Is the .30-30 Winchester Over Rated?

        no way ! its not over rated ! Its a great cartirige and the model 94 and 336 are grreat rifles ! I want a 30/30 and I was plannining to trade for one this weekend but my daughter needs dental work and I may have to sell my trade bait to pay the bill.  I was hunting with a pal this year and he used his model 94 a couple times even though he had a brand new ruger 7 mag locked in my tool box !

  ...tj3006

Actually none other than jack O'connor said it was the best deer cartridge made.

The 30-30 is a very good round.  I don't think it is limited at all, however the rifles that it is made in are limited.

The Win 94 originally never took a scope well, offset!  The lever Marlin and Win have low pressure limits with rear locking lugs.  The Marlin and Win also have poor triggers and both have tubular magazines that preclude the use of pointed bullets.  These things handicap the rifles and there for the cartridge as sold.  If Remington ever makes the M700 Classic in 30-30 I'd buy it immediately.

BEAR

Overrated for what? Works well for what it was designed for.

Maybe it is handicapped a bit by the rifles it is available in, but it works. Single shot hand rifles are availble and very popular in .30/30. Try finding a Remington 788 in .30/30! I believe that Winchester originally planned to chamber no less tha the model 54 in .30/30, but decided against it because of the case rim. I have even heard stories that a small number were actually released from pre-production.

I think I need one to make a well informed decision, anyone willing to give me theirs!

I would like to have a Win. 94AE in 30-30 with rear aperture sight for precisely the reasons outlined above - fast handling, short-medium range deer getter! 

I don't see the pointy bullet thing being an issue with the thuty-thuty. For the velocity and working range, a round or flat nosed bullet is what this caliber wants to eat!

The only failure I have seen of the round has been people using inappropriately light bullets, that would blood shot meat badly.

Triggerguard wrote: Try finding a Remington 788 in .30/30!

TG - I actually had one about 5 years ago. Great rifle. Tried loading spitzer type bullets for it but could only shoot them single shot as they were too long to feed from the magazine. Deadly accurate with the 150 gr RN and 170 FP .30 cal bullets designed for the .30-30!

Was forced to sell it when going thru some financial hardships [divorce]...  would buy it back in a minute, though!

Regards, Marcus.

Hi Marcus  >>  I don't think it's over- or under-rated.  It's just a .30-30.  It's one of those cartridges that you can't help liking for some reason.  You might not currently have one in the safe or have a realistic use for the mild performance levels offered, but everyone still has a healthy respect for it.  For me at least, more than anything, my respect stems from the simple fact that it isn't passed off as being an unrealistic equal to larger cartridges.  You never hear such things with the .30-30.  It's always kept in the realistic context of what it can offer.  No frills.  No trying to justify it's existence matching it with other higher performing things.  Like DAKOTASIN said, a .30-30 is just that, nothing more or less.  I can respect it for that.  Later.  >>  korey

Nope . . . not over-rated . . . I hunted with a Winchester Model 94 Ranger for a while.  Dang good at short ranges.  I always used 170 grain bullets.  Mighty popular in the South.  One of my better "non-guns!"    Also had another "non-gun," a Marlin 1894 .357.  Never hunted with it.  Mainly a "behind-the-seat" weapon.  I always thought it better than most for a handy defensive weapon.

Supposed to drop 30 degrees for the high temps in Springs.  Been breaking records all week . . . was 83 today.

Don't get on much anymore . . . where's DFC, Bearhunter, and others.  Hope the "maroons" haven't run you off.  I know Tash doesn't like to control things too much, but there is a little too much "porno" on here now . . . for my tastes.  Most men don't respect other men who think filth and vulgarity are somehow humorous.  Myself . . . I got better things to do.     Wish DFC and others would get back on here so that we can discuss shooting.

Here's a tip for ya, use 150's on deer and 170's on elk sized animals. I have a pre 64 thurdy thurdy, love the old thing.

 

Dan

 

here is a pic of my sons westernfield( savage made) 30/30 bolt we got on vacation this summer. we found some befor but they wanted 350 for them. and they were junk.the gun shop had 3. we picked this 1 up for 200. and it had a 4x scope on it. since then we have seen 2 others 1 for 300 each. this little thing will shoot. and it will shoot spitzer bullets.he has used anywhere from a 110 - 170 gr bullets. last sunday he was shooting it at a 6 in. gong at 200 yds and hitting it. his friend has a savage 340 just like my sons. you should see the looks the old guys gave them when they were using them at a big bore shoot.