The  .30 Winchester Center Fire -- aka: .30-30

The .30 WCF is most commonly called the .30-30 and it got that name based on the old blackpowder naming convention that used the bullet diameter and the charge weight of blackpowder that was used in the round. This has led to quite a bit of confusion as to what ".30-30" means. This was the first cartridge designed from the beginning to use smokeless powder and at the time there weren't a lot of kinds of smokeless powders available. This cartridge used a .30 calibre (actually .308" diameter) bullet with 30 grains of one of the early smokeless powders. This naming convention was also used for the .30 Government cartridge, or as it was also commonly called, the .30-40 Krag (Krag after the rifle in which it was first used). It soon became obvious that smokeless powders varied greatly and that using a charge weight as part of a cartridge's name wasn't very intelligent. 30 grains of one smokelesss powder might be safe and effective while 30 grains of another smokeless powder might very well cause the gun to explode in pieces. Nonetheless the name ".30-30" has stuck around.

This is your basic rimmed, bottle-necked cartridge. It hasn't changed much in 100 years. It hasn't needed to change. You might call the .30-30 the first modern American rifle cartridge.

This has long been the most popular deer hunting cartridge in America. This particular datum may have changed in recent years. It is very well suited to hunt deer-sized game and kill them in a humane manner. Most factory-loaded .30-30 ammunition is made with flat-pointed bullets to allow safe use in rifles such as the Winchester model 94 and Marlin 336 that have tubular magazines. In Rifles such as the Savage model 99 that do not use tubular magazines spitzer-type bullets (ones with a more pointed nose) can be used safely and they provide better down-range ballistics. In recent years bullets with semi-soft plastic pointed tips have been developed and they give the benefits of pointed bullets to tubular magazine rifles with complete safety.

People have used .30-30 rifles to defend their homes for nearly a hundred years (perhaps even more) and it is an effective solution. There are more modern rifles and cartridges available, but a .30-30 lever-action carbine is still a good choice for home defense.


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