30-30 Winchester

The 30-30 Winchester centerfire rifle cartridge is a .30″ caliber, rimmed, bottleneck cartridge case design and reloadable.

Rifles chambered in this round have a barrel bore land to land diameter of .300″ and a bore groove to groove diameter of .308″.

Common barrel rifling twist rates for the 30-30 Winchester are;
1 in 12″.

Common barrel lengths for the 30-30 Winchester are;
16″, 18″, 20″, 22″ and 24″.

Variables such as riflescope choices, rifle scope mounts, which affect the line of sight above the bore centerline, rifle barrel length, all contribute to the ballistics of the 30-30 Winchester.

The 30-30 Winchester was introduced to the public as the first smokeless powder sporting cartridge by Winchester in 1895 as the .30 WCF, chambered in their then new model 1894 lever action rifle.

It has been chambered in several different action types but the lever action is by far the most popular with Winchester’s own Model 94 rifles running into the millions of firearms produced.

The 30-30 Winchester is well beyond 100 years since its introduction and sales are still high for this cartridge.

Simply put most deer are shot within a 100 yard range limit and they are found mostly in the woods where shots are limited to under 100 yards and the 30-30 Winchester cartridge in a short lever action rifle is more than adequate to get the job done and is excellent for hog hunting as well.

The 30-30 Winchester is slowly coming into its own with the latest technology in ammunition manufacturing, adding a little more effective range is a good thing for any rifle cartridge and for the old 30-30 Winchester cartridge.

Hornady has certainly given it a boost with their new LeverEvolution 30-30 Winchester ammunition by adding another 100 yards to the effective range of the cartridge.

Bufflao Bore now manufactures a 190 grain Hawk bullet loading that surely adds stopping power on larger game animals at close range to the once and still very popular 30-30 Winchester.

The 30-30 Winchesters recoil is less than the 308 Winchester cartridge and light enough for most individuals to enjoy shooting all day long with no ill effects felt from recoil. Just remember to use only round-nose or flat-point bullets for use in tubular magazine rifles.

The following 30-30 Ballistics chart assumes a 160 Grain FTX bullet fired from a 24″ barrel, with a ballistic coefficient of .330.