Best hunting ammo for a 30-30?

[KeithCross]

Might be borrowing my father-in-law's 30-30 to hunt with as my oldest may be carrying my rifle. What is the best hunting ammo for a lever action 30-30? Any help would be appreciated! The rifle is scoped, by the way, though I don't know anything about the scope right now. I'll get to look at it again next Saturday.

Thanks!
Keith Cross

 

[dennishoddy]

Here is a good review from Chuck Hawks on the leverevolution from Hornady. This ammo is tops for the 30-30.



http://www.chuckhawk...erevolution.htm

 

[brandt9913]

Hopefully it works better than the old Winchester 30-30 ammo. I shot my first 4-5 deer with a 30-30. Even with proper shot placement, every damn one jumped up and ran 1/2 mile before falling dead. Made dragging them back a real PITA.

 

[dennishoddy]

The story in my Sierra reloading book says that more deer have been killed with the 30-30 than any other cartridge.
I'm pretty sure the old time bullets probably produced the rusults your talking about though.(1980 issue).

New bullet technology has put the 30-30 back on the block.

 

[brandt9913]

The story in my Sierra reloading book says that more deer have been killed with the 30-30 than any other cartridge.
I'm pretty sure the old time bullets probably produced the rusults your talking about though.(1980 issue).

New bullet technology has put the 30-30 back on the block.

I'm not doubting the effects of a 30-30 on deer. I recovered every single deer I shot with one. It was just much more convenient when I switched to a 30-06 to drag a deer back from the location I shot it instead of point of impact plus 1/2 mile.

Back to the thread. I used 150 grain Winchester flat nosed silver tips and they did the job.

 

[dennishoddy]

My main deer gun is the 30-06, so we are on the same page.

the comment about the 30-30 did not take into account how many have been lost because of bullet failures.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

Never had a problem using Winchester Silvertips or Remington Corlockts. My woods gun groups 150 grain bullets a little tighter than 170's but the 170's will stay in the kill zone all day long.

The Leverevolution product will get a little more distance to take advantage of the longer shots optics encourage.

I dont know what kind of ground your hunting... but the creek bottom I hunt in Logan County seldom offers a shooting lane over 50 yards... and the 30/30 shines from that distance out to 150 or so.

For the guy who did a little tracking....kill enough deer and you will see everything. I've seen DRT shots from a 357 magnum Marlin at 60 yards... and witnessed run-offs that left foamy blood for over 1000 yards in rough ground rendered from 30/06 and 300 Magnums. You never can tell what will happen when big game is shot... but whiteail deer dont require "alot of gun".

 

[dennishoddy]

You never can tell what will happen when big game is shot... but whiteail deer dont require "alot of gun".

No they don't. I've taken my share with a .22-250, 55 grain HP. Its all about bullet performance and placement. Oh yeah, speed kills.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

Dennis...even up in Michigan that 22-250 is probably the #3 most popular caliber for deer. 30-30 and 30-06 would probably rate 1 and 2.

You see a few 243's... and a few 45-70's and 444 Marlins... but the 22-250 can work good on woodchucks and coyotes too.

 

[ToolBox]

That new load from hornady sounds alot like my custom load i worked up for my 30-30.
I could not find a factory load that would put the dear down. So i work up my own load and it was hot. I can reload a brass 2 to 3 times before it is trash. however when you hit a dear with it you will drop him almost where he stands.No more walking a country mile to find him.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

Just a trick I learned from my dad.... boiler room shots will usually take out a lung (or two) and deer can run like that for a long time till they bleed out.

Shooting a little higher, and breaking the shoulder or back generally makes tracking a two step operation. The deer shot that way tend to be missing 4 or 5 inches of back-bone and they pile up quickly.

Deer are fairly thin skinned and lightly muscled too. You folks with the runners... did the bullets stay in the body or pass through?

 

[brandt9913]

Just a trick I learned from my dad.... boiler room shots will usually take out a lung (or two) and deer can run like that for a long time till they bleed out.

Shooting a little higher, and breaking the shoulder or back generally makes tracking a two step operation. The deer shot that way tend to be missing 4 or 5 inches of back-bone and they pile up quickly.

Deer are fairly thin skinned and lightly muscled too. You folks with the runners... did the bullets stay in the body or pass through?

All of my runners were pass through double lung shots. The only deer that dropped and didn't go anywhere with a 30-30 was a high back shot as you described.

 

[dennishoddy]

Bullet construction may have a lot to do with stopping the animal faster, on a double lung shot.
A bullet that just pokes a hole through the lungs gives the animal a little more time to run vs a bullet that has a violent expansion, causing instant shut- down of the lungs. This is just personal experience from doing many autopsy's in the field.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

Bullet construction may have a lot to do with stopping the animal faster, on a double lung shot.
A bullet that just pokes a hole through the lungs gives the animal a little more time to run vs a bullet that has a violent expansion, causing instant shut- down of the lungs. This is just personal experience from doing many autopsy's in the field.

I have recovered a few Corlokt and Silver- tips over the years. Most hit bone... a few hit ribs.. all were flattened and expanded.. If you shoot a bolt action rifle...or handload, the choices increase... but out of a lever gun their are not a lot of choices when your shopping for a flat-nosed jacketed bullet. Most of the time in 30-30 you dont see the jacket separate or splinter... but some times you wont get expansion unless you hit some bone.

My hardcore leveraction buddies like hard cast lead bullets... they seem to do pretty well on deer and similar game

 

[aeropb]

http://www.hornady.com/store/30-30-Win-140-gr-monoflex-Leverevolution/

 

[dennishoddy]

I was digging around the net for a little info, and found that Rem just recently discontinued the .30-30 Accelerators.
With a .55 gr sabot'd bullet they could approach 4000 fps. One could only have one in the chamber and one in the tube on lever guns.

There are still companies out their that are selling the sabots, and different bullets.
One could pick out any .22 cal bullet made for hunting and go for it..

 

[KeithCross]

So...I just need to find me some .30-30 caliber extreme shocks? LOL, just kidding! I had heard of the LeverEvolution and figured it was a good choice but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any other good choices! Thanks for all the input!

 

[ToolBox]

I was digging around the net for a little info, and found that Rem just recently discontinued the .30-30 Accelerators.
With a .55 gr sabot'd bullet they could approach 4000 fps. One could only have one in the chamber and one in the tube on lever guns.

There are still companies out their that are selling the sabots, and different bullets.
One could pick out any .22 cal bullet made for hunting and go for it..

Man i loved those accelerators. they are great and really fast.