big johnson
Well-Known Member
Hey captain obvious if I can kill a bull elk with a bow and arrow , I can surely kill a bull elk with a 30-30 . (If you plant corn , you get corn! ) Get my thinking
30-30 for elk?
- Thread starter wilkup
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akmtnhnt
Well-Known Member
The amount of people that don't understand this is baffling.
DakotaRingo
Active Member
Hornady Leverations are better for lever guns as they give you slightly better velocities at the same ranges of the flat nose rounds. I bought my first lever gun at age 14, yes it was a day or 2 ago being born during WWII. The flat nose rounds harvested effectively within humane ranges. Lethality and common sense with a 30-30 will take an elk.
Nimrod
Well-Known Member
While I have read this many times over the years, and I have also read that deer require 1000 ft-lbs. Nothing could be further from the truth, there is no minimum energy requirement! The "requirement" is that a well constructed bullet is placed in a vital area with enough energy to get the job done. I'll bet there have been a pile of elk killed with cartridges that barely generate 1500ft-lbs at the muzzle. Are there better cartridges for elk, of course but that doesn't eliminate the others. Used within the parameters the OP mentioned the .30-30 will get the job done if the shooter is up to the task.
I'd use whatever bullet shoots the best! Remember the men and women that settled in elk country when the 30/30 was in its glory didn't have 300's and 338's to choose from. We're just spoiled by all the new and best inventions. Just choose your shots, choose your distance and aim small!
HRM Johnny
Well-Known Member
Interesting thread. I have enjoyed reading the posts. Thank you for starting it.
This thread makes me glad that I still have my dad's Winchester Model 94. You never know when you're going to get stampeded by a herd of wild elk freshly escaped from a high fence ranch here in TX.
Rflshootr
Well-Known Member
I wonder back in the day, if anyone with a Winchester model 92 carbine in 44-40 caliber ever killed an elk or a buffalo? 
That was decent rule of thumb with the simple cup and core bullets or even large diameter solids from the last century. I have looked at a lot of "killing power" formulas over the years. Some were even utilized by the ammunition makers themselves. I recently has a conversation with one of Hornady's engineers and asked about rules of thumbs (ROTs) for modern bullets. He replied that modern bullet construction has rendered most ROT's useless. It is more of a case-by-case basis now. Hornady even abandoned their own H.I.T.S. formula about the time they developed the monolithic GMX line of bullets. They found that it grossly underestimated the ability of the new bullets.
It still comes back to "know what your bullet can do and put it in the right place", but there are more bullets with different capabilities than ever before.
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One of my best friends grew up in far NW Colorado in the 40's and started hunting elk and big Mulies with his uncle's .44-40 lever gun. He said it worked, but he never killed any at more than 100 yards. He said he bought one of the first .270s that hit that part of the world as soon as he could.I wonder back in the day, if anyone with a Winchester model 92 carbine in 44-40 caliber ever killed an elk or a buffalo?
Ed
AussieWriter
Well-Known Member
Those that know, know this to be true. Readership will always continue to be divided by those that don't know and continually quote and requote others who don't know, or didn't when their words were written.
Wait a minute!!! Does this possibly mean that I no longer need to follow my Grandfather's advice to occasionally drive at 100mph to "blow the carbon out of the engine"?????
Lnewton
Well-Known Member
Pick a bullet, make a good shot, load the animal in the pack and go to the truck. Pretty simple.
