Who made my rifle?

[scythefwd]

I received a .30-30 from my father a while ago. The only markings on it are on the barrel just in front of the rear sight and the sn. They say :

Coast to Coast
Model 843
.30-30


Who is this Coast to Coast? Google turned up nothing useful. Are they a rebrand like the sears firearms were? Does anyone have any information, besides the obvious that would be useful??

Scythefwd

 

[Cosmoline]

Probably a Marlin or Mossberg sold under the store name. Coast to Coast is (or was) a chain of hardware stores like ACE.

The best way to tell the maker is to post some photos. If it looks like an old Marlin, Marlin made it. If not it was probably Mossberg or someone else.

 

[scythefwd]

Ill see what I can do about a photo, that'll mean finding my camera... uhhhh ohh

 

[eliphalet]

Should be a Savage 340

 

[Cosmoline]

It's a bolt gun in .30-30? That's a keeper!

 

[Moonclip]

I passed one at $100 a few years back! I'd like a mod 340 in .223.

 

[scythefwd]

Yes, its a bolt .30-30. Very light weight, and it almost is the same shape, other than the forearm of my mossberg 22.

eliphalet, do you have a link so I can take a look at that savage?

Scythe

OH yeah, I have gotten photos, I just have to transfer them to my comp, and then to flikr (or which ever photo hosting site I have). Im on dialup, and the photos are 1024 X 768, but only 250ish K, so they are probably a bit grainy unfortunately.

 

[eliphalet]

Here is a link for you to cross reference or use a Blue Book of Gun Values. bring up Gunbroker type savage 340 in search and you should get a picture of one for sale.


http://www.gunbroker.com/

cross ref.
http://www.hoosiergunworks.com/catalog/cross_reference.html

 

[Hokkmike]

It's a bolt gun in .30-30? That's a keeper!

What would be the value? (not meant sarcastically here)

 

[scythefwd]

theoretically, bolts are more accurate than semi-autos (but that isn't a guarantee) and bolts have less moving parts to clean / fail. Its the argument of semi-auto vs. revolver all over again. Since I am the one cycling the rounds in / ejecting, I dont have to worry about failures to feed/eject nearly as much. Semi-autos have the rapid fire thing though, which is very nice.

 

[rr2241tx]

In excellent condition, Stevens 325s have been going for right around $300 lately. Stevens 325, Savage 340 and Springfield 840 were essentially the same gun. If anything, I'd say the Stevens might have a slight price advantage since they were only produced for 4 years whereas the Savage 340 remained in production nearly 20 years.

If it is in reasonable condition, the C2C 843 probably still shoots close to 1MOA as my 1947 Stevens did as soon as I raked 61 years worth of copper fouling out of the barrel. Apparently, .30WCF is not very hard on rifling. Clean it up and shoot it.

 

[scythefwd]

Hot dadgumn, rr2241tx, you just nailed it. It is the springfield 840. The safety/ rear end of the bolt is the givaway. This rifle is clean, very clean. I wont have to scrape out any copper, there isn't any in there. The bore looks great as well, and the stock is in superb shape, no nicks, dents, scratches, or any blemishes at all.

Thank you all very much.

eli, the gunbroker sight was extremely useful.

 

[Cosmoline]

What would be the value? (not meant sarcastically here)

I don't think the $$ value is high, but for the handloader a bolt action .30-30 allows for the use of spitzer bullets. It's the original "leverlution"

 

[Jubjub]

We should start a Coast to Coast club.

I have one in .222. Paid a bit over $200 for it a couple of years ago, and have been having a ball shooting it lately. It didn't like factory ammo one single bit, but it eats up my handloads. Pretty consistent groups a bit under 1" with Hornady V-max bullets, and a bit over an inch with the other bullets I've tried.

If you decide that you want to scope it, Weaver makes a side mount for it. Kind of homely, but it works.

 

[rangerruck]

a nice model 3030 bolt in Savage/Springfield will get 350 plus down Houston way.

 

[scythefwd]

I already have a weaver sidemount scope rail with what appears to be a very low power scope (it's not marked).

 

[jrfoxx]

Heres my pre-68 (I assume, as I have had it 100% apart and can find no serial number anywere, so...) Savage 340 30-30.pretty good guns.mine groups great, but the rear sight is bent/off, so I need to get it scoped someday.All the ones I've seen for sale go for around $200.

 

[scythefwd]

Ill post a pic of mine when I get it transferred to my laptop, which means finding the power cord

 

[scythefwd]

What is a spitzer bullet? I have seen it mentioned around here, but what is it specifically and why use it over a standard lead slug or metal jacket. For those hand loaders out there, what is your favorite .30-30 load?

Anyhow, here is that picture of the rifle I promised. Sorry it isn't super clear, but the only digital camera I have lying around is the 3mp on my phone.

 

[scythefwd]

nevermind about spitzer, google helped.

 

[rr2241tx]

The scope mount looks to be a Weaver #1 with a correct for period Weaver 4x scope. If the scope is still clear, it probably will be a very good shooter as is. It may be zero'd for 50 yards or 100 yards, so check it out. Mine shoots Federal Power Shock (Blue Box) 150 Flat Nose and 170gr Round Nose equally well and to basically the same point of impact at 100 yards. Nice old gun.

 

[Schleprok62]

Didn't Ithaca make a bolt 30-30 at one time??

 

[scythefwd]

can anyone tell me how to find out how old this firearm is? What years did they make the springfield 840?