I have taken deer out to nearly 200 yards with a 30-30. And that was with iron sights. But....... I was a whole bunch younger then and could actually see the front sight. :biggrin:

The 30-30 will get the job done as it has for over a century.

 

All true.

 

Thanks, mate. That's comforting. I might put a Leupold VX-1 on it eventually.

 

My granddaddy was a character, he worked like a dog all his life at only the one job he ever had, the sawmill about one mile from his house. Back in the 70s, he had his only high powered rifle I knew about. It was a bolt action savage 340 in 30-30 with open sights. another old man I knew was a friend of his borrowed the rifle one day and took it to a field they would hunt. The field was at least 300yds across. He walked in the field and at the back was a deer "of some sort".He raised the rifle took his sight and pulled the trigger, the deer fell dead! My granddaddy told me the rifle could kill deer so far that you had to put salt on the boolit so the meat wouldn't spoil before you got to the deer! So, that's how far you can kill one with it according to a wise old man I knew...

 

A great story.

 

And the answer is: It depends on the man who has the gun in his hand. I have known many great shooters and a lot of people who couldn't hit the side of a barn from inside. The gun will kill at great distance, what can you do? Do you shoot a lot with the rifle and can hit a pie plate every time from 100 yards? Can you do the same when a deer is in front of you, shaky knees? It is all irrelevant if you cannot shoot or won't practice shooting. It is a perishable ability.

V

 

The LeverRevolution 30-30 ammo is pretty amazing stuff. Affords you higher velocity (2400 ft/sec) and a pointed bullet (giving a better ballistic coefficient). This round has the capability of killing deer sized game out to almost 300 yards. This doesn't mean that most people and their equipment are actually capable of making such a shot. Guess you have to shoot your particular gun with its sighting system and figure out what range you can consistently make quality hits. In my experience, most 30-30 users are best when ranges are less than 200 yards (with a scoped rifle ).

 

Depends on who you ask...and who's doing the shooting, LOL.

 

and who's around when they tell the tale.....

 

30-30 I would say how far do feel comfortable to shoot, Welcome & that is a very pretty girl you are hugging... Mike:cheers:

 

Effective range is directly proportional to the distance you can place your shots in the target zone. Could be 400 yards for one person and 40 yards for the next.

 

As others have said it depends on the shooter. I would limit my shooting with iron sights to 100 but that's just me and my old eyes. Remember when the 30WCF (30-30) was introduced it was the magical new round of its day. And it was used as a long range big game rifle, also most shooters then fired a lot more than we do now.

 

Howdy,

I think must of us get a grin for everytime we have heard the 30-30 and the 75 yard max range comment...

To put this in perspective, I have shot deer with regular win power points (170), and had complete double shoulder pass thru at 200 yards. Makes you wonder what else it could do...

For myself, I don't use LeverEvolution, based on the price, and what I feel like it adds isn't worth it. If you are in fact going scopeless then I myself definitely wouldn't be using them, because your range will be limited by you not having an optic, kinda cancels the extra reach of the fancy new bullets, and in the short to mid range category I will take my power points any day.

 

The 30-30 should be able to do IT'S part, out to however far YOU will be able to do YOUR part!

 

I use a 30-30 at my stand in the timber where the farthest I could see a deer is about 70 yards. I zeroed my 30-30 at 50 with iron sights. If I'm hunting somewhere that the distances are farther than 50-100, say out to 2-300 I use a .280 Rem bolt action with a Leupold 3X9.

I don't try or care to test the limits of a 30-30. I know its good at the distances I use it for and I know the .280 is also.

If my only rifle was a 30-30 I'd probably scope it and find out what its effective range is... but it ain't.

 

Where I hunt (thick swamp) 75 yards is a long shot. I sight my rifle in at 100 yards just in case. So, I have no idea how far a 30/30 is good for. Out West, I use a 270.

 

I don't know either. Boss Rancher had one place about 40 miles from Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas. The peak was visible from several high points on the ranch. Point is, you could see forever. The only rifle Boss owned was a .30-30. There are better tools for long range hunting, but I'm pretty sure that the .30-30 bullet will penetrate a deer at least to 400 yards. Question is can you or I hit him in the vitals at that distance? For me, open sights, no. With a good peep, maybe. With even a 4X scope, yes, if I had practiced and committed the trajectory to memory and conditions were good. (I'm not a dial twister). High west Texas winds can cancel even trying that kind of shot.

 

Personally, my longest shot on a deer with a .30-30 was a measured (after the shot) 250 yards. Big buck who had been missed twice already by a buddy with a .30-06, went about 20 feet from where he was hit and dropped dead. As for "regular" versus Leverevolution ammo -- the actual advantage of the Leverevolution round is very small. If you check their figures, you see they are all derived using a 24" barrel, something comparatively rare in the world of .30-30 leverguns. Compare them when shot from a much-more-common 20" barrel and most of the velocity increase melts away. Still, with the pointy bullet and slight velocity edge the LVR stuff shoots slightly flatter, but the real key lies, as already stated, with the shooter. A hunter who can solidly hit a deer with a .30-30 at 300 yards can kill it just as dead with either round.

 

In my youth when Ronald Reagan was president and well before lever evolution was ever a concept on a drawing board. I hunted the woodland forests and corn fields of Northern W.I. with a 30-30. My hunting was done mostly at 125 Meters or roughly 137 yards/ 375 feet or 3 and 3 quarter football fields away. And I could do again with a good scope on it. But that was me and where I grew up hunting.

 

Your skills and sighting system will have a lot more bearing on your ability to consistently hit a deer's vitals than anything else. Even a compact 2.5x optic will get you on target more often than peeps, due to the improved light transmission and finer aiming point. It's a lot easier to hit a small target with a 2MOA dot than a wide front sight post, in my experience.

 

Can't really add more than whats already been said. The 30-30 will kill out to 300 yards. No problem. But with open sights and bright sunlight maybe 200 yards with good eyesight. In a dark gloomy forest with a clear shooting lane maybe 100 yards. Add a low power scope and it all changes. You can only hit what you can see. Peep sights cost me a deer once because it was almost dark and I couldn't make out the deer I was looking at for a clean shot. I had to pass. The deer after a bit ran up the bank of the river and was gone. A scope would have made that an easy <40 yard kill.

I understand it goes against the grain to use a scope on a lever action. Some of mine have scopes and some don't. I accept the reduced range of the unscoped guns.

 

I dropped a nice 8pt buck back in 2008 with the LVR ammo at 178yds, that's what my rangefinder said, he went flop !!

 

At the ranges you mention and/or plan on, I think you can use most any brand you want that groups well from your rifle, and this probably more to do with your shooting skills or experience. We commonly use irons in several lever rifles/calibers out to around 150 yards for Elk, Deer, etc., but that's more from personal choice reasons, not the ammo capability so to say. Somewhat longer ranges than that then a scope is often used, and for even out there further depending on game/where/conditions etc., changes in a caliber may be warranted. I'd just suggest you buy a box and try several brands of 30-30 ammo and/or bullet choices to do a bench test comparison; sometimes results can vary between them quite a bit, and go with whatever groups best from a given rifle (mine likes 170gr Federal). It can be interesting to do, fun anyway, and I think worth the time and coin involved. Then afterwards, practice at your planned 100 yds (or more), etc., to help establish your confidence at what ranges you should shoot... and all that neat stuff; be it either the irons or scope. Good luck to you...

 

Really, what is my $0.02 going to add.

 

Adjusted for inflation, about a $1.50.

 

So, assuming a 4" MBPR, here are ranges for three common loads:

150 grain Core-Lokt at 2390'/second = 177 yards
160 grain Leverevolution at 2400'/second = 191 yards
170 grain Core-Lokt at 2200'/second = 171 yards

So, it has a slight advantage, but not as much as one might think. :biggrin:

You should be good to go out to 150 yards with any of these.

 

Further than one would think. As a twelve year old spent the summer sniping at chucks with a open sighted 336 30-30. Anyway, during deer season, those folks that had deer already were driving for those that didn't. A line of does ran across one of the fields, aimed at the first and hit the third, complete penetration thru the hams and a knock down. This was somewhere past 300 yds, nobody had told me it was a 150yd rifle. At least I had the elevation right, probably from blasting away at those chucks.

 

About 15 years ago I shot a deer from about 200yds. with 150 grain Core-Lokt using my 30-30.