I have read a few things that state hot roddin the 30-30 in the Contender is a no-no not to mention punchin it out to AI.

Is this true?????

You can overdo it with any cartridge, including .30/30. However, you can load the .30/30 somewhat hotter than "book" and get away with it. To wit, .30 Herrett loads using the same brass are loaded to about 46-47,000 psi; whereas, SAAMI Max for .30/30 is about 38,000 psi as I recall. The straighter sidewall of the Herrett figures into the equation some, but not that much. It is the diameter of the chamber and the strength of the brass that play the most important roles in what you can get away with.

.30/30 Imp. is one of the very best rechambers for a Contender, except for the cost of the custom dies. And for max. loads, one should be using thicker .375 Win. brass instead of .30/30 brass. Just be sure that you have adequate loaded neck clearance in the chamber with the thicker brass, or have whomever is doing the work be sure to cut a large enough neck diameter for the necked down .375 Win. case.

I normally use a neck diameter of around .335" in the chamber, and with the thicker brass go up to about .340."

From an accuracy standpoint, rechambering a .30/30 barrel to the Improved leaves a little to be desired. If the barrel is an older one with a throat in it and that throat is misaligned with the bore, it still will be after rechambering. If the barrel is a more recent one with no throat and an overly long chamber neck, then you will still have an overly long chamber neck.....by about .050."

Thus, for a .30/30 Imp. it is best to start with a shorter chamber such as the .30 Herrett or one that is shorter yet, such as .32 H&R Mag or .32-20. However, finding either of these calibers in a barrel 14" or longer is difficult, and rechambering a shorter barrel to the improved is not very sensible.

Personally, in a new custom barrel, I would be about as happy with the .30/30 Imp., other than the cost of the dies, so long as I did not intend to shoot bullets heavier than about 150 gr. The larger chambers handle the 165 gr. bullets better, but you will be hard pressed to find much difference with the lighter bullets.

I have not heard much about the .30/30 Imp. barrels TC put out, but from the way they do things, if anyone is bad mouthing the Imp., it probably goes back to how the factory did it rather than the cartridge itself. Done correctly, .30/30 Ackley Imp. is an outstanding Contender cartridge, one of the very best so far as the cartridge itself is concerned.

There you have chapter and verse of Bellm on the subject, and all of the shortcomings mentioned above are overcome with the .308 Bellm. I have only been chambering for the Imp. for 23 years. What do I know?

Mike Bellm

I totally agree with Mike ( I wouldn`t dare anything else) ,in my assortment of barrels the 30/30 AI is definitvely my favourite ,right beside my 7-30 Waters Imp.!It`s a pleasure to shoot , recoil is fairly mild and best of all : if this case doesn`t look sexy , which one ever will ? But that�s just my opinion and experience.

I have a S.S. 16" 30-30 AI and it is very accurate.
I havent found alot of load data on it but the most accurate load I have is 35gr of RL 15 with a 130gr SSP Hornady, R-P cases and a WLR primer if I can do my part this load will shoot under an inch at 100 yds. I dont have a chronograph right now.
This is just a regular load from the reg 30-30 data, I dont need hot loads just accurate.
I have not found a combo using 165gr bullets that is worth a hoot, and I dont think I'm going to mess around with 150s.
This bbl. will probably go away to help finance a 'small caliber' bbl. being a poor boy I have to give up a bbl to get another.

Wes

I have a question? How does the 30-30imp compair to the JDJ 309 as far as performance goes?