Author Topic: New Respect for the old 30-30 (Read 6821 times)

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #60 on:** October 02, 2009, 03:34:24 PM »

Dee, thanks. It is a good caliber, and I really like this old Marlin. With the micro grove barrel it seems cast is out, but its sure is a nice little rifle, and does very well with in its range. I am sure you know this quite well.

Dee · « **Reply #61 on:** October 02, 2009, 03:36:07 PM »

Quote from: Wyo. Coyote Hunter on October 02, 2009, 03:34:24 PM

Dee, thanks. It is a good caliber, and I really like this old Marlin. With the micro grove barrel it seems cast is out, but its sure is a nice little rifle, and does very well with in its range. I am sure you know this quite well.

Yep! I don't even hesitate at 250 yards.

nomosendero · « **Reply #62 on:** October 02, 2009, 04:02:22 PM »

Quote from: Wyo. Coyote Hunter on October 02, 2009, 03:34:24 PM

Dee, thanks. It is a good caliber, and I really like this old Marlin. With the micro grove barrel it seems cast is out, but its sure is a nice little rifle, and does very well with in its range. I am sure you know this quite well.

Congrats on your successful hunt! We should arrive on the ranch that we have been hunting for years
next Saturday. (We won't be around any of those "tourists" you mentioned

) The rancher is a friend,we take care of the land & it's been great, I am really looking forward to it!

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #63 on:** October 03, 2009, 04:15:01 AM »

Nomosendaro, have a great hunt. when things slow down, hunting is enjoyable, but I cannot enjoy it with people shooting and riding everywhere. I mentioned in another post, I got my mulie on an earlier hunt in W. Wy. also with this .30-30 but 150 silvertips.. Pleasant slow paced hunting is getting more difficult to find each year. Enjoy..

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #64 on:** October 05, 2009, 08:49:21 AM »

nice !

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #65 on:** October 05, 2009, 05:48:54 PM »

Quote from: Wyo. Coyote Hunter on October 02, 2009, 01:22:18 PM

This morning I took my old Marlin 24 " out antelope hunting. I have three tags and so far hadn't filled any., ...

Took mine last Saturday, along with my Roberts. Ended up taking one doe with the Roberts at 300 yards - only near shots I had were private land does and I didn't have permission to take them. Hoping for better luck next year as I think Wyoming antelope hunts will be an annual event for several of us in the future.

Argonaut · « **Reply #66 on:** October 17, 2009, 01:46:51 PM »

The .32 Win Spl is a far better cartridge. Having said that, I am going to run away now......

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #67 on:** October 17, 2009, 06:27:38 PM »

Argonaut, I assume you are making a big joke

I own both. My dad had a 32 that I inherited. The only diff. I can see is .32 ammo is pricey and harder to find. $:-\$

JWP58 · « **Reply #68 on:** October 18, 2009, 03:53:37 AM »

Why does it seem everyone loves to hate the 30-30? If its not "it cant kill an elk" its "the .35rem is better".

The 30-30win is a great cartridge, if it wasnt, it wouldnt be around today.

454Puma · « **Reply #69 on:** October 21, 2009, 08:37:00 AM »

I have to agree with whats been said here. I came late to the 30-30, first center fire was an '06! Always loved lever actions have a few but didn't get my first 30-30 until last year, have two now! Very easy cartridge to load for. Fun to shoot and like it's bigger brother the '06 it will do it's job if you do yours. From 0-125 yards there not much it will not kill. And well placed shots out to 200 yards and the deer/antelope are in trouble. Makes a great yote gun out to 225 yards scoped you could push it to 300 yards! Now since 90% of game is killed from 0-150 yard its the ideal cartridge for most hunting!

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #70 on:** October 21, 2009, 08:47:19 AM »

454, You got a bit carried away there didn't you!!!!!!!!

I mean I like this round, better than the .243 for big game.... But when one is shooting live game at more that 150-200 yards, any error on our part can cause great suffering o their part. When ranges lenghten, that is why God made .30-06's and .300's....

454Puma · « **Reply #71 on:** October 21, 2009, 09:43:45 AM »

Wyo. Coyote Hunter
Nope I didn't get carried away. From 0-150 yards the 30-30 will do for anything in the lower 48! I've been hunting for the better part of 35 years longest shot I've had on a big game animal was 175 yards! Most 100 yards or less! That includes hunting the west/mountains! Granted yes there are times when you'll get a longer shot -I guess it really comes down to the way you hunt. I've always liked to get close -no matter what the game is! It's just me- thats the way I am and how I hunt!

Don't get me wrong the '06 my first center fire and when you wack a deer at 100 yards or less you find it's way more then you need- though it's nice to know you could if needed reach out a touch a deer at 400+!

WyoStillhunter · « **Reply #72 on:** October 24, 2009, 04:00:19 AM »

I made a quest out of taking antelope, deer, and elk with my 6.5X55 scoped Rem 700 this year. Now I can say, "Been there, done that."

I have a Revelation 200 (made by Marlin for Western Auto Stores in 1960s) that I have never hunted with. At the range it has produced numerous 1", 3-shot groups with a variety of factory ammo while wearing a scope.

It won't actually prove anything but maybe I should get geared up with that old 30-30 and try for another hat tick next year. I know it can be done. Hmmm...

JWP58 · « **Reply #73 on:** October 24, 2009, 09:07:00 AM »

That is acutally a goal of mine, i want to take a Deer (whitetail or mulie), Pronghorn, Elk, and hog. All with my 30-30win (marlin 336cs).

Working on the Deer and hog part this fall.....

huntinhick · « **Reply #74 on:** October 28, 2009, 04:12:03 PM »

I have a self imposed rule that I will not shoot over 300 yards for big game. I don't need the meat I hunt for fun and for me the hunt is the fun part, having said that I am using the leverevolution rounds gotta love a 160 grain polytiped bullet that expands when shot from the old 30/30 plus according to hornadays website it still has 1025 ft lbs of energy at the 300 yard mark. you can see the results of last years deer trip and the recovered bullet under the contender rifle forum, mostly cause I have no idea how to repost the pics of the recovered bullet here. oh yeah forgot to mention that I am using a 5 1/2 lb contender g2 carbine with a 23" bull barrel that shoots under 1MOA when I do my part. I try to remember that I hunt for fun and that I could go by meat cheaper so i can wait for the good shot or go home empty handed and still have had a good hunt. I hope I did not get to far of topic.

carl

Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #75 on:** October 28, 2009, 06:56:03 PM »

Day after tomorrow I leave to go elk and deer hunting. Weekend before last I was at the range with my hunting buddy. After checking the scoeps at 100 we went to the long range where I got first-round hits on the gongs at both 500 and 600 yards with my .300WM. The Burris FFII with Ballistic Plex reticle makes such shots easy.

While I plan to get closer if I can, elk at 600 yards are in big trouble unlss the wind is blowing hard.

Swampman · « **Reply #76 on:** October 29, 2009, 12:04:06 AM »

While I could make that shot I'd never take it at game that I wanted to find.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #77 on:** November 02, 2009, 08:20:28 AM »

i like this topic , i like the 30-30 . A good one would serve a man for most anything in most of America as a hunting gun where rifles are used , maybe not the best choice but would work . I did not have someone show me how to reload so i got some books and learned the hard way . To be sure i met some good folks later and they strighten out a couple bad habits but i live thru it . One thing i learned was to look at how fast a bullet was moving at distance . That said if you look at a RN corelock remington bullet 30 cal 150 gr the biggest difference between a 30-30 , 3006 and 300 win mag is how close you have to get to be effective . It always seemed strange the guy who bad mouthed the 30-30 or like rifle would go on for hours how the 300 mag would kill at 7-8 hundred yards even though its speed had dropped to below what the 30-30 had at 150 yards . I hate to cloud the issue with facts BUT !

Dee · « **Reply #78 on:** November 02, 2009, 09:16:16 AM »

Quote from: SHOOTALL on November 02, 2009, 08:20:28 AM

i like this topic , i like the 30-30 . A good one would serve a man for most anything in most of America as a hunting gun where rifles are used , maybe not the best choice but would work . I did not have someone show me how to reload so i got some books and learned the hard way . To be sure i met some good folks later and they strighten out a couple bad habits but i live thru it . One thing i learned was to look at how fast a bullet was moving at distance . That said if you look at a RN corelock remington bullet 30 cal 150 gr the biggest difference between a 30-30 , 3006 and 300 win mag is how close you have to get to be effective . It always seemed strange the guy who bad mouthed the 30-30 or like rifle would go on for hours how the 300 mag would kill at 7-8 hundred yards even though its speed had dropped to below what the 30-30 had at 150 yards . I hate to cloud the issue with facts BUT !

Does seem odd doesn't it.?

Swampman · « **Reply #79 on:** November 02, 2009, 01:06:38 PM »

I've been working with this one. I believe it will shoot MOA with the right ammo.

KP · « **Reply #80 on:** March 16, 2010, 08:36:56 PM »

Hi all,

Well I finally got around to posting pictures of the bullets that caused so much discussion.

Just to rehash things. I bought my son a Marlin 30-30, put a 2-7 Nikon on it, and practiced a bunch. I had been reading a lot of articles about the Hornady Leverevolution rounds, so I figured why not give them a try. The gun was good for caribou sized targets out to about 200 yards, but I limited my son to 150 yards. I archery hunt mostly, so ranging everything is no big deal.

Anyway the bullet on the left was recovered from my son's caribou (111 yards no major bones hit). The bullet on the right was recovered from my caribou (130-140 yards broke the near side shoulder). Both bullets came very near to complete pass throughs.

rickt300 · « **Reply #81 on:** March 21, 2010, 04:56:40 AM »

Quote from: WyoStillhunter on October 24, 2009, 04:00:19 AM

I made a quest out of taking antelope, deer, and elk with my 6.5X55 scoped Rem 700 this year. Now I can say, "Been there, done that."

I have a Revelation 200 (made by Marlin for Western Auto Stores in 1960s) that I have never hunted with. At the range it has produced numerous 1", 3-shot groups with a variety of factory ammo while wearing a scope.

It won't actually prove anything but maybe I should get geared up with that old 30-30 and try for another hat tick next year. I know it can be done. Hmmm...

That rifle is a twin to mine right down to the scope and mount. Mine is also a model 200 Revelation and it is a tackdriver. I have been guilty of owning 30-30 rifles for many years and using them as backup or loaner rifles. I have seen the 30-30 drop elk, kill mule deer at 300 yards and fill a truck with antelope when I lived in Wyoming. At present I am still using the rifle as a loaner for hog hunting but it hasn't taken one yet.

JW/OK · « **Reply #82 on:** March 27, 2010, 04:48:18 AM »

I carried my Remington Model 788 in 30/30 to South Dakota on an antelope hunt this past fall. Just wanted to be able say I had taken an antelope with a 30/30. Crawled up on a doe at 135 yards and it was a DRT shot. Couldn't tell she was any less dead than the ones I shot with the 7 Rem Mag. This gun along with pics from this hunt will be handed down to my first grandson, now 6 months old.
JW

sachel.45 · « **Reply #83 on:** March 30, 2010, 07:24:29 PM »

hey swampman what kind of sling is on your marlin? nice looking rifle by the way