What's the range for a 30-30?

[Lovesbeer99]

I'm looking at an 1885 in 30-30, but I don't know what the practical hunting range, or target range in 30-30? I hear that with a typical level gun hunting is within 100 yards (basic brush gun) but what about in the open field with spitzer bullets?

I'm pretty sure I can it paper at 300 yards, but is it accurate or should I just stay with a 45-70.

I already have a mod 94 in 30-30 so I have the dies etc. It would be nice to stay within calibers -

 

[black_powder_Rob]

not sure on the max range, guess it depends on what you are shooting at... I know Hornaday has a new round out for the 30-30 that extends the range to about 230 to 250 yards with the 30-30.

 

[gdcpony]

The effective range of any weapon is as far as you can shoot it accurately. For hunting look for a balistics table for the energy. Load it with good bullets and it'll kill allot further than you think.
Paper statistics mean little.

 

[woof]

I don't know what it can potentially do, but IMO a .30-30 beyond 150 yds is not the right tool for the job. Not a problem since the great majority of whitetails are shot within 100 yds.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Iron sights and a flat nose slug? Most likely around 150 yards.

With a good rest, a 4X scope, and some of the Hornady leverevolution ammo I wouldn't hesitate to take a 250 yard shot.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Just click on my top sig link to see what a 30-30 class cartridge can do in an accurate platform with good bullets and optics.

 

[Shooter88]

Buffalo hunters killed many a buffalo at distances of up to 1000 yards with black-powder muzzleloaders. A .30-30 shoots MUCH flatter than that; if you know your holdovers and how to determine range, you could make kills with it out to whatever range a 170gr flat nose round still retains enough energy to penetrate to the vitals. As with nearly all centerfire rifles, the shooter's effective range is the limit, not the cartridge's.

 

[woof]

Does enough remaining energy at point of impact to make a clean and humane kill count?

 

[R.W.Dale]

Buffalo hunters killed many a buffalo at distances of up to 1000 yards with black-powder muzzleloaders. A .30-30 shoots MUCH flatter than that; if you know your holdovers and how to determine range, you could make kills with it out to whatever range a 170gr flat nose round still retains enough energy to penetrate to the vitals. As with nearly all centerfire rifles, the shooter's effective range is the limit, not the cartridge's.

Does enough remaining energy at point of impact to make a clean and humane kill count?

To add to that at 300yds a Remington 170grn 30-30 bullet still packs more energy than a 357 magnum at the muzzle of a handgun. That's plenty of killing power for Bambi

 

[Shooter88]

Does enough remaining energy at point of impact to make a clean and humane kill count?

And here I thought

whatever range a 170gr flat nose round still retains enough energy to penetrate to the vitals

would have clarified that.

Edit: The point of my original post wasn't "cartridge doesn't matter", it was "shooter matters more". A shooter skilled enough to make solid hits with a .30-30 at 300 yards, is taking game just as effectively as the shooter doing the same with a .300 Win Mag. A deer with a .30cal hole through its heart/lungs is just as dead whether that hole was made by a 170gr flat nose from a .30-30 or a 180gr spitzer from the magnum.

 

[tnhunter93]

The new 160gr LE ammo from Hornady gives the venerable 30/30 a 232yd MPBR on deer-sized game. It also carries over 1,000 FPE at 300yds.

 

[Dr.Rob]

300 is a long way without a scope for a 30-30 without ladder sights or tang sights. Not that the bullet can't get there or have enough power, it's putting a bullet on target accurately. I've shot a 336 with a 20 inch barrel out to 300 yards many times at the range, never had to shoot that far on game, but I can certainly knock down bowling pins at that range with a low power scope. Plenty for deer sized game at that range, thats a not a certain killing shot on an elk.

 

[Big Bill]

It's a 300 yard deer rifle with LEVERevolution 160 gr ammo:

30-30 Win 160 gr FTX LEVERevolution 82730

Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
2400/2046 2150/1643 1916/1304 1699/1025

Trajectory (inches)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
-1.7 3.0 0.2 -12.1

https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_se...&category_id=617900860f0f136528b6f2d1f845cb05

Video

https://www.hornady.com/shop/Ammo_LEVER_popup.htm

 

[whatnickname]

Maximum range for .30-30

Practically speaking its about 150 yards if you're talking about killing deer with or without a scope. We can talk about the theoretical "hole in the vitals" stuff all day long. The bottom line is that unless you have 1000 foot pounds of energy or so, you can't expect to reliably kill a deer. While less horsepower has taken plenty of deer its also just as true that quite a few low powered rounds have wounded the hell out of deer; thus forcing them to die slow, painful deaths. From a practical point, if you're talking iron sights at 300 yards, your visual point of reference is the entire damn deer! How are you going to "put the shot in the vitals" at this distance when your front sight bead covers a large percentage of the deer's chest? I have more respect for the sport and the animal than to attempt something as stupid as a 300 yard shot on a deer with a .30-30. There are far too many rounds out there that are much better suited to taking deer at the 300 yard mark than the .30-30.

 

[R.W.Dale]

The bottom line is that unless you have 1000 foot pounds of energy or so, you can't expect to reliably kill a deer.

So how many ft lbs of energy does an bow pack

how bout a muzzleloader shootin patched ball

or a revolver for that matter

I find alarming how much tougher deer have gotten to kill recently at the rate we're going in a few decades a 20mm cannon firing HE will be considered an inside 150yd deer cartridge, how did our forefathers even manage?

 

[whatnickname]

use of bow and black powder rifle??

Both are intended for use at ranges much shorter than the 300 + yards suggested by the person originally posting the. Would you try you bow or black powder rifle at 300 yards?

 

[thebucket]

A Parrott rifle could do the job at 300 yards, if you don't mind spoiling a bit more meat.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Both are intended for use at ranges much shorter than the 300 + yards suggested by the person originally posting the. Would you try you bow or black powder rifle at 300 yards?

no but a 30-30 at 300yds is vastly more devastating compared to using round ball, handgun or a bow at even point blank range. I gotta ask if you've even shot anything with a 30-30

1000ft lbs is a completely meaningless made up number. The bullets used in 30-30 are very good at expanding at very low impact velocities and thus still do an outstanding job of anchoring game, energy is irrevelant

Bottom line is the posters who say 30-30 isn't good beyond 150yds aren't good enough shots to use a 30-30 beyond 150yds

 

[Redneck with a 40]

With Hornady Leverevolution ammo, 250 yards.

 

[Dr.Rob]

That's WHY I said with a scope. Cross hairs alow you to precisely holdover at long range. Shooting at paper, plates & pins is doable (or say a horse) with ladder sights. Problem is most 30-30's have a brass bead front sight, as whatnickname said, at range covers the WHOLE animal--not to mention if it's moving.

 

[elkman06]

Buffalo hunters killed many a buffalo at distances of up to 1000 yards with black-powder muzzleloaders.

Boy, gotta call you on this one. Don't believe it. Billy Dixon did the longest recorded shot of the day on a Native American at 1069yds at Adobe Walls, 1874, verified by a survey crew. Could you provide some verification for your claim?
Thread content: 30/30 good to 250yds w/ leverevolution ammo.
elkman06
elkman06

 

[whatnickname]

Bottom line is the posters who say 30-30 isn't good beyond 150yds aren't good enough

Well as a matter of fact, I've killed quite a few head of deer with the .30-30. The .30-30 has its place. That place is definitely not the 300 yard line! But, based on some of the logic we see here (Krochus)...since power is meaningless, here is where this logic takes us: I've slaughtered hogs and steers with a .22 LR. Placed them in the pen and shot them point blank between the eyes. All of them dropped dead in their tracks. If we believe the warnings on .22 rimfire amunition, the range is over one mile. Therefore based on this experience and the questionable logic that power means relatively little, a .22 rifle makes a wonderful deer rifle at ranges of up to one mile! Do I have any takers on this little bit of sage wisdom? Hopefully not. While it is theoretically possible to kill a deer at this distance with a .22 the probability of actually doing so is so remote as to be practically non-existant. Hunting, responsible hunting anyway, is all about selecting the right tool for the right job. Considering the variables involved in the sport: distance, elevation, wind, temperature, size of the kill zone on a deer and an animal that is prone to move in the blink of an eye, there are way better tools for killing a deer at 300+ yards than the .30-30. Which is to say that the probability goes way up with the selection of a rifle and cailber more appropriate at this distance; but then anyone that thinks a .30-30 makes a great deer rifle at 300+ yards probably thinks the 7.62X39 makes a great rifle for killing cape buffalo!

 

[whatnickname]

Bottom line is the posters who say 30-30 isn't good beyond 150yds aren't good enough

Well as a matter of fact, I've killed quite a few head of deer with the .30-30. The .30-30 has its place. That place is definitely not the 300 yard line! But, based on some of the logic we see here (Krochus)...since power is meaningless, here is where this logic takes us: I've slaughtered hogs and steers with a .22 LR. Placed them in the pen and shot them point blank between the eyes. All of them dropped dead in their tracks. If we believe the warnings on .22 rimfire amunition, the range is over one mile. Therefore based on this experience and the questionable logic that power means relatively little, a .22 rifle makes a wonderful deer rifle at ranges of up to one mile! Do I have any takers on this little bit of sage wisdom? Hopefully not. While it is theoretically possible to kill a deer at this distance with a .22 the probability of actually doing so is so remote as to be practically non-existant. Hunting, responsible hunting anyway, is all about selecting the right tool for the right job. Considering the variables involved in the sport: distance, elevation, wind, temperature, size of the kill zone on a deer and an animal that is prone to move in the blink of an eye, there are way better tools for killing a deer at 300+ yards than the .30-30. Which is to say that the probability goes way up with the selection of a rifle and cailber more appropriate at this distance; but then anyone that thinks a .30-30 makes a great deer rifle at 300+ yards probably thinks the 7.62X39 makes a great rifle for killing cape buffalo!

 

[_N4Z_]

With Federal PowerShok 170gr 30-30 rounds, and my Marlin 336, I can hit an 18 inch gong at 300 yards a good 8 out of 10 times. Sometimes better, sometimes a bit less. And that is with the factory irons zeroed to 200 yards.

The gong is usually painted bright orange or white, is in plain sight, and I shoot supported with a sandbag under my front hand.

I would not attempt any such shot on a deer with this set up at 300 yards, unless I was starving. ....or maybe if the deer was bright orange.

Scoped though, and with some good practice, should not be an issue. Handloading is another thing yoiu might contemplate. Most of my handloads usually group better/tighter than anything I can buy off a shelf.

 

[wuchak]

1000 ft lbs for a white tail? On what planet?

A top load 158 gr .357 magnum gives 688 ft lbs at the muzzle so a .357 with this round jammed into bambi, at any angle, wouldn't be enough to kill it humanely?

Even the old Remington 170 gr core-lokt has a MPBR of 200 yards for deer and it still has 990 ft lbs of energy. At 300 yards it will have dropped 21.8 inches and have 719 ft lbs of energy.

The bullet has plenty left to do what's needed at 300 yards if you have the skills to put it on target. A 45-70 would be even harder to hit with at 300 yards since it's trajectory is much more rainbow like. With a 300 grain bullet a 45-70 has a point blank range of 164 yards for deer. At 300 yards it will have 768 ft lbs of energy left and will have dropped 43.47 inches.

Go to Remington's site and download a copy of the Shoot program. Spend some time playing with the various settings and checking the trajectories for various calibers and loads.