30 cal straight wall

[PapaG]

I, actually my second boy, has an H&R Handi in 30-30. What could I have it rechambered in to have a straight wall cartridge for Illinoisisia (union of Pritzger socialist state) deer season.
And, maybe more importantly, who can do it.
32-40 and 38-55 or 375 Win are options for rebore, of course.

 

[rabid wombat]

38-55 for the win! It is the parent case for the 30-30, 32 Win, and 25-35. Soft shooting, a real deer getter….probably easier to find a barrel (maybe not)….

David White would be the first I would look at, but he may have passed….

 

[redneck2]

I’d think your problem will be that the body of the .30-30 is bigger than the bore, so you’d have to bore it out and ream the chamber. Not sure that would be cost effective

 

[3Crows]

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/hunting/Documents/IlSingleShotRifle.pdf

 

[PapaG]

All three of my suggestions are “straight” or straight tapered wall cases. Now, who can do a conversion to 32-40, 38-55, 375 or something similar.

 

[someguy2800]

A rebore to a larger caliber would be in order. You can buy another barrel and swap it but that usually requires some fitting on H&R's

 

[someguy2800]

All three of my suggestions are “straight” or straight tapered wall cases. Now, who can do a conversion to 32-40, 38-55, 375 or something similar.

32-40 will not work, its a smaller diameter than 30-30 in the shoulder. 375 or 38-55 would be tricky because normally you would set the barrel back when reboring a 30/30 to that, but obviously you can't do that with a single shot. Call JES reboring.

 

[redneck2]

Would that new .360 Remington round work? Since it’s based on the .30-30 case it would seem a natural choice

 

[rabid wombat]

@someguy2800 nice suggestion! http://www.35caliber.com/index.html

 

[Speedo66]

JES at www.35caliber.com

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

My first reply got lost in the upgrade. The JES option is already on the table, but I'll add that I had a Handi-rifle conversion (rebore+re-rifle+rechamber) along these lines (.22 Hornet to .38 Super) performed back in the 1990s by the late Dick Nickle. He gave me a bit of a discount, but the job still cost about 2.5x the cost of the rifle itself:



A second option is to have the existing 30-30 barrel basically turned into a monoblock and fitted with a new barrel. I've heard this discussed on the Graybeard Handi-rifle forum, so you might do some research there:

https://www.go2gbo.com/forums/h-r-centerfire-rifles.108/

Option three, which I would go with if it was up to me, is to keep the H&R in 30-30 and get a CVA Scout in .44 Magnum or .45-70. That would cost far less than a conversion job and you'd end up with two rifles. If cash is an issue, you could sell the unaltered H&R.

 

[redneck2]

Option three, which I would prefer, is to keep the H&R in 30-30 and get a CVA Scout in .44 Magnum or .45-70. That would cost less than a conversion job and you'd end up with two rifles. If cash is an issue, you could sell the unaltered H&R.

IMO, this makes the most sense. Unless the rifle has some overriding sentimental value, i would think it would be far, far more cost effective to swap it out. You’re going to have $1,500 into a rifle that will most likely be worth less than original cost

 

[someguy2800]

IMO, this makes the most sense. Unless the rifle has some overriding sentimental value, i would think it would be far, far more cost effective to swap it out. You’re going to have $1,500 into a rifle that will most likely be worth less than original cost

JES is $300 for a rebore, plus shipping

 

[PapaG]

I have a Henry 357, a CVA 44 and a 45-70 Handi. The 30-30 my son has is virtually worthless in IL for deer as it is bottleneck and too long.
Other son used his H&R Shikari 44 to kill one a couple weeks ago.
It was just an idea. If I was still working in the shop I would try the monobloc thing. About the only thing I haven’t done.

 

[AJC1]

Do they make a .410 barrel you can shoot 45c in??? A straight barrel swap might be much cheaper.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

JES is $300 for a rebore, plus shipping

I see that at the website, but I'd want an email quote to be sure first.

If accurate, that's a real bargain -- it cost that much or more back in the 1990s. In fact, I recently paid north of $500 to reline a No.4 Remington rolling block.

 

[Speedo66]

JES is $300 for a rebore, plus shipping

Shipping to them, their site says the $300 includes return shipping.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Volume means everything in business.
JES has gained his fame by converting.30/30 to .35/30 to correct damaged/corroded or badly pitted bores to “refresh” them. The result is a VERY functional “wildcat” cartridge.

I’m going to see how he responds to possibly converting.the .30/30’s to the new .360 REM Buckhammer.

 

[someguy2800]

Volume means everything in business.
JES has gained his fame by converting.30/30 to .35/30 to correct damaged/corroded or badly pitted bores to “refresh” them. The result is a VERY functional “wildcat” cartridge.

I’m going to see how he responds to possibly converting.the .30/30’s to the new .360 REM Buckhammer.

The 30-30 will be wider at the shoulder than the 360 is at the same distance, but if its a lever rifle they may be able to set the barrel back an inch or so to make it work. Let us know what they say

 

[GooseGestapo]

Given that no two reamers are alike, it all may be within the range of tolerances.
We’ll just have to see...