Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
True, on smaller game, like deer up to the size of mulies, a .30-30 is all you need. However, with first hand experience in actually killing animals with both, I'll have to say the .45-70 hits much, much harder. It penetrates far deeper, if loaded properly. Hard cast semi wadcutter bullets (I use the RCBS .45-400 gas check bullet cast from wheel weights and quenched) it will shoot lengthwise through an elk and exit. No .30-30 will ever do that.
The factory loaded 400 grain JSP's in the .45-70 won't do that either. The only way to achieve that kind of performance is to handload, or to buy the Garret or Buffalo Bore ammo. That said, the standard 400 grain soft point at 1300 fps will out-penetrate any .30-30 loading. Not as dramatically as a hard cast semi wadcutter, but it still represents a healthy increase in penetration over the .30-30.
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Jeff,
You are correct about these hot-rod handloads, but he stated he did not want to handload. Consider the Federal premium .30-30 Nosler partition bullet load. It has 2200 fps at the muzzle with 1827 ft. lbs. of energy. The better terminal ballistics, sentional density and bullet construction combination is better than any factory .45-70 load. Eskimos still routinely kill Polar Bear, Walrus, Seals, Musk Ox and Caribou with the .30-30 without a problem. Of course shot placement is key, but that is true of the .45-70 too. Don't count the "little" .30-30 out yet, she has lots of life still in her.