This past summer I picked up a used Super 14 .30-30 Winchester Contender. Promptly I borrowed a chamber reamer and with the help of a machinist buddy of mine we rechambered it to .30-30 AI. I spent the summer nad fall fire forming new Winchester .30-30 Brass into .30-30 AI Brass.
Once I had a good supply of brass fire formed I set out to work up a load. I concentrated on 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips. Powders used were Hodgdon's LEVERevolution, Varget, H-4895, IMR-8208XBR and IMR-3031. In the end two loads (one with LEVERevolution and one with Varget) surfaced as shooting the tightest groups. In the end the load with Varget won out producing groups ranging from .535" to 1.212" with an overall average of just under and inch.
Prior to shooting the above group a week ago today the best two groups had been .640".
Our SD Deer Season doesn't open till the 17th, but Minnesota's Deer Season is open now. With that said I asked a buddy of mine from Wheaton Minnesota if he wanted to try his hand a Handgun Hunting this year instead of using his Slug Gun. He took me up on my offer and yesterday connected on his first ever Handgunned Buck.
Up to this point in Traverse County (a Shotgun Zone, but Muzzleloaders and Handguns are allowed in the Minnesota Shotgun Zone) my buddy has only ever harvested his Deer with Shotgun Slugs. He told me he would not have gotten this Buck with his Slug Gun.
He sat on that farm (a couple different stands) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and this morning without ever seeing a Deer of any kind. Today he decided to go back to his stand at 1:30PM. Well by 2:00PM the Buck was on the ground. He told me he watched the Buck emerge from cover and was moving on a Deer Trail left to right. He said he didn’t realize how thick the cover was there until he looked through the scope.
Finally he said he located a clearing where there was no brush in the way and concentrated on that spot. He said he had the crosshairs on the clearing and when the Buck stepped into the clearing he bleated with his voice, and no sooner had the Buck stopped and the Contender roared.
I asked him if he was pleased with the way the hunt went with the Handgun and if he would be hunting with a Handgun in the future. Actually I asked him if he was now in the market to buy a Hunting Handgun and he said YES. After we talked a bit and I helped him hang his Buck he said well I guess if I cannot use your Contender next year I’ll have to buy one.
My buddy took some photos of the Contender with the Deer and promised to e mail them to me but I have not see them as yet.
At any rate above is a photo of my Contenders after they returned from getting Hard Chrome Plated. My .223 Super 14 is on the Frame and my .30-30 AI is below it in the photo.
The last time I offered to let a Minnesotan borrow one of my Contenders for the Minnesota Deer Season that was all it took. The next year he bought a G2 Contender with a use Super 14 .30-30 AI Barrel and has been a Handgun Hunter ever since.
Larry