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160 gr Leverevolutions. Shoot great out of my 1971 336 and my son's 336 circa 1971.
 
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I have 20 boxes of 30-30 ammo in assorted bullet weights. I stack them in no particular order but I do try to keep the oldest on top. I've killed a lot of deer in my 60+ years of hunting. I never paid attention to what bullet weight I had on hand, just whatever I grabbed at the store. Every deer I killed sustained massive internal damage regardless of bullet weight...... I fail to see any concern about bullet weight at the distances the 30-30 is designed to kill. Shot placement is everything. JMHO
 
I see a lot of comments about the 170 having more punch / thump than the 150, but that would depend on how you measure punch / thump. The energy of a bullet is known as momentum and is calculated as mass times velocity.

The 150g bullet is about 12% lighter than the 170g, but in 30-30 factory loads the 150g muzzle velocity is 9% faster than the 170. Because of velocity, ballistics charts show the 150g having more energy than the 170g from the muzzle out to about 60 - 65 yards.
At the muzzle, the 150g bullet has about 9.6% more energy than the 170g at factory load velocities for each, but at 100 yards, the 170g has about 9.5% more energy than the 150g.

The lighter bullet will also expand quicker and do a little more damage.

There's another factor to consider; sectional density. The 170g wins here which means it will penetrate deeper, especially at ranges greater than 60 yards or so.

So, the 150g might perform best for deer at close range (under 75 yds) unless the hunter wants to break down the shoulders to prevent the animal from running. Beyond 75 yards, the 170g has more energy & penetration, but the shooter has to know where it will hit because the lower velocity means greater drop.

If hunting black bear or hogs and a shot might be over 60 yards, the 170g would be the most lethal.
30-30 ballistics info from Remington here==> .30-30 Win.
 
I load 150gr for 336 & 94win. also buy 150s in factory loads. Shot a lot of deer with 150gr with no problems. I don't scope 30/30s so
the accuracy probably wouldn't show up much. The 94 I only shoot 150gr. The 336, my main 30/30, I have shot everything from 1/2
jacket 100gr plinkers to 180Rns. I have 130gr Speer HPs loaded with Win powder that are super accurate but have to be single loaded.
I bought a bunch of Federal 125gr factory and save it for women & kids in deer season. None have made extremely long shots, all under a 100yds but the 125gr got their deer. Never had one go much over 50yds from hit. I've got 2 boxes of Hornady 90gr XTPs in .309" dia
that is next thing I want to try. If they are accurate will make a good Varmit load. A HP pistol bullet should almost explode out of a 30/30.
 
Growing up in the PA deer woods in the 1970's, Marlin 30-30 or other lever or pump 30-30 was pretty much the dominate caliber, just beginning to be edged out by by bolt action hi-powers (as we called them). Anyway, good luck finding a 150gr load at the hardware store in those days, everyone believed the 170gr was superior. I still follow that rule, but have learned the 150gr is valid for deer. Still hunt the 30-30 some these days, load the thin jacket 190gr Hawk flat point at 2,000 fps, not a long range FTX approach, but a stone cold killer at normal ranges.
 
My 30-30 Remlin shoots 170 grain Coreloks best. Never tried Hornady 160's. Two years ago Indiana changed its law and I was able to deer hunt with it. 2nd weekend of season I spotted nice 8 pt thru woods at what turned out to be 97 yards. Only shot I had was a neck shot between two trees. Bullet hit buck in lower neck just above shoulder and angled thru its body ending up under the hyde near the middle of the ribs on opposite side of its body. Deer probably weighed over 225 lbs and penetrated lots of heavy muscle. Bullet was a mangled mess but did its job. Deer dropped right there and kicked once or twice and done. Recovered bullet weighed about 120 grains.
 
I get better accuracy out of the 150 . never had any problem in dropping a deer pretty much in its tracks. I aim middle of neck in front of shoulder
 
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I've carried both 150 and 170 Core-Lokts when deer hunting, but have to confess I just 'feel better' when it's stuffed with 170's. I took it pig hunting once with 170's and it performed fine.
 
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My circa 1976 Mdl 336C prefers the Federal® Power-Shok® 170gr RNSP (#3030B) over all other ammunition. It is all I ever use for my deer hunting. When the 30/30 is serving as an elk gun I load it with Federal® Vital-Shok® 170gr RNSPNP (#P3030D) ammunition as it prints to the same zero as the above Power-Shok® ammo.
 
I see a lot of folks swearing by 170 gn 30-30 Win loads for hunting. I always liked 150's in my 336's or 94's. Let's discuss pros and cons.
My 1972 30-30 won't shoot 150's very well. Won't group them worth poo. I've tried various powders and bullets to no avail. I've bought some 170's and come spring time I'll start all over again. I know my father's 30-30 was similar it just didn't like 150's however shot 170's very well.
 
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I’ve got 5 pre-64 Win-94s and two Marlins in 30-30 (one Ballard and one Microgroove) and ALL of them shoot 170 grs more accurately than 150s in all brands of ammo (Win/Fed/Rem and handloads). I quit fooling around with 150 in 30-30 after reading experiments and finding the original loads in the 1890s were designed around 170 grs.
(I do like 150 spire and HPs, especially Sierras in other .30 caliber rifles.)
 
I put some ballistics info about 150s vs. 170s on post #25 of this thread. https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/...in-150-gn-170-gn-post7723415.html#post7723415

I bought a box of 150 gr Remington Core Lokts before deer season (about 4 weeks ago) because they were $9.97 a box. I really haven't had great luck with them in the past. I shot a few of them before season to make sure my red dot was still on and had several remaining. This past weekend, I swapped a scope over to my 30-30 (1974 336 RC) and took the remaining shells out to sight-in. A three shot group at 100 yards after adjusting shocked me. I didn't think the gun would do it and I sure didn't think the shells would do it. Here are the results.

Circle Pendulum


I have no idea how the gun shoots 170s & don't see the need to find out at this point.
 
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