7.62x39 most accurate handi so far

[carbineman]

My only complaint about a 30/30 is the factory ammo it has traditionally been loaded with.  Blunt nose bullets weighing more than necessary, and thinner jacketed than should have been used.  The 170 grain round nose bullets are the worst of the group, too low velocity and too thin jacket.  This should have never been offered.  The thinner jacket allows it to expand easily on thin skinned critters like deer, but the weight and nose profile are for penetration.  With the low velocity it does neither as well as it should. 

Now drop the bullet weight to 125 to 140 grains, give the bullet either a flat or spire point and you have what the 30/30 should have been all along.  With the correct bullet at the correct velocity the 30/30 will do the job very well.  With spire point bullets it is easily a 200 yard gun.

Have you checked out the LeverEvolution ammo or the handloading potetial with LE propellant and the 150 and 170 grain Sierra FN bullets? Or handloaded 160 grain FTX bullets with LE? You might be surprised.
 
As a loader of 130 and 135 grain spitzers bullets in the 30-30, I have switched (for hunting) to using the 170 grain Sierra FN loaded with LE propellant. It's not your grandpappy's 30-30 anymore. The above mentioned work darn nice in a Handi or in my case a Topper barrel. All that and at a lower pressure according to Hodgdon's website.

[OBXPilgrim]

My only complaint about a 30/30 is the factory ammo it has traditionally been loaded with.  Blunt nose bullets weighing more than necessary, and thinner jacketed than should have been used.  The 170 grain round nose bullets are the worst of the group, too low velocity and too thin jacket.  This should have never been offered.  The thinner jacket allows it to expand easily on thin skinned critters like deer, but the weight and nose profile are for penetration.  With the low velocity it does neither as well as it should. 

Now drop the bullet weight to 125 to 140 grains, give the bullet either a flat or spire point and you have what the 30/30 should have been all along.  With the correct bullet at the correct velocity the 30/30 will do the job very well.  With spire point bullets it is easily a 200 yard gun.

I couldn't help but chuckle when I read that, not that I disagree with you, depending on how you want to use your 30-30, but that the 30-30 can be used completely differently by different folks.  I most places I hunt, a 100 yard shot IS long range, most being 50 yards or less.  The 170 gr is great in that situation.

I got a 7.62x39, mostly by accident.  Sent in an SB2 frame for an extra barrel for 357 & 30-30 - in my mind (and where I hunt) the perfect "group" of fitted barrels for a multi-barrel set.  After a few months of waiting I called H&R and was told they didn't have any 30-30 barrel and wouldn't for several more months.  "What do you have in stock".  "Well, 7.62x39 - how about that?"  "OK send it".  That was a few months before the misfire issues started coming out, and my youngest son found out about it as he dropped the hammer 3 times on the first deer he'd seen in the woods before it slowly trotted off to other parts.  I've never tried to shoot cheap ammo in it - but I'm sure it wouldn't shoot it because of the issues with light strikes with my reloaded (recessed primers, short firing pin protrusion).

Now, my 7.62x39 H&R is a dedicated cast boolit slinger.  A 311407 (Lyman design) custom mold bullet pushed to 1800 fps with H4895, shoots great, kills deer & works for me. 

Maybe now you might see more of why I chuckled after reading Keith44's post.  Sounds like he's trying to make his 30-30 more like a factory 7.62x39 round (maybe a little more velocity), while I'm making my 7.62x39 more like a 30-30, but with even more bullet weight. 
 
And those 180 grainers really shoot good too.