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Zone #77 - Interesting Firearms - The Winchester .30-30 Rifle - Page 1 |
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In
1895, Winchester introduced the 1894 lever
action rifle and the .30 WCF (Winchester Center
Fire) Cartridge.
This round became known as the .30-30 Winchester,
the first .30 indicating caliber and the second
30 standing for 30 grains of a smokeless powder
used in those days.
The great John Browning designed this rifle.
Over 7 million of these rifles have been sold.
The .30-30 was the first commercial round
to use the new smokeless powder.
This was a great step forward in power and
clean shooting smokeless loads. |
It
became very popular and has lasted over 100
years.
Many people shot their first deer with the
old Thirty-thirty.
It is quite capable on deer sized game and
effective within 200 yards. It is often said,
and probably true, that more deer have been
harvested with the .30-30 than any other round.
If ever there was a rifle and cartridge combination
that was destined to be married, it was the
1894 Winchester and the .30-30. |
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It
usually fires a 150 or 170 grain Round Nose
Soft Point bullet.
The 150 grain does about 2,300 fps and the
170 does about 2,100 fps.
Here it is between a 7.62 X 39 AK-47 round
and a .308 Winchester round.
It is sometimes compared to the 7.62 X 39,
which moves a 125 grain bullet at around 2,300
fps.
As you can see, the old .30-30 is slightly
more powerful than the 7.62 X 39. |
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My
rifle is an old pre-64 model given to me by
my Uncle Jack.
He put a lot of deer in the freezer with this
one.
It has a rubber recoil pad, but is otherwise
in standard configuration. |
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I added a Lyman Receiver Aperture Sight to
the rifle to help with target work. |
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It has a very nice adjustable aperture (sometimes
called a Peep) sight. |
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