What is the best .30-.30 deer hunting cartridge for the winchester model 94???

Question

Last year on opening day i made a perfect 30 yrd shot with my winchester 94 the deer ran over 150 yrds and i think it could have been prevented with better ammunition i was using Remington 160gr soft points.the same thing happened the next day when i shot my doe..but the year before i dropped both of my deer deadin their tracks but i shot them through the neck witch broke their spine using the same ammo. what do you guys think should i use something different??

Answer 1

I've always hunted with a30-30 and the winchester 170 grain silver tip has always work really well and I would'nt dream of switching to somthing else but thats just my prefrence. Good luck with what ever you use.

Answer 2

At what range? At long ranges, the 30-06 is a superior cartridge. But at short ranges, I would take a 30-30 over a 30-06. Especially if hunting the typical forests in which shots are rarely over 100 yards. Though not as powerful as a 30-06, I find the 30-30 rifles to be 'handier', for lack of a better word. Good balance; quick to bring up to my shoulder; moderate recoil; quick to shoot accurately. And the slug that you recover from a whitetail shot with a 30-30 is just beautiful; a perfect mushroom. I've never had a deer yet complain that I should have used a bigger gun. But then again, by the time I walk up to them they actually don't say much of anything.

Answer 3

It is my understanding in 30-30 that you can get 150 or 170 grain, except for the new Hornaday LEVERoution which is 160. In the range your talking about I would question shot placement, over bullet performance. The 30-30 has been killing deer for a very long time and much less powerful rounds are used every year with no problems. Sometimes even with solid placement, a deer will run 100-200 yards, if no CNS or bone structure is damaged. It takes about 14 seconds for enough blood loss to occur to result in incapacitation, a deer can cover a great deal of ground in that time.

Answer 4

Any of the common 170 grain loads should be fine. The fact that those two deer didn't drop right off just means you're beginning to get experience. Bluff-nosed bullets are always going to perform well, but the critters just don't always do as expected, even when hit where you want 'em. Spitzer bullets tend to be less reliable with terminal performance, but I'm willing to be convinced on Hornady's LeveRevolution. I doubt if you need to change, though. Stuff just happens, and a shot in the chest this year with the same load will probably achor him.

Answer 5

I wouldn't change a thing. I've shot alot of deer with Remington Cor Lokts and they have always put deer down fast for me (I havn't had one go more than 30 yards and many went straight down.) Assuming that your shots were placed in the heart/lung area, I would just consider it to be a fluke.

Answer 6

I'd suggest that bullet placement might be your problem more than the type of bullet you're using. you should be placing your shots just behind the front legs so that you hit a vital organ. The problem with shooting them in the neck is that it's easier to miss and if you don't break the spinal column the deer can run off into the woods and die, never to be found.

Answer 7

the Remington core-lokt round is pretty good and it sounds like that is what you are using. You still got the kill even though they ran a bit. You may want to try Remington Premier rounds, might be a bit better.

Answer 8

my pap has the same gun and he uses Winchester super x 160 grain soft points. he hasn't ever shot anything over 90 yds, and he dropped each deer he has ever shot pretty fast. go with Winchester for ammo.

live in western PA, and damn proud of it <((((><

Answer 9

The problem you are having is shot placement, not the grain bullet that you are using*.... I have killed many Deer with mine with no problems*.... I choose to go for the heart and lung shot*..

Answer 10

winchester 170 gr silver tip C.E. WILKERSON