To paraphrase a line from the book John M. Browning, American Gunmaker, the story of Browning's genius is the story of the evolution of modern firearms. John M. Browning was issued 128 patents on at least 80 models in nearly every caliber from .22 Short up to the 37mm cannon shell. Those patents covered automatic, semi-automatic, lever, and pump actions.

Brownells makes it very easy for any shooter, experienced or not, to convert his Ruger Mini-14 into a tricked-out rifle that meets your exacting wants and needs. The first step in this customization process is to determine what I am going to use the rifle for. Foremost, I wanted this rifle for varmint hunting, particularly night-time hunting. My secondary use is for self-defense purposes at home.

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The .30-30 Drill can be shot with any rifle. The idea is shoot from a realistic field position to determine if the hunter's current skill warrants anything more than a .30-30 WCF.

Shooting Skills for Hunters:
The .30-30 Drill

(GunReports.com) -- The effective range of the .30-30 is about 150-170 yards. Some of the wizzy new Magnums can outperform this by roughly 300 percent, at least on paper. But can the hunter outperform the .30-30? Can you?

The .30-30 WCF (Winchester Center Fire) was a hot little number when first debuted in 1895 but today’s hunters complain about this “obsolete” antique. Standard wisdom states this cartridge is best contained within a range of 100-175 yards. A .30-30 will push a 150-170 grain bullet out at approximately 2200 fps or so. With a 150 yard zero, the bullet will be about two inches above line of sight at 100 yards and around five inches low at 200.

Few hunters possess enough shooting skill that warrants better performance than this. Are you one of them? Find out with the .30-30 Drill.

Begin by getting a good 150 yard zero for that anemic .30-30 (or whatever your favorite hunting rifle is chambered in). Set up a Y-ring steel target at 150 yards. If you don’t have a quality, self-resetting steel target that is about 8-10 inches in diameter, a paper dinner plate at 150 yards makes an ersatz substitute. Get a shooting timer, or a buddy with a whistle and stop watch, to record the time.

Start from standing up. On the start signal adopt a sitting position and fire one aimed shot at the plate. Stand back up and repeat the drill for a total of three shots. After completing this three string/three round sequence from the sitting position, do it again adopting and shooting from prone.

We are shooting at the distance we zeroed giving point-of-impact at point-of-aim on a nice, level playing field with no intervening brush, trees, etc. All the shooting is done from the two most stable positions available in the field. Furthermore, the target is presented whole, as opposed to a large animal with the vital zone hidden somewhere inside, thus eliminating the need to estimate target angle. Just hold center and let ‘er rip!

Regardless of elapsed time, a hunter claiming to need something better than a .30-30 should get at least 5 hits out of 6 shots (83% hits) or better on this six MOA target every time. If so, our hero can actually make use of the ballistic capability provided by a .30-30 or equivalent for field shooting. If not, their maximum effective range in field shooting is shorter than 150 yards and the capability of a .30-30 rifle exceeds their present level of skill.

A more competent hunter-shooter who can get those same hits in ten seconds per shot or less just might benefit from a “better” rifle. They possess sufficient skill to warrant extended range.

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Comment by: ttwoodard | September 18, 2012

I confess that I have never been one for taking long shots at game. Even when I was stationed in Alaska, I cannot recall having taken any shots at ranges greater than 200 yards at the max. My reasoning was that I always wanted to make clean kills, and I didn't wish to find myself packing the game out of an area where I would be spending a lot of time carrying it out over a long distance.

I was curtailed out of Alaska to a tour in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, and I found that I could still perform best at ranges of 150 to 200 yards, but I was perfectly willing to reach out and touch some targets at ranges to 400 yards, since I wasn't as concerned with clean kills and packing the targets out. However upon returning stateside, I once again reverted to my limits, and since my return tour was at Fort Benning, Georgia, I was limited to shotguns and slugs for any and all deer hunting. Shotgunning kept me to shots within spitting range.

Comment by: canovack | September 18, 2012

My father taught me that the best range to shoot any large game is as close to the truck as possible!

Gaviota

Comment by: Lee W | September 18, 2012

'A fine rule to follow.....

Comment by: canovack | September 19, 2012

I've had plenty of shots available at longer than 200 yards, but I'll admit laziness too. I ain't packing that sucker out of the high Sierras, any farther than 200the yards

Comment by: blb9499 | September 20, 2012

Yup! Give me a break!If you can't bag a deer with a trusty Thutty-Thutty, ya don't need to be hunting.Never forget the time my buddy took a 500 yard shot on a black tail and only wounded him.There was a scant blood trail and it was late in the day. He went off to bag an easier buck and I followed the blood trail into a brushy ravine.Three hours later I jumped him up and nailed with my.....30-30!!The one and only rifle a true hunter needs. Of course, in the swamps, I'll stick with my double barrel 12!

Comment by: mossman67 | September 20, 2012

Forgot to mention my buddy was using a 7mm with a scope.

Comment by: mossman67 | September 20, 2012

I hunt deer in open country when I can make the draw with a 30-06 with a Shepherd range finding scope. I have more fun bear and predator hunting out in the trees with my M94 with Hornady ammo. You just can't beat the feed of the old carbine. The only change I made was a grind to fit recoil pad, because I do practice with the 30-30 more, but I use cheaper Remington traditional ammo to practice. Being 68, my shoulder can't take the repeated pounding it used to with the Winchester. And I don't need to succeed every hunt in the trees to enjoy the zen of a good rifle that I don't have to worry about banging up or messing up a 700 dollar scope.

Comment by: Anishinabi | September 20, 2012

That sounds like a great drill...If I had the legs any more to go up and down quickly. My Marlin 30-30 with 3x9 scope on see-thru mounts is pretty accurate, so I use a convenient tree or shooting stick for longer shots. Here on the farm, I don't have any shots longer than 175 yards so now worries. To digress, I remember way back when when I shot a deer at about 100 yards with a Winchester 94. At the first shot he didn't move. Hmmm, levered it and shot him again. He dropped. Inspection showed two bullet wounds close together. Never did figure that out.

Comment by: dgray64 | September 20, 2012

I used to hunt with a m92 38-55 carbine. The 30-30 was a step up in performance. I killed my first deer with the 38.55. But I wish I still had the m92 because of its historic value and great condition. I went through a phase in my life when I was a gunswapper, and traded it for a primo Springfield 50-70 trapdoor and a Ruger standard .22, both of which I eventually traded away as well. You learn from your mistakes.

Comment by: Anishinabi | September 20, 2012

Anishinabi, I suspect that you and I have trodden some of the same paths when it comes to purchasing, swapping, trading, and just generally having lots of fun owning a bunch of different firearms over the years of our lives. I am now just three months shy of 72, and I figure I have gone through several hundred firearms of many different descriptions. It's been a lot of fun doing it, but there have been a few times when I look back and think that I wished I'd not traded something off for something else. To rectify that feeling, I often find myself at gun shows buying the same models that I had traded away years ago, just to have them back in my collection. I'd guess that's part of the fun of being a gun lover.

Comment by: canovack | September 20, 2012

The 30-30' performance can be increased quite a bit (in modern guns) too. Pointed, Leverution bullets and hand-loading can work wonders. After all there isn't that much difference between a pointed 30-30 and a 30-06 bullet besides what's driving them.

Comment by: Mister E | September 21, 2012

We will, Mister E, assume that when you refer to "modern guns", you are referring to those that do not have tubular magazines. Stuffing a column of cartridges with pointed bullets into a tubular magazine is tantamount to firing into a blocked barrel. Those pointed bullets make great firing pins when pressed against the primer of the cartridge in front of them, when recoil forces hit the magazine and column of cartridges.

Comment by: canovack | September 21, 2012

I believe Mr. E is referring to the bullets which have the relatively soft polymer tips that are marketed to improve .30-30 ballistics by allowing spire point bullets to fire safely in guns with tubular mags.

Gaviota

Comment by: Lee W | September 21, 2012

Thanx, Gaviota, for that bit of clarification. With my concerns about tubular magazines, I can envision problems, even with flat nosed bullets that might get some sort of trash into the magazine between the flat bullet and the primer of the round in front of it. I'd guess the guys who designed those polymer tipped bullets must know what they are doing.

Comment by: canovack | September 21, 2012

One shot, one kill! I love my H&R, single shot thutty-thutty! Shoot any cartridge type I want or have on hand.Like I said, that and a double barrel 12 and I can handle anything I come across in the swamp or piney woods!Heh Heh!ps. Trot line is helpful on occassion.

Comment by: mossman67 | September 21, 2012

Hey mossman67, I too have an H&R single shot 30-30. I picked it up a long time ago, sort of as insurance against a time when more sophisticated rifles might be frowned upon by our friends in DC. That said, I have many more rifles, shotguns, and handguns, but that little single shot will always fire, and I don't have to be too choosy about the shape of the bullets in the cartridges I use. I put a variable 3-7x scope on it, and while it rarely goes afield anymore, it will always be part of my collection.

Comment by: canovack | September 21, 2012

Amen, brother. My sentiments exactly as to keeping everything simple and and down to basics. That's why I have blackpowder, 209 primers and a recurve to boot. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition!

Comment by: mossman67 | September 21, 2012

Regarding pointed bullets, that was the reason Winchester developed the Model 1895, which had a box magazine. It was Teddy Roosevelt's favorite rifle. On another point I find it best on the m94 to load the first shot with a 150 grain soft-nose round and loading the rest with Levermation Hornady to avoid the last round sticking on the tube spring. I never fire a full set of rounds anyway unless I am practicing at the range, which I do with Powerpoint bullets.

Comment by: Anishinabi | September 22, 2012

Doesn't the M94 have a follower on the tube spring to preclude catching bullet ogives in the coil? This whole idea of tubular magazines is what led me, many years ago, to purchase a Savage M99 with a rotary magazine, so I would have no concern with the type of ammunition I would load into the piece.

Comment by: canovack | September 22, 2012

>> That sounds like a great drill...If I had the legs any more to go up and down quickly.

No problem as there isn't a time limit. Ten seconds is a suggested par.

Shooting stationary targets on the range at your leisure with no score involved won't trigger buck fever like shooting a real game animal does. Using a timer or stopwatch, even when there isn't a time limit, and shooting at a reactive steel target with a hit standard (5 out of 6 or better) where everyone on the range will instantly know if the shot hit or missed accurately simulates the effects of buck fever. Match nerves and buck fever are very similar.

>> ... convenient tree or shooting stick for longer shots.

Sitting and prone were suggested as they can be done on any range and used in the field. Any other position useable while hunting can be used. Just pick at least two and go for it.

Comment by: FUNshoot | September 22, 2012

This drill follows the reasoning I use in advising shooters about "how far will their gun shoot", a distance more often limited by the shooter than the gun. I advise getting 8" paper plates and starting at say 50 yds, shoot a five shot group, move to another plate at 75 yds, another 5-shot group, and so on, until the shooter begins to miss the plate, even once. That range is too far for that shooter, they should back up 25 or 50 yards and limit themselves to shots at that range or closer.

Comment by: EdD270 | September 22, 2012

EdD270, I think that you have it the nail on the head. My ex son-in-law visited about 4 years ago. He had just gotten out of the Army and wanted to hunt on the farm. He borrowed a pretty new bolt action rifle from a disabled vet, and on my advice tried sighting it in. He placed the target, sat down, loaded a round and slammed the bolt home, resulting in a "bang!" We never did figure out where that bullet went, but were really lucky. I told him to take it back to his friend and forget it. Wayward bullets kill, more than aimed bullets, I think.

Comment by: dgray64 | September 22, 2012

canovak. I believe the issue is the pointed Levermation bullet can tip/tilt the follower. re Savage 99...wonderful rifle. On my list of must have after the Gunsight Scout which I am hoping to get a swap to next.

Comment by: Anishinabi | September 23, 2012

Yeah, Anishinabi, I bought my first M99 in 1965, and in 1973, I sold it because I had orders overseas and knew I'd have no use for it where I was going (faulty logic!). Fortunately, I found one, five years ago, at a gun show that is in pristine condition, and it is one that I'll never part with. I paid only $380.00 for it, and it was a private sale, so there is no paper trail on it. I have been seeing Ruger Gunsite Scouts with increasing regularity at gun shows. I was, indeed, fortunate to find my Scout at a local gun shop about a year-and-a-half ago. I was very pleasantly surprised to see a price tag of $768.00 on it, so I immediately snagged it. Ruger's MSRP is $999.99, and I have been seeing them at gun shows for around $800-900. I think you'll really like it when you get your hands on one, and the M99 as well.

Comment by: canovack | September 23, 2012