Better 30-30 gun for whitetails: Ruger Mini-30 or Auto Ordnance M1 carbine?

Vanity | 3-8-08 | Me

[Southbound]

The M1 .30 cal. Carbine is very different from the 30-30....The carbine was developed as a weapon for the guys in tanks, but is woefully underpowered for hunting. The Model 94 Winchester in 30-30 Win. cal. has probably killed more deer than any other round by far. Winchester made several hundred thousand of them and along with the similar Marlin 336 or the earlier Model 1893 Marlin, all in 30-30, accounted for tons of venison. Pretty light for anything bigger, though. Larger game needs higher power, more bullet weight (more energy) like the .30-06, on up thru the .300 Weatherby Magnum. Note that ALL these are .30 cal. guns. For more info, google Guns & Ammo Ballistics Tables and look at how many different .30 cal. listings you can find. My favorite deer rifle is a hand-built ‘03-A3 Springfield chambered to .308 Win. (which is comparable to, but NOT identical to .30-06) If you're looking for a semi-auto .30 cal., the Ruger is about as good as you'll find for the money. Forget the carbine! Even the Army eventually got rid of it. For defensive of assault weapons, the AR-15 (think M16) is made by several different manufacturers and also comes in .308 from a couple, IIRC. Not an ideal hunting rifle, though, at least for me. Others include the Springfield Armory M1A, which is basically an M14. Ballistically very good, but heavy, as was the M1 Garand, which was designed for the .30-06, and takes all kinds of wear & use, but is a bother to load clips. Again, look at the tables for the .30 cal. M1 Carbine and compare to almost anything else in .30 cal. It's NOT a good gun for hunting deer.

[Squantos]

I have a Korean War era M1 Garand I got from CMP a few years ago and a WWII era Garand from the older DCM program.

Both great rigs.......sad to hear the supply of good ones are drying up.

19th that is a great story , thanks for sharing it with us. The Garand is still a great rifle. My Uncle served in Korea in 3rd Infantry , was a 57mm recoilless gunner. He taught me more than I learned in many schools in the military in a few minutes about the garands.

Greatest Rifle ever made IMO....... I still cling to the M1A variant. Carried that in SW Asia, South America and SEA......my EOD teams used em for small munitions disruption. SMUD. 10X Unertl , M1A was my choice for 21 years of service.

Stay Safe Ya’ll !

[El Gato]

To hunt deer a 308 is the minimum I would use.

While 30-06 was once the most popular big game cartridge, probably more deer have been killed by 30-30, which as others have pointed out, is very comparable to 7.62x39. Probably get better expansion, with the 7.62x39.

But of course it depends on *where* one is hunting deer. Northern whitetail are bigger. Ranges are apt to be shorter in the much of the east. But in the west and north, the bigger animals and longer ranges may drive one to the .308/30-06 class. (Or something in between the 30-30 and 30-06 classes).

[endthematrix]

"I would really love to have a good quality short action bolt rifle chambered for it.

Me too. CZ makes a great stout bolt rifle with detachable mag.

[SIDENET]

So what are you going to use the Bayonet for? Charging those deer that refuse to run when you fire? :-)

(In fake Russian accent) "You just never know what capitalist deer might do."

[Squantos]

I LOVE the Garand ! I have seen the Camp Perry shooters rigs that were just friggin tack drivers ! Beautiful guns !

[Squantos]

I downloaded that movie......on my rainy day watch list for this spring !.......:o)

[SouthTexas]

I always have preferred a .243

[SIDENET]

Been tempted to pick one or two of 'em up myself for 'rainy days'.

I just got one. Haven't even cleaned to cosmoline off of it yet. I figured it might be nice to grab one before the next president bans them. It is in almost new condition and wasn't expensive at all. I may have to grab another.

[endthematrix]

Re: .243

DSA Arms (Democratic Republic of Illinois no less) offers the round in AR platform with all the goodies.

[Lurker]

Sounds like I better get myself one before the decent ones are all gone. Been thinking about a little pilgrimage to Camp Perry for a while...

L

[Squantos]

http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/m1garand.htm

Scroll down........;o)

[Lurker]

Sweet....

Thanks.

[Squantos]

http://www.gokart.net/shop-utopia/mccann/rifles/garand/garand.html

Even better......338 garand !!

Whoo Hooo !

[BikerTrash]

Sounds like it would be, fer sure!

I often wonder why Weatherby stuff isn't more popular. They used to seem pricey but not so much anymore. I had a .460 that I really liked to shoot just for the thrill of it, and the entire time I had it there was not any unwanted elephant activity in my county.

A good testimonial as to it's effectiveness, I think.

[kempo]

I've killed a dump truck load of deer with my Ruger M77 30-06. Wouldn't trade it for nothing.

[Squantos]

I have one, a rechambered 458 ruger No 1H tropical in 460 weatherby , ammo is 120$ a box of 20 so we don;t plink sod poodles too much with it anymore !!

A real hoot too shoot !

http://www.gokart.net/shop-utopia/mccann/mount/m1a_m14mount/M14-LG.jpg

My future dream locker !

[BikerTrash]

Nice pic at the link!

ammo is 120$

Holy Cow! That's more than double from back when...

[Squantos]

Yep..........save yer brass and cast !!

[papertyger]

You can handload it for anything from rabbits to moose.

They got a die for loading buttercups in that case?

;o)