Remington 30-30 bolt action?

[bailey bud]

Friend of mine offered to give my son a 30-30 bolt action made by Remington.

I'm just checking - is there any such creation? Or is my friend just pulling my son's leg.....?

We're in Elk Country - I suppose a 30-30 would be an okay first gun for him.

The manager down at the sporting goods shop in-town says he stalks with a 30-30, and get an elk every year.

[shootniron]

Yes, Remington made a 788 30-30 many moons ago. I would say that if he was willing to give it away or sell it for little, I would be a taker as they are fairly rare and would be a nice addition to your collection.

I am not saying that it is nearly an ideal elk cartridge, but I am sure that many elk have been taken with it under the right conditions.

[BusGunner007]

That's a very nice gesture.
I say go-for-it.

[natman]

The Remington 788 is an accurate rifle. 30-30 wouldn't be my first choice for elk, but it can work. Don't change anything on it because not many were made and it has some collector value.

Personally I'd sell it to a collector and use the proceeds to buy a 30-06, a scope and some ammo, but I realize that might be awkward since it's a gift.

[Jimro]

30-30 is a little "marginal" for elk, but you can take advantage of the 788 to load up pointed bullets. Or you can by "LeveRevolution" ammunition.

If you are hunting in pairs, a youth with a 30-30 is just fine as long as the other guy/gal has a 308 Win or better.

Jimro

[bailey bud]

thanks, folks!

As always, TFL is right on target.

[taylorce1]

but you can take advantage of the 788 to load up pointed bullets. Or you can by "LeveRevolution" ammunition.

I hoped so when I bought my 788 in .30-30 but it hasn't been the case. I haven't tried the Hornady bullets, but the real limiting factor to the 788 has been the magazine. It doesn't allow you to load anything but the lightest weight spitzers in it. If you want to shoot sub 130 grain bullets you will be fine, but anything larger than that you have to seat the bullets too deep to work effectively. With the Hornady bullets if you don't buy factory loads I've read you have to trim them shorter than normal to get the ammunition to get it to function correctly for the reloader.

That said when I first shot my 788 with factory 150 grain Wincherster ammunition it printed several sub MOA 3 shot groups at 100 yards. With the spitzers I haven't shot anything better than 1.5" at 100 yards. Anyway you look at it it will be a great starter rifle for your son.

[dgludwig]

Never look a gift rifle in the muzzle!

Some of those rare .30-30 chambered Model 788 Remingtons were reportedly very accurate.

but the real limiting factor to the 788 has been the magazine. It doesn't allow you to load anything but the lightest factory spitzers in it.

Taylorce 1: Are you saying that the Model 788 won't chamber factory .30-30 cartridges loaded with 170 grain bullets from the magazine?

[chewie146]

I think he's saying the flat points will fit but the spitzers, because of the shape of the bullet, are too long.

[taylorce1]

I shouldn't have used "factory" and "spitzers" together. If you reload your own ammunition and use spitzer style bullets for the .30-30 they have to be seated deep to get them to fit in the magazine. The Hornady bullet even though it is a spitzer design, it has the ogive much farther forward than the regular spizter bullets. With some bullets in the 150+ weight range you could have to seat so deep into the case the case mouth might be past the ogive of the bullet.

[bamaranger]

Doesn't sombody, one of the commercial ammo outfits, load the .30-30 with Nosler Partitions, not sure what bullet weight.

Were I want to assail an elk with a .30-30, that would be my load.

[fatwhiteboy]

170gr-180gr bullets out of a .30-30 will kill an elk. Even the 150gr will do the job. Just keep it under 200 yards.

[bailey bud]

Cleaned it -- haven't shot it.

It's a Remington Model 788, all right.

Iron sights (will eventually slap a scope on it).

Owner also gave me 65 rounds of ammo!

Local FFL says it looks good. He suggests we shoot it with leverevolution ammo from Hornandy (which he doesn't sell - but he uses, himself).

Looking forward to shooting the rifle!

[fatwhiteboy]

I Have a Savage model 340 in .30-30. I reload so I have played around a little. My favorite load so far is with a 110gr bullet. The fps is just over 2500...

[dgludwig]

Local FFL says it looks good. He suggests we shoot it with leverevolution ammo from Hornandy (which he doesn't sell - but he uses, himself).

"Leverevolution" bullets were pretty much developed for rifles having tube type magazines where pointed bullets are not recommended due to the point of a bullet riding against a primer in the cartridge ahead of it. Though you can certainly use leverevolution ammunition in your Model 788, you are certainly not limited to it and can use about any type of ammunition that will fit in your magazine.

[Opinated]

My guess is that any properly loaded 30-30 cartridge will work if the rifle is used as a single shot. Cartridges loaded one-by-one into the chamber. That would work for the range. The magazine could then be filled with cartridges that will feed properly from it.

[Jim Watson]

I have a 788 .30-30 but I am not an elk hunter.
The main advantage of spitzer bullets is trajectory and retained velocity at longer range, which a .30-30 is not real great on at the best of times.
I have shot spitzers in mine but don't see where they are any better for practical purposes than roundnose. One old timer said the best .30-30 was reloaded with 190 grain bullets meant for .303 Savage.

That said, I loaned mine to a deer hunter whose .270 had been stolen.
I recommended Leverevolution rubbernose with its slightly flatter trajectory for use by somebody used to a lot flatter trajectory. Must have worked, she got her deer.

[gearchecker]

Looks like I came into this a little late.
I have a Stevens Model 325 in 30-30 Bolt that's magazine fed. It's incredibly accurate out to around 175 yds. The locked bolt is the reason since there are no moving parts during the firing evolution..
If your rifle is magazine fed, you can use jacketed spire point bullets in it. If you reload you can pretty much build up your own load so it'll certainly handle elk.

Hornaday's leverevolution in a 30-30 spire point bullet is very accurate in my rifle. The bullet has a hard plastic tip that won't set off a round in a tube if it bumps into the primer. But it has all the good handling charistics of a full spire point bullet I can tell you it's extremely good on deer. I would assume it's just as good on elk. It can be used in any tube fed 30-30 too.

The 30-30 is the perfect brush gun and is a highly effective close quarters game rifle. Get that rifle as soon as you can. Get in some practice now, and you'll be ready for the up coming season in no time.

Regards,
Gearchecker

[hornetguy]

One old timer said the best .30-30 was reloaded with 190 grain bullets meant for .303 Savage.

I would agree 100% with that old-timer.

Long, heavy for caliber bullet, at moderate velocities. I imagine this would be good to 150 yds or so. I imagine beyond that, the velocity would be dropping off pretty rapidly. Still, shot placement is almost everything. If your son can keep them all inside a regular paper plate at 200 yds, I don't think I'd pass up an ideal shot at that distance.

The 30-30 is marginal for elk sized animals, unless it's close range and ideal shot conditions.