I have this irrational desire for a bolt 30-30 cast rifle

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  • Last Post 25 November 2015
Pentz posted this 16 November 2015

 I have this itch that will not leave me alone: I want an accurate 30-30 single shot or bolt rifle for cast shooting with 200 + grain bullets.  Not a break open.  Not a Savage with the ring around the barrel mount.  Maybe a Winchester 54 or a Remington 788.    Butchered Krags are available locally; I wonder if one with a decent barrel can be set back?  I know there are those on this forum who have been down this trail before I, and have suffered the bruised toes that I'm likely to encounter.  So, what are some good options?  I''m more than willing to start with a good action and spend some money on the right barrel.

Match Director

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giorgio the slim one posted this 16 November 2015

I have a Rem 788 in 308w , very nice gun .Usually they are cheap , and they would be a nice rifle with a new 30-30 barrel

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 16 November 2015

feeding from magazine is usually the big problem with converting a bolt action ... but a mauser 98 action would make a good start to a conversion . i am guessing that a rem. 700 action would require a ar-16 extractor .

i like the idea of finding a win 54 in 30-30 ... and i am thinking savage made the 340 in 30-30 ... maybe ... and of course the 788 will be the easiest to find ..

for a single shot don't forget the ruger 3 in 30-30 . that would be fun !! except of course not all ruger 1-3 shoot really well in production tune .. oh, and may not qualify for a single-shot match ... unfairly i think, as the winchester 85 usually outshoots ruger ones anyway .

ken

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joeb33050 posted this 16 November 2015

I have a 12/15 Martini in 30-30 Douglas Premium Air Gauge tight neck ?.326? that I haven't shot in years. Big heavy barrel.

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frnkeore posted this 16 November 2015

You can use any 308/'06 bolt face for such a project. You only need to turn the 30/30 rim down to .470 and put a chamfer on the bolt side of the rim of 35 - 45 deg and .015 deep.

90% of extractors (or more) will have enough depth to them to go around the rim. If not, deepen the cut on the bolt face .005 - .007. You can just cut the rim on a 30/30 case to try and find out, real quick.

That's the only thing you have to do.

If your a target shooter, I doubt that you'll care if it feeds.

The 340 Savage and variants are very easy to convert to full floating barrels. You need only drill and tap a 10x32 hole above the rear trigger guard hole, into the action, were the sear rides through.

I did one in 30/30 Imp that way. The extractor is the weak part in that convertion. After a few firings of higher pressure loads on a single case, it won't want to pull the case out.

Frank

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Pentz posted this 16 November 2015

The 30-30 has a .500 rim so that sounds easy to do with my Pakistani lathe (bench mounted drill and file). Rebated rim might be more of a challenge. My Krag extractor will hold a .500 case; thinking of rebarreling a D&T'd receiver but the stock work wouild be a pain. Most loads would be in the 17 gr. 2400 range/1400 fps. Now to find a suitable action. I've seen the 340 actions and may go back and take another look.

Match Director

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Mustafa Curtess posted this 16 November 2015

Since this isn't the “Boolits” site - I think I can say something positive about the 30-30 's in general - and know that no insult will follow. Years ago, I happened upon a very reasonably priced “Springfield M840” with an neglected/abused wood - but a beautiful bore. I brought it home and worked up reliable CB loads for it, and was so pleased that I looked up parts that I might eventually need for it from the Numerich Gun Parts catalog, which in those days included magazines. I got an extra - as well as an extractor and a couple of other items that I thought I might eventually need. I happen to admire blonde wood with deep blue metal, so I stripped, smoothed, gave it several coats of rubbed-in-between Tung Oil, and it became a beautiful rifle - that remains a pride and joy these years later. Meanwhile, I happened upon thhe similar Savage 340 which was a give-away, because the magazine was missing. In the process of re-working the bolt-handles to accomodate a center-mount scope (even tho it is still a side-mount) I discovered that the Savage iteration has some plastic parts which are steel with the “Springfield". The Savage never quite equalled the Springfield's inherent accuracy. So I refinished it with a more traditional stain to make it more salable (successfully) and complete with magazine, it sold at a considerable profit. I never was attracted to competitive target shooting, because by that time I had concluded that matches are won only by superior marksmanship - not in any way related to cartridge or rifle “quality". I have no potential for gnat's ass marksmanship - so nothing I own and enjoy suffers from any inherent accuracy limitation. (Certainly not at 400 yd. to 600 yd. silhouette. I have the usual stable of 30-30 leverguns, as well, plus Rolling Block and “break-open” single shots (which I can't fault, either). Nobody should have to shoot any gun unless he genuinely enjoys it - which is my only criteria). I won't explain how I know that there should be no concern for the single bolt-locking lug of the Savage design. Suffice it to say: that those actions will tolerate anything one can reasonably get into the cases. (May be rough on your shoulder - but the rifles aren't impressed.) If anyone is interested in the 30-30 - all I can say is to “GO FOR IT!"!

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Bud Hyett posted this 17 November 2015

Remington built a few 788's in .30-30, they are still around. Good action, good barrel, good price.

:wavw2:

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Wineman posted this 17 November 2015

Savage 340?

Dave

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RicinYakima posted this 17 November 2015

Mustafa, I really like Lyman Alaskan scopes, before they all became “sniper” scopes. Here in the PNW lots of 340's and Springfield 30/30's had side mount Alaskan scopes. Many have gone through my hands, and they all shot well enough to kill any deer within 200 yards. If I 'Had” to have only one rifle, there are a lot worse choices than the 30/30 bolt gun! Ric

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Mustafa Curtess posted this 17 November 2015

To Dave Wineman. Yes - Savage 340. That challenge sent  me to my old “Rifles Of The World” book to double-check my memory. There it is, on page 245. Somehow (maybe because I didn't keep the rifle longer than enough to range-test it with CB's, and then clean it up to sell,) but somehow it is not in my CB loading log book - where i record everyhing (including S.N. , plus Cerrosafe chamber dimensions and slugged land and groove dimensions) for every gun I own. WTF? ----- Over ----?  Way back - when The Fouling Shot was a mimeographed news-letter, I think the CBA actually considered a competition class just for  the Savage-Stevens-Springfields and Remington 788's in 30-30 Win. I never knew what happened - but during that short period, something really surreal was going on in the CBA Boardroom. The best editor we have ever had was summarily replaced, and it was another decade or two before that editor was re-appointed, and TFS became worth reading again.

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onondaga posted this 17 November 2015

http://castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=7960>Pentz

The 30-30 cartridge has a magical powder volume for efficiency with cast bullets and H4895 and a few other powders. I bet that is part of why you'd like a nice bolt rifle in 30-30.

I almost bought a used Savage bolt in that caliber.

I also looked at rifles in a caliber with that same kind of volume efficiency with cast and the 7.62X39 cartridge has nearly identical case volume to 30-30.

There are some very nice bolt rifles available in 7.62X39

I ended up with a Remington Spartan single-shot in X39 that I am happy with,  but a nice bolt rifle in the caliber would be great.

Give looking at bolt rifles in X39 a consideration if it is the cartridge efficiency for cast bullets that is attractive to you. The X39 cartridge does everything as well as a 30-30 with cast bullets and at the same velocities and volume efficiency. It is just 31 caliber instead of 30.

I shoot the RD165 FNGC in #2 Alloy at 2050 fps with 26 gr AA2230 in X39 and it has spectacular accuracy for me.

Gary

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Pentz posted this 17 November 2015

I bought a Savage bolt in 7.62x39 and was disappointed with it. It's short-throated and the short neck gave me nothing but fits. It just sits in the safe now.

Match Director

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gnoahhh posted this 17 November 2015

One of my cherished possessions is a Winchester 54 .30-30. I have seen a couple during the last 6 months go for well under $1000 on Gunbroker, and witnessed an extremely nice one fetch $1000 recently at a live auction in Pennsylvania. They are out there, and not unreasonably priced IMO, especially since, again IMO, they were the ultimate .30-30 bolt gun.

What's funny is I think the old bias against bolt action .30-30's back when the 54 was being made that caused its short production life still holds true today. Even though they are far rarer than '06's and .270's in that model, they don't seem to command the prices one would expect.

With a 10x Fecker scope mounted on it, it'll group 10 into under an inch with a 190gr. CB/15gr. 4759. With its Lyman receiver sight (and concurrent aging eyeballs), and hunting loads consisting of the same 190 CB and 28 gr. 3031 it'll slop 10 into 1 1/2-1 3/4” at 100 yds.

Short of a full-blown custom .30-30 bolt gun I truly believe that one can't do better than a Winchester 54.

Now if only a 54 in .22 Hornet would drop out of the sky...

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onondaga posted this 17 November 2015

Pentz! Oh, I bet I could get your Savage in X 39 to shoot for you!. The RD bullet shoots well for me and I also got the two Lee 30-30 fngc's shooting well when I honed the bands bigger in the mold.I seat them.to engage the lands.010” . the longest RD bullet gas check is just halfway into the shoulder area for my seating depth.

Gary

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Pentz posted this 22 November 2015

I've got my eye on a Model 54 locally, it's a 1929 with a good bore, wood and scope. The only drawback is that the bolt handle was reworked for the scope, still has the old safety. If it still around next week I may take it.

Match Director

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 22 November 2015

Wineman wrote: Savage 340?

Dave Yes!  I had (sniff) one.  throat was open enough so it WAS my only rifle that would correctly match several cast bullets.

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 22 November 2015

joeb33050 wrote: I have a 12/15 Martini in 30-30 Douglas Premium Air Gauge tight neck ?.326? that I haven't shot in years. Big heavy barrel. a) interested in selling? b) any issues with clearance when loading?  (my cadet wouldn't clear long loaded bullets). c) tight neck?  might be an issue with cast.

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tturner53 posted this 22 November 2015

Anybody messing with a .300 BO? Lots of new bolt actions available.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 22 November 2015

i got a spare win m54 action ... for 30-06 .... for those that like the smell of old iron .... heh heh . pm me if .

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joeb33050 posted this 22 November 2015

I've got a nice Savage 30-06 barrel that would screw on that M54 action, with a little machine work. Free. Also got a Savage 7MM rem mag, free. You pay postage. joe b.

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