works great in some rifles and not so good in others.  I reload, so I suppose I could probably duplicate the 200 yard performance with Spire-point bullets and just live with the Marlin being a 2-shooter. A few of my buddies have just done that with really good success.  In fact one of my friends used to win $100 bets shooting with his 30-30 at 200 yards. 

BTW: If anyone wants to try it, I think Hugh was shooting 150 grain Hornady Interlock BTSP's  over IMR 3031.


The next step after I acquired the Marlin 336 was to acquire a Savage 99 in 308 WIN. Despite several other acquisitions since, the 99 became my favorite.  What I did was reduce the 308 WIN loads down to 300 Savage velocities.  What I ended up with was a rifle that had vastly better performance than the 30-30, lower pressures and  lower recoil than a normal 308 WIN and all this without having to worry about flat-nosed bullets.

[69Viking]

If anything I can say Shaman, you always explain things in great detail!  Explaining that it's the hunter and not the rifle makes more sense.  In your first post it seemed you were blaming the 30-30.  I'll agree the 30-30 is no 308 or 30-06 but I am more than happy hunting with it where I hunt.  The longest shot possible is 225 yards at best and that's only in a couple of locations.  I'm comfortable knowing I could make the shot with the 30-30 and the deer isn't going to go far.  I've never understood the madness of just shooting off several rounds in the direction of a "herd" of deer!
 
I know someday I'll want to hunt somewhere I need to shoot farther than 225 yards so I have been shopping for that long range rifle.  The one I've settled on is the Marlin 308MXLR.  Yes I like the lever actions and this one is getting great reviews.  Not to mention I love the stainless look with black-grey two-tone stock.  It will probably be used more for show than hunting but you never know. 
 
 

[shaman]

That's a good looking rifle there, but still not your run-of-the-mill thutty-thutty.  It just comes down to successfully answering the question: is this this right tool for the job and is the nut holding the handle up to the task?  For every guy on here that loves their 30-30 and thinks it is the best there is for their hunting, I'd say the answer is a positive one.

Where it gets really strange is when folks try to push the 30-30 envelope.  The new Hornady ammo does this in a safe way. The 30-30is a great round to begin with, and if you like it in a lever gun, you will love it in a bolt action with spitzer bullets.  However,  whenever you see someone talking about getting their 150 grain bullets up to 2600 fps or duplexing powders or some such shenanigans be certain to put a large earthen berm between you and the speaker as soon as possible.  The last I heard was a guy less than a month ago talking the  line of logic that
a)  If Marlin can make a 356 WIN variant on the same receiver as the 35 REM
b)  It's the same receiver as the 30-30
c)  I crank the pressure in my 30-30 to the same as the 356 WIN. . .

. . .as I said, time to find a berm. If no berm is available, get low. The metal generally shreds up and out.

Before I go any further, here's a link for a good lever gun resource:
[url=http://www.levergunscommunity.org/]
[/url]http://www.levergunscommunity.org/

. . . gotta run to an appointment.  I'll try and check back later.