My longest .30-30 shot so far.

[jpshaw]

While I've killed a few deer with my Handi .30-30 I will have to admit most were in the 50 to 60 yard range.  Thanksgiving I wanted to hunt my son's tripod stand since there have been 4 deer killed from it this year.  It sits on a firebreak against an old growth behind and a recently cleared 20 acres in front.  The creek bottoms were left natural.  The firebreak is to your left and right on a hill.  The top of the hill to the right is about 150 yards away with the bottom between out of sight.  The hill is as far as you can see.  To the left the hill is also a bout 150 yards away and the bottom between is visable.  However, you can see a little of the firebreak beyond that hill where you walk to the stand.
 
Well about 7:30 that morning the first movement I see is beyond the hill to my left.  Looking through the scope and can see he is a buck but I can't tell how big.  I fiqured he would spook but didn't.  I finally decided, against my better judgement, to try it.  Dialed the scope up to 9x and shot.   He jumped up and kicked his back legs and took off.  I could hear him the whole way.  He must have broke every stick between the firebreak and where he ended up.
 
Finally found blood on the break but was having trouble following it through the bottom.  My son joined me and found more blood further in.  Thank god for his younger eyes.  We found him about 60 yards in.  The shot was a few inches too far back (lungs but no heart).  Probably a nice buck before the rut since he had a perfect 4 point on his left tine but the right was broken off.  My son said he probably got his aXXX whipped during the rut.
 
We fiqured the shot to be about 200 yards but will have to confirm later with a friends rangefinder.  Could stand at the blood sign and site the tripod.  My rounds were Speer Hot core spire points in 150 grain (not made for .30-30) with a healthy dose of RE15 behind it.  Nuff to say I'm happy with the .30-30 so far.

[jim36]

JP
   Just had to throw this little bit in, because of being a proud papaw.
My 8 year old grandson (just turned called me and said he killed a big doe. He is a real small wormy type kid but loves to deer hunt with me and his dad.   
   I ask him how far was the shot. He said about 200 yrds. I thought he was messing with me, so I told him to let me talk to his dad. His dad confirmed that it was 210 yds. He shoots the 20 inch 243 with some of the youth loads I got from a member here. Really made me happy.
   One of my favorite statements is: " You teach a child about God and his outdoor creations and he will never forget either one of these."
   Glad to hear of your good shoot, but just had to throw this bit out. My favorite huntin Handi is the 30 30 with a 165 gr. Nosler bullet.
                                           Good shooting to you
 
                                                                              <")))><

[catncarp]

thanks to both of you for sharing

[twoshooter]

Don't kid yourself, the 30/30 is a perfectly good 200 yard cartridge, especially in a single shot where you can use  pointed bullets, and maybe an extra 2 inches of barrel. Modern Ubermags that hurl 180-200 gr bullets from 3000 to 3500 fps are needed........ if you start at 1/4 mile and go on out. My 30/30 spits out 125 gr PSP at around 2600 fps, and gets about 1.125 groups. There is no way that is not a decent 200 yard load. You do not need 2000+ ft pounds of energy on a whitetail. Historically, a 25/35 has been a perfectly good deer cartridge. Like many modern items, this is a product largely of advertising , not any actual need. Congrats on your deer.

[Sourdough]

Have been told many times a 30-30 is only good for 100 yards.  Well on a hunting trip a few years ago Kirk, known here as KP and his son shot two nice trophy Caribou with a 30-30.  These were not small animals either.  Here is the story from Kirk's writing.
 
( The plan wasn't to shoot my bull with a 30-30. We had two double shovel bulls at 130 yards, two tags in our pockets, so we let the lead fly. The reason we only had the 30-30 with us was because I left my 300 WM next to a tree to make the final move for the shot. Well that turned into 10 more yards, then 10 more, then 10 more, etc... Now we were only 130 yards from a nice bull and the fog was lifting fast. Kyle pulled the trigger, dropped his bull and the other monster jumped up from his bedding area. That one was less than 150 yards, so I grabbed Kyle's rifle and put him down too.

Marlin 336 in 30-30 Win + Nikon 2-7 X 32 + Hornady Leverlution 160 grains bullets = 2 dead caribou bulls

BTW, we recovered two bullets and the weight retention was excellent. I'll try to post pictures of those later. I felt confident that the gun and bullet would do good out to 200 yards, but limited ourselves to 150 yards.)

[Rustyinfla]

   Congratulations guys y'all done good. The .30-30 is still a great cartridge. Introducing it to a new generation is a wonderful thing.

[41 magnum]

Don't kid yourself, the 30/30 is a perfectly good 200 yard cartridge,  Congrats on your deer.

x2----I used to handload 130 grain Noslers back in the day and shot a few nearly 250 yds, BUT, DADDY MADE ME PRACTICE, out to 250 yds.  Not enough practice in many families these days.
 
WTG!!!!!!

[jpshaw]

Thanks for the replies.  My point was not shooter prowness but the fact that the old .30-30 can reach 200 yds.  Expecially with pointed bullets loaded a bit long.  Mine has a short throat but I still load them longer then normal OAL.  My RE 15 loads are at 2400 fps and thats about as hard as I'm going to push it.  The rifle can take more but that .30-30 brass I'm told is not that heavy.

[Doublebass73]

Excellent story, I like hearing about 30-30 success stories. Especially at ranges like that. I always laugh when I hear people refer to the 30-30 as a "brush gun".

[petemi]

Both my Handi and 336 tirty tirties are sighted in at 200 yards.  The Handi runs a 168 gr. BT and the Marlin a 150 gr. RN.  Both have plenty of steam left over at 200 yards    Like the .45-70, they're not "just 100 yard rifles".  Nice shooting.

Pete

[jpshaw]

My entent was to actually hunt with my newly acquired (Pawn shop) .444 this season.  However, on my second trip I noticed movement in the scope.  That night tightened everything and it still moved.  Took it off and checked the base and that was the culprit.  Got it all tightened up but haven't had a chance to re-sight it so I just took the .30-30 out of the safe when I noticed I had about 40 rounds made up for it.  Will try the .444 out at the end when Louisiana has its last week of primitive season.