Once read an article in a magazine, by an author that had actually used the 35R, the 32 Special and the 30-30 who stated that if the power between the cartridges was dynamite a chipmunk could not blow his nose with the difference. I am throwing in the 38-55. I have used the 30-30 the 38-55 and the 35 Remington but not the 32 Special. The 32S has intrigued me but I could never see the need to pay more for factory shells or reloading gear to get one.
All have their adherents who are rather vocal in their support, usually at the expense of the 30-30. 32S in my opinion is technically a better carbine cartridge as the loading data shows velocities for its 170 grain bullet equal to those for the 30-30 in a 26 or 24"barrel. Typically the 30-30 gives about 2090 fps with factory loads with a 170 grain bullet. However if one looks at downrange performance, the 30 cal bullet start to exceed the 32cal ones even though starting slower. If one looks at the 200 grain 35 cal bullet it is even more so. That 35 Remington slows down pretty fast. A hot load in a 38-55 with its 255 grain bullet is around 1700 fps and it does maintain its velocity pretty fair but still has a bit of a rainbow trajectory downrange.
So, was that author correct in his assessment. Personally I think so. Makes for an interesting discussion, but I have seen pictures of moose shot with a 30-30. I have a 336 with a rough bore that I have thought about sending off to get recut. Choice would be 35-30, 356 W or 38-55. The rifle shoots OK with a slightly fouled bore so I have not done so. To me the biggest advantage of the 30-30 was that before the shortages it only cost about $16 a box for ammo as compared to more than double that for the others for no gain.
Wrote this for fun, as I am sure there are some detractors.
DEP
DEP
All have their adherents who are rather vocal in their support, usually at the expense of the 30-30. 32S in my opinion is technically a better carbine cartridge as the loading data shows velocities for its 170 grain bullet equal to those for the 30-30 in a 26 or 24"barrel. Typically the 30-30 gives about 2090 fps with factory loads with a 170 grain bullet. However if one looks at downrange performance, the 30 cal bullet start to exceed the 32cal ones even though starting slower. If one looks at the 200 grain 35 cal bullet it is even more so. That 35 Remington slows down pretty fast. A hot load in a 38-55 with its 255 grain bullet is around 1700 fps and it does maintain its velocity pretty fair but still has a bit of a rainbow trajectory downrange.
So, was that author correct in his assessment. Personally I think so. Makes for an interesting discussion, but I have seen pictures of moose shot with a 30-30. I have a 336 with a rough bore that I have thought about sending off to get recut. Choice would be 35-30, 356 W or 38-55. The rifle shoots OK with a slightly fouled bore so I have not done so. To me the biggest advantage of the 30-30 was that before the shortages it only cost about $16 a box for ammo as compared to more than double that for the others for no gain.
Wrote this for fun, as I am sure there are some detractors.
DEP
DEP