I used to have a Stevens 325, the predecessor to the Savage 340. The action was kinda stiff and sluggish, not surprising because it was supposed to be a budget hunting rifle. Not sure if the 340 is better, might be.
I found a Savage 99 in .30-30 a few years ago but didn't have the funds at the time for another .30-30. Probably should have put it on layaway. Well, letting it go was probably the smart move because I don't need it and I don't hand load yet but why should I let logic stop me?
Originally Posted by MattyD380
Have you considered a Remington 788 in 30-30?
The Savages arent as svelte looking as most bolt actions in general, though they seem to have been moderately popular in their day. The 788s had a reputation for pretty decent accuracy, though I dont know of anyone that had one in 30-30, just 308, 223 and 243.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
You could consider a break open 30-30 for your son.
My advice is find a nicely used pre war model 64 standard. Add an aperture (lyman 66) and a sourdough front sight.(eBay).
Probably the finest lever action 30/30 ever made. They are slim add delightful to handle. Trigger pulls are like a bolt action.
One of my old friends bought his .30-30 Savage 340 sometime in the mid-1960s because he:
a. wanted something fairly easily scoped
b. had a hankering to try handloading spitzer bullets in the cartridge.
He is still hunting, and still uses that 340 on occasion; it has always gotten high praise from him for its accuracy (something which I initially doubted). It is no beauty pageant winner, but it has been a very good utility rifle.
gn
"On the internet, nobody knows if you are a dog... or even a cat."
Ken Waters had high praise for the 340.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
I owned a Savage 340 until recently. I used it to shoot cast bullets. These are nice little rifles made of stampings and designed to be made at low cost. If scoped, the scope requires a side mount, and the scope is offset. It does not sit above the center of the bore. Any parts must be bought from a used parts vendor. Replacement mags are expensive.
Savage's current rifle line is excellent. My two served nicely.
Mossberg offers a 30-30 lever rifle. I never fired one but can report that a couple of my correspondents praise them. I liked the ones that I examined.
03 RN, I'm resurrecting this thread due my recent range experience.
I have a break-open Savage 24 with a 30-30 rifle barrel that I recently had rechambered to 30-30 AI. I bought some Remington "Managed-Recoil" ammunition to fire-form brass.
I found the 125-grain ammo to be mild shooting and extremely accurate. I was getting just over 1 MOA from that old rifle with negligible recoil. If you do get a 30-30 for your son, I recommend that you start him on that Remington "Managed-Recoil" ammo. Point blank range is probably only ~150 yards, but that is still good enough for a young hunter in my opinion.
Good luck with whatever you decide and Happy Father's Day!
I have a contrarian opinion, since IMHO the benefit of the .30-30 cartridge is the lever action rifle. If I wanted a manually operated .30 caliber rifle, easy to feed and suitable for hunting, that wasn't a lever gun I'd absolutely go with a .308 bolt action. You could trade off your .30-30 brass for .308 brass, then load your existing Sierra and Barnes bullets in the .30-30.
If CVA made their Scout break action in .30-30, that would be a great option. I picked up a Scout in .35 Whelen and for what I paid, it's a lot of rifle. Nothing to look at, but very reliable and accurate. Unfortunately CVA doesn't offer a .30-30.
Of course if you luck into a good deal on an old bolt action or single shot .30-30, then of course I'd go for it. But, for a modern manufacture, turnkey solution I say go with a .308 bolt action.
I've heard the Mossberg 464 is a solid rifle, and the single example I've handled at my local club range was pretty good for modern manufacture.
The Mossberg design does have multiple safeties, a tang safety and a trigger safety, so this may be a negative for people wanting a lever gun with more classic operation (i.e. no safeties). I like my old JM Marlin 336, that rolled off the line a few years before Marlin added a safety. But for a huntiing rifle. particularly a youth rifle, safeties could be a benefit.
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