Adding to the 30 Calibers

[Ranch Dog]

I doubt a caliber change as that would require a lot of bolt parts or a replacement bolt which quickly changes the investment in the rifle. I've been doing some more research through Numrich and the Savage 340 replacement barrels were unmarked and not machined for sights. The last of those were priced at $62, half the cost of the bolt.

That's an interesting thing about the barrels. Why do you think the upgrade to E parts was? Availability? The original stamped parts worn out or badly rusted?

I would think more about availability but there are improvements in the extractor and the biggy, the bolt handle. The later is swept back and curved like the bolt handle on the Zastava Mini-Mausers. The 340, A, B, C, & D are not scope friendly.

Some of the beaters appear on GunBroker, offered by JES in 38-55 Win. I've always been tempted as he refinishes them well with the rebore & rechamber. You will see him also offer the 170 pump in 38-55 Win.

Who is JES? I don't know of that outfit.

http://www.35caliber.com/

Forgot to ask, what made you go for the Savage 340 rather than another bolt action?

M&M_Westoff.jpg

In a nutshell, it was the first deer rifle I owned. Considering 30-30 Win bolt action rifles, there really are only two options. The 340 in all its offerings to include Montgomery Wards, Sears, etc, and the Rem 788. The 788 is the serious rifle but it also has a serious price. You can expect to pay around $800 for the 788.

[DaveInGA]

I'll be danged, I owned that same tent or one that looked exactly like it. My buddies and I had many happy times in a tent like that. Makes sense why you would want one. I'd prefer the Savage to the 788 as well. No other bolts are offered in 30-30 today?

[Ranch Dog]

I'll be danged, I owned that same tent or one that looked exactly like it. My buddies and I had many happy times in a tent like that. Makes sense why you would want one. I'd prefer the Savage to the 788 as well. No other bolts are offered in 30-30 today?

The style, aluminum pole canvas tent was quite popular. I'm sure it came from Sears Roebuck as that is where just about everything we used came from. I think I used that tent on my hunting trips through 1976, probably rotted through.

That's about it for the 30-30 Win bolt guns. Both are quite acclaimed for their ability to shoot cast bullets.

[RBHarter]

Funny thing happened at a little 10 table $5 a head gun show today .....

Ms bought an old basket weave holster for a S&W Highway Patrolman ,which works out because there was this cold 1917 S&W that needed a nice warm leather place to sleep. I don't know what to do with the 38/357 speed loaders but I think the cases will hold a clip of 45 ACP so not a complete wreck.

More to the point she bought us this little gem . A spiffy little 325C Stevens 30-30 with a neat little William F Cob No 175 peep sight and 2 correct magazines. It does have a couple little dings above the trigger on the right side . I think it'll look good next to 340E 222 sisters and all.

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2016-01-16 21.55.17.jpg

Anyway I've got something to go with 5 boxes of factory 30-30 Winchester Winchester.
I wonder how that 312-155 for the x39 will work ? Man I may have to break down and buy a a real 30 cal mould......

[Ranch Dog]

That is a very clean 325 RB, well done!

Yeah, you might have to buy a reall 30 caliber mold for this old fellow as the Savage bore/groove tends to be pretty tight. I've finally gotten all the years and layers of fouling out of mine rifle and will slug it today and post the results.

[RBHarter]

I got out the 340 this morning. 2 things struck me immediately, that couple of inches of bbl makes the 222 quite a bit heavier and I have no idea when the Chicapea Falls to Westfield move came in. After a minute or 2 of looking about all the 2 rifles have in common is the action ,bbl nut , bbl band and stock shape which actually are about as similar as a GI 98 and a Boyds Paris hunter. The changes from 1950 to 1965 or so are just ....wow .

Was the butter knife bolt handle a regular item ?
The peep sight seems to have been a factory option , Google knows next to nothing about it.
20" is a lot shorter than 24" ,no wonder that 222 is so fast .
The bolt shroud on the 325 is Mauser like while the 340 is behived .
Having a couple war baby rifles the stamped parts don't bother me much ,function over form I guess. I'm looking forward to getting this out to try it.

I guess I better learn the 30 WCF so I can annoy those purists by shooting pointy bullets .

[Ranch Dog]

Butter knife bolt handle was used on the Stevens along with those manufactured for the chain stores under their brand name.

Concerning the groove and it's bullet needs, I was going to say that it is somewhere between .3065" & .307" as that is what I've measured in the past but I wanted to check before stating it. I just finished slugging this Savage replacement barrel and it has a .300" bore and .307" groove. The good thing about this is that those ".309" bullet molds that Lee sells and no one can figure out what to actually do with them because of the diameter, will work. For a hunter, I would favor the C309-170-F.

In that all of my 30-30 Win designs are .311" bullets and I don't like sizing down that far, I will start with my TLC310-165-RF 300 Savage bullet sized at .309".

Given your interest, here are two web pages worth bookmarking if you haven't done it already:
http://www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun%20A ... t_act.html
http://www.leeroysramblings.com/gunsmit ... ge_340.htm

[RBHarter]

Lots of good info there thanks .
I had hoped for a 1-10 twist but it is a near perfect 1-12. It sure looked faster at 1st look.

[DaveInGA]

That's a real nice looking rifle RB. I can see the differences between the walnut of the Savage and the Beech of the Stevens. I've read those pages RD posted about those models and I think it wouldn't be a bad job at all to upgrade the Stevens 325 to 340E parts, including the nicer Mauser style bolt handle of the 340E.

I don't know if you'd be interested changing the stock, but I've never been satisfied with the way most factories finish beech. I always strip the tung oil/oil based stain/varnish off, then apply a alcohol based stain in a color I like, with a bit of kiln burnt pine tar (American Rope & Tar) mixed in to bring out and darken the beechwood more. Once that's done, I'll go over it with raw linseed oil a couple coats and let it sit for six months or so to let the raw linseed oil dry, polymerize and produce some of that nice natural red/brown you see in old military stocks. Finally, when I'm satisfied, I add either raw tung oil for a flat finish or tung oil finish (semi-gloss) or danish oil as a final finish (These last two are varnishes.)

If you're interested, post back and I'll pull out and get a picture of a .22 semiauto I have that was painted black I stripped and refinished. I deliberately left it flat because the metal was parkerized, but for the Stevens I would first stain, then varnish with a satin tung oil finish.

[Steve]

I would like to see a picture of your 22 Dave.