The Classic .30-30: History, Handloads and Hunting

Above, modern .30-30 cartridges available today. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Introduced in 1895, the Winchester .30-30 cartridge is still popular today.

It was the first smokeless power cartridge that arrived when the Winchester 1894 rifle was introduced.  

Sporting Shooter has posted an article on the .30-30's history along with handloading and hunting. 

They begin with:

The .30-30 Winchester is more than 130 years old, the first American smokeless-powder sporting cartridge and one of the oldest cartridges still in common use.

Even more surprisingly, the .30-30 still hovers near the top of the list of most popular hunting cartridges, particularly after it was given a new lease on life this century with new bullets and new powders.

It was introduced in 1895 as one of the chamberings available for the Model 1894 lever-action rifle. The original load featured a 160gn flat-nosed bullet and 30 grains of the new- fangled smokeless powder. Hence, the name .30-30, for .30 calibre bullet and 30 grains of smokeless powder, a designation which adhered to the older way of naming a calibre based on black powder.

To read more, go here.