30 Cal? But why??

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Like I said before, all opinions are welcome. I will stop learning the day I die. I can see both sides of that Mexican hunting story, but I digress on that as well. As for 30 Cal in general, that is why I started asking about it. If I don't know enough about it or it's legal implications to have made an informed decision and wanted to learn as much as possible as to plan out what it is that I want to acquire in the future.
 
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@Blackdiesel No doubt, but..if this weren’t a public forum, I’d say I’ve done the same. Or I’d disclose how many deer I’ve killed over the years using the “minimalist” (bored, elite hunter) approach. BUT, just like speed limits, you have to write laws based on the worst drivers.. I’d hate to see any law written in our (the airgun community) favor, initially, that ends badly and leaves a bad impression on the powers that be. 1 step forward, 2 steps back. 

Im a pro driver / instructor, but I’d NEVER want or expect the speed limits to be based on my personal “needs” or wants. Same goes for hunting. I Love the animals I hunt, but want them DEAD with no drama whenever possible, haha. Know what I mean? 
 
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"Brian.in.MI"Geez, I hope there are no states considering .30 cal *pellets* for deer(?). Can it be done? Sure. Should it be? No. 


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Its already confirmed that .30 pellets kill deer-sized game just fine on lung shots. There's some good videos on youtube showing .30 pellets cleanly dispatching African antelope-sized game, which is the size of animal we're talking about with Florida whitetails. Average size for a mature Florida buck is 120lb and 70-80lb for a mature doe. From my own experience I know that .357 pellets kill deer awesomely. I suspect a .30 will perform just as well. 

After all, its not the energy that kills with an air gun. 200fpe might as well be 80fpe. All you need is enough energy to punch a hole thru the lungs, and the hole needs to be big enough not to clot. That's it. .30 is the smallest caliber that is delivering bow-and-arrow level energy levels and is making a large enough hole to not clot easily even if there's no expansion from the pellet. 

As it is, this is already a done deal. Alabama has been having great success with .30s for a couple of years now. Their state biologists have really taking a shine to using .30s for deer and they're talking to our people. We're going to follow their lead as they actually know what they're talking about thru experience.

Taking notions that apply to midwest deer and applying them to Florida deer is no more valid than applying applying bass fishing rules to bream. Florida deer are more different than northern deer than they are alike. A .30 will do them just fine. 

 
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"After all, its not the energy that kills with an air gun. 200fpe might as well be 80fpe. All you need is enough energy to punch a hole thru the lungs, and the hole needs to be big enough not to clot. That’s it. .30 is the smallest caliber that is delivering bow-and-arrow level energy levels and is making a large enough hole to not clot easily even if there’s no expansion from the pellet."
Well said Bullfrog. I use to live in north west florida and the deer are definitely smaller than here in Alabama, but my 308 cothran has already taken deer and he only went 20 steps at a 75 yard shot with 110 grain hollowpoint. The nice thing about the 308, its a tj barrel and will shoot the 30 cal pellets as well for smaller pest. I can swap out the valve for smaller pesting with a bell curve now, or use the cothran valve to hammer hogs and deer. I love a hot shooting .25 and have a few, but the 30 has opened up the playing field. 
 
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I personally love .30 for my hunting needs but here in WA coyote is the largest I can shoot with an airgun. And having a dairy we do have coyote problems so that's why I wanted a .30. But definitely use it for anything else I shoot like pigeons and ground squirrels. I much prefer it over .25 caliber for longer range shooting as well. Heck I got rid of my .25s and now just have my .22 Veteran and my WARP which is .30 with a .22 Cal barrel also. I know people like to argue the new heavy .25s might have a better BC than the .30s but I've found the .30 to be more consistently accurate at longer ranges. Also think the pellets are more consistent in my experience. 
 
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"Brian.in.MI"Geez, I hope there are no states considering .30 cal *pellets* for deer(?). Can it be done? Sure. Should it be? No. 
Legit .30 caliber *bullet* firing airguns are on a whole other level. 4 or 5X the energy of a .30 pellet gun.
Yes, I saw the video of a scrawny Mexican deer killed by a .25. How many deer has that guy wounded? Sure, they’ll share their perfect shots with the world.. I can tell you that .25 pellet hit the aorta or pulmonary artery for it to go down in seconds. Even a direct hit to the heart with a pellet wouldn’t kill it that fast. I don’t think game laws should be written on what is theoretically possible (or even probable) They are normally written with a huge “fudge factor” for the animal’s sake. I digress, and hope common sense prevails. 

Ok, where were we? Oh yes, .30 cal in general. Didn’t mean to hijack or change the topic! 
B


I totally agree with you on .30 cal pellet guns and hunting deer. I think people that have say a 25 FPE .22 air gun move up to a 100-300 ft pound larger caliber air gun and think Wow the power i can kill deer now.

To put things into perspective people hunting deer with firearms are using 2000 to 3000 FPE, yes that is correct 3,000 foot pounds. So a 100 ft pound air gun may be big vs a 20 ft pound air gun but they are not even remotely close in power to firearms.

I think a 3000 ft pound gun is going to be just tad more humane on large animals than a pellet gun.



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Alabama has a 30 cal and over Airgun season for deer. I personally shoot a 308 cothran but shoot slugs and watch my range on deer and hogs. At the end of the day it’s in the hunters hands to be ethical and humane in his shot choice. 30 cal is a great choice for a lot of game, from pellet shooter to cast or swagged bullet shooter, raccoon size varmints to deer, keeping in mind the power and distance and game involved. 
 
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"txslaughter"Hey guys I know this is a few weeks old but I wanted to ask some questions. I'm looking to purchase my first air rifle. I like the thread because I was looking into a .30 FX impact possibly if getting a .30. If not that the I need a bigger bore for hogs and the possibility deer is allowed to be taken with air rifle.
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Some food for thought: Shot Show is in 1 month, if you can wait, wait. There should be new enticing models, and lots of folk unloading used guns simply because they have to have the latest one. Nothing wrong with that in my book, but you reap the benefits. 
Hogs l would kill with anything on hand just about, as long as legal. 
Deer: I’m no expert, if you read the different opinions here you may get an idea. I think a .30 AG head shot will do it for sure. I have seen them taken with .22 & .25 (body shots) in other countries. I’m on the fence on this. But if close enough on a smallish one, perhaps with a Polymag/Metalmag. But I really don’t know, seek wiser advice than mine. 
 
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You might consider the Hatsan BT Carnivore in .30 caliber and buy it tuned from B. Walton as it will give you 920 FPS, group 1" at 100-130 yards.

I picked this rifle as it has enough power to hunt turkey and up to medium game, yet is quiet enough to plink in my back yard, and to me is a great all purpose rifle. I have an old Falcon FN19 thumbhole in .22 but I think the new Hatsan .30 will be what I use the most. Nielson Specialty Ammo will be selling shortly 45, 47, 50, and 66 grain slugs in the .300 caliber when you want to hunt with the .30, otherwise for plinking I think the JSB's & Hatsan pellets are likely to be the best?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlxlX_uZQ5c

http://www.bwaltonpcp.net/store/1ua/bwalton-30cal-This is a full modified .30cal shooting 920fps unregulated for the best power and accuracy combo, You can also add a regulator for $120, You can also email Hatsan for a Thumb hole Elite stock to put on it. 10-12 full power shots with extreme accuracy! Comes with the Bwalton LDC or just keep the QE shroud on it.... any questions feel free to give me a call. This rifle is built to order takes about 3 weeks.
 
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"Brian.in.MI"I can only speak for myself, but here was my rationale,
I bought my .30 RAW as a long distance bench gun, and occasional hunter. On the rare occasion I will hunt with it, I want to be able to easily kill anything up to medium size game. Let’s be real, 78 fpe is a ton of power for a pellet (not bullet) gun, but is still less than most hunters use for squirrel! Sure, you can kill most medium size game with a .25, but the .30 will kill them harder, haha.
As for the bench shooting, Martin at RAW still recommends .30 over .25 for 100+ yard shooting. And yes, that includes the poly .25 that, IMO is slightly over hyped. 
One guy’s opinion. Hopefully worth at least as much as you paid(?)
Brian
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I like Brian' approach and basically agree word for word. But I'm thinking. 25 and .357 would be a great combo. I appraching it from money being no object or factor in the decision..lol 
 
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