The 30-30 Winchester (30 Winchester Center Fire or WCF) was introduced in Winchester's John Browning-designed Model 1894. The rifle was intended for smokeless powder…but the first smokeless powder sporting cartridges, the 30-30 and 25-35, weren't ready for release until 1895. Its "30-30" designation meant ".30-caliber, 30 grains of powder." This is a carryover from blackpowder designations, but 30 grains of smokeless powder gave the 30-30 unprecedented velocity for its day. The 30-30 quickly became America's gold-standard deer cartridge--and despite the many faster cartridges now available, it remains a very effective deer cartridge out to perhaps 150 yards. It has been chambered in single-shots and bolt-actions, but its traditional home is the tubular-magazine lever-action...which requires very blunt-nosed bullets, the lone exception being Hornady's FTX with a compressible polymer tip. All major manufacturers offer 30-30 ammuntion, and rifles are available from multiple sources.
