My dad was thrifty (cheap) so we used whatever ammo Kmart had on sale. I will say the 30-30 was my first gun in Western Pa when i was 12. Had top ejection so i never used a scope. We hunted a lot of thickets up there and this gun cuts right through them. Killed quite a few deer with it until i won a 7mm mag (overkill) at a rifle auction. Last tid bit, it was so cold one year my dad's firing pin froze and would not fire. The hammer on the 30-30 was worthy and had to kill both of ours that year. Brings back lots of good memories.