COWBOYS on the Western prairies called it the good ol’ thutty-thutty; to Pancho Villa’s revolutionaries below the Mexican border it was the triente-triente; and the majority of hunters knew it simply as the .30-30 Winchester. To survive as long as it has, it’s gotta be one helluva good cartridge. But there’s no middle road with this venerable woods cartridge; you either love it or heartily detest it.
Most modern shooters weaned on a steady diet of ultra-high velocity magnum cartridges either emphatically condemn it or ignore it. Others voice the opinion that most other .30s have what this old timer sadly lacks, and that in an era of powerful, flat-shooting calibres, the .30-30 is an anachronism, that it belongs in the past and should have been allowed to quietly fade away in the last century.
Instead, this old relic continues to enjoy widespread popularity and doesn’t look like calling it quits.
Despite all the criticism levelled at it and all the bad-mouthing it gets from rabid gun nuts, the .30-30 has probably slain more game of all kinds than
