What is your longest succesful shot with lever 30-30 on a deer or other such critter

[rdwarrior]

Hey everyone
I am curious to what the normal range most folks use with the 30-30. Last week I took my first deer with my Marlin 30-30 at a range of 160-170 yards (measured with my rangefinder). Went 20-30 yards and piled up. Not a cast boolit but it was one of my j-word reloads. Not bragging, just curious as to what others have done with their "brush" rifles.

(not my first deer, just my first deer with a 30-30)
rdwarrior

[dangitgriff]

https://youtu.be/THWCH2Nwsss

[cwtebay]

First deer, 228 yards. Shot a mule deer through the neck on the last day of season. He was running, broke off his left antler.

Longest? 411 yards. I shoot my 94 carbine alot! Shot a wounded raghorn bull at the edge of a canyon. Dropped him.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Drm50]

On deer I would say approx 100yds, I've shot varmits out to around 150yds. I've pulled off some outhouse luck shots father with light bullets on groundhogs.

[OverMax]

In my best years having near perfect eye site (my late teens.) I shot down hill a full 40 length or {1/4 mile for you city raised fellers} using my Father's 30-WCF 336 Marlin _Sporting Carbine _sporting a Lyman Peep w/ tiny aperture. Clipped the birds head. Lonely partridge was eyed standing in the middle of a little used county gravel road in the late afternoon of a long ago deer drive. Drivers out of the bush_ posters milling around on the roadway bumming chews of snuff and smoking filter-less cigarette's. I was anxious to bring something home to my Mom because so many of those so called {experienced hunters} whom I got wet for driving green swamps and flooded low bush cranberries plots all day. Yep many old geezer's missed their deer that day. I didn't see anything so why not a partridge.
Shot across the hood of my Fathers 54 International pick-up for that bird.

[Gunners Mate]

219 off of a fence post 10 point buck in Hico Texas, dead run straight away Texas Heart Shot witnessed and Measured with 300 foot tape pre 64 saddle ring 30/30 (farm Rifle) had never fired the rifle before.

[Texas by God]

My 7mmMag fan of a brother carried his 336/30-30 as an after thought while we inspected some dozer work along the creek channel. Two bucks and a doe emerged from the Cottonwoods about 200 yards away. He asked me if they were too far away; I said shoot one! That 6point dropped like a rock from the 170gr Corelokt. My tall guy paces totaled 211 to the deer. His eyes were opened that day concerning the 30-30. My longest was a doe at 150 yards- a chip shot for the Leverevolution ammo I was using that day in my Marlin. Both rifles had 4x scopes.

[dverna]

Beware of "fake news". People will report a lucky shot but that does not make the .30/30 a 400 yard deer rifle.

You are responsible to make an ethical shot. That requires not only a capable rifle/load but more importantly a capable shooter.

Set up a pie plate at 250 yards and go have fun. If you can hit it every shot with your .30/30 you will answer your question. IMHO, the.30/30 does not have sufficient retained energy to be ehtical past 250 yards...others will disagree.

[rdwarrior]

Beware of "fake news". People will report a lucky shot but that does not make the .30/30 a 400 yard deer rifle.

You are responsible to make an ethical shot. That requires not only a capable rifle/load but more importantly a capable shooter.

Set up a pie plate at 250 yards and go have fun. If you can hit it every shot with your .30/30 you will answer your question. IMHO, the.30/30 does not have sufficient retained energy to be ehtical past 250 yards...others will disagree.

Good Points - I considered the 160-170 to be the extreme limits of my capabilities with the 30-30. Passed up a 200 yard shot on a larger 8 point due to not feeling it would have been a successful or ethical shot based on my shooting capabilities.

[Deadeye Bly]

I once shot a ground hog at about 400 yards with a Win 94 carbine in 32 Special. It must have been about 50 years ago. I was helping some neighbor boys repair some fence on their farm. It was in the spring and I had not shot a ground hog yet. As we were working a ground hog came out in the upper corner of the field. The only gun we had was one of the neighbor's 94 carbine. Neither of them was willing to try a shot so I said I would try. I raised the rear sight as far as it would go and held the front sight way up over the notch. The ground hog stood up and I aimed about 1 1/2 ft left as there was a slight wind. I shot and the ground hog went down. We didn't see any dirt fly. We assumed he went back to feeding but we didn't see him moving. We jumped in the truck and drove up there to see. He was lying there dead shot square through the center of his chest. He must have been the unluckiest ground hog in the world that day. I would never tell that story but I have two witnesses who are both still alive today. After all this I would never shoot at a deer at over 150 yards with a rifle like that but I had little respect for ground hogs.

[reivertom]

I agree with the above post about ethical shooting. Limit your shots to ranges that you are used to shooting and you will kill the deer and not just wound it. Know your rifle's capabilities and don't believe everything you hear. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.