30-30 penetration

[Barlow]

The rain stopped so I went across the road to my range to shoot a couple rifles and get a zero for Deer season. I had six 30-30 rounds loaded with 130gr Hornady sp's that I wanted to shoot up. I put five on paper but the last one I shot at 5 milk jugs filled with water and one Hilux jug that was a bit smaller, at 50 yards. The water flew and I checked out the penetration. The bullet completely penetrated all the jugs and about 3" of wet catalogs. I dug the bullet out and it was completely intact except for scrubbing the exposed lead tip off. The lands perfectly engraved and it was otherwise unmarred. I could load it and shoot it again. Sorry I don't do pictures, but a buddy may do it for me later. The bullet weighed 128.6 grs. So if you have ever had a bullet pencil through a critter, I know it can and does happen. I then fired a 130gr Speer into three water filled milk jugs and it went through the first two and stopped in the third. Nice mushroom and it weighed 48.6 grs. Savage 219 rifle.

 

[rardoin]

I dunno Barlow....shooting anything other than a 170gr Core-Lokt out of a .30-30 seems unpatriotic, or something like that. It just ain't right.

 

[Kurz]

I dunno Barlow....shooting anything other than a 170gr Core-Lokt out of a .30-30 seems unpatriotic, or something like that. It just ain't right.

I had to chuckle when I read this above!

I've had a Contender with a 14" barrel and a couple of the better lever rifles chambered for the .30-30 and the Remington 170 grain Core-Lokt shot with the best accuracy in all of those firearms. Now, this is not benchrest shooting at all. It's hunting the far north woods of the UP, thick with trees and dead falls everywhere. It was hard to get a shot longer than about 70 yards so I tested everything at 50 to 100 yards and called it good to go.

This is on sale now at Midway. (just in case you need some...)

Remington Ammunition 30-30 Winchester 170 Grain Core-Lokt Soft Point Box of 20 ($13.99/box)

Enjoy!

 

[1lnbrdg]

The last year that I actually hunted deer, carried my 30-30 along each day just for giggles.

30-30 was loaded with 170gr cast lead bullets, 1,600 FPS. Shot 3 does with that load that year, bout the best I've ever seen at planting deer for what ever reason. All 3 deer DRT, no jump, no run, no trailing blood trails. Yes they all fully penetrated.

Go figure . . . .

 

[Barlow]

I dunno Barlow....shooting anything other than a 170gr Core-Lokt out of a .30-30 seems unpatriotic, or something like that. It just ain't right.

Hey! I'm just trying to be high tech. Barlow

 

[2506]

Don't load them in a tubular magazine for the sake of safety of not having one set the other off under recoil but one of the best 30 cal. bullets I have ever found for any case size is the Nosler 125 Ballistic Tip as long as you keep the impact velocity under 3000 fps. It is PERFECT for the 30-30 velocity range. I shoot it in my 14" Barrel T/C Contender 30-30AI and it runs 2670 fps average which is about the same as a standard 30-30 Win out of a 20" barrel rifle. I SMOKES deer. I am using IMR 4198 powder. You could load a tubular mag rifle with one in the chamber on one in the magazine safely for a two shot rifle. You should only need one shot.

 

[Tommie]

Impossible! Everyone knows it takes a fire breathing magnum to drop a deer.

 

[nicholst55]

About 30 years ago, a staffer for the American Rifleman accompanied someone to Africa who had won a free hunt from the NRA (IIRC). He had some down time and wanted to do some hunting, but hadn't brought along a rifle. Bottom line, he ended up borrowing a Winchester 94 from the PH, because that was the only rifle that the PH had en entire box of ammo for (Kynoch, IIRC). The staffer proceeded to shoot a variety of plains game with the .30-30 - large animals, in the 600-pounds plus range, and killed all of them DRT. Stalking and shot placement were his keys to success. I may be a little fuzzy on some of the details, but that's the gist of the story. The old .30-30 will certainly do the job in the right hands.

 

[lb-ft]

In the 150gr weight class, I’ve long thought of the 30-06 as a 308 with a 150 yard head start:

And the 308, a 30-30 with a 150 yard head start.

30-30 is not a do-all, but it is a perfectly capable cartridge in competent hands.

 

[hunter67]

I've killed quite a few critters with the dirty 30. The best round I've seen so far is the 160 Hornady Leverevolution. That includes elk!