Way back in 1962 at the tender age of 12 when I harvested my first whitetail in the pine and hardwood forest of northeast Texas, I thought my iron-sighted lever action 30-30 was all the rifle I would ever need for hunting deer. Looking back six decades, I’m now convinced I was pretty close to right!
The 30-30 has been around a long time, since way back in 1895 and was one of the first cartridges to use smokeless powder. It’s name is derived from the caliber and grains of smokeless powder; thirty caliber and thirty grains. Pushing a 160 grain bullet at almost 2,000 fps, it was the speed demon of the time!
When I was in my late teens, the fast, flat shooting magnum rifle bug bit me. Many gun writers of the day were singing the praises of heavy magnum calibers and I was ready to own a rifle that could really ‘reach out there’. I went from my ‘near perfect’ woods caliber to a 7 mm Remington Magnum, a great caliber but definitely not one designed for shooting deer in heavy cover at ranges often inside 60 yards!
I still remember shooting that forkhorn buck at about 50 yards, right behind the shoulder with my magnum rifle. I also remember him tucking his tail and running like a scalded ape through the woods, leaving a very sparse blood trail. The bullet had not hit bone and simply zipped through his lungs with very little if any expansion. Of course he only ran about 60 yards through the heavy cover but I remember being amazed at the little damage done by the 160-grain bullet.
I was accustomed to the soft-point, slower 30-30 round mushrooming almost on impact and leaving a good trail of blood to follow or, as was often the case, dropping the deer in its tracks.
I truly believe many consider the 30-30 a very close range woods rifle because of the iron sights the rifles come equipped with. Because of its top ejection, the Winchester model 94, the most popular rifle chambered in 30-30 of all times is usually shot with open sights although a offset scope mount is available. There are many side-ejection, lever-action rifles on the market that facilitate top mounted scopes.
It’s tough for the average shooter to use the iron sights that come standard on most 30-30’s and shoot acceptable groups out much past 100 yards. Years ago, I learned that a quality peep sight greatly increases accuracy and the range of my trusty old ‘thutty-thutty.
Topped with a quality scope, lever guns with side ejection are made even more effective with improved accuracy and range. There is probably more Winchester model 94’s in production than any other model. These rifles are top ejection which usually equates to shooting with some sort of iron sights. There are side mounts designed to mount the scope off the side of the reciever but for obviously reasons, they never became popular. It’s a challenge training the eye not to look down the barrel of a rifle but rather off to one side.
But just what is the maximum effective range of the round in a ‘real world’ hunting situation? Let’s take a look first at the trajectory table and then I’ll share a bit of information that you might want to apply to your hunts with this old caliber. Using quality 160-grain ammo with a 100-yard zero, bullet drop at 200 yards is about 7 to 8 inches; beyond that the bullet falls too fast to make it a viable hunting round, in my opinion. Oh, it’s possible to kill deer out farther knowing the precise distance and bullet drop for that distance but this seldom occurs when that mossy antlered buck steps out of the brush and gives you a five- or six-second shot opportunity. At 200 yards, the bullet is still traveling at around 1500-feet-per-second and packing a bit over 800-foot-pounds of energy. Regardless what some might say, this is plenty of energy to effectively harvest deer-size animals when hit in the vitals. I regularly use big bore air rifles with muzzle velocities of around 850 fps. and take deer out to about 75 yards.
Inside 100 yards, bullet drop is not a factor. With a rifle zeroed at 100 yards, the bullet will strike within an inch of the bull’s eye at 50 yards. It’s the longer shots where it’s important to know trajectory when hunting with a 30-30. Given the vertical length of the ‘kill zone’ on deer of about 12 inches, I’ve found a 160-yard zero to be perfect for a ‘center of shoulder’ shot. Regardless the distance out to 200 yards, the bullet will strike within the vitals. This is the yardage I zero my scoped rifle but when shooting peep sights, I still keep my shots within 125 yards. My sighting apparatus has the capability for accuracy out to 200 yards but my aged eyes do not!
One reason that many consider the effective range of the 30-30 cartridge to be around 100 yards is the fact that most shoot the rifle with the iron sights that usually come standard. It’s a challenge (impossibility) for many of us with older eyes to use even the best peep sights for accurate 200 yards shots but in the real world, most of us can consistently shoot 4 inch groups at 100 yards, especially with peep sights.
With the introduction of Hornady’s LEVERevolution bullets several years ago that are designed for tubular magazines, down range energy was improved as well as a flatter trajectory than standard 30-30 rounds. Prior to the LEVERevolution bullets, it was necessary to load the more blunt rounds in the tubular magazines of lever action rifles. The ‘soft’ points of the LEVERevoution will not cause the primer of the round loaded adjacent to fire.
When these bullets came out in 2005, I was anxious to give them a try...finally a 30-30 bullet designed to produce more energy down range as well as a flatter trajectory. Shooters and hunters immediately ‘took to’ the new design and today they have become the gold standard for hunters. Those old lever guns that were stashed away back in the gun cabinet were put to use with the new ammunition and a new generation of 30-30 hunters emerged!
So, is the 30-30 truly the best cartridge for hunting deer? That is most definitely a loaded question. I do believe that if one hunts only in the woods or areas where shots longer than 200 yards are not a factor, it’s hard to beat this great old caliber. With about half the recoil of a 30-06 and plenty of punch to cleanly harvest deer-size game at reasonable distances, the 30-30 definitely deserves a hard look. But, if my hunting adventures take me out west and a wall hanger mule deer buck is spotted standing broadside at 300 yards across a canyon, I would be wishing for one of those magnum calibers that caused me to stow my old model 94 in the gun cabinet many years ago!
Sidebar
Through the years, the 30-30 has had many different names including the 30 Winchester Smokeless, .30 Winchester, .30 W.C.F., .30-6-100, .30 Marlin, .30-30 Marlin Smokeless, .30-30 Win., .30 American and in Europe, the old cartridge was named DWM 543 (Germany) and 7.62x51R.
Regardless what is called, this old round has been around a long, long time and because of its many attributes, hunters for many generations will hopefully continue to choose it for their ‘woods gun’.
