Sarge,

Well there is not a thing wrong with using a 30-30, and I have killed many deer with those open sights over the years. I recommend you look at the Hornady Leverevolution rounds with their pointed polymer tips to prevent rounds from hitting the primers in the magazine tube, and these bullets are awesome on paper or deer.

 

Admission that my aging eyes favor optical sights these days, and that I use that 30-30 only as a back up gun or when I am riding my horse since I know that a horse can undo a securely mounted scope with just one tree rubbing session.

 

Talk about a severe A$$ kicking here! I took the Savage out yesterday just to see how it shot at 100M when zeroed for 200M. She grouped about 3" high at 100 meters! Now remembering where I placed the X hairs on that deer, I would have spined it if I had've taken the Savage instead!

 Kick myself, kick myself, kick myself.............

more deer have been shot in the last 114 years with the 30 -30 than anything else, next in line is the '06.  I just talked to a guy yesterday that missed a buck at 30 yds with an inline.... he got nervous and pulled the shot..... the .30-30 is plenty for deer.

I don't know where you got your info. You need to check with one of the gun publications. The 30/06 is by far the most popular cartridge in the U.S. and has been for more years than I've been alive. If you love a 30/30 then you ought to use it and enjoy. I choose not to limit my rifles with wimpy cartridges !

well you are obvioulsy a young man. I said nothing about popularity. The 30-30 came on in 1894 the -06 in '06. the first sporting arm chambered for the 06 was the Winchester 1895 in 1909 15 years after the 30-30 was killing deer.  Now why dont you do a search checking not the most popular caliber, but the caliber that has killed the most deer in the US and let us know what you find out.

I'm old enough to get social security and I have checked it out. There isn't any survey on what round killed more deer than any other, but it stands to reason, if a round enjoys more (much more) popularity with sport shooters, it must be used more, thus more deer are shot with that round. I wish there was data on which round accounted for more lost cripples, I think it would tell you what you don't want to here. So shoot your thutty-thutty cowboy, and enjoy. It aint my choice !

 

first search I came to... yes it says that since WWI the 06 is more popular.... but it also says the 3030 has killed more.... if you say more popular means more kills, then you also must say being around longer means more kills

No no not at all ! What I'm saying is that the 30/06 sells more ammo, more reloading dies, and more reloading components. also more rifles are chambered for the 06 than any other. There are many cartridges out there that are older than the 30/30, doesn't mean that they have downed more deer, but the fact that the 30/06 sells more means that it's probably used more, and I'm talking MUCH more. By the way comp, my personal deer rifle is an old 30/40 Krag beater ! I don't particularly care for that round either. Most of the deer I 've shot (and it's a few), I could've used a .22 Mag with about the same results. I never have either searched for a deer or had to shoot it twice. And agian, if you like your 30/30, then by all means shoot the devil out of it, the gun you like is probably the one you do best with !

I buy lots of 06 and run it through my BAR, expensive but fun,  for deer I use my 300 WM. I know its bound to happen but Ive never missed a deer yet. Never took more than one shot either. I've taken, 1 with my 44 mag,  3 with the 30-30, 2 with the 06 and 8 with the 300. I LIKE the 300..... none ran more than 40 yds.... and that was a  running shot with the 300. Going strictly by buying compoenants I should hunt with the 06.... but that goes through the MG. I'll continue looking, mostly everything Ive found is anecdotle evidence. It appears to be excepted as fact that the 30-30 has killed more deer than any other caliber. You got to remember that game commissions as we know them today didnt exist early on, and deer were over hunted almost to extinction like the buffalo. Once the 06 was out in the public the first thing many tried to do was better it. hence the 270, 308, 243,  2506  etc... Is it the most popular... probably. I think the 308 has gained on it. Id still bet on the 3030 for the most kills since 1894

Same bullet.

Just a matter of how close you'll be getting to that critter .

Besides, I’m thinking states that are on the fence about rifle hunting will be more accepting of the 30/30. Just because it (bullet) wont be flying into the next county if it misses.

LG right now I'm working in Ind. They just changed their laws this year to allow center fire rifles for deer that are chambered for pistol cartridges... The guy in a local shop told me the levers are flying off the shelf in 44 mag and 357.  I think those guys are still better off with a good shotgun and slugs and a scope than with a lever action in 44 mag.  Now a lever gun in 500S&W may have some merit...

Don't they carry 44mag handguns for bear protection ?

I know w guy thats a cop on kodiak Is. He carries a 12 ga with slugs fr bear protection. At  the gun shop he part times at he told me they have a service for hunters.... they mill the front sight off the bbl of the hunters 44s..... that way when Mr grizz shoves the pistol up their ...  it wont hurt quite as much....

Levergunner,

I really like that new Hornady Leverolution, and it can fly much like a bolt action round. I think we will be in trouble if any deer rifle or caliber is outlawed, and we need to hang together to preven misfits from deciding what type of gun is more politically acceptable for hunting.

 

Just a comment about the total number of rifles chambered in 30/06 versus 30/30. Both are capable guns in the hands of a marksman who takes good clean shots. I have seen wahoos shoot four and five times as fast as they could work the lever on those 30/30's and miss every time. I have also seen marksman who used those open sights in proper fashion in thick timber to make one shot kills of deer, moose, and elk. I use both calibers, and I use the 30/30 when hunting with horses (and no, one does not shoot off the horse if you care about you safety) effectively to bring meat home.

 

My experience is the 30/06 is more accurate due largely to its optical sights and outstanding ballistics but the 30/30 has its place in the canoe, in the bush plane, packed in a bouncing jeep, or in a scabbard of a galloping horse. Use either knowing where it is sighted in, and know the range that you can be effective.

and Ive seen guys shoot deer in the hind quarter with a 7mm mag and kill it.... I would still bet that the longevity of the 30-30, the price difference in the 20's and 30's, the fact that hunting rifles were not produced during the world war.... that more deer have been killed in the US, in total since 1894 with the 30-30 than any other caliber