I have just purchased a pre-64 1894 carbine from Al’s GB auction last night, delivery hopefully by Saturday. This is a mint specimen made in 1950 – Al posted 44 very nice pics on the GB auction page.
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/638690564
I do not reload, and since this is my first 30-30, I need to get some ammo.
I usually like to have at least 1,000 rounds per caliber on rifles and a few thousand for each pistol caliber. With all my .357 pythons kicking around, I am hoping to find a near mint 1892 bored out for the .357 handgun round BTW…
My firearms are first and foremost for self-defense/SHTF and secondarily for collectors value and ascetics . I will likely hang the 1886 I just won on the JDJ auction on the wall – it’s no different than a piece of artwork. I have about 600 of the 405 grain Federal’s flat Point for my Marlin 45-70 plus another 200-300 cowboy rounds, mostly the Black Hills 405 grain Flat Point Lead Ammo.
Since the 1894 carbine was made with modern metals, is it fair to say it will shoot any of the modern 30-30 caliber bullets, provided they are safe for a levergun? Conversely, a 30 WCF made in the early 1900’s could have issues with the high power modern ammo?
Here are a few I think fit the bill. Is there any place on the forum that talks about ammo recommendations for level guns? I searched all ten pages of this sub forum and found many threads on hand loading, but nothing about off the shelf ammo. Sine my 1950 is a modern rifle, I only have to worry about bullet shape right?
- Federal Fusion 30-30 Winchester Ammo 150 Grain Flat Nose
- Federal Power-Shok 30-30 Winchester Ammo 150 Grain Soft Point Flat Nose
- Winchester 150th Commemorative Anniversary 30-30 Winchester 150 Grain Power-Point – X3030W15
- Winchester Super-X 150gr. Silver Tip Ammo
- Federal Vital-Shok 170gr. Nosler Partition Ammo
How about any of the Winchester Super X offerings? If I don’t order soon, I will be “all gun no ammo” this weekend, so I just ordered a 200 round case of the Federal Fusion 150 grain flat nose.
Dan Porcello said
Since the 1894 carbine was made with modern metals, is it fair to say it will shoot any of the modern 30-30 caliber bullets, provided they are safe for a levergun? Conversely, a 30 WCF made in the early 1900’s could have issues with the high power modern ammo?
Any Winchester Model 1894 (regardless of when it was manufactured) that is in good mechanical condition will safely shoot all modern manufactured 30-30 ammo. From day one of production in the year 1895 through the year 2017, 30-30 (30 WCF) ammo has been loaded to the same specifications.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 7, 2015

I like Hornady cases for reloading and they make good ammo too. I like the Remington bullet and back when 30-30 ammo was too cheap to bother loading that’s what I generally bought. I like Winchester cases but never much cared for Winchester center fire rifle ammo.
Dan Porcello said
I usually like to have at least 1,000 rounds per caliber on rifles and a few thousand for each pistol caliber. With all my .357 pythons kicking around, I am hoping to find a near mint 1892 bored out for the .357 handgun round BTW…
Wow, Dan. That’s a good pile of store-bought ammo!
If you have more than a few guns, reloading would quickly pay for itself–press and all. Plus, you could keep your supply at maximum, and still go out and enjoy MDOSP (many days of shooting pleasure.) Watch out though, it’s easy to shoot-away all profit!
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