Howdy! I've been out of the hunting game for about 10 yrs, but I'm looking to get back into it. I had great success in the past with my Marlin 357 carbine and 180 grain LBT WFN's. Killed every deer I shot with them quite nicely! Since I have a Lyman 311041 mold and a bunch of gas checks I'd like to give the 30 30 a fair chance. I looked down on this caliber in my younger years, mostly because I consumed every article I could find in the gun rags and they convinced me the 30 30 was outdated. Too many newer, faster, sexier calibers for me to give this old standby much of a look. To be honest, I hunt deer mostly in the woods with my longest shot of 160 yards coming in a field behind my Dad's place. I rested my 6.5 Swede on top of my backpack and dropped a nice doe with a high shoulder shot. Felt like shooting a groundhog! Average shot for me on whitetails is 30 to 50 yards.
Anyway, just wondering if air cooling or water quenching is the way to go in this cartridge? In the 357 I was shooting water quenched wheelweights and the big meplat with no expansion worked well for me to 75+ yards. I would think ACWW's would show some expansion at velocities around 2000 fps, while water quenched should just zip right through without expanding. So, hopefully some folks with experience with this cartridge on deer can chime in and point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!