Turdy-Turdy

[Malamute]

There has been a lot of that over the years. Perfectly good combinations of gun and cartridge that get eclipsed by the latest and greatest incremental improvement until for some reason enough experts have pronounced that that it no longer does what it used to. Which is pretty nuts when one stops and thinks about it.

As I have said elsewhere, there have been so many different .30-30 rifles out there in so many degrees of serviceability that each one may not be a law unto itself, but it might as well be. If I still ran a .30-30, I'd still be likely to rely on what "Der Alter" insisted: 170gr > 150gr.

Im doing the opposite, Im transitioning to 150s for general use, and possibly to the 130s if they shoot well in my guns and I end up in Az more. With both my limited poor results with the 170s and my wimpy shoulder, when i was going to get some more brass, I did the math on what components cost vs factory loads, I just went and bought some 150 gr factory stuff @ around $14/box. The extra couple hundred feet velocity is fine by me, faster expansion, flatter shooting at 500 yards! according to the Winchester advertisement and Im not really carrying the 30-30 around in grizzly country much or actually hunting with it per se. Hunting for me is scoped bolt guns in flat shooting calibers. Walk around and day to day guns are a different set of use characteristics.

[Malamute]

People also don’t either have the time to shot deer. Or don’t have the ability with the 30-30.

For perspective, someone of Lost Rivers shooting and hunting abilities could probably make good use of a 30-30 to much farther than most shooters reliably can.

None of this is to try to make it into some sort of wonder gun, just to keep it in perspective. Its not the best thing going by any means, but it still has a useful place for those able to understand its capabilities and work within them. I very much like how slim and handy they are to carry, and its trajectory over a pistol class round. Im willing to live with some of the shortcomings to have some of the positives it has.


When i was spending a lot of time out in the hills Id sometimes sleep with a carbine in my blankets or sleeping bag against my body, stock between my knees, barrel against my body. The first time i tried that with an AR carbine I discovered they really suck as sleeping companions compared to a Winchester 94. Bolt guns are pretty clunky in that role too.

[entropy]

They’re just handy. And versatile. Sleeping with an AR would be akin to sleeping with my dog...woke up a half dozen times with a paw poking me in the face.

Chomping at the bit to get back and mount that RDS up. Load up some more 125s. Maybe the 130s will make it thru the snow to may door as well.

[Malamute]

They’re just handy. And versatile. Sleeping with an AR would be akin to sleeping with my dog...woke up a half dozen times with a paw poking me in the face.

Chomping at the bit to get back and mount that RDS up. Load up some more 125s. Maybe the 130s will make it thru the snow to may door as well.

The handy aspect is one of the major draws. Yes, I say theres better choices for most uses, and technically thats true, though in the day to day carry and use part, nothing newer has improved on that part to any real degree. I like the history and all that, but in the strictly user friendly part of living with a gun day in and day out I havent found anything I like more.

I spent a large part of my life oriented towards spending as much time outside and in the hills as I could in a practical sense. Using different things as general purpose day to day guns, spending a lot of time with a rifle in your hand, nothing has beat a lever carbine for shear handiness.

[entropy]

The handy aspect is one of the major draws. Yes, I say theres better choices for most uses, and technically thats true, though in the day to day carry and use part, nothing newer has improved on that part to any real degree. I like the history and all that, but in the strictly user friendly part of living with a gun day in and day out I havent found anything I like more.

I spent a large part of my life oriented towards spending as much time outside and in the hills as I could in a practical sense. Using different things as general purpose day to day guns, spending a lot of time with a rifle in your hand, nothing has beat a lever carbine for shear handiness.

Agreed. Along with a revolver. 😉

[LtDave]

I have shot a bunch of 150 grain handloads while shooting levergun silhouette matches. My rifles were a Marlin 336 ADL and a 336 SC, both with aperture sights. The load I settled on was 28 grains of Reloder 7 with Winchester 150 grain Power Points. Primers were Rem 9.5. My ADL will shoot those loads into MOA with the aperture sights. Velocity out of the 336 ADL was 2165 fps. Load always shot so well and put down 200 yard rams without any drama that I never bothered to try 170 grainers.