.30-30 Rolling Block?

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Panzerschwein

Panzerschwein

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Hey gang!

How goes it? And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :D

I am interested in a Pedersoli made Remington Rolling Block sporting rifle. This one here.

What really draws me to this gun is that it is available in .30-30 Winchester. I've long wanted a gun in this caliber. I am not a reloader, but see that .30-30 ammo is MUCH cheaper than .45-70 ammo. That means a lot to me. I am also a hog hunter, and possibly a deer hunter someday soon, so the .30-30 will have plenty of good factory hunting loads for those animals.

But, it will mostly be a range/fun gun. I'll be shooting for groups at the local indoor 25 yard range, but this will be a field plinker for me as well, popping steel plates out to the 200 yard range of the .30-30.

I am looking for any and all input on these Pedersoli made Rolling Blocks, or Rolling Blocks in general, before I buy. I've also been having trouble finding one of these for sale. I can find plenty of the .45-70 ones out there, but no .30-30 ones. Has this model been discontinued? I may have to email Pedersoli and ask if they know where to get one if it's still offered.

If anyone can chime in and give me some advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much all!

Cooldill
 
Check with Cabelas. They are one of the 10 U.S. distributors. Likely they can order one if they don't have one.

I'm rather fond of my l/a .30/30's. I haven't bought but one box of factory ammo in 43 yrs!
I shoot cast 95%+. A few jacketed over the past 20yrs. I started out in high school reloading for a 20ga shotgun and Remington M788 b/a .30/30. I shot my first 3-shot 1-hole group with that rifle and ammo I loaded with a Lee "Handloader".
For roughly the cost of 5 boxes of ammo, you can get a basic reloading set up.
You'll never look back on factory fondly. Only what it lacks and performance left on the table...

The Pedersoli rifles are nice, but you may have trouble finding one. Not a mainstream rifle.
I'd prefer a Ruger in .30/40Krag.
 
The Rolling Block is a rugged, simple design. In it's heyday it was adopted by several foreign countries for issue to their Army. Rolling Blocks were also issued to some State National Guard units.

Frankly I consider it superior to the Sharps but the Sharps starred in it's own movie. I have shot mine in matches out to 600 yards along with killing a buffalo at 165 yards. As you suspect mine is in 45-70.

I had a Marlin Cowboy in 30-30. The Cowboy has a 24" barrel. I found the bullet dropped too much at 200 yards for accurate shooting. You will need a tall tang sight such as a Soule sight for long range.
 
I have the navy arms version of this rifle in 357

I'm not sure I would want one in 30-30 as mine is light enough to turn 357 mag into a shoulder bruiser

I do have a soft spot for single shot 30-30's as I own a TC encore 26" and this 30" beauty ImageUploadedByTapatalk1448571520.663935.jpg
 
the really nice thing about this single shot is like my contender and RW Dales encore you can hand load rounds with spitzer bullets. that will alleviate some of your drop right there and get you an extra 50-75 yards of usable range right there.

of course you can get REALLY crazy and get the chamber reamed out to 30-30 Ackley Improved and get close to 300 Savage levels of performance with no issues whatsoever. But that is another story. :)
 
I have two Rollers, both number 5's. One is stock. One was a lost cause with a good receiver. I had it re-barreled in 45 Colt. I looked at the reproductions and they certainly look nice. One in 30-30 would be excellent. Let us know if you pick one up. I considered one in 45 Colt, but then built my own. They seem to be a smaller action then the originals which makes them a nice compact rifle. Good luck.
 
Well is it hard or expensive to get a basic. 45-70 reloading setup? If I could reload that caliber for under $0.50 a round, I'd do it.

Does .45-70 have more range than .30-30?
 
So .30-30 is only going to shoot out to 200 yards accuratly?

Really not a huge deal for me. Most of my shooting will be below that, but I like my rifles to be good out to 300 yards an over.

Thoughts?
 
Cooldill said:
Well is it hard or expensive to get a basic. 45-70 reloading setup? If I could reload that caliber for under $0.50 a round, I'd do it.

Does .45-70 have more range than .30-30?
Click to expand...


Yes. On lead brass and powder costs 45/70 is always going to be significantly more expensive than 30/30

This is why I sold my 45/70 roller and bought the 30/30 low wall above.

$14 a box factory ammo is nice too.
 
If the barrel is good and the lockup tight, a 30-30 should be accurate well past 300 yards.

The problem isn't accuracy, it's the looping trajectory.

A good tang sight will help with that. Handloading higher BC spitzer bullets would also be a step in the right direction.

Even shooting 185 grain, cast round nose bullets out of a 16 inch Winchester Model 94 Trapper in 30-30, I was able to keep most of my shots on a 6' by 6' boulder at @ 500 yards once I figured out where to hold.
 
If you'll really crunch the numbers I think you'll find spitzers really don't offer any additional capability.

Once you are past 200 you MUST know the range and drop to that range very precisely. So what's to gain with 8" of come up vs 6? At that point it's just a number on a scope turret.

Care must also be take to not place the projectile outside of its minimum expansion velocity window. This can be easy to do with bullets designed for 30/06 or 300 mag from a 30/30

The only possible exception I've found to this are lighter high bc <125 grain bullets loaded to maximum muzzle velocities
 
I think you will be really happy with that rifle, OP.

I too just got me an old Winchester of the gun broker site in 30-30 for shooting the Cowboy lever action silhouette game. I am excited and eager for it to arrive. I intend to shoot RCBS 180 grain cast bullets through it.

The other fellas at the club who shoot 30-30 have no issues taking down those rams at 200 yards, so I don't suppose you will either, and I anticipate I will also do well with the rifle. :)
 
stubbicatt said:
I think you will be really happy with that rifle, OP.

I too just got me an old Winchester of the gun broker site in 30-30 for shooting the Cowboy lever action silhouette game. I am excited and eager for it to arrive. I intend to shoot RCBS 180 grain cast bullets through it.

The other fellas at the club who shoot 30-30 have no issues taking down those rams at 200 yards, so I don't suppose you will either, and I anticipate I will also do well with the rifle. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks!

I should mention this gun has a 28" barrel. Will that offer a bit more velocity over a 16"-20" lever gun?

I am going to be contacting some sources to find one of these guns soon. I plan to try and target shoot out to 300 yards if it's possible. I will NOT try and hunt at that distance, just hunt paper and milk jugs!! :D

Does anybody have a recommendation for what type sights I'll need to do this? Thanks again guys!
 
You'd be surprised at how little velocity a long 30-30 gains.

30-30 low wall 30"
170g rp
2264
2315
2297
2272
2270
2335
Avg 2292
ES 71

Win 170
2199
2216
2207
2213
2234
Avg 2213
ES 35


30-30 encore 26"
150g federal
2480
2458
2473
2475
 
I've got a rolling block in .38-55. A heavier but slower moving bullet with a cast 265gn bullet moving at around 1300fps. I had no problems at all with the rams at 280 yards at one shoot I go to annually and the rams are on a shelf that is roughly 200 feet above the shooting location.

Hitting the 4' diameter saw plate out at 400 yards required about 3/4's of an inch of sight rise on the Soule style rear sight to adjust from the 100 yard zero to the 400 yard. So for the faster .30-30 bullets out to 300 and possibly 400 yards you can easily get away with the amount of rise possible with a longer motion Marbles tang sight and create a much tidier setup.

Or are you considering using a scope?
 
I don't know how accurate a Pedersoli .30-30 is (Their BPCRs are pretty good.), or how good Cheapmart ammo is, but you can probably have a lot of fun with it.

Handloads with good bullets will probably improve accuracy if you want to get into it. You don't need a lot of fancy equipment to feed a single shot rifle, but you do need some time and patience.

A GOOD set of sights, vernier tang rear, spirit level globe front, will cost about half as much as the rifle itself. I would get good US made sights, not the Pedersolis; their rifles are better than their sights. I use Baldwins. Sporting tang sights like the Marbles are great for hunting but will drive you nuts on a target rifle, adjustments are just not precise enough.

For those so worried about "looping trajectory", I will point out that the old .30-06 International load was a 173 gr military match boattail spitzer loaded down to 2200 fps so as to manage recoil shooting offhand at 300 metres.
Trajectory does not mean much to the known distance target shooter, he sets his sights.
 
Dang, now I think that I want one too... :scrutiny:

What rc said is right, I had Cabela's send a trapdoor carbine to the KCK store from MO.. You might even be able to dicker with the manager at the Sydney store for a better price. Good luck.
 
That's my closest Cabelas, they might actually work with you on the price. Everytime I walk into their gun library I almost walk out with a too good to pass up deal on a neat rifle. Last time it was a Weatherby mkv ultra lightweight 7mm-08 for $899, the time before it was a Winchester Alaskan Stainless .375 H&H for $950 and a JM Marlin 1894 SS .44 Mag for $599. I've heard people successfully bargaining with them in the gun library, might be worth a try if you're interested in the rifle.
 
Okay! I do want a new one though, not used, if I can help it.

I'll have to "dicker" with those Cabelas folks soon. This gun is calling my name!!! :D
 
Here are a couple of bad pics of my favorite rolling block. It was made by......me. Probably the only 30-06 rolling block in existence.

Moving along to the OPs subject, I have found Pedersoli to be the best of the Italian manufactures. Their quality is superb and their historical accuracy is good.

They have my vote.
 

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tark said:
Here are a couple of bad pics of my favorite rolling block. It was made by......me. Probably the only 30-06 rolling block in existence.

Moving along to the OPs subject, I have found Pedersoli to be the best of the Italian manufactures. Their quality is superb and their historical accuracy is good.

They have my vote.
Click to expand...
Really? I would have never thought the action strong enough to handle .30-06 Springer.

Are you running downloaded ammo in it?
 
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