The .30-30 round is perhaps the most iconic, and oldest, round manufactured in the Us that is used in rifles. It was the first cartridge that was mass produced using a smokeless powder instead of black powder. With development first starting in 1891, Winchester Repeating Arms Company had their mind set on developing a rifle cartridge that would perform at high velocities out of the new smokeless powder, thus the birth of the .30-30. However, at this time, it was called the .30 Winchester Smokeless.





It wasn’t until 1894 when the first rifle was chambered for this new round. Using a 160-grain metal patched bullet, the 1894 Winchester Rifle was capable of reaching 1,970 feet per second. It wasn’t long before the competitor Marlin Firearms company decided to chamber their own rifle with the new round. Using the Union Metallic Cartridge company to replicate the .30 Winchester Smokeless, Marlin chambered their 1983 rifle with this caliber. In fact, it would be Marlin who would change the name of the round to .30-30, as it’s commonly called to this day, in 1895.





Perhaps it’s the history, or the fact that shooting a .30-30 round is one of the easiest shots with the least amount of recoil possible in a rifle, that keeps it around. Whatever the case, it is safe to say that this round isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. .