The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - What do you consider practical max range for 30-30 on deer?

jbgood · April 28, 2001, 07:47 PM

Ah-h-h, your question takes me back in time...

A cousin and I both started deer hunting in our early teens -- several decades ago, now. We both carried .30-30's of the Winchester model 94 persuasion with the standard factory installed iron sights. (I still have mine, don't know about my cousin.) We both accounted for a number of deer, mostly in the 30 to 90 yard range and the deer we shot at those distances rarely traveled far -- if they traveled at all!

What I learned from those early years were these things. I am much worse than I like to admit at estimating distance beyond 100 yds. and that lighting conditions (time of day, fog, cloudy or not, etc.) further affects my ability to estimate range. The .30-30's rainbow-like trajectory complicates my ability to calculate "hold" on a target that is beyond 150 yds. and to make matters worse the bead sight on my 94 covers a lot of deer at 150+ yds.

Having said all of that, I would answer your question by saying that for me, the .30-30 is fun to shoot, light to carry and is quite lethal for deer when the range is somewhere between 30 and 100 yards. (Having a deer too close causes problems for me, also, as I once nearly shot completely over a deer that was within 18 long steps of me! We surprised each other as I rounded a corner in the trail and it apparently was in the process of bolting just as I pulled the trigger. I had not allowed for the closeness of the animal and held too high. The bullet barely caught it in the spine, knocking it down but hitting it way higher than I thought I had aimed!)

For years now, I have used relatively flatter shooting calibers in longer barreled rifles with quality scopes and they have made up for a multitude of my shooting sins, but I still have fond memories of a lot of hunts with my ol' .30-30!

April 28, 2001, 07:47 PM	#6
jbgood Member Join Date: March 22, 2000 Posts: 83	Ah-h-h, your question takes me back in time... A cousin and I both started deer hunting in our early teens -- several decades ago, now. We both carried .30-30's of the Winchester model 94 persuasion with the standard factory installed iron sights. (I still have mine, don't know about my cousin.) We both accounted for a number of deer, mostly in the 30 to 90 yard range and the deer we shot at those distances rarely traveled far -- if they traveled at all! What I learned from those early years were these things. I am much worse than I like to admit at estimating distance beyond 100 yds. and that lighting conditions (time of day, fog, cloudy or not, etc.) further affects my ability to estimate range. The .30-30's rainbow-like trajectory complicates my ability to calculate "hold" on a target that is beyond 150 yds. and to make matters worse the bead sight on my 94 covers a lot of deer at 150+ yds. Having said all of that, I would answer your question by saying that for me, the .30-30 is fun to shoot, light to carry and is quite lethal for deer when the range is somewhere between 30 and 100 yards. (Having a deer too close causes problems for me, also, as I once nearly shot completely over a deer that was within 18 long steps of me! We surprised each other as I rounded a corner in the trail and it apparently was in the process of bolting just as I pulled the trigger. I had not allowed for the closeness of the animal and held too high. The bullet barely caught it in the spine, knocking it down but hitting it way higher than I thought I had aimed!) For years now, I have used relatively flatter shooting calibers in longer barreled rifles with quality scopes and they have made up for a multitude of my shooting sins, but I still have fond memories of a lot of hunts with my ol' .30-30!