I will like to know if I can rechamber a 3030 to a 3030A1. The barrel ha I'm thiking is a 10" barrel. Will I gain anything in doing this rechamber? accuracy in this berelis not so good Ican hold a 2" group at 100 yds. Can any one recommend a place that will do the rechamber for me. Pro and cons. Thanks in advance.

Sorry Luis I would advise against going this route...

The AI cases primary advantage is increased powder capacity but with your 10" bbl you already have more powder than you can efficiently burn. You likely will only get a slight velocity increase and much more muzzleblast and noise.

Regarding accuracy, the conversion of 3030 into 3030ai doesn't alllow for recutting the chamber enough to change things like alignment and throating which generally contribute to or hinder accuracy.

That said, 2" at 100yds is nothing to sneeze at. I think there are far fewer MOA bbls (and shooters) out there than the 'net would like us to believe

You could either keep it and play around with handloads some more or trade it in on the bbl you 'really' want, but I don't see much to be gained in the cost of a rechamber.

NRC

Luis
I'm not 100% sure but I don't think you can rechamber to 30-30AI on a T/c barrel, because the AI is a shorter Cartridge than the original case.

On a rifle the smith would set the barrel back for the proper headspace.You can't do that on a T/C barrel. You could go to a longer case cartridge but with the 10" length it wouldn't be worth the trouble. If I'm wrong I'm sure the others will let me know.
Rich Jake

Thanks NRC for the information provided. Thats what I was thinking. One more question, what type of barrel do I need to get for a rechamber to a 3030A1. A gun show is comming to town and i might be able to get something. Thanks again.

30 herret, and 300 whisper comes to mind as a couple possibilities. check "ed's contenders"(in oklahoma, i think) he may have something to rechamber or even a factory 14" 30-30AI barrel. mine is the factory super 14 model.

LUIS:
On Edstc site he has a 14" Custom barrel chambered for the 30-30 Imp that is magnaported for $195.

Outback

That 14" 3030 imp from Eds sounds like an excellent deal. That'd be the quickest way to get where you want, and probably for the least money.

The 3030ai is 1.590" to where the shoulder starts, with the brass at 2.000" total length. The factory 3030 is 1.440 to where the shoulder starts, and 2.039 total length. Given that small amount of difference, if you are stuck on the AI then you could still rechamber from factory to AI, and just trim your brass less often (if at all). (This is assuming you find a 14" bbl at a good price).

The upside to finding an older herett bbl is they are usually 6 groove, and very accurate. I've never found one in 14" tho'- All the ones I see are 10".

However another option if you are starting from a factory 3030 14" bbl would be 30GNR or 30 Bullberry, or 30 VVG which are all fairly similiar 30cal wildcats on 3030 brass. Each uses an extremely short neck and steep shoulder. I had a 730 GNR in 14" for awhile and I realllly liked it. Gary charged me < $70 for the rechamber, but the dies were $90.

Hope this helps.

NRC

308 Bellm is also a possibility in the 14" 30-30 barrel. WAY TOO MUCH CAPACITY for the short barrel though.

As L. Sands and a couple of others wrote somewhere on the net, the 30-30 AI gave velocities comparable to the cases with significantly greater powder charge (about 15 grains) on bullets up to 150 grains.
165s and up the Bellm, JDJ etc. left the AI behind.

One just has to figure what bullet weight they want to send down range, at what velocity and the perforance goal for that bullet!

LouisB

All just heresay, conjecture, and opinion of course

Ok, guys here is my predicament, the area where I hunt it only allow me to carry a 10" handgun. I think I might be better off with a 300 whisper or 357max to get the most out of the short tube. Any Ideas or comments?

Get yourself a 10" .30 Herrett barrel. Fairly cheap but very effective. Failing that get a 10" 7mm TCU barrel. Cheap ammo as the brass is so cheap. Similar performance. One or the other on eBay all the time. Don't go over $150 but Ed's Contenders has a 10" 7mm TCU bull blue for $120 right now. You can call or write Ed at these numbers.

Since you are only allowed to hunt with a 10" bbl, and your existing 3030 is giving you 2" groups then I would be very inclined to use it as-is.

If you have new bbl fever, then a 10" in many others would work fine to 100-150 yds. 7tcu, 300 whisper, 30 TCU, 30herett, 35 herett, 357 max, 41 mag, 44 mag or 445 sup mag all have various strengths and would work well.

180 grain bullet moseying downrange at 1750 fps is a reasonable expectation with the 10" 357 Max. 10" 6.5 and & TCU are also real possibilities. Of course then the ones that started from the lousy results with the original 10" 30-30 the results of experiments by Herret and Milek . . . The 30 and 357 Herrett.

Louis

All theory and supposition . . .well all except the 357 Max velocity . . . that is measured!

[ 09-27-2003, 10:48: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

the 357 maximum actaully has less recoil than the 30/30 in my opinion but is chunking bigger lead and will shoot sub moa. this equals DOA. the 180 grain hornadys are very efficient.

[ 09-26-2003, 04:01: Message edited by: dholepuncher ]

First, 180 at 1700 is going to recoil more than 170 at 1700 out of the same weight gun. But the gun will in fact be lighter since there's less metal in the barrel. The Max is a great choice. However, the .30-30 as is will work. Use of the proper load is key but hey, drop some $$ on a couple of boxes of 150 gr. factory ammo and go hunting. Too cheap for you or you're jonesin' for a new barrel, but cheap, get the 7mm TCU barrel and a set of dies. Don't want to reload, look up a .357 Max, .41 or .44 Mag. Buy a couple of boxes of ammo, zero and go huntin'.

However, I don't think you'll be well served with the .30-30 AI in the barrel you've got. You're better off as is.

nope, i agree. i wouldn't want my 30-30AI any less than 14".

Thanks guy for the great info. NRC I have a question you mention the 30TCU, Can you explain? I have never heard of this cartrige.

30TCU is one of the 'lost' TCUs... (There was also a 25 tcu once upon a time). The 30tcu is made by necking up 223 brass to .308 with no other changes. People latched onto the 7 and forgot about the 30.

10yrs later JDJ comes along with the 300 whisper and it was a raging success. Timing, advertising, and market position is everything.

Elgin Gates also had a similiar 30/223 wildcat in the early ihmsa days but I forgot what he called his.. it was basically the same.

You could think of it as a 'bigger 7tcu' or a 'long 300 whisper'. Such critters are really only for those of us who are truly infected and need something unusual or esoteric to round out our collections. Either the 7tcu or the 300 whisper would be more practical choices. (My 10" 7tcu is the most accurate bbl I own with 140g Hornadys).

Last time I talked to Ed (a few weeks ago) he had a 10" Whisper made by SSK for $300 in stainless steel. A bbl like that would do what you need, and be quite accurate, and have the advantage that if you ever wanted to sell it you could do so easily.

Luis
I have been following the thread from the begining & to tell you the truth, I've gotten lost beteen rechambering & buying a new barrel. If you are going to try to improve on what you have(barrel). You have to go to something with a longer case than the 30-30, but a 10" barrel isn't optimum for a rechamber job. Just not enough barrel, for the powder that will be used.

If you are going to start new there are a list of 30 caliber options available, if you want to stay in the 10" length. Those are the 30 Herrett, 300 Whisper, possibly the 30 Bellm. Which will all give you from 2000-2300 Fps with a 125-130 grain bullet.

As far as the 30 TCU there are more than 1 version available. The dies are out there & so are the prices for them. From my understanding it was a cartridge that was loaded with all kinds of problems. Very difficult to deal with, worked great one day & stunk the next. I wanted to make one myself & gave up on the idea.

You have a lot out there in the 10" if you are looking at a different calibers as well. Best of luck to you.
Rich Jake

I'm sorry to have confused you Rich. I have the 3030-barrel that I hardly use for that reason I thought about a rechamber. But I think that I will sell it and get me something like the 300 wisper, 357 max or something new. I'm just got the jitters for something new that I can thinker with. Thanks guys for all the good information provided.

LUIS:

I put my vote for the 10" barrel in a 357 Maximum. Brass is still readily available from Midway USA. You can use 357 Magnum carbide dies so no lubing of cases is needed which is a great time saver. You can shoot a wide variety of bullet weights without massive recoil. Plus there is still a ton of data out there on the 357 Max. Still a very popular cartridge with the silhouette shooters.

One particluar note is that you need to use small rifle primers instead of pistol primers.

There was also an excellent article on the 357 Maximum in the April 2003 issue of Handloader Magazine.

You can order a 357 Maximum from the T/C Custom shop and have it in about 8 weeks.

Great cartridge for cast bullets or spire point bullets such as the Hornady 180 gr. SSPS or Single shot pistol bullet.

Finally, you can either opt for a scope or fiber optic sights. I personally prefer a scope such as a Burris Long eye relief pistol scope.

The .357 Max is an excellent cartridge. Much fun for relatively little effort. Bullets from 125 to 220 gr. Jacketed or cast (seemingly made for cast!). Has the convenient rim. You can think retro too as the cartridge was around in the 1880s! Fun, fun, fun.