How good do Bolt guns shoot 30-30 Win cast boolits?

[JSnover]

Would I see a big improvement in accuracy with the 30-30 and find tuned cast boolit loads with a bolt gun. & if so, which? Or is the 30-30 only so accurate regardless. I would love to get the caliber on par with my 8 mm bolt guns. Is this just a dream?

The cartridge is as accurate as you can load it. Years ago I watched a friend of mine put 20 shots into a playing card at 200 yards with a custom built falling block in .30-30

[JWFilips]

or make a mauser into one.

I'm liking what I have read and what you guys have showin (target wise) so far
Ok but Now this is getting interesting. didn't think a mauser could be made into a 30-30. Is this possible?

[nekshot]

yup especially the 95's. You need to open up or get a new extracter to play with(around 35 bucks). I almost did a 98 but it simply was to heavy from the beginning as I like my 30-30's around 6and half pounds.

[str8shot426]

yup especially the 95's. You need to open up or get a new extracter to play with(around 35 bucks). I almost did a 98 but it simply was to heavy from the beginning as I like my 30-30's around 6and half pounds.

Getting it to feed from the magazine would be the tricky part.

[Remiel]

As far as the 336 goes i have a remlin 336W that will shoot 1in groups or less using 150gr sierra pro hunter flat points and 30.5gr of imr 4895, same gun using Winchester power points at 150gr and 31gr of imr4895, same result, havent played with castin it yet maby after the new year(need mold) i have a bag of 150gr Remington corlok to try next but it really loves the pro hunters

[sthwestvictoria]

Getting it to feed from the magazine would be the tricky part.

This is a link to a way one person got the .444 to feed from an enfield magazine:
http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazin...127partial.pdf
which sets out a way to help enfields feed from the magazine with straight wall cartridges by putting what is almost an enbloc clip inside the magazine (like the Steyr m95?). Hope it is useful to someone.

[nekshot]

that feed thru the rails is not as bad as it seems. Win 54 did it and I am going to rebarrel a 95 again and do it. It takes alot of time to watch the cartridge as it comes up and make adjustments as needed if needed. I did enough of this to say with confidence it can be done, might not be as slick as the original cartridge but it will (can be made) to work. And don't kick the old dog about rims, of course they must be stacked back to front!

[shootzemm58]

that feed thru the rails is not as bad as it seems. Win 54 did it and I am going to rebarrel a 95 again and do it. It takes alot of time to watch the cartridge as it comes up and make adjustments as needed if needed. I did enough of this to say with confidence it can be done, might not be as slick as the original cartridge but it will (can be made) to work. And don't kick the old dog about rims, of course they must be stacked back to front!

My 1st rifle was a Glenfield 30 in 30-30, it shot 5/8" 3 shot, 100 yd. groups with factory catridges, the second rifle i owned was a savage/stevens 325c and it would shoot 3/4" 3 shot groups at 100 yds. that was 36 yrs ago. Now i`m shooting a savage 340 in .222 and it shoots 1 moa at 200 yds with sierra 52 gr MK,18.9 H4198, 6 1/2 br,. That said, now i`m learning to cast and thats why i`m a newbie here.

[skeettx]

Hello shootzemm58 on your first posting
Pleased to have you on site
Mike

[richhodg66]

Member Nobade had a reamer made for a 30-30 chamber that he optimized for cast bullets. Not sure on the specs, but his throat design sought to overcome the lack of a graduated throat angle. I'm looking at a custom build using a P14 receiver for a single shot 30-30 (don't want to mess with feeding), as long as the extractor can be modified to pick up the smaller rim.

I bought a Savage 340C from Harrympope a while back, and while no sub-moa rifle, she shoots solid 1-inch groups after I bedded the action. Unfortunately this rifle doesn't have a tang bolt; it's only secured with a bolt in the recoil lug and with a sliding barrel band. This limits the extent to which the action can be secured in the stock.

Can you describe the process you used to bed your 340? Mine could rock the barreled action on the recoil lug when I got it, even though it shot OK. I deedened the channel the lug sat in so it doesn't do that and bedded a bit at the contact points including around where the barrel band goes. The rifle isn't really a tack driver, but 2-2 1/2" groups at 100 yards are the norm with my cast deer loads (311041 clone and 26 grains of iMR4895). I like the 340s.

I have a 788 in .30-30 I need to work with, I've only done a limited amount of shooting with it, but I never knew of a 788 that wasn't a good shooter. I've had a few over the years and some have been spooky accurate. I wish Remington would bring it back.

[nekshot]

wow are you fortunate or what to have a 788 in 30-30. That is my dream rifle! Also the back of the 340 reciever can be lengthened (by a good welder) and drilled for a bolt. A very simple fix. I embedded a piece of aluminum at the back of stock for the reciever to fit into and when the bolt at recoil lug is tightened the action becomes snug.

[GBertolet]

I bought the same custom 30-30 reamer from Manson that nobade had designed. I corrosponded with nobade about this reamer and got the drawing from Manson. It is called the 30-30 CBM. It has a 1.5 degree leade and the throat is .100 shorter than standard. I had a live pilot of .3005 made to fit my .301 bore diameter barrel. This fall I rebarreled my 788 using this reamer. Tenative testing with the 311291 bullet and 4759 powder, yields groups of 1" or less at 100 yards. I only had a 4X scope on for initial testing. I am positive that this can be improved upon considerably by additional load development.

[Nobade]

GBertolet, that's great to hear! I'm glad that reamer is working well for you. That is the chamber a 30-30 ought to have, it certainly has a lot going for it compared to the SAAMI 30-30. So far I have only used it on my 788, but hope to build something else with it in the future - maybe a Ruger single shot if I ever find an appropriate doner rifle! Have to cogitate on that a bit... Anyhow, glad to hear it's working for you!

-Nobade

[C A Plater]

While not a bolt gun my TC Contender carbine in .30-30 regularly does 1" at 100 yards with cast. I see no reason not to get similar results from a bolt gun especially if it has a nice trigger pull.

[uaskme]

Seems like a lot of trouble if you want a bolt 30/30. Why dont you just get a .308. Cast loads are at 30/30 ballistics.

[MaxJon]

I think the 30-30 is better suited to cast for the smaller case capacity, and longer neck than the 308. I think the longer neck is great for keeping the Boolit base in the neck portion of the case!
Just what I have been reading on here that's all!

[Char-Gar]

I have a Savage 320 (30-30) that is an easy 1.5 MOA rifles with cast bullet. I consider it a truck gun, so have no spent time trying to beat that accuracy.

I have a Browning Traditional Hunter (30-30) single shot that is an easy sub MOA rifle. It has a pretty traditional throat in it.

[tdoyka]

my dad has a savage 340 in 30-30. with factory ammo it goes around 1 1/2" at 100 yards. its been in the safe for about 10 years or so. someday i'll clean the copper out of it and shoot a 165gr ranch dog out of her.

[kir_kenix]

I have a Stevens 325A and a Savage 340. both will do sub 2moa, and 1.5 on a good day. One of my ex's shot her first deer with the 325A (165 rd), and probably 5 of my friends and family members have used it for their first deer season. It's pretty light and handy.

The Stevens is probably the ugliest rifle I own. The bluing is poor, it has surface rust in a few places, the stock has been glued back together and had truck bed liner sprayed on it, the trigger is pretty awful, the factory rings are cheesy...but it is a great loaner/truck/atv/beater rifle. I think with a better trigger set up, better bedding, a more solid scope attachment, and a good barrel these Savage/Stevens rifles could be legitimate 1moa rifles. I love mine for what they are: handy, cheap, dependable, and plenty accurate for deer within the range of the 30-30.

[rockrat]

Couldn't you just use 30-30 brass, with the rims cut down to .473" in a regular bolt gun? Kind of like the 225win.