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I dusted off my vintage Winchester 1894 in 30 WCF and took it afield in search of this year's meat. I had read that the gold rush stampeders of the late 1890s and early 1900s favored the model 1894 for its firepower and state of the art cartridges. So, I wanted to test it for myself.
I stalked to within 80 yards of this nice bull (in my stocking feet) and planted a single Hornady 170 gr SP just behind his shoulder as he stood broadside to me. The bull did a slow roll and landed with a thud on his side. I gave him one finisher to the chest. Being early September, a strand of velvet still hung on his right palm. He had a strand on both sides when I started my stalk, but thrashed one of the velvet "dreadlocks" off before I got to him. Both palms are uniquely curled at the top. Maximum spread was 65".
The old rifle was made in 1897 according to Madis. The half round/half octagon barrel, button mag, and climbin' Lyman rear sight just made the hunt more stylish. The freezer is full.
Now everybody knows this is impossible, the 30-30 simply is not enough gun for critters bigger than small game, you really need one of the new wiz-bang magnums. ....
What a great Job!!! Thanks for posting the pictures.Jim.
OUTSTANDING!! A fine bull with a fine rifle; what more could you ask for.
"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged"....President Abraham Lincoln
You've got the appropriate "look" as well with the plaid shirt and ball cap.
Now when you say "stocking feet" some of us have done that but I wouldn't on marshy (i.e. wet) ground. Was the ground wet/damp there? Do you often use that method? Why do you switch to stocking feet? What boot do you usually wear? I'm sure we'd be interested as hunting conditions vary some here to there.
I got away from the mocassins some and from stocking feet by wearing uninsulated LL Bean hunting shoes. The combination of soft rubber sole and being able to feel the ground through the sole gives me the same effect without needing to get boots on and off, etc.
Sincerely,
Hobie
"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend." Robert Louis Stevenson
Welcome to the fire. I'll say great 1st post and pic. That's fantastic. Don't let them gun magazines know about that new fangled technology and firepower, I might not be able to afford any of those after that word gets out!
Griff,
SASS/CMSA #93
NRA Patron
GUSA #93
There is a fine line between hobby & obsession! AND... I'm over it!!
No I ain't ready, but let's do it anyway!
Great rifle, great hunt, great results. Funny how some believe that the .30-30 is an ineffective round and then a fellow like you comes along and shows just what the .30-30 is capable of. Thanks for sharing.
.45colt wrote:Now everybody knows this is impossible, the 30-30 simply is not enough gun for critters bigger than small game, you really need one of the new wiz-bang magnums. .
I was checking some literature, and I'll be danged if it wasn't saying somthing to the effect that the 30-30 IS a new whiz-bang magnum.
Though for some reason rather than "magnum" they used words like New "Nitro Powder".
The 30-30 Nitro Express maybe?
C2N14... because life is not energetic enough. מנא, מנא, תקל, ופרסין Daniel 5:25-28... Got 7.62?
Not Depressed enough yet? Go read National Geographic, July 1976 Gott und Gewehr mit uns!
I live in Nome, Alaska. The hunt took place on the Seward Peninsula. I never recovered either bullet that I shot the moose with. I imagine that the person I gave the offside front quarter to found one.
When I was stalking this bull, my Cabela's neoprene waders were making too much noise in the willows. I was afraid that I may spook this bull. I knew I needed to get in close. So, off came my waders. I placed a ribbon on a tall bush so that I could find them later. Yes, my socks got a little wet. However, I had extra gear on my ATV, including a change of socks.
To make a long story short, my partner and I cleaned this bull. We left all of our camping gear except for the tent about a mile away on the open tundra so we would not have to drag it all to the kill site. Time got away from us and I could not find the food, dry clothes, or sleeping bag in the dark! At least we had the tent. But we were soaked from sweat and my feet were wet. It was a long, cool time till dawn. We found our gear about 400 yards awaythe next morning. I even had a GPS. But I didn't mark the spot as I knew we would be back before dark. There is a lesson there somewhere.
I realized that while writing this thread, that this is the 20th bull moose I have shot. It may not score the best, but it is my widest by a slight margin. I have only killed one bull with a scoped rifle, my first. All of the others were taken with vintage Winchesters (models 1886, 1894, 1895, 71) or revolvers. I am blessed to live where I do.
Good job. My brother lived in Soldotna and his wife still does. I didn't get the chance to go hunting with him up there before he went to the big hunting grounds. We were going to go grizz hunting but it was just a thought now.
Boy it sure is a good thing it was an Alaskan moose you shot with that .30-30 and not one of these super whitetails down here in the lower 48. Everybody knows is take one of the new short MAGNUMS to kill a whitetail.
Good hunt and great pictures, welcome and congratulations. That is one fine rifle.
Rusty <><
If you're gonna be stupid ya gotta be tough-
Isiah 55:8&9
It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them they have been fooled.
Great hunt.... I love to see those big brunes get taken with guns that some people turn their noses up at. Most people don't or can't or won't stalk an animal to less than 100 yds and think that they need a magnum this or short magnum that to take anything larger than a deer.
Well again they have been proved wrong..thanks for the story and photo.
By the way what I have done in the past is to buy ex-large size wool socks and wear them over my merrell hiking boots to cut down on noise is those last sensitive areas of the stalk on game, especially in black timber areas in the west.
.45colt wrote:Now everybody knows this is impossible, the 30-30 simply is not enough gun for critters bigger than small game, you really need one of the new wiz-bang magnums. .
I was checking some literature, and I'll be danged if it wasn't saying somthing to the effect that the 30-30 IS a new whiz-bang magnum.
Though for some reason rather than "magnum" they used words like New "Nitro Powder".
The 30-30 Nitro Express maybe?
Yeah, don't be taking chances on big game with "under powered brush guns".
Everybody knows big game was never hunted until "Magnums" were invented. It's a darn good thing too, they were starting to get overpopulated.
Qui tacet consentit. (silence implies consent) The Boring Blog
Most Excellent!! Just goes to show, for best results, it's where the shot is placed. I love those rifles that have button magazines with half and half barrels. Thanks for sharing. -JDL
The 30WCF is plenty of cartridge for pretty much anything in N. America.
That's always been my view, and I always get a chuckle from guys who tote .30-06s and .444 for deer.
-Not that there's anything wrong with those rounds at all, (meat on the table is kind of the point,) but when they're the kind who get all excited for a BIG MANLY round and laugh at my seemingly little Model 64A in .30-30, and I bring home deer while they don't, it just makes me smile.
Glad to see another purist in the world. Please, stick around and enjoy our forum, where purists congregate.
Ha... That would be a funny slogan for this place:
"Leverguns.com -Where Purists Congregate."
dimrod,
NEAT! Thank you for sharing your adventure. Using a vintage Winchester just adds a special flavor.
w30wcf
aka John Kort
aka Jack Christian SASS 11993 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
aka w44wcf (black powder)
NRA Life member
.22 WCF, .30 WCF, .44 WCF Cartridge Historian
GLAD TO SEE I,M NOT THE ONLY ONE BELIEVES IN "URBAN CAMO". GREAT JOB ! I,M GREEN WITH ENVY! SOMEDAY I'LL VISIT ALASKA AND AT LEAST SEE THE BOUNTIFUL GAME AVAILIBLE.
Except for caribou (when congregated), the bounty of Alaskan game is often overstated. I grew up in the lower 48. A good deer area could hold a lot of the critters. The land in Alaska is big. Between groups of moose, there can be many miles of empty country. This is especially true in the tundra rich areas of the high Arctic. When my family and friends hunt with me, they are initially surprised by this phenomenon. The secret is tthe ability to cover large swatches of country, glassing well.
Aok this has gone on long enough, you can tell us how you used a 379 remchester extralongultra fat manglum bolt gun to kill that poor beast now We all know that 30wcf was just photoshopped in there cuz we read the gun magazines.
Congrats and thanks for the fine picture and example of what can really happen when a rifleman sets the sight and squeezes the trigger.
FANTASTIC!
It's a darn good thing too, they were starting to get overpopulated.
We all know that 30wcf was just photoshopped in there cuz we read the gun magazines.