30-30 real world experience?????

[STUMPJMPR]

I have read the effective range on the standard 150gr round was 200yards according to chuckhawks.  I don't remember the exact numbers but it was around 900fpe, 3" high at 100 and around 3" low at 200.  The longest shot i have ever made with a 30-30 has been around 50 yards and everything died fast.  Has anyone shot and killed anything around the 200 yard mark and how did it perform?

[Dand]

When I was 16 a guy gave me some 150 gr Hornady reloads he made for me.  I shot a small moose at something over 150 yards - my first big  game and I didn't know any better. Don't know yardage for sure but I held over his back what I estimated to be a foot.  At the bullet strike the moose dropped like a rock.  Had to finish him up close but it didn't go anywhere.  I couldn't figure out where I hit it til I had the meat home and found a small hold drilled right through the back bone just behind the hump.  Beginners luck I guess - I don't recommend a 30-30 for moose - use my 348 or 300 win mag, or '06.  Only other large game I've shot with my 30-30 was a small back tail deer at about 30 yards.  Hit it between the shoulders from behind and it dropped - I think I was using Nosler 170 gr solid base bullets for that one.  I have friend who likes the 30-30 for caribou at close ranges - Rem corelock 170 I think.

[John020769]

I was with a friend hunting up north and hunting on His grandma land next to a power lane ,I don`t now how far apart the polls are put We were Young and We had Doe permits , about 2 and 1/2 polls down (now He is a very good shot) 170 Winchester slivertip  and a old Winchester 94  first shot  she never moved second shot straight down . After cleaning the first shot right threw the broiler room in one side out the other ,second shot He shot high and spin shot . Now almost 20yrs later We would never do this again but the 30 30 can do it .     

[fish280]

doe.
196 yards.
handload featuring the 170-grain sierra at 2,300 fps or thereabout.
4x32 trashco scope.
angle eject model 94.
DRT.

[coryroc]

I regularly go after wild pigs here in the Australian outback with my Marlin .30.30.  The pigs can get pretty big out here and I usually go for the ones around the 160 pound mark.  Most shots are taken about 80 to 120 yards away.  I load the 150g Remington Core-Lokt bullet and if the pig is hit in the right spot it drops them every time.  Haven't yet met a pig that got away once hit with the .30.30 150 grain Core-Lokt.  Once I dropped 2 pigs with the one shot at about 80 yards.  The bullet went straight through the first one and lodged in the second.  I wouldn't try to hit anything with the .30.30 over 150 yards though.

[demented]

I've always considered the 30-30 to be a 150 yard cartridge at best.  I've seen shots made much further but I prefer as much energy transfer as possible, IMO at 200 yards the typical flat/round nose bullet just doesn't have enough.  I'm anxious to try the new Leverevolution from Hornady, perhaps this round will allow my 30-30 to maintain enough energy to be effective at longer ranges. 

[myronman3]

put the bullet where it needs to go and the result is a dead animal.   i think it is funny that with a rifle,  people say it is an underpowered round,  but handgunners consider it to be a powerhouse in contenders/encores.   mine would shoot 4 1/2 " groups @ 200 yards using nosler 150 grain ballistic tips off of a rest.   
   regarding the stories above 

...20 years later and wouldnt do it again..   

  and..

...my first big  game and I didn't know any better...

  funny how both stories ended with dead animals.  evidently the animals didnt know any better, either. 

[Lloyd Smale]

dad shot an 8 pointer that we paced off at 195 yards. dropped in its tracks. My buddy shot an antelope using open sights at 245 yards dropped in its tracks.

[JKF59]

  I took a doe this past season with 150 gr Win. factory loads. The first shot was broad side at 180 yards just behind the shoulder. The bullet passed completely through and the deer ran about 50 yards into a field. By the time I shot again she had turned away from me and her hind quarters were down. I'm sure she would have expired right there without another shot but I shot again any way. At 200 yards, the second shot went through the spine and was found under the hide in the chest area. The jacket had separated from the core but was right there with the bullet. The jacket and core weighed 112 grains (75% weight retention).
  I have an aperature sight on the rear and a small bead on the front. At 180-200 yards the deer looked pretty small. I would think that 200 yards is the limit with these sights but the cartridge seemed to perform OK at that range.

[Old Grizz]

Shot a deer at 187 yards this year and one at 150 yards last year using LE from Hornady. Antelope hunters are taking them at 300 yards with the same ammo.

[cybin]

Many years ago I was hunting with my late uncle when he shot a deer at 220 yards. He was using silvertips 170 grain. The bulletl hit a rib going in and a rib comming out, so we didn't recover it. He held about 2 foot high he said. He was always a good shot. I think that those new hornady 30-30 bullets will probably write a new chapter for the 30-30. I intend to pick some up once the weather starts to warm up and go try them out.

[McLernon]

I shot a small 'button' buck at about 40 yards with a 180 gr bullet and it didn't even flinch, it just ran away. I found 'pink' blood spray on the bush it had been taking cover in so I knew it was a good lung hit, but the little fellow went about 60 yards before he collapsed, dead. It had a 30 caliber exit hole. I was so surprised when it didn't go flop that I wondered if I was shooting blanks

I guess there just wasn't enough deer there to get any expansion and deliver any shock. It was as though it had been arrow shot.

Mc