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The .30-30 Winchester
The .30-30 Winchester/.30 Winchester Center Fire cartridge was first marketed in 1895 for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle. The .30-30 (thirty-thirty), as it is most commonly known, and the .25-35 were offered that year as the USA's first small-bore sporting rifle cartridges designed for smokeless powder.
The .30 Winchester Smokeless first appeared in Winchester's catalog No. 55, dated August 1895. When chambered in the Winchester Model 1894 carbine and rifle, it was also known as .30 Winchester Center Fire or .30 WCF. When the cartridge was chambered in the Marlin Model 1893 rifle, rival gunmaker Marlin used the designation .30-30 or .30-30 Smokeless. The added -30 stands for the standard load of 30 grains of early smokeless powder and is based on late-19th century American naming conventions for black powder-filled cartridges. Both Marlin and Union Metallic Cartridge Co. also dropped the Winchester appellation, as they did not want to put the name of rival Winchester on their products. The modern designation of .30-30 Winchester was arrived at by using Marlin's variation of the name with the Winchester name appended as originator of the cartridge, but .30 WCF is still seen occasionally. This designation also probably serves to avoid consumer confusion with the different, yet similarly shaped .30-40 Krag, which has been referred to as .30 US and .30 Army.
The cartridge is typically loaded with jacketed bullets that are .308 inches in nominal diameter, weighing between 150 and 170 grains, but lighter loads are possible. When originally produced by Winchester Repeating Arms (WRA) and Union Metallic Cartridge Company (UMC), it was manufactured with a "metal patched" (jacketed) lead bullet weighing 160 gr. One year later, UMC produced a 170-grain bullet offering. Both 150- and 170-grain bullets continued to be very popular, as seen in the number of these weights offered by current manufacturers. The 160-grain bullet weight has reappeared in modern cartridges from Hornady. Bullets of up to 180 gr can be used, but the overall length restrictions of the lever-action rifles most commonly chambered for this round limit their usefulness. Cast lead bullets for the .30-30 are also popular and usually are .309 inches in diameter.
The .30-30 is considered to be the "entry-class" for modern big-game hunting cartridges, and it is common to define the characteristics of cartridges with similar ballistics as being in ".30-30 class" when describing their trajectory. While it is very effective on deer-sized and black bear-sized game, most commercial loadings are limited in effective range to about 200 yd for that purpose, except when using ballistic-tip ammunition.
One of the primary reasons for the .30-30's popularity amongst deer hunters is its light recoil. Average recoil from a typical 150-grain load at 2,390 feet per second in a 7.5 lb rifle is 10.6 foot-pounds of felt recoil at the shooter's shoulder, about half that of a comparable rifle chambered for the .30-06 Springfield. Because the majority of rifles chambered in .30-30 are lever-action rifles with tubular magazines, most .30-30 cartridges are loaded with round-nose or flat-nose bullets for safety. This is to prevent a spitzer-point bullet from setting off the primer of the cartridge ahead of it in the magazine during recoil, resulting in potentially catastrophic damage to both firearm and shooter. The Savage Model 99 was introduced in 1899 with a rotary magazine, in part, to avoid that issue.
When used in single-shot rifles or handguns, such as the Thompson Center Arms Contender or Encore series, it is common for shooters to hand load the cartridge with spire-point bullets for improved ballistics. A notable exception to the "no pointed bullets" guideline for bullet selection in rifles with tubular magazines are the new flexible "memory elastomer"-tipped LEVERevolution cartridges as produced by Hornady. The soft tips of these bullets easily deform under compression, preventing detonations while under recoil in the magazine, yet also return to their original pointed shape when that pressure is removed, thus allowing for a more efficient bullet shape than previously available to load safely in such rifles. The more aerodynamic shape results in a flatter bullet trajectory and greater retained velocity downrange, significantly increasing the effective range of rifles chambered for this cartridge.
Sixty years after its introduction, the .30-.30 Winchester remains in widespread use even today.
The .30-30 Winchester/.30 Winchester Center Fire cartridge was first marketed in 1895 for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle. The .30-30 (thirty-thirty), as it is most commonly known, and the .25-35 were offered that year as the USA's first small-bore sporting rifle cartridges designed for smokeless powder.
The .30 Winchester Smokeless first appeared in Winchester's catalog No. 55, dated August 1895. When chambered in the Winchester Model 1894 carbine and rifle, it was also known as .30 Winchester Center Fire or .30 WCF. When the cartridge was chambered in the Marlin Model 1893 rifle, rival gunmaker Marlin used the designation .30-30 or .30-30 Smokeless. The added -30 stands for the standard load of 30 grains of early smokeless powder and is based on late-19th century American naming conventions for black powder-filled cartridges. Both Marlin and Union Metallic Cartridge Co. also dropped the Winchester appellation, as they did not want to put the name of rival Winchester on their products. The modern designation of .30-30 Winchester was arrived at by using Marlin's variation of the name with the Winchester name appended as originator of the cartridge, but .30 WCF is still seen occasionally. This designation also probably serves to avoid consumer confusion with the different, yet similarly shaped .30-40 Krag, which has been referred to as .30 US and .30 Army.
The cartridge is typically loaded with jacketed bullets that are .308 inches in nominal diameter, weighing between 150 and 170 grains, but lighter loads are possible. When originally produced by Winchester Repeating Arms (WRA) and Union Metallic Cartridge Company (UMC), it was manufactured with a "metal patched" (jacketed) lead bullet weighing 160 gr. One year later, UMC produced a 170-grain bullet offering. Both 150- and 170-grain bullets continued to be very popular, as seen in the number of these weights offered by current manufacturers. The 160-grain bullet weight has reappeared in modern cartridges from Hornady. Bullets of up to 180 gr can be used, but the overall length restrictions of the lever-action rifles most commonly chambered for this round limit their usefulness. Cast lead bullets for the .30-30 are also popular and usually are .309 inches in diameter.
The .30-30 is considered to be the "entry-class" for modern big-game hunting cartridges, and it is common to define the characteristics of cartridges with similar ballistics as being in ".30-30 class" when describing their trajectory. While it is very effective on deer-sized and black bear-sized game, most commercial loadings are limited in effective range to about 200 yd for that purpose, except when using ballistic-tip ammunition.
One of the primary reasons for the .30-30's popularity amongst deer hunters is its light recoil. Average recoil from a typical 150-grain load at 2,390 feet per second in a 7.5 lb rifle is 10.6 foot-pounds of felt recoil at the shooter's shoulder, about half that of a comparable rifle chambered for the .30-06 Springfield. Because the majority of rifles chambered in .30-30 are lever-action rifles with tubular magazines, most .30-30 cartridges are loaded with round-nose or flat-nose bullets for safety. This is to prevent a spitzer-point bullet from setting off the primer of the cartridge ahead of it in the magazine during recoil, resulting in potentially catastrophic damage to both firearm and shooter. The Savage Model 99 was introduced in 1899 with a rotary magazine, in part, to avoid that issue.
When used in single-shot rifles or handguns, such as the Thompson Center Arms Contender or Encore series, it is common for shooters to hand load the cartridge with spire-point bullets for improved ballistics. A notable exception to the "no pointed bullets" guideline for bullet selection in rifles with tubular magazines are the new flexible "memory elastomer"-tipped LEVERevolution cartridges as produced by Hornady. The soft tips of these bullets easily deform under compression, preventing detonations while under recoil in the magazine, yet also return to their original pointed shape when that pressure is removed, thus allowing for a more efficient bullet shape than previously available to load safely in such rifles. The more aerodynamic shape results in a flatter bullet trajectory and greater retained velocity downrange, significantly increasing the effective range of rifles chambered for this cartridge.
Sixty years after its introduction, the .30-.30 Winchester remains in widespread use even today.
