America's Deer Rifle

Almost any time a group of hunters gather around a camp stove, you’ll hear a discussion about rifles and which caliber is best. Nowadays, it’s likely someone will brag up a magnum just this side of an African Professional Hunter’s stopper, and then someone might rise up in defense of the venerable .30-06 or its speedier young brother the .270 Winchester. If we only burned as much powder as words, we might look outside to the meat pole. Likely some of those critters were harvested by the aged and humble .30-30.

In many respects, the .30-30 is more dependable than some of its steroid-fueled descendents, but first a little history. Back in 1895, Winchester opened the smokeless age with a new chambering. Born in an age when existing cartridges were named by their bullet diameter and the case’s black powder capacity, the .30-30 followed suit. Firing a .308 caliber bullet out of a bottlenecked case that held approximately 30 grains of black powder, the earliest smokeless rounds propelled a 160 grain bullet at 1,790 feet per second (FPS). In an age when the ubiquitous .44-40 propelled a 200 grain slug at 1,300 FPS, the new cartridge was a marvel.

By the mid-1920s, Winchester advertised a special high velocity 150 grain bullet loaded to 2,370 FPS. As powders and knowledge improved, over the next forty years, the 150 grain loading advertised a velocity of 2,410 FPS in 1965. Strangely enough, as the cartridge’s efficiency improved, it fell more out of favor with American hunters.

Some famous writers claimed that the .30-30 was chambered in light, handy lever actions, so the rifle was the sole reason for its popularity. If you believe their line, hunters bought the Model 94s and Marlin 336s in spite of rather than because of the .30-30 chambering. That doesn’t explain the sales of bolt action .30-30s, the slide actions, and even single shot models. I came across my first .30-30—a Savage Model 340 bolt action when I asked an old family “friend” to return my uncle’s deer rifle when I turned sixteen and could hunt by myself. My aunt had entrusted her late brother’s collection to his safe keeping when a few items came up missing from her isolated farm house while she was at work. Instead of my uncle’s venerable Winchester 1873 in .44-40, he handed me a well-used Savage 340 and mumbled about not knowing anything about where the other weapons went. She had passed away, and everything rode on his word.

I took my first centerfire rifle buck with that Savage .30-30, and in the coming summer it anchored woodchucks more solidly than my .22lr. I never tried them, but for a time Remington sold varmint loads that fired a .22 caliber 55 grain bullet in a plastic sabot. A lot of young hunters started with a Savage bolt action .30-30—they were cheaper and did the job, even if they were not as slick or pretty as the lever actions. Follow-up shots were not often needed anyway. Later, when I was out of high school and working a factory job I traded the Savage 340 for a magical .270 that never did collect game. Like most hunters, I wanted bigger, faster, and louder magic.

Where is the .30-30 today? We are in an age of “Ultra magnums,” and cartridges like the .30-378 Weatherby, which was developed for 1,000 yard target shooting, sometimes find their way afield. Ultra magnums are today’s rage. However, deer have not evolved into thick-skinned African river hippos, and their physiology is no tougher than it was when the first .30-30 dropped its first buck. A deer heart shot with a .22 slug is dead quicker than one gut or leg shot with a .375 H&H.

One noted authority claims that a .30 caliber rifle is a .30 caliber rifle: all we add with more power is yardage to the usable hunting range. Thus, in his account, a .300 magnum doesn’t kill any better than a .30-30, but it projects its killing ability farther out. If most Pennsylvania whitetails are taken within 100 yards, how much power is really needed?

Today, the hunter toting a .30-30 has two primary factory loads: the 150 grain and the 170 grain bullets. The 150 grain usually achieves about 2,300 FPS with today’s loads, and the 170 grain will make about 2,100 FPS. Generally, the 170 grain bullet is recommended for woods hunting conditions, but some rifles group better with the 150s. A feature of the .30-30 factory ammo is that bullets designed for the.30-30 are flat or round nosed. This blunt tip prevents the detonation of the primer of the next shell in a tubular magazine. The old Savage bolt actions with their clip can be handloaded with pointed slugs, but that’s another issue. The flat-nosed .30-30 bullets are designed to open properly in the velocity window of the cartridge. If you put a .30-30 bullet in a .300 Winchester case, the 3,200 FPS velocity will make it disintegrate like a corn muffin flung at a cement wall. On the other hand, if a person loads a high velocity bullet into a .30-30 it will act like a full metal jacket. When you buy .30-30 ammo, you always know that the bullet was designed optimally for that cartridge.

Why does the 115 year-old .30-30 still bring home so much venison? For one reason, it’s relatively easy to shoot accurately, and the modest recoil doesn’t make shooters flinch. Thus, even if a rifle doesn’t deliver dime-size 100 yard benchrest groups, just about any hunter can achieve “minute of snuff can” groups under realistic hunting conditions. The second major reason is that when the bullet strikes, that slug has been engineered specifically for the velocity window of the .30-30. It will expand well and penetrate deeply.

A handloader can have even more fun with the venerable .30-30. The major bullet manufacturers list 100 grain plinking bullets, 110 grain varmint bullets, and 125 to 130 grain higher velocity bullets—some in hollow points. Some hunters use a cast lead bullet with a gas check for plinking or a small game round. A cast lead bullet powered to 1,200 to 1,600 fps makes an excellent target or turkey load—where legal. It would also drop a deer within a limited range. Since the recoil is negligible, this is a good load for “breaking in” a young shooter.

The traditional 150 and 170 grain blunt nosed jacketed bullets have a new partner—the Hornady 160 grain flex-tip. This bullet looks like a sharp polymer tipped bullet, but the point is a soft rubbery compound that compresses—squishes—under recoil, so the point doesn’t set off a chain fire in a tubular magazine. Once airborne, the pointed Hornady slug holds velocity and energy farther down range than its blunt brothers. This is said to add about fifty or more yards to the 30-30’s usable range.

If a person has a single shot or clip magazine rifle, ordinary pointed bullets may be used, but I recommend research on their expansion-penetration window before using them on game. A bullet that functions well in a .30-06 might be too stout for a .30-30 and just drill a small hole inny and outty. Sometimes, a novice reloader will think that because he is making up loads for his stronger bolt action .30-30, he can push the velocity beyond recommended handbook loads. That is a bad move—the cartridge itself is not capable of handling higher pressures. The brass cases are thinner and weaker than more modern centerfires, and they rupture more easily. All said and done, the .30-30 has always been very easy to reload.

Sadly, the rifle that started the .30-30 dynasty is no longer in production. The Winchester Model 1894 is going up in price; even the cheaply made “Post-64” models demand premium prices on the used markets. Marlin still turns out quality lever actions, and they have jazzed up some models with stainless steel, laminated wood, and longer barrels to get the most out of the Hornady flex-tip ammo. Once in a while, a used Remington 788 bolt action turns up, but this out-of-production model demands a very high price. That old Savage 340 that sold for $50 is hard to find priced under $300 today. Probably the bright spot for today’s .30-30 is the new Mossberg Model 464—a slab-sided, light and handy lever action rifle that combines the best of traditional lever actions with modern technology. This one is set up for mounting a scope, if you desire, and Mossberg’s price is very reasonable.

As I look down the trail at probably my last decade or two on this earth, I have lost my fondness for brute magnum force. Surely, if I am after game where the shots are long, I’ll carry something with more steam, and I truly enjoy trying out a new rifle, even if it’s just getting the chance to put a few rounds through a friend’s new mini cannon. However, if I am headed out to my favorite woods to sit on a stump or log, I am perfectly happy with a companion that’s been around 115 years and has even been known to put a few elk, moose, and bear on the meat pole too. I just hope that the little toddlers of today have the freedom to own a rifle, to hunt, and to breathe free air long after I depart this sphere.

It’s up to us to make sure our American heritage of freedom is not lost. Respect landowners and hunt safely—the media loved to trash all hunters when one person goofs up. Join the NRA and support Pro-Second Amendment politicians. Our nation, our Constitution, and the venerable old .30-30 are in more danger from within today than they ever faced from foreign enemies. Pray for America.