One would think that with my rural up bringing I would have practically cut my teeth on a lever action thirty-thirty. Truth is, except on the rare occasion maybe to fire a friend's, I seldom ever touched one; however, I have had a substantial amount of experience with the cartridge itself. Confused? Well, it was the long-range handgun silhouette game (IHMSA) that brought me my interest in this cartridge. With a life membership number of 3030, how could I resist?
Before the full-blown custom Remington XP-100 guns, one of my first unlimited firearms was a 14” Thompson-Center Contender in 30-30: however, it was with the 10” production barrel that gained me most respect for this all time favorite round. My first 40/40 in production came with this gun in the spring of 1985, and many more followed. Soon afterwards, I even had a specific 10” barrel (different twist) to use in standing category; it took me right into International class standings.
How good was the T/C 30-30? I remember one particular match in the summer of 1986. I was having a great summer rolling out fine scores and excellent aggregates. In those days shooting a four-gun aggregate total of 140/160 was quite a feat. On that particular July day I had rather easily taken a 40/40 with the 10” production 30-30, and feeling ready for standing, I quickly headed to the line again. Ready I was not, for I struggled through the ten chickens then 10 pigs. The backbone of a good aggregate was a good standing (at least 20), and it did not look as though I was going to have it together that day with only 14 hits of the easy 20. It truly is not over till it’s over, and my engagement of the ten turkeys proved light as I nailed five for a 19 going into rams. If I could manage a few of the steel sheep at 200 meters, my usual 40/40 in unlimited, a decent revolver score, then I could maybe see another good aggregate. With nothing to loose, I began a full run of ten rams for a 29/40 standing score. I then posted a 39 with my Dan Wesson 44 (serial number 3030), missing one ram and topped the day off with an unlimited forty for a 148/160 aggregate (39/40 rams) and a state 4-gun aggregate record that stood for many years. The confidence I had in the two 30-30 Contenders helped it all happen.
I continued trying different 30-30s such as the fine shooting single-shot Wichita production gun. While a tack driver, it was also rather punishing in this caliber. In later years I added a 30-30 barrel to my collection of the exquisite RPM XL combinations.
Loads for the 30-30 for competition fluctuated quite a bite and often seemed almost regional. Richard Porter of Sweetwater, TX, was (and is) a dear friend whom I’ve known since the very early (1979) silhouette days. He is also one of the state’s best production shooters. I believe he was the first Texan to shoot a 40/40 with a T/C 30-30 in 1980. (About this same timeframe, friend All-American shooter Bob Thomas of Austin, although never got the cigar, did shot a nice share of 39/40 with a Merrill 30-30.) Anyway, Richard was of the school of H335 shooters. Granted it was a good accurate propellant, but my-o-my, you talk about getting everyone’s attention when fired. Loud as a single word adjective is not giving him justice. I accidentally encountered a load of 37 grains of H380 that proved to be excellent. Though I needed to touch the FULL case to a vibrator or do several taps to get the powder low enough for the 150 grain Sierra BT, it was outstanding in performance. The disadvantages, other that the volume trick, was that it was hard on necks and seemed to not store well in our humidity, often clogging in the case and/or sticking to the walls. H4895 proved a good propellant for many but was much harder to meter. This problem was soon answered with the introduction of H322. With this entry by Hodgdon, things got even more interesting with the cartridge. The older twist (can not remember if it was 8 or 10) seemed to favor the 150 grain bullets and 28-30 grains. The standing barrel (1 in 9, I believe) enjoyed the 165-grain Hornady flat base bullets with 28 grains.
While my days of shooting THE classic cartridge seem to be confined to maybe a once in a while round through someone’s lever gun I’m sighting in, I still have fond memories of the fun I had with the accurate little boomer. Now, with me heavy into the cowboy thing maybe I should give it a try in long range lever side matches. I feel it would work just fine. I could stoke the case with about 32 grains of H335 and get some attention on the line, heck, maybe some respect too. bb
