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Thread: 30 carbine and hunting deer?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master 444ttd's Avatar
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    30 carbine and hunting deer?

    my late grandfather gave his m1 30 carbine to my dad. we shot it using factory fmj loads and then we stripped it cleaned it, put it back together and put it into his safe. he has a PA disability permit that the game commission gave him. so using a semi is fine( using a semi is a no-no according to PAGC laws, but PAGC disability permits says he can).

    anyway, he wants to kill a deer with the 30 carbine. he believes a 50-60 yards is possible, but 20-40 yards is more probable. he likes behind the shoulder shots. he doesn't like(or hates) the neck shots. oh, he won't use a premium bullet(copper) but he's ok with the cup and core or the lead boolits.

    now, i know next to nothing about this caliber except what i've learned from WW2 vets. it goes from a very bad cartridge to a good enuff cartridge, take your pick. and i know.....its his cartridge and he is going to do what he is going to do.

    so what bullet/boolit should he use?
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  2. #2
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
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    FWIW Illinois allows .30 carbine pistols for deer hunting. Obviously no fmj projectiles.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    Close range is doable, it was a 50 yd personal gun. Back in the 50's when carbine was popular and cheap, lots of use for hunting. Biggest problem I heard of was the mag falling out.
    Whatever!

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    I talked to a Korean War vet who was in a mortar squad, I asked him about the rumors of a 30 carbine not penetrating a Chinese winter coat. He looked at me in the eyes and said... I call tell you about 8-9 Chinese who doesn’t believe that....

    I have used 30 carbine for deer using Remington SP and also my own cast bullet, the lee 309-115fn(soup can) and also the NOE 310-130rn I use 2400 powder with a GC pc bullet and out to 75 yards I had no problems.... I hit behind the shoulder and they ran maybe 20-30 yards. But I don’t use my M1 Carbines....
    Attachment 278547Attachment 278548Attachment 278549

  5. #5
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    You're probably going to get a lot of nay-sayers on the 30 Carbine for deer. My take on it is that will be plenty effective out to 50 yds. or maybe a little further. Cup and core soft point should expand pretty well inside of that range. I used to buy the bulk Remington 115 soft points from Midway, and took a lot of coyotes with those. Lately I've been using the RCBS 30-115-SP boolit, cast from WW + tin and hollow pointed with the Forster tool. With proper shot placement he should easily be able to put venison on the table with the 30M1.

  6. #6
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    Can a M1 Carbine be used to take a deer?

    IMHO, yes with the following conditions:
    1. shooter is accurate - as in expert marksman that 10/10 hits the bullseye with that specific rifle
    2. it’s a small deer
    3. it’s the only firearm the shooter has access to

    I would say if this is more of a question of should a person use a specific firearm for nostalgic reasons... then no, the M1 should be reserved for plinking and range shoots. There are better choices out there. For example, a quick check of my reloading manuals to compare the .30 Carbine to AR15 in 300 ACC:

    The M1 averages:
    100 and 110 gr JSP/JRN at 1,800 FPS
    115 and 130 gr lead bullets at 1,500 FPS

    Compared to a AR15 in 300 ACC...
    110 gr V-Max at 2,200 FPS
    155 gr HP at 1,800 FPS
    160 gr cast lead at 1,300 FPS
    180 gr cast left at 1,100 FPS
    73’s DE
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    From talking to folks down there, and from walking around in the woods, and seeing the short ranges they had to work with---
    Back in the 50s-60's or so, you could easily believe the M1 Carbine, or a .30-30 were the only guns used for deer hunting in Louisiana.
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  8. #8
    Boolit Grand Master
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    you can kill a deer with a 22 rim fire
    don't mean you should use it
    for me thats where I lump the 30 carbine
    your Dad won't take advise against using it then use it anyway
    that is on him sorry to say
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  9. #9
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    444ttd

    Not able to post much til tonight or tomorrow. I've killed 7 black tail deer with the M1 carbine and numerous 2 legged DG in the late SE Asian war games. The 30 carbine with 110 SP/HPs and 100 gr HJs did just fine out to 150 +/- yards. Accuracy is, of course, paramount. Velocity was 1925 - 1980 fps.
    Larry Gibson

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  10. #10
    Boolit Master



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    When my nephew was a tad , the carbine was just the right size for him, turned him loose with a 5 round mag with 3 110 softpoints(never could get the little magazine to run fully loaded . In a stand from 50 yards and less, the dead deer did not know the difference between that and a .30-06 !!

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Gibson View Post
    444ttd

    Not able to post much til tonight or tomorrow. I've killed 7 black tail deer with the M1 carbine and numerous 2 legged DG in the late SE Asian war games. The 30 carbine with 110 SP/HPs and 100 gr HJs did just fine out to 150 +/- yards. Accuracy is, of course, paramount. Velocity was 1925 - 1980 fps.
    Larry, I'd pay a pretty penny to buy you breakfast and coffee and just hear your stories....

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  12. #12
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    Exactly... there is a video of an avid hog hunter killing a boar with a .177 air rifle. He shot the boar in the ear hole, scrambling the pig’s central nervous system, which dropped the pig where it stood.

    Can the M1 Carbine cleanly kill a deer? Absolutely, given the right set of circumstances.

    Is the M1 Carbine a recommended deer rifle? Not any more than a .177 air rifle is recommended to hunt boar with.

    Quote Originally Posted by white eagle View Post
    you can kill a deer with a 22 rim fire
    don't mean you should use it
    for me thats where I lump the 30 carbine
    your Dad won't take advise against using it then use it anyway
    that is on him sorry to say
    73’s DE
    Matthew

    “Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin

  13. #13
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    When I was a teenager I knew an elderly rancher in his late 70s who got his deer every year with an M1 carbine and FMJ ammo. His hands were pretty well crippled up with arthritis, so he liked the semi-auto feature over having to work a bolt or lever. I imagine the SP ammo would do just fine at reasonable ranges. For myself, though, I'd prefer a .30-30.

    DG

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    If you successfully take deer with a 357mag then say not a 30 M1. Deer are not bullet proof. Put the right bullet in the right spot.
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  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by John McCorkle View Post
    Larry, I'd pay a pretty penny to buy you breakfast and coffee and just hear your stories....

    Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
    Same. I love sea stories. Passes the times while deployed and at work.

    Anyways. Back to topic. If a 9mm Luger or 357 Mag is good enough to cleanly and ethically harvest a deer I see no problem with a 30 carbine.

    You can get much deader than dead. Knock down power is only important on bears and T-Rex. Not so important on deer. I do like them to bleed. Makes them easier to find. Almost missed a couple that were bang flops. I walked passed one four times before I finnaly found her. I only found her because she was still breathing and the grass was moving ever so slightly.

    In Florida we can use soft point 223. Seen alot of nice clean kills on both deer and Hog with them. Seen a lot of nasty kills and bad shots with .243 and 308 Win also. It matters more where you hit them. As long as he hits the heart they won't go far.

    I would use a cast bullet of COWW and air cooled so it doesn't explode if I hit a ribs or bone.

    I also go for behind the shoulder shots.

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  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master
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    The only limitation I would recommend is the same as I do for any other cartridge. Does the shooter have the ability to put the (soft point) bullets into a 4 inch group at the distance he expects to shoot the game. If he's good enough to that with his gun at 50 yards, them by all means go for it. The last venison I ate was taken with a 4 inch 357 and a 140 grain jhp at 37 steps. I don't think the 110 grain Bullet at half again the velocity will do any less.
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  17. #17
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    I took a small ish Mule deer buck with a 357 mag revolver. I was just heading to the woods to check the function of the hammer and trigger that I had to work on. The only ammo I had on hand was a box of Win 110gn JHPs.
    He was 85 yards away and I put the little bullet just behind the shoulder, it took out both lungs and hit the top of the heart. It ran about 40 yds. The bullet was recovered from the offside shoulder and still weighed 110gns.
    So my thought would be to get good soft points and shoot a few water jugs. Then collect the bullets and see how they held up.
    You might try some boolits cast from half WW half lead.
    Good luck on your project. Be sure to take pics and share them here

  18. #18
    Boolit Master


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    At 1800 FPS and a 110 soft point, a deer doesn't stand a chance at 100 yards. Four times to date. Hope your Dad has a good time hunting.
    “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
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  19. #19
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    In my personal experience, white tail deer are not all that hard to kill. As long as you hit them right the first time. Hit them wrong and get the adrenaline up, and it can be a different story.

    Same with a coyote.

    An open shot at less than 100 yards? I think it will work fine. Brush in the way? Wait for it to step into a clear spot.

    Robert

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy
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    When the .30 Herrett came out in ~1974 for the T/C Contender as a handgun hunting round, most (including the designers) used the Speer 110 RN. At 2000-2300 fps MV that bullet performed quite well (I shot several Kodiak Island blacktails to prove it) - that’s just a bit above .30 Carbine rifle velocity. And while not the “best” deer cartridge, with decent shot placement it will kill well. With poor shot placement even a .30-06 kills poorly.



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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check