A better 30-30 bullet?

[bigshark]

I have an old Win. Mdl. 64 and I would like to use it next year on an out of state deer hunt. I got the gun in the 60s and have never used it. I remember how sports writers called the 30-30 round a poor choice at the time. Yet, some said that it had taken more game than all the others combined at the time. My question is: Has the round been improved? With todays technology it seems that bullet design could make it a better stopper than the under 75-100 yd round it was claimed to be confined to back in the dark ages. Any thoughts?

[Trick]

I took my first three bucks with a hand-me down 30-30 and it was pretty accurate. I sighted it in at 80 yards and it was pretty accurate to about 150yd with minimal bullet drop. It was a great west-side brush gun. I ran 150 grain factory loads and a straight 4 power weaver scope.

Forget it in open country. I've hunted eastside for a few years and you'll spot plenty of bucks in the 400-500+ yard range. Which is way past my shooting comfort zone with my 30-06. I'm picking up a mag rifle for the next year I go over. Narrowed it down to either a 300 rem ultra mag or a 300 winchester (cheaper loads). Might need to start reloading one of these days.

As far as technology on the 30-30 loads....I don't think anything has changed it the last few decades? Check out some ballistic charts for comparison.

[Zen Leecher aka Bill W]

Bigshark,

Pick whatever 150 grain bullet suits you and shoot that. Your .30/30 might be good out to 175 yards, but you will be hard pressed to shoot good with open sights on that gun past that. Actually 150-175 is a tough shoot looking thru a peep or open sights if you have "geezer eyes" like I do.

Gun should be a good to carry on a deer trip. I have some vintage guns I'd like to take out again. I have a .30/40 Krag that was my first ever deer rifle that I could call my own. Also have two .30/30's and a .375 Winchester (not the H&H Mag) that I'd like to use on deer.

The .30/30's and the .375 Winchester have peeps on them. The Krag doesn't.

So, whichever brand of ammo you prefer, or whichever color box you like should work. I wouldn't go any heavier than 150 grain as the trajectory will be a little flatter than the 170 grain. Trajectory on a .30/30 is a "loopy" one.

What's the model 64? Is that the one where the magazine tube doesn't go all the way forward to the muzzle?

[Dogfish]

PMC loads a "starfire" all copper bullet in their Eldorado line. It is a full tilt bullet with excellent weight retention, upwards of 95%.

I have also loaded 150 grain spire points for my father-in-law's model "94" for first shot bullets, and then loaded only one in the magazine. You avoid the problem primer ignition in the magazine tube, and you can get much better range. You need to load some dummy rounds to make sure that they will function, so check the overall length carefully if you decide to reload.

One shot = deer down. Two shots = maybe a deer down. Three shots = no deer. Call me lucky, or just a good shot, but I have never needed more than two shots to bring down an elk or deer. I have fired an ocassional finishing shot, but the first or second shot had stopped the animal.

[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: Dogfish ]

[Zen Leecher aka Bill W]

Andy,

When you shot pointed bullets, did you shoot a "co-mingled" group to make sure the spitzers shot in the same group with the flat points?

Don't think I'd do that as I'd like all my slugs to hit to the same point of aim.
Understand the concept, but mine is to keep things simple.

How was your deer hunting this last weekend? Did your trackster nephew get his deer?

I have dog "news".

[Dogfish]

Hi Bill,

I didn't co-mingle the ammo, as I was only shooting for that round. I did it as a pet project after going through hunter ed with Michael. The WDFW was given H & R handi-rifles in .30-30 WCF specifically for the firearms training portion of hunter ed, single shot break actions.

The instructor, Tom Brown, had handloaded some spire points for the class, and remarked at how well they worked in a lever when you went by the two-shooter rule.

Michael got his deer. See the Weekend hunting report. Andy

[Zen Leecher aka Bill W]

I saw your report. Tell him congrats from me. Those first deer are always the ones remembered most.

Bill

[bigshark]

Trick,Bill & Dodfish
Thanks for the imput. I'm going to give it a
try. Bill the M64 is the rifle version. Its the lever action with a longer barrel,hence a
shorter looking magazine. It has a pistol grip with the lever following those lines. It
looks like a skinney M71(348 cal) if that rings a bell. Yep, I know all about the gizzer eye business and will in all likleyhood not even see the deer if its more than 100 yds away....maybe I have grown into
this little gun and iron sights [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ 10-15-2001: Message edited by: bigshark ]