30-30 vs 308 vs 30-06

[JEBar]

back in the 60's we made a decision to go with 30 caliber rifles .... that decision was based on the fact that at that time there was much wider range of 30 caliber reloading bullets than could be found in any other caliber .... as such our collection included 30-30, 308, 30-06, and 300 WBY rifles .... from my experience, the 30-30 often gets a bad rap .... with both of these videos folks can opt out of watching the advertisement up front .... some folks may find the results shown in this video ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkKzit3Icck where all three are fired at cast iron pans to be surprising ..... from my experience, the results are pretty much what I would have expected .... that isn't to say the three are equal .... a 308 and 30-06 are commonly acknowledged to be almost equal and both are more powerful than a 30-30 .... the difference can easily be seen in a second video where they are tested against cinder blocks ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hgV9k_iLw0 .... years ago it was commonly reported that, over time, more deer and bear have been taken in NC with 30-30 rifles and 12 ga shotguns than any other caliber/gauge .... at the ranges I have hunted, the vast majority of the time, a 30-30 would have served well

[Mistered]

from my experience, the 30-30 often gets a bad rap

And unnecessarily so. The 30-30 in a lever action is a great combination - but mostly due to to the rifle more than the cartridge and in a typical mod 94 carbine is hard to beat for weight, ease of carry and relatively low recoil and easy to shoot.
Modern powders and bullets have really added a lot of performance to the 30-30 and lots of deer (and larger animals) are taken with it but in this much has to do with shot placement and reasonable ranges. The 30-30 in a lever is an iconic rifle and an enduring image of traditional America. They are fun to shoot, fun to experiment with on the reloading bench and quite frankly there is nothing like shouldering a 26" mod 94 with a Crescent buttplate - it literally comes to the shoulder like a Stradivarius.
However - in MY opinion a lever (regardless of caliber) is best in it's standard configuration and that includes 'open irons' in whatever combination one prefers.
I understand however there are some (and I am in this category) while really wanting to stick to a lever his or her eyesight might not be what it used to and the addition of a scope might be necessary for quality shooting and I get this however something like the Long Ranger (or BLR) might be the best compromise for the want of a lever and the practicality of scoping.

[GFK]

Nice videos. Thanks.

[Henry88]

I just think the 30-06 was to a degree a victim of the tactical gun craze.

Everything in that caliber seems to have shifted to .308, save a few traditionalist that reload.

[220]

It funny that despite hunting and shooting for nearly 40 years and using them all the only one I have ever owned and still do is a 30/30.
308 is still my recommendation for anyone asking for a deer round but never took the advice myself, used the 30/30 or a 7mmRM. The 7mm got moved on when I realised the average distance I was shooting deer wasn't much past 100y and the only deer I had taken past 180y were with the 30/30.
I certainly haven't felt handicapped carrying it, a 40 year old marlin that cost us $200 with the scope it wears. Most sneer at it with its beat up looks but soon change their tune when they see how it shoots. People cant seem to believe a beat up old lever will ring a 6" gong at 300m every shot, that is until you put them behind the butt and they do it for themselves.
Son took it out yesterday for a shot with some mates, came home with a couple of rabbits head shot at around 100y, lunch this afternoon.

[North Country Gal]

Up, here, we still have a lot of traditional deer hunters who are filling tags for both sport and meat. Since 50 yards is a long shot inner woods, a lot of them still use the 30-30, rather than the 30-06 or 308, for the sake of saving more neat. Still a very popular woods cartridge in our area. Know a couple of guys who shoo the 30-30 in their Contender pistol as their deer "rifle". Great old cartridge in a Contender. Here's my Contender 30-30 "rifle".

[JEBar]

I just think the 30-06 was to a degree a victim of the tactical gun craze.

can't disagree with that .... some of us well seasoned folks can remember back when debates among big game hunters raged between 30-30 Winchester, 35 Marlin, and 300 Savage (along with a 12 gauge shotgun) fans .... among the bear hunters I knew, most used 30-30's and/or 12 gauges .... only a few of us used 44 mag revolvers but that is a different story .... once soldiers who used M1903 Springfield and/or M1 Garand 30-06's while fighting multiple wars returned home, the demand for 30-06 hunting rifles took a major up turn .... I well remember seeing barrels full of military surplus rifles and large quantities surplus 30-06 ammo on sale .... that ammo included black tipped armor piercing and Orange or Red tipped Tracer bullets .... I never did see any Blue tipped Incendiary bullets but remember friends who had some .... once the 30-06 hunters entered the conversation, it appeared that bears had grown much stronger and harder to kill .... all of a sudden the old 30-30 wasn't powerful enough .... fortunately for us, my Grandfather's 30-30 clearly didn't grow weaker because it continued to take bear, boar, and deer .. ..

[North Country Gal]

If you can find some writings from the outdoor scene back in the late 1890s and following, back when the 30-30 was introduced, it's interesting to see how the 30-30 was regarded as being the amazing new wonder cartridge of its day. It was promoted as being the hot ticket for bear, elk, moose and other big game species, not just a deer cartridge. A lot of those bigger game species were taken with the 30-30 in those early days.

With each new wonder cartridge introduction, though, the 30-30 was used as the standard of comparison. It became the whipping boy for every gun writer pushing the next new wonder cartridge. The 30-30 got put down as obsolete and under-powered so often, that to even claim otherwise became heresy in some circles. Still see a lot of that, even to this day, with a lot of newbie gun writers. Seems like they believe they have a duty to look down their noses at the 30-30. Sad, really.

[PT7]

I've mentioned before Henry's marketing page on the .30-30. Very glad Henry keeps on producing this caliber, and supports its use for white-tail deer hunting. It's a "can-do" caliber!

From the Northwoods to the Texas hill country and in every deer camp and lodge in between, the .30-30 rifle remains the perennial choice of whitetail hunters. More than just another deer cartridge, the venerable .30-30 has been the king of deer calibers since the first rifle chambered in this ageless round was produced in 1894. In fact, it’s a safe bet that in the past century, no other round has put more antlers on the wall and venison in the freezer than the .30-30.

Think about it.....some of our earlier relatives may have even hunted with such primary rifles, and provided food for their families. It's a good thing that happened!

[North Country Gal]

Still a mystery to me, though, why Henry doesn't do their single shot in the 30-30. All the break open single shots over the last 100 years have been chambered in 30-30. The basic single shot 30-30 was widely used by folks who couldn't afford or who didn't need an expensive 30-30 lever gun. A lot of meat was put on the table with those old single shot 30-30 Stevens, Savages and H&Rs, not to mention the 30-30 is still going strong in the Contender pistol and carbines. Would also love to see Henry do the 35 Remington. It's a great old classic that really is in danger of fading into obscurity.