.30-30 vs 7.62x39mm

.30-30 is a venearble cartridge in the United States. It has been used in lever guns made by Marlin, Winchester, Mossberg, and others for a century or more. Of a similar ballistic profile is the soviet 7.62x39mm round.

7.62x39 is a necked down caliber used in soviet firearms such as AKs and SKS rifles. There have been a few bolt action offerings, but the majority of the guns available in this caliber are semiauto.

Both the 7.62x39 and the .30-30 have proven themselves as good deer killing caliber.s They each have their pros and cons. The .30-30 is more expensive and almost always brass-cased. Because of this, most of the .30-30 brass is boxer primed, and therefore reloadable. .30-30 is perfect for a shooter who's reloading. For one who doesn't reload, go for 7.62x39mm.

7.62x39 is everywhere. Its at every gun show, right alongside .223 and 5.56mm. This ammo is cheap too, costin ga little over $200 for 1,000 rounds. That sure beats the $12 minimum spent for a box of 20 rounds of .30-30. The cheap steel cased ammo broguth into this country is not reloadable in most cases (except for Golden Tiger) but its cheap. The ammo is so cheap that it outweighs any benfit from buying brass-cased ammo, holding onto the brass, and maybe reloading down the road. My advice is to go with the 7.62x39 because you can shoot a real rifle round for the same money as shooting cheap 9mm.