What a wonderful deer gun
Actually, the 30-40, when loaded with 200 or 220 grain bullets is a very good elk shell. It's not popular out here anymore, but I know a few old timers that still use them for their hunting. I hunted along side a man that used one a few years ago, and he did as well or better than anyone else on that trip. The 30-40 doesn't drive a big bullet fast enough to blow it up, so the penetration is superb.

One little tid-bit of info that' many hunters don't know:
The largest inland Grizzly ever killed in the Continental USA was killed right after the turn of the century in Montana with a 30-40 Kraig. 220 grain bullet.
It was a stock killer that turned man-killer. It became a local legend and source of fear up there. The locals named it "Old Mose". When it was finally killed they found over 40 other bullets in it, mostly from 44-40s and 38-40s, and a few from larger rifles, but none in the right place to kill. It was hung and weighed at a slaughter house, and in weighed in at 1006 pounds.