Replies

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.

I specifically said it was a close-in range weapon.
Better designed for humans than any other type of varmint.

I’m pretty confident my post wasn’t trying to convince anybody that an M1 was the be all and end all of deer hunting equipment.

All the folks I know who are serious about that size game (and here I’m talking whitetail, bear, cat) use either 30-06 or .270’s

Here in Washington where I am, because of the undergrowth, etc, if you get a shot at something, you’re probably gonna be less than 30 yards or so from it anyway. I had three doe in my driveway last fall that I could have easily dropped. Man, they were fat and well fed!

It’s a handy little gun to have around the house. Easy to clean and service, and I have a bunch of large capacity mags for it.