.30-30 Winchester

"3030" redirects here. For the art publishing company, see 3030 Press. For the action-adventure game, see 3030 Deathwar. For the band, see Deltron 3030. For the "Winchester" IBM hard disk drive, see History of IBM magnetic disk drives § IBM 3340. For other uses, see 3030 (disambiguation).
".30-30" redirects here. Not to be confused with 30-30.
.30-30 Winchester
A .30 WCF cartridge.
TypeRifle
Place of originUnited States
Production history
DesignerWinchester
Designed1895
ManufacturerWinchester
Produced1895–present
Variants
Specifications
Parent case.38-55 Winchester
Case typeRimmed, bottleneck
Bullet diameter.308 in (7.8 mm)
Land diameter.300 in (7.6 mm)[1]
Neck diameter.330 in (8.4 mm)
Shoulder diameter.401 in (10.2 mm)
Base diameter.422 in (10.7 mm)
Rim diameter.506 in (12.9 mm)
Rim thickness.063 in (1.6 mm)
Case length2.039 in (51.8 mm)
Overall length2.550 in (64.8 mm)
Primer typeLarge rifle
Maximum pressure (CIP)46,000 psi (320 MPa)
Maximum pressure (SAAMI)42,000 psi (290 MPa)
Maximum CUP38,000[2] CUP
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
110 gr (7 g) FP 2,684 ft/s (818 m/s) 1,760 ft⋅lbf (2,390 J)
130 gr (8 g) FP 2,496 ft/s (761 m/s) 1,799 ft⋅lbf (2,439 J)
150 gr (10 g) FN 2,390 ft/s (730 m/s) 1,903 ft⋅lbf (2,580 J)
160 gr (10 g) cast LFN 2,330 ft/s (710 m/s) 1,929 ft⋅lbf (2,615 J)
170 gr (11 g) FP 2,227 ft/s (679 m/s) 1,873 ft⋅lbf (2,539 J)
Source(s): Hodgdon[3]

The .30-30 Winchester / 7.8x51mmR (officially named the .30 Winchester Center Fire or .30 WCF) cartridge was first marketed for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle in 1895.[4] The .30-30 (pronounced "thirty-thirty"), as it is most commonly known, along with the .25-35 Winchester, was offered that year as the United States' first small-bore sporting rifle cartridges designed for smokeless powder. Since its introduction, it has been utilized alongside the development of flatter shooting cartridges, most prominently those derived from designs subsidized by interest in military expenditures. (Examples: .303 British, 30-06, and 6.5x55 Swedish) The .30-30 has remained in widespread use almost entirely because of reliable effectiveness in civilian applications, and has put food on the table for millions of people in hunting situations.[5][6][7][8] [9]

The .30-30 is by far the most common cartridge shot from lever action rifles.[10] The .30-30 is substantially more powerful than the Magnum handgun cartridges (e.g., .357, .41, .44, etc.) also often paired with lever actions, and produces that energy with about 14% less recoil than .44 Magnum.[11] While its old rival .35 Remington produces more muzzle energy and recoil, the .30-30 will often retain more terminal energy.[11] The .30-30 is not commonly used for extreme long-range shooting across wide-open spaces, but modern innovations in ballistic tipped bullets for leverguns have moved the long-range capabilities of the .30-30 somewhat closer to parity with higher-velocity cartridges.[12][13] In any case, a hunting-specific advantage of the .30-30 over those cartridges is that it leaves lower volumes of spoiled (destroyed or bloodshot) venison after a kill, leading to less waste.[14][15]

  1. ^ "C.I.P. TDCC datasheet 30-30 Win" (PDF). CIP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-05.
  2. ^ Simpson, L. (2019, January 18). The .307 Winchester and .356 Winchester lever-action cartridges. Shooting Times. https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/the-307-winchester-and-356-winchester-lever-action-cartridges/328856
  3. ^ ".30-30 load data Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine" from Hodgdon.
  4. ^ "Load Guide" data from Accurate Powder.
  5. ^ Rick Jamison, "The Winchester Model 94 .30-30", Shooting Times August 1989.
  6. ^ G. Sitton, "Lever Guns and Iron Sights," Hunting April 1997.
  7. ^ Layne Simpson, "The Sights and Sounds of the .30-30," Shooting Times September 1992.
  8. ^ Grits Gresham, "The .30/30" Sports Afield August 1980.
  9. ^ Spomer, Ron (2019-10-28). "Whitetail Deer Cartridge Shoot-Out: .30-30 Win. vs. .243 Win. vs. .30-06 Springfield". Outdoor Life. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  10. ^ Chuck Hawks. "The Deer Rifle". ChuckHawks.com. Accessed January 26, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Chuck Hawks. "Handgun Cartridges in Rifles". Chuckhawks.com. Accessed January 25, 2022.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tipped was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference HawksAmmo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Ron Spomer. "Choosing Your Best Deer Cartridge", Ron Spomer Outdoors on YouTube [3:30 mark], August 10, 2021. Accessed January 26, 2022.
  15. ^ Ron Spomer. "30-30 Winchester Is a Joke". Ron Spomer Outdoors, October 20, 2021. Accessed January 25, 2022.