Every time I start to doubt the 30-30 cartridge,I think of the 300 blackout.


That 30-30 special sure does a number on deer and pigs.

He is still digging so I will lend him a shovel.

Anyone who has ever held and shouldered a Winchester Model 94 30-30 rifle would quickly recognize why it's been such a popular deer rifle for 125 years. IMHO, there has never been a rifle made that feels more natural to carry and use to take wild game. In fact, it carries and aims so comfortably I can understand why many shooters don't see a need to add a scope.

I can't count the number of deer camps (Well over 100) I've been in almost 70 years, but I can count the number of hunters that were using 30-30's. That would be three and one of them was here on my place, not that long ago. Two were carried by males and they never got a deer, the last one was carried by one of our own members "Pink" and she took a nice 10 point at 165 yards when I did the THF Lady's hunt. They're just not a caliber that seems to get much use. I haven't went on many hog hunts but I can say there was a lever-action in every camp. Not always a 30-30 but always there.

All the talk about 30-30's has me looking at Winchesters, Dammit!

I've got my eye on an older 94 with a factory mounted flip up tang peep sight.

Keep in mind the Model 94 was designed as a saddle gun that could be easily retrieved from a scabbard to make accurate shots while riding a horse. I suspect some diehards strongly prefer 30-30's and other lever guns that include a saddle ring.

Yeah so they won’t lose their rifle when riding a horse

Which goes to show not only the skill it takes to get off an accurate shot while riding a horse, but the faith a man had to put in his horse not to run off with his rifle.

And to think of the pets today that run and hide at the sound of distant fireworks.

IIRC most soldiers dismounted before engaging in fire fights, probably due to the fact that most horses don't like having guns shot over the tops of their heads, contrary to all the John Wayne movies.

In any case, the Model 94 was pretty much the last line of saddle guns Winchester created...as the Indians were already subdued by then and the frontier was disappearing at a rapid pace.

The Model 73 was the real rifle that won the west, and the 1886 was the rifle that put the trophies on the wall. The 94 was the rifle that was sold to wanna be cowboys

Not sure about John Wayne movies but there's no need to look back at history to find horses that are well trained to ignore gunfire. The first one of these competitions I watched in person was at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Had no idea they were growing in popularity.

Texas Rangers used two Walker Colts. Hit and run tactics exactly like the Comanche did with bows and spears. It worked, too.

You might want to learn a little history

For anyone who loves lever guns...


I suggest you pick up a Henry classic in .22 lr or .22 mag

If there is a slicker handling rifle I haven’t come across it

Yeah the math don't work either. Take your average fellow born in the west in 1860. He'd have been 20 in 1880, and I think most would consider that to be the height of the cowboy era and old west. He'd have only been 34 when the 1894 came out, and probably happy enough to trade out of that worn out Winchester '73 or 1886 Centennial which was a larger gun. The 1892 and 1894 were smaller, lighter, more compact. The bigger guns and bigger calibers just weren't needed as much as they once had been. The Grizzly and Buffalo - were gone. Still if you told him we wasn't a cowboy in 1890 it probably wouldn't have gone too well for you.

You need to pick up a Remington Fieldmaster pump.
I have an '39 Model 121 in .22 that just feels right in your hands

Two Winchester model 94’s in the safe. One was built the year I was born in 52, it’s always in the truck and no telling how many critters that rifle has killed. It’s not a safe queen, but a great working gun that’s always around. For short range the 30-30 cannot be beat.

They sell cowboy hats and boots to wannabe cowboys.

Buying a single shot makes you a wannabe buffalo hunter?

The lever action was well established before the bolt gun became popular. That it has lasted this long is a testament to design.

'Bought my cowboy hat at the grocery store. 'Works great. I don't own a single cow and never have. 'Guess that officially makes me "all hat and no cows".

I shoot way more animals with a scoped rifle than my 30-30. But the 30-30 is fun for stalking up close to animals, easy to carry. I don't trust my shooting with it beyond 100 yards, but it's a fun gun to take out for nostalgia a couple times a year. I'm shooting a pre 64 I picked up a few years back and love it.

They are very cool rifles. Never owned one, got this new fangled .44 Mag revolver to try for close up deer this year.

Oh, I have looked at some of the replicas and orig, just not on my hit list

Perhaps the attraction goes back to that first Daisy we owned as kids. Or maybe it really is rooted in watching too many "shoot'em up" TV shows and movies. Whatever the case, there just seems to be something about the feel and sound of cycling a round into the chamber of a lever action that appeals the DNA.

Interesting thread and topic about the old 30-30.

Like most people, I grew up reading the claim that “ the .30-30 has taken more deer than any other cartridge....”

I know ammo sales for that caliber is still high.

Did some looking online and found that in 1900 the estimate of whitetail deer in the United States was 500k animals.

Hunters now kill a tad more than that in Texas every year.

There were 20k antelope in 1900 and 40,000 elk, mule deer roughly 300k

So by those numbers hunters were killing far fewer animals than we do today.

Personal thoughts,more animals have been killed by the 06’ and .270 and have been for the better half of at least 50 years.

The rifle was far more culturally significant than the cartridge save for the fact it was the first modern smokeless powder round produced

A guy can slice it and dice it however he wants. The fact is, the 30-30 is still a very effective killer of medium sized game, within the proper parameters, which I'd set at a max range of 200 yds, assuming good bullets are used. Obviously dense woods, creekbottoms, etc are where it shines.

Of course I could be wrong but suspect it was the number of deer, elk, and antelope that were taken by gun-toting hunters prior to 1900 that are the reason why we have seasons and bag limits today.

Today, we can only imagine what it would have been like to be in the woods with a repeating rifle before the days of seasons and bag limits.

I agree with Dan on the nostalgia of the BB gun and the Westerns. I wanna be like John Wayne when I grow up.