The grand old .30 wcf was 110 years old in the fall of 2004. What do you think of this old cartridge????

Its like the 30-06 .... so old but still really useful and can still do what it did back then 100% today

Dimitri

I have one of those...Yes I do...For short range work in the deep forest it can't be beat. The rifle that it was designed for is light, quick, well ballanced and absolutely dependable besides being of proven design...Of its day and for several years after its conception THE High Powered hunting rifle.

1895ss wrote:

The grand old .30 wcf was 110 years old in the fall of 2004. What do you think of this old cartridge????

Gidday oneeightninefivess. Not familiar with this cartridge. Will have to do a little research to find out about it. Is it a fore runner to the venerable 30.30 Win? I am assuming that it was chambered in a Winchester Lever Gun, making it a fantastic round.

Cheers, Vince

Vince,

The 30 WCF and the 30-30 are one and the same

Dimitri

Dimitri wrote:

Vince, The 30 WCF and the 30-30 are one and the same Dimitri

You are correct my friend, and guess what................... it is the 38-50 Ballard of 1876 necked down to .30 caliber. Winchester and Marlin have kept this cartridge alive and doing well because it is chambered in their handy lever action rifles. Winchester model 94 and Marlin model 336 and both rifles are very much the same as they were when originaly produced in the 1890's. Some things don't need to change I guess or can't be improved is maybe a better term.

"38-58 Ballard of 1876 necked down to .30 caliber" Not again...

Bushmaster wrote:

"38-58 Ballard of 1876 necked down to .30 caliber" Not again...

Yes Sir........... more necken. But it was the .38-50 Ballard You could be right, maybe there was a 38-58 as well I don't know

The funny thing is that this cartridge survided all these years when others that were also available in the 1894/94 WW have almost faded totally away. Some were cartridges that are just as or more powerful than the .30-30, such as the .38-55, the .32 Special, .32-40, and others. Makes you wonder what the shooting public has/was thinking.

The .38-55 is seeing a resurgence in Cowboy shooting events. It's not dead yet...(Gotta ask the wifey-poo how to use her photo system so I can post large files...)

Bushmaster wrote:

The .38-55 is seeing a resurgence in Cowboy shooting events. It's not dead yet...(Gotta ask the wifey-poo how to use her photo system so I can post large files...)

True some of them are being kept alive and mostly like you said by Cowboy shooting, and reloaders. But factory ammo isn't readily available for many of them,.......... is it.....?:?: They are definately not as popular as the .30-30 and not chamber in as many models and some likely not at all. Maybe somebody has more info......?

Vince wrote:

1895ss wrote: The grand old .30 wcf was 110 years old in the fall of 2004. What do you think of this old cartridge???? Gidday oneeightninefivess. Not familiar with this cartridge. Will have to do a little research to find out about it. Is it a fore runner to the venerable 30.30 Win? I am assuming that it was chambered in a Winchester Lever Gun, making it a fantastic round. Cheers, Vince

Gidday Vince, as I understand in about 1895 Winchester came out with the .30WCF a few months before Marlin came out with the .30-30. Both had the same case dimensions.

U.M.C virtually copied the case specs of the .30 WCF and called it .30-30 due to the fact that it was a .30 calibre and it had 30 grains of smokeless powder under a 160 grain metel patched bullet. and Marin chambered it in their 336 lever gun..It's one of the highest of compliments to be copied. Don't you agree 1895ss??

Bushmaster wrote:

U.M.C virtually copied the case specs of the .30 WCF and called it .30-30 due to the fact that it was a .30 calibre and it had 30 grains of smokeless powder under a 160 grain metel patched bullet. and Marin chambered it in their 336 lever gun..It's one of the highest of compliments to be copied. Don't you agree 1895ss??

I certainly agree. It's kinda odd that they would both be working on something so similar. The way I understand is that Marlin worked closely with U.M.C. so that the .30 or .30-30 as Marlin called it would work in their new gun, because Marlin didn't manufacture ammo.

The amazing thing is that it is still alive and doing so well after all these years when there certainly are "better" (for lack of a better word) cartridges out there that will out do it hands down. Why..........???????

I believe part of the reason it has done so well over the years is that it was the first sporting rifle cartridge designed from the ground up for smokeless powder(the .30 US Army was loaded with smokeless earlier but was a military cartridge).It is sort of hard to imagine now but in its day it was regarded as a pretty hot,flat shooting number. I think this in combination with the fast handling rifles it was chambered in grabbed hunters attention and never let go.