Most folks who shoot the 30-30 are very surprised when they shoot a bolt action 30-30. The Savage 340 is one of the pleasant shooting rifles. They if I'm not mistaken also chambered for the triple duce or 222 Remington. My now deceased uncle had one he used to shoot wood chucks and had someone make a scabbard to fit on his tractor. He was a dairy farmer who grew corn for the cows. Hated wood chucks with a passion as when a cow breaks her leg the only thing to do is put her down. The 30-30 is also quite accurate as a cast bullet gun. Frank

 

I've loaded up some very mild 30-30 ammo using light (115 grain) hard cast lead bullets for the Savage 30-30. This ammo will be used for instructing young boys (and girls if they want) a few shooting and firearms safety points and let them burn some mild centerfire rounds.
I understand your uncle's dislike of the wood chucks. I have grophers on my place that get pretty good sized and dig some big holes that are a risk to animals. I use a .17 HMR caliber rifle with a 4 x 8 variable power scope that is excellent medicine for the little monsters.

 

Think there were 3 or 4 bolt action rifles chambered for the 30-30. Winchester 54, Remington 788, and Savage 340 also in the same caliber. Only have a Winchester 54 action made in 1928. Had the bolt redone in the model 70 style many years ago by Griffin & Howe when I lived there. Receiver is drilled and tapped for both iron sights and scope mounts. Frank

 

I enjoy shooting the 30-30 round in my pre 64 Winchester Mod. 94 that I've had since 1951 or '52. But I'm looking forward to working up some good hunting loads for the Savage Mod. 340. It is a fairly old rifle and does not have a serial number on either the barrel or action. The rear end of the action is drilled and tapped for a scope (maybe for a peep sight) mount on the left side. The open sight on the barrel appears old and original with a large circular adjustment screw and a small threaded bolt running through it in a verticle position. Rather crude I'd say. I might have to resort to a different sight.
I'm sure your 1928 Winchester Mod. 54 in 30-30 is a real tack driver. Have you taken anything with it ? Do you reload for it ?

 

It's an action only at this point in time. Bought it years back from a gun shop in Brooklyn NY. Have a Winchester marksman stock such as used for the old Model 70 match rifles. And a couple of heavy 308 Winchester barrels. Can cut one down to remover the 308 chamber and still have a 22" long barrel. The barrels original length is 24" and have the mauser type threads. Have a few 30-30 winchester lever actions. Best two are from the Canadian Centenntial series. One is a 20" barreled carbine which I love to shoot. And the other is a 26" barreled rifle in the same caliber. And one lonely 20" barreled Winchester carbine. Just something about the cartridge that stays with me. Frank

 

@B C - Yes, a couple pics of the rifle would be great. I inherited a 340B in .222 Rem. and would like to see yours - you just don't see many of these around any more.

 

steamer303 ----- Will do on the pics. I had the Savage 340 hot blued (barrel, action and trigger guard) and I applied 5 or 6 applications of linseed oil to the stock because it was getting pretty dry and I didn't want it to crack. So it is not in original condition but it sure looks good. The sky is cloudy today but I'll take a few pictures and see how they turn out. I'll send them how ever they look

 

steamer303 ---- Attached below are a few photos of my Savage 340 in 30-30. I think it turned out looking pretty good for an old beater. I hope I'll be able to work up a 30-30 load that will be on at 100 to150 yds. I think that is about the most effective range for a 30-30 that a teen ager coud use for thier deer hunting piece. Let me know if you would like more photos. Any comments are welcome.

 

Shame the bolt action rifles in 30-30 aren't made anymore. Would be a good first rifle for someone starting out hunting. Now it's the latest wam bang calibers. Frank

 

Yes, It does look very nice. Great restoration. Thanks for the pics.

I'm thinking that yours maybe newer than mine since there are a couple of minor differences.
1) You have what appears to be a mag release inside the trigger guard? Mine is a simple piece of metal next to the mag.
2) You don't appear to have a cocking piece cap on the rear-end of the bolt?
I don't have a rear sight - mine has worn a Weaver K-4 since I inherited it back in the 70's.
My barrel date stamp is "5F" - can't make yours out from the pics (top-rear of the barrel, near the barrel nut).

I pretty sure that mine would make a fine coyote or varmint gun but most of it's use since I've had it is for hunting those pesky little tubs of Tannerite. The kids really enjoy that.

 

steamer303 ----- I'll haul mine out of its hiding place and look for a stamp on the barrel for a date indicator. Mine has no cocking piece cap on the bolt. The mag release is a stamped piece in the trigger guard that is easy to reach or easy to loose the mag if you are not careful. I might resort to a rear sight mounted on the back of the action too. The sight on the barrel is rather crude and not easily adjusted. I like the old Savage.

 

Hi Fellow C&R Junkies, here's mine.

Quite some time ago, I picked up this Stevens 325 with a group of rifles and parts from an estate. I really had no idea what the heck they were, and never knew there was such a thing as a .30-30 bolt gun. The stock was in very poor condition, the gas shield clips were bent (which had the bolt jammed), and of course it had never been cleaned. I was able to persuade the bolt out, and save the mechanicals.

I often wonder how people could treat ANY civilian fire arm so badly. The wood had dents, gouges, and deep scratches. It took quite a bit of sanding and steam, and then I just had to say it was as good as it was gonna get.

While LGS dumpster diving, I found a recoil pad that would be a close enough fit, with a little trim off the butt and pad both, and a nice era correct basket weave sling. I added the swivels.

Some Old English and syth oil on the furniture, a splash of olive oil on the dried up sling, and viola, good loner gun or first time center fire shooter rifle.

The final item needing addressed is the rear sight. It has a crack that needs braised. Came with an extra mag, and the pointy boolits I picked up garage sailing.

I know I've committed a mortal C&R sin with sanding and saw, but it lives to kill again. PAX

 

steamer303 ----- I looked on the barrel of the Savage for the stamp just ahead of the barrel nut and saw two stamps there. One stamp is a circle with some sort of figure and what looks like a numeral "2" inside the circle. The other stamp is something I can't tell what it is. Do these stamps identify the year the rifle was made?

 

My understanding is that there should be an "SP" stamp on top of the barrel - which simply is "Savage Proof" indicating that the rifle passed its proof firing test.
The other stamp should be a one or two digit number indicating the month of manufacture, followed by a letter code indicating the year. Mine is from May of 1954 (so 5F) - I will put a picture of mine plus the years codes below.

A 1949 B 1950 C 1951

D 1952 E 1953 F 1954

G 1955 H 1956 I 1957

J 1958 K 1959 L 1960

M 1961 N 1962 P 1963

R 1964 S 1965 T 1966

U 1967 V 1968 W 1969

X 1970

 

steamer303 ---- Thanks for the picture. The stamps on my rifle aren't near as plain as the stamps on yours. I'll take a close up photo of my stamps and send them on to you. Maybe you might be able to tell something from them. Thanks.

 

Sorry I screwed up the picture posting of my 325 salvage. PAX

 

Have one in 30-30 and one in the Hornet. Action is a bit clunky but both are accurate. Keep toying with getting a Boyd’s stock…

 

I have a Sav 340B I got for $119 at a pawn shop in 2014.
I have a Springfield 840 I paid $75 at a gunshow in 2005.
They are both 30-30 rifles of the same disign.

Leroy Wisner who wrote the book

LeeRoy Wisner's Handbook of Hard-to-Find Gun Parts Drawings

Every gunsmith has guns come into the shop that are missing parts. At first glance this may be just ?a problem,? and can quite often be remedied by simply ordering parts from your favorite parts supplier. However, if the firearm is obsolete and no new parts are available, the ?problem? can...

books.google.com

He was nice enough to explain to me how to get off the headspace nuts on these rifles. They are too small for my Savage 110 wrench... but he says I can put pin gauges in the slots and a big crescent wrench on top of that.

 

Nice to see these 340's put to use! I have a 340A in .30-30, found as many are, in a pawn shop corner with no blueing and a broken walnut stock. Luckily all parts were there. Best of all was the Lyman receiver sight. This A series rifle was not drilled and taped for a scope base. I repaired the stock and put it on the project wall. Eventually I came across a Weaver side mount base and a set of rings. I shot it a bit with mild cast loads and it did real well. My eyesight is such that I really need optics. Made a throat/leade slug and found it actually had a a bit of freebore but still a steep leade. And a plenty long neck section. It's been on the back burner as I have several lever and single shot's in ,30-30. A 9yr old grandson has just started with centerfires and likes a Contender carbine. We have been casting and loading a LOT more .30-30 ..... I've got the urge to get the 340 finished and see what it will do. As soon as the 9yr old's new 7X57 is done.

BTW, a couple mild cast bullet loads that have shot really well for me in multiple .30-30's, both conventional and microgroove.

6.5gr Unique and a Large Pistol primer.
LEE 120 RN (flattened a tad), RCBS 120 FN and 130 SP (also flattened) and probably most any other bullet about this weight that fits. I've had many raggedy hole groups @50 yds in the leverguns. Kind of falls apart by 100 yds. but it's great for plinking, ground hogs and such. It's a very enjoyable load that is a perfect step up from the .22LR with new shooters. And old ones that are tired of the noise. Dirt cheap to load, if you can find primers. I've used Red Dot and Bullseye as well but stayed with Unique on this load.

2400 or 14.0/4227 and a Large Pistol primer. Don't recall the 2400 load.
Saeco 316 150gr, no GC and 2500+ lube
These loads have also shot real well in multiple guns. Don't think I've used it much past 100 yds but accuracy was very good, especially in the Contender. Pleasant to shoot and just enough recoil to get the new shooters learning to deal with it.

LeRoy Wisner is THE guy on the 340 (and a lot of others). Just about all the detail you could want is on his page, linked below.

Leeroy's Ramblngs is coming soon

We are doing some maintenance on our site. Please come back later.

www.leeroysramblings.com

 

Just caught up with your thread here! No Savages 340. But a Savage Model 40 30-30 prewar, aft locking bolt. Same rifle in deluxe Model 45 but in 30-06. Couple of other bolt models as Remington 788 30-30 and Winchester 54 30-30 carbine & rifle. All nifty guns.
Seems I recall a Savage pump in 30-30 too maybe early fifties???
Congrats to all on your 30-30 Bolts!
Best!
John

 

30-30's are a natural with cast bullets.Since they headspace on the rim makes life easier and you can load the cast bullets from mild to almost reaching factory velocities. Best to slug the barrel of any rifle chambered in 30-30 before you order a bullet mold. One of my friends had a 788 in 30-30 and just for grins and giggles we loaded a few cartridges with a Sierra 168 grain match king. Nothing but one ragged hole. Frank

 

Years ago, I had one of those Savages. Like an idiot, I let it go. When I had it, I reloaded some 30-30 brass with 165 gr Sierra (IIRC) BTSP heads for hunting. That rifle was like a laser, it gave me 1" groups at 100 yds. Savage always made incredibly accurate rifles.

 

20+ years ago, when my son was in college, he went to a guns show and bought a Springfield 840 in 30-30. Same gun as yours, just a different name. He gave it to me for Christmas, it needed some TLC. It was the carbine and had a 16 inch barrel. I refinished it and hot dip blued it, and shot it like that with a Weaver K2.5 scope for several years. Then I decided I wanted to make it my coyote calling rifle, so I got a 20 inch barrel from Numrich and a barrel nut and had a gunsmith put the barrel on. I upgraded the scope to an early Weaver 2.5 -7 variable with the power knob on the side of the scope. I shoot 110 grain pointy bullets and it is my coyote/varmant rifle. It has taken dozens of coyotes, racoons, a bobcat and more prairie dogs than I can count. It is so easy to load for, so easy to shoot, and it drops a coyote in its tracks. Several years later, I bought a Savage 340E Deluxe for my son. That was the last of the series, and had a walnut stock. He has a Weaver K-4 with a dot reticule. He uses it for ground hogs around his house. He keeps wanting to take a bobcat with it...maybe this will be the winter.

The bolt action 30-30 is an oddball, but mine with a new barrel and good hand loads will shoot 3 shot touching clover leafs at 100+ yards. What a fun rifle! Congrats on your new toy!

 

Had a local one 4th of July set off about a half a pound of Tannerite. Now folks do shoot down here most all the time. But when you hear a bang them BOOOOOM, he found he had friends he didn't even know he had. All wearing uniforms and carrying guns.Best 4th of July was when they were doing some Civil War re-enactors involving a cannon. We live off the bayou so the sound travels the length of the bayou. Frank