Caliber 30-30 use in Africa???

[Paul Raley]

My Winchester 30-30 was one of the rifles that arrived around Christmas in the shipment from Paul where they had been in storage ...slight problem is ammunition , as over here it's obviously not too common a rifle calibre....looking around in the nooks and crannies of the big gun /ammo vault in the gunshop I use I unearthed 4 boxes of these....bit different ...but at least something to play with...unlike my 45-70 for which no ammo is to be found....my gunshop guy has been trying to get 30-30 and 45-70 ammo for over a year for me , as I asked way before they were being shipped...but he not having much luck for some reason...

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Spike.t - if I am correct it looks like you are in Zambia , are you not able to get ammo or at least reloading components from SA ?

 

[spike.t]

Y

Spike.t - if I am correct it looks like you are in Zambia , are you not able to get ammo or at least reloading components from SA ?

Yup correct about zambia...only dealers can bring in...and it's not worth it for him to try and get a small amount from SA....he gets from USA and Europe....he not sure how his people in usa haven't put it in his order shipments , as gets hornady, federal etc...and reloading here is illegal....Will wait in hope...unless someone decides to do a hunt here with 30-30 and 45-70...

 

[Velo Dog]

Trivia:
The .30-30 with 170 gr blunt shaped bullet is a scaled down .450/400, Aka: .400 Jeffery NE Flanged

 

[spike.t]

Trivia:
The .30-30 with 170 gr blunt shaped bullet is a scaled down .450/400, Aka: .400 Jeffery NE Flanged

So I am good to go for a pygmy hippo then...

 

[RayAtkinson]

The 30-30 at 100 to 200 yard is a 300 Win mag at 400 yards so to speak!!! and most think the 300 WM is good to 600 or more yards, wake up America! careful bullet placement applies to the 30-30!! of course it does and it also applies to the 30-06 and 577 T-Rex,

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Y

Yup correct about zambia...only dealers can bring in...and it's not worth it for him to try and get a small amount from SA....he gets from USA and Europe....he not sure how his people in usa haven't put it in his order shipments , as gets hornady, federal etc...and reloading here is illegal....Will wait in hope...unless someone decides to do a hunt here with 30-30 and 45-70...

Bring me over; I'll bring both.

 

[spike.t]

Bring me over; I'll bring both.

Can always sort you a hunt using lever actions

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Lever actions... that's my hunting love language Mike.

 

[spike.t]

Lever actions... that's my hunting love language Mike.

Bring them over...be interesting to see them in action

 

[Ragman]

Lever actions... that's my hunting love language Mike.

Mine too!!!

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I love a 30-30. It works way better that the figures say it should.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Back in the 80

Obviously it has been a "couple" of years now since the original discussion above , but for those of you that might be interested , I managed to find a fairly accurate load for my Marlin micro groove barrelled 30-30 .
I used 150 gr Sierra FN bullets with 33 gr of South African S335 powder and CCI 200 LR primers . Unfortunately I was unable to chrony the load . The grouping is low on the attached target but it is a good grouping , I obviously adjusted the elevation afterwards .The distance is 100 m

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Back in the late 70's and through the 90's I had a Marlin 336C 30-30 for deer hunting in North Carolina and occasionally in Tennessee.

My pet reload was +/-31.0 grains, using a balance beam scale, of IMR3031 powder, CCI LR primers, and Hornady 150 grain soft point flat points. Roughly quarter size groups at 50 yards with iron sights. A lot younger with a lot better eyes and steadier aim.

The only reason I can remember that load after a these years is the last deer I shot with a 30-30 was at maybe 5 to 7 yards, I was sitting on a 30 inch high stump inside a single ring of cedar saplings, and only had a 10 inch open ring (hole) to cleanly shot through. That deer came all 4 hooves straight up in the air and body slam to the ground. Lights out.

Loved owning and shooting original straight back ejection Winchesters, the modified angle eject were OK, but not as nostalgic, nor able to group tighter that 3 - 4 inches. Still good for hunting purposes.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I love a 30-30. It works way better that the figures say it should.

Like the bumble bee. According to "the science" they can't fly. Guess nobody told them that.

Read an article in a hunting magazine one time. It was written about the new T/C Contender, when they first came on the market. I had been deer hunting a couple of years; hadn't shot my first deer yet. And this gal goes out for the first time deer hunting out west, down remember the state, with a 10 or 12 inch, barrelled T/C Contender, chambered in 30-30, with a scope and bipod; shoots her first deer with one shot, at 150 yards.

 

[Certus]

Y

Yup correct about zambia...only dealers can bring in...and it's not worth it for him to try and get a small amount from SA....he gets from USA and Europe....he not sure how his people in usa haven't put it in his order shipments , as gets hornady, federal etc...and reloading here is illegal....Will wait in hope...unless someone decides to do a hunt here with 30-30 and 45-70...

Ah yes, perfect combo for a plains and DG hunt

 

[spike.t]

Ah yes, perfect combo for a plains and DG hunt

They fine for what we have

 

[Tundra Tiger]

For myself... I am not saying I want to run out and chase elephants with my .45-70, for example. But I have 3 mantras I try to live by: use the right bullet, shot placement, and personal restraint. IMHO, as long as all three of those are followed, my .45-70 will work for a whole lot of stuff, and frankly? So will a .30-30 - so will a lot of calibers. Again, just my opinion.

Maybe it seems like a stunt to some; it doesn't feel like it to me. But what really gets my pulse racing, when it comes to guns and hunting, are lever actions. I guess I see it as we all have our little quirks - our idiosyncrasies, and that's one of mine.