Mike;

I am glad that you did not ask which was most versatile, because that allows me to indulge in a little fantasy of mine.

You see my favorite North American caliber is the ancient .30/30, yes, you read right. One day when I am financially independent, I want to take every head of game available in the lower 48 with my grandfather's old Winchester 94. Now before you write me and the .30/30 off, take a page from the handgun hunter's book on the old thutty-thutty, and you will see it is quite a capable performer in the TC Contender. I dabbled in handgun hunting a bit, shooting and hunting with a few XP's, heavy revolvers, and such for a few years. I was amazed at the performance of the .30/30 in these weapons.

So I took some of my handgun loads and tailored them to the old Model 94. I loaded everything from 100gr. to 180gr for it, and I could never publish the loads, they are that wild. Lets just say that I would not be afraid to face anything but the biggest bears with my 94, and I would not feel handicapped at all hunting pronghorns, and no, I could not take that trophy elk across the canyon, but there is that thing called stalking, which is becoming more and more a lost art.

Accuracy is excellent, with 125gr Nosler Ballistic Points pushed to an unspeakable velocity, I was getting 2.5" 5 shot groups at 300yds from the bench. The lever action is a very under rated action in both pressure handling and accuracy.

With modern bullets and powders, the .30/30 is a classic that has only gotten better. As for its effectiveness, well, the legendary Fred Bear with his recurve, proved that everything that walks can be killed with a lot less.

Lynn Miller