Savage/Stevens 30-30 bolt rifle questions

[Nathanael_Greene]

Hi, all.

What's the general opinion of these rifles? Do they tend to be pretty accurate and reliable?

Has anyone shot any Leverevolution rounds through these? How did the rifle perform?

What do they tend to sell for these days?

Thanks, o wise High-Roaders!

 

[R.W.Dale]

they're still rather common and cheap and are a handy little gun. Ive owned a couple and my take on these is they're on average not any more accurate than a good marlin 336.

The magazine on these prevents you from using all but the shortest spitzer bullets, and they have a nasty habit of wildly shifting POI as pressures change making them a 1 load rifle. For whatever reason both of mine had really really SLOW bores easily 200fps+ behind my marlin or winchester with the same bbl length

 

[GooseGestapo]

Decently accurate (1.25-2.5moa), and reliable.

Mostly I've seen abuse and lost parts -(magazines, bolts!, and small parts from improper disassembly and non-reassembly. (typical of all firearms).

Bolt action is not the strongest ever made. Has a lot of flex, but adequate for intended purpose, though the later ones in .223 were suspect due to higher pressures of the cartridge.

With factory level or standard pressure loads, it's about as strong as the Win. M94's, so, reload accordingly. Due to pressure/velocity restraints of the action, bullets of more than 150gr and not intended for the .30/30 velocities (most pointed or spitzer) are questionable.
I did like the Speer 130gr HP, Hornady 130gr Spt, and ESPECIALLY the Sierra 125soft pt. and Nosler 125gr BalTips.
I suggest a load of 37.0gr of RL15 with the spitzer bullets for around 2,500fps. Or, stick with the Remington 150 or 170RN CorLokt bullets intended for the .30/30.
Sighted in 3" high at 100yds, the CorLokts are zero at 150yds and -4.5" at 200yds. Adequate for 90% plus of deer hunting.

Enjoy your little Savage/Stevens. If you want a .308 or .30/06, go to the local discount mart and for $300, get you a Stevens M100 or M200. Don't expect to be able to make an '08 or '06 out of the b/a .30/30 however.

If you ever shoot a deer with a 150grRN Remington CorLokt over 36.0gr of RL15 at any sane range, you'll re-think your "need" for something bigger or more powerful. Flatter shooting, maybe; but not more powerful.........

 

[Abel]

The Stevens 325/Savage 340 is the holy grail of cheap, classy old guns. It is a direct ancestor to Remington's hugely popular 788. This is one of the rifles that I sit around dreaming about. I would love to find a good one and strip the finish off the stock and put a good eggshell oil finish on and then a nice Williams receiver mounted peep sight.

While Hornady Lever Revolution is great ammo, do not discount cheap Federal/Winchester/Remington. Let your gun's barrel tell you what it likes.

This Savage 340 is a beautiful example:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=158185924

 

[lopezni]

Why not run handloads through it, then you get to decide what bullets to use. The advantage to these rifles, is the fact that they are fed from a detachable box mag, therefore you can use spitzers.

 

[Palehorseman]

I picked up this like mint Stevens Model 325 in 30-30 a few years ago in a gun shop for 160 bucks and really like it. Have since added a Williams Model # FP-340 receiver sight (wasn't D&T for SM scope) and it works great. IMHO, in 30-30, this is one of the most accurate (and the Savage Model 340) little cast boolit rifles around. (others mileage may vary) One can push hard cast boolits right up there with factory jacketed and with no loss of accuracy. With the long necked 30-30, one can seat heavier boolits deeper for the short magazine. Didn't care for the blonde stock, so stained it dark

If IRR, the Stevens 325 was only made for a couple three years, (1947-50) dropped, then the Savage 340 superseded it.