Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 30-30 vs rifled 20 gauge?

You could have mentioned that tidbit of info...

Yeah, if I had to pick between my .30-30 and GW's 20 gauge, I'd trade him even up. GW don't count though.

IMO you don’t gain a thing with a 12g slug vs a 20g slug. If you have a 20 just stay there for slug hunting

And no to the 30-30. They are awful, useless, and outdated. Please just send all of them to me along with all components and I’ll make sure they are properly disposed of...

I don't think so, as to VA. Name the county if you think I'm wrong. Some urban counties (e.g., Fairfax) don't allow firearms at all, and some require you to be in ane elevate stand if you do. But I don't think there are any shotgun-only counties in VA. There are a bunch in MD.

Caroline County where my club is at is shotgun only I believe.

Nope. The only county-specific guidelines for Caroline County are:

“17. Muzzleloading rifles are permitted during any authorized deer season where firearms are permitted.”
And
“83. It shall be unlawful to hunt with a rifle larger than a caliber of .22 caliber in the county, except in the hunting of groundhogs, coyotes, and feral hogs outside the general firearms deer season.”

Ah I got ya. I thought you meant rifles were legal. Sorry about that.

I think they are--for deer season. Pretty sure that's what the regs are saying.

You also can use a ML during rifle season, but you can't use anything bigger than a .22 outside of deer season.

Not that I’m aware of. It’s been shotgun only or ML for a long time. I can’t remember any changes to that.

I have found that 20 gauge sabot slugs are pretty accurate, but compared to normal factory ammo prices, they are around 2x to 3x more expensive. A couple of months ago you could buy a box of 20 30-30 rounds at WM for around $15, $0.75 per round, while 20 gauge sabot shotgun slugs were running between $1 and $2 per round.

That bastard has me rethinking my dislike of slug guns. 😀

That double is freaking cool. If it came with a set of 28” 20ga barrels.....

I have no knowledge of the county. I'm just reading the regs.

The General VA firearms season rules provide that, for deer, you must use “Rifles and pistols using centerfire ammunition (.23 caliber or LARGER) Pistols must generate at least 350 foot pounds of energy or greater.”

“In the counties (including the cities and towns within) of Appomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, Caroline, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Gloucester, Greensville, King & Queen, King William, Lunenburg, Mathews, Mecklenburg, Middlesex, Nottoway, and Prince Edward” you can hunt deer during the “Firearms Deer Season,” which is “November 14 through January 2” in those counties, and the only regulations listed specifically for Caroline County are that:

“17. Muzzleloading rifles are permitted during any authorized deer season where firearms are permitted.”
And
“83. It shall be unlawful to hunt with a rifle larger than a caliber of .22 caliber in the county, except in the hunting of groundhogs, coyotes, and feral hogs outside the general firearms deer season.”

I could be missing something, but I doubt it. There is a firearms deer season that last six weeks in Caroline County, but you can’t use any caliber bigger than .22 outside of deer season for any hunting.

Don’t know for certain about current VA regs. Had a work buddy that hunted the Tidewater area long ago and he hated buckshot with a passion, always preferred slugs. At that time, there were BS zones too, according to him anyway. Only places in VA I ever hunt (and seldom now with the license prices) have always been rifle areas.

The regs are here: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content...ting-and-Trapping-Regulations-Digest.pdf

I grew up in Michigan. Still go back time to time to deer hunt. Still have a large group of relatives there. Ton of friends. The southern half of the lower peninsula was shotgun/ muzzleloader only up till a few years ago. That's where I grew up, it's still where my relatives all live. All I know is this. When the Savage 220 came out we all jumped on that wagon within about 4 yrs. When they made straight walls legal the 450 bushmaster took over in about 2yrs. Now it's the 350 legend. No one talks about slugs anymore. Ever. The 30-30 was/is popular with them that use grandads gun north of the line but even if they made them legal down in the southern zone I doubt you would see any. Guess what I'm trying to say is unless you already got access to one I'd find a different caliber or stick with the 20(in a rifled barrel). Just my 2 cents.

Shotguns-only on some special hunts, like Great Dismal Swamp and Radford Arsenal.

I hunt an area occasionally that requires Shotgun only, and I’ve taken a couple of really nice Blacktails with mine. This year I had a dandy buck in my scopes crosshairs, but I didn’t take the shot. All I had was his throat and head. And I just didn’t feel confident enough with the Shotgun to take that shot. I’d have dropped him with a rifle.

They work great if you can get the right shot, but if you don’t, you may wish you’d have had a rifle.

The chart on page 21, the one with number codes, shows the counties that prohibit rifles for deer and/or big game, codes 7 & 8. There are other places with rules about exceptions when hunting from elevated stands and maybe more. Pretty complicated, so anyone who wants to hunt should study that chart, then maybe call to be sure. Ain't hunting down that way, so not a problem for me.

Right. There are counties that preclude rifle hunting, but they do not say that shotgun hunting is legal either. I don't think there are any shotgun-only hunting counties in VA. That was my point. There are counties the preclude firearm hunting of deer, and there are some that permit it only in a stand of 10', some at 15'; but I don't think there are any that allow shotgun but no rifle. Not in VA.

And Caroline County only prohibits +.22 cal during NON-deer season. Which means they allow it during deer season.

I live and hunt in Price William County, VA. During the modern season we can use shotguns, muzzleloaders, or archery tackle. No rifles larger than .22 for hunting in the county. So while not designated as "shotgun only"; that is what the option is.

I bow hunt most all of the open season but my 20ga slug gun gets to hunt sometimes too...