morcey2
Member
IIRC the 30-30 was originally a BP cartridge necked down to 30 caliber. Thing is, weapons are still manufactured for 30-30. The gunshops in this area all have at least one chambered for the old cartridge, I'm told the pawnshops very rarely have one.
30-30 was designed from the ground up as a smokeless cartridge and was never a BP cartridge.
Now, as to the supposed "viability" of the 30-30: Yes, it's still viable. I plan on picking one up this summer. They have limited use out here where the average shot on deer is over 200 yards, but I want one anyway. It'll probably be fed mostly cast bullets and be used for mostly plinking. Plus, I need a lever action for my rifle class so I can quit borrowing them.
I've only hunted with one once and that was about 15 years ago, but never got a good opportunity to shoot a deer with it. It was a 336 with a fixed 4X scope and I was able to hit pop cans at 150 yards with it easily after I had figured out the trajectory.
Matt