.30 Cal Carbine

[Surfswest]

Part of our family tradition is going shooting out is the hills on Christmas eve. Well, this year my dad brought out his dad's .30 Cal Carbine M1 that I didn't even know that he had. My dad said it had been sitting around for about 20 years unshot and thought it might be fun to put a few rounds through it. 200 rounds later and we were all addicted to it. Eben the sights were still dead on. All I can say is this thing is great!!!!! They don't make them like they used to.

Long story short, I was wondering if anyone uses or has used one of these things on boars and if so how efficient they are? Seems like it should be enough stopping power at least out to 100 yds.

Any feedback on this I would greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.

Frosty

 

[Rancho Loco]

Personally I would not go past 25 yards on a meat pig, if that.

Still fun as heck to shoot!

 

[mstan99999]

I took a 200 lb pig at 40 yards with mine a few years ago. I don't know how many rounds of ball ammo it would take to drop him, but I used five well placed shots and it worked just fine. The ball ammo didn't hurt enough meat to matter. I was just out plinking when the oinker came to see what all the noise was. I'm not sure I would recomend using one to hun for pigs of any size, but it will do the job in a pinch.
Matt

 

[Speckmisser]

The .30 carbine is a blast to shoot, but don't use it on pigs unless you absolutely have no alternative. It's just not enough gun.

Yeah yeah yeah... you'll get a dozen guys on here who claim to have killed hogs with everything from .22 shorts to slingshots, but the fact is that an ethical sport hunter should do everything possible to ensure that he's using enough gun to cleanly and humanely dispatch the game he hunts. The .30 carbine is not in that category when it comes to big game.

 

[larrysogla]

I know a Houston hunter who only uses an M-1 .30 caliber carbine on hogs and deer. He only shoots in the head or the neck and at close quarters only and the game drops dead on the spot. Never takes shoulder or body shots. Just head and neck shots at close quarters kills 'em dead. The M-1 .30 cal. Carbine shoots a .30 caliber PISTOL CARTRIDGE. From the Remington Ammunition website the 110 grn. .30 cal. Carbine ammo has 967 ft./lbs. of muzzle energy which is good enough for head and neck shots and the un-aerodynamic ammo loses velocity and energy really fast. At 100 yds. it has only something like 600 ft./lbs. of impact energy. The 170 grain 30-30 Winchester ammo has 1,827 ft./lbs. of Muzzle energy and 1,355 ft./lbs. of impact energy at 100 yds. which is good enough for hogs and deer shoulder shots. The .30 cal. carbine should be limited to close quarters head and neck shots and the game is yours. But how many hunters can resist from taking potshots at a hog at 150 yds. and up. Many will fire away anyway and just lose the wounded hog. I say use the M-1 carbine in a Texas treestand over bait and you can hit the head NO PROBLEM. In California where bait is NOT ALLOWED, use a high powered big game rifle, not a rifle that shoots a .30 cal. pistol cartridge. Just my humble opinion of course. 'Nuff said.

 

[jmsdad]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (larrysogla @ Dec 28 2006, 07:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I know a Houston hunter who only uses an M-1 .30 caliber carbine on hogs and deer. He only shoots in the head or the neck and at close quarters only and the game drops dead on the spot. Never takes shoulder or body shots. Just head and neck shots at close quarters kills 'em dead.[/b]

Wow! sounds like you know my father. That is the exact same thing he does. My father use an M1 carbine exclusively for CA pigs and deer. He has not lost a quarry yet. Most shots are under 50yds and often with hogs as close as 10-15yds. I prefer bigger calibers but the carbine is his go-to gun. Always has and always will. The old man grew up hunting with the carbine and later use it in the Secret War in Laos. I guess the carbine kinda grew on him.


Anyway, here's my M1 Carbine. It's not USGI, but an early Plainfield copy in a GI stock. Not as nice and robust as my father's IBM Carbine.

[attachment=37160:attachment]

 

[Nic Barca]

That's a very popular gun over here to carry while hunting with dogs. If you plan on stalking pigs or shooting long distances, I cannot really recomend it as there are many other calibers that will do the job so much better. It's a weak round in my oppinion. But hit the brain, vertebrae or spine and it will drop even the biggest pig on the spot. Might have to be up close to efficiently destroy the vitals. I agree with whoever said use as a last resort.

 

[Speckmisser]

Told you you'd hear it... all these folks who use it with great success. But beware the qualifiers.

Any gun will kill if the bullet is put where it needs to be... EVERY TIME. I could kill hogs with my .17hmr But why?

Most of the experts will agree that for big game you want at least 1000 foot pounds of energy... and not at the muzzle but at impact.

Point is, leave the thing at home. I know from previous posts that you're new to big game and pig hunting. You're not an old hand, and there's no reason to try to be. You have better choices available, so do yourself and the game a favor and use them.

By the way, note that ball ammo is illegal for hunting in CA. I think they make some "soft point" ammo for the .30 carbine, but again... don't waste your time and energy.

Use enough gun.

 

[AZ Jim]

Ditto Speck !

Save the .30 for the small stuff.

 

[reddog5]

Corbon has a new load for the M1 that looks like fun.