How accurate do you think a 94AE 30-30 can be

My friend has has granddaddy's rifle definitely a pre-64 that him and his dad will shoot sub 2 inch groups at 100yd with peep sites.
I have a mid to late 90s 94AE. Haven't shot it in a year or 5. It's got a El cheap O Simmons junk Walmart scope on it that I put on there probably around 2000, before I knew any better. I don't think it holds a 0 or that fancy rifling is in there just there for show. It could hit a deer at 100yd in the Maine brush so that's all I needed.
I started to suspect the scope was junk when I could shoot as well or better with the open iron sites than with the scope.

It's got a high rise scope mounts, 1 so the shell can top eject and 2 so the open sites can be used for splaterizing rodents at less than 50 feet. Then the scope could just be turned up to say 9 or 10 power and be left there.
The scope I'm thinking about putting on there is a leupold VX-2 series 4x12 power 40mm.

My cutting edge tech loads from circa 2002 are up to 33gr of H322 stuffed in the Shell by a 150gr speer hot core.
Probably will continue to use H322 for lighter bullets.

 

I had one years back , prior military days. Never checked for exact accuracy, but I took a quarter and drove a 16 penny nail thru the center, and backed away from it till I could just barely see the quarter, and would try to finish driving the nail , with iron sites. I hit the quarter a few times but never the nail. For what it's worth.

 

There is absolutely nothing preventing the 30-30 from being an accurate cartridge, and a lever action locks up just fine for its low pressures. I's bet sub MOA is achievable with the right load work up.

 

Better to just send it to me, I'll keep it in a safe place since it sounds like someone sat on the barrel and bent it!
You can Thank me later!

Edit, Throw in the new scope as well, Probably a left eye scope and useless to you.

 

LOL! I have an old hand me down beater Marlin 336 in .30-30 and to be honest didn't really take it all that serious, after all, it's just a .30-30! Boy was I surprised when I actually decided to wring it out a little and see what it could do! I think a 3 inch group at 100 yards is probably the bench mark to shoot for, and I think with the proper load work up, shouldn't have any problems achieving that! My marlin can just about hit that mark with Hornady Leverlution ammo, so with out actually sitting down and rolling my own for this specific rifle, I say it should about cut that in half! Winchester 94's have pretty good barrels and should be as good if not better then the pre micro grove Marlins!

 

The lever guns get a bad wrap for not being able to shoot anything like a bolt rifle or even close to decent semi auto.
Minute of bunny at 100 yds is fine. I don't need something that can shoot the fleas off a dogs ass from 500 yards. Or be able to splatter a Perry dogs from 150yd regularly.

I think the first thing I will do is do what is what I did for the a17. Give the muzzle a back yard crown job. Go over the stock and fore arm. And dig out some of every different kind of ammo I can find for it.

 

I have only one .30-30, but it shoots great using the Remington 150 gr SP High Speed load. Probably around 2400fps. If you don't reload give this a try. Usually testing several factory loads will let you know what works best in your rifle. I'm going to mount a 1-4X scope and see if this helps my old eyes.

jim

 

There's a reason you can find them in every county of every state in this nation...they are effective game-getters.

 

Yes I reload for 30-30.
I'm thinking about loading up some 85gr Mauser soft point pistol bullets, they should turn coyotes into meat spray if they are accurate, some 110gr 30 carbine bullets because I also have a 30 carbine, some speer 130gr hot core and some pointy soft plastic tip boat tail modernized lever gun bullets.
And just see what shoots good. I was reading on some of the forums and a lot of lever guns are liking the lighter bullets.
I like the lighter bullets for their flatter shooting and lower recoil.
Edit: I ditched the pointy soft tip boat tail bullets because they are real expensive and I have a feeling that they won't be around for very long.

 

Not a Winchester but my old Marlin 336 will shoot a minute of opossum at 100 yards with Iron sights....

 

Alright my scope sucks, I could not get it to focus at 25m.
With my 150gr speer hot core rounds they were on or on the 10 ring on an official 25yd pistol competition target once I goter warmed up. So at 100 yards could be 4 inch groups, about what I remembered.
I need to test different bullets and different loads.

Also the point of aim changes a lot, by as much as inch at 25m when it heats up, that may be part of the reasons they get a bad wrap for shooting all over the place. And by 3 shots the thin walled carbine barrel is getting pretty hot.

For the first round of tests or rounds for testing I want to try some 110gr "30carbine" bullets and 130gr speer hotcore.

 

When I test or zero any centerfire, I fire one shot, tiphe muzzle up to let cool air flow thru to keep the temps normal. This works for anything I shoot.

You might shoot three for group at 25 yds to find the best two or three loads then you can choose or move up to 100 yds for final zero.

Some reloaders make up 125 gr. Spire points for hunting and they seem to work pretty well for the .30-30. They put one in the mag and one in the chamber, hammer to half cock. This might work for you, but as always, one must test. If it is accurate enough, then neck shots may be made, and expansion/penetration will not be a problem

Sounds like you may be having parallax problems with that scope.

Jim

 

Yeah not being able to see the cross hairs is definitely a problem.
When the barrel warms up it the group moves to the right.
Takes it a while to cool off.

 

Heat can be an issue with any firearm... and all should be aware of another thing...

too rapid cooling can sometimes change the point of impact... depends on how hot it got and how fast it cools...

 

With the a17 I can shoot say a 5 round group then mag dump 25 rounds and put it back on target and it moves maybe 3/16 or less at 25m.

 

I got the leupold 2-VX scope in 4x12 power ordered. That should help.

 

Good mounts are always a big plus!

 

I'm also going to use it on jack rabbit, Perry dog, rattle snake, coyote.
No elk here and I don't plan on driving 4 or 5 hours each way to go elk hunting any time soon.