How much work would it take to make the 30/30 case feed in a Ruger 77 Mark 2 action?

I have considered doing this for a while, since I will never have the opportunity to own a Model 54 Winchester in 30/30 or a Remington Model 30 in the 25, 30, 32 and 35 Remington.

I was looking to convert a Stainless Ruger Short Action into 30/30 chambering with a nice grey laminate stock....

My only reservation would be how much work would it take to make it feed?

I am looking to do this on a left handed action and it will be my son's first center fire rifle.
He just turned 11!

Thanks for everyone's input and responses!

Cheers
seafire

I think altering the boltface to fit the rimmed 30-30 will be the big challenge.

When I have a son one day I wil lstart him on the 6.5x55 as his first centerfire cal. I think it's ideal for and all round rig for a younger tacker.

I rebarreld a Mauser to 7.62x39 for my son, It's about equal to the 30-30 and was an easy conveersion. did'nt need to change the bolt face or any major changes, only had to add a spacer in the magazine. He loves shooting it and ammo is cheap.
Mike

Why a 30-30? Why not a 257 Roberts? Available in a Ruger Ultralight, and very easy to shoot.
peter.

Wanted a 30/30, because I wanted his rifle to be something custom, but something that I had always wanted ( like the Win Model 54 in 30/30).

When he is old enough, all of my firearms are already his....

I already have 6.5 x 55s, 260s, 7 x 57s, 243s, 6mm Rem, 22 Rimfires, 22 Mags, 17 HMRs, 223s, 22.250s. 30/40 Krag, 30/06s, 300 Win Mag, 338 Mags, 444 Marlin and several Winchester and Marlin 30/30s that HE already has....

I am just converting some of the rifles that I have several of in the same calibers to something different, particularly that are not around much any more... like a bolt action 30/30, one will go into being a 250 Savage, a 257 Roberts etc.

So the 30/30 is first... also being built right now is a 6mm Rem Benchrest Rifle on a Mauser Action.

Cheers
seafire

THE REBARREL AND BOLTFACE WORK ARE STANDARD GUNSMITHING.THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY PROBLEMS DOING THAT WORK.RELIABLE FEEDING MIGHT BE THE MAIN ISSUE.I'VE BUILD SEVERAL 30-30'S ON MAUSER ACTIONS.I INTENDED TO SINGLE LOAD,SO FEEDING WAS NEVER ADDRESSED.

are all of your rifles left handed? if not then he will have to at least learn to be ambidextrous with his shooting right? Why not find a Savage 340 chambered in 30/30. my stepfather and all his brothers learned to shoot on one that his father still has. My mom has a 223 on a savage 340 that is a great little shooter.

just another option.

Red

seafire,

Build your son the 257 Roberts. It's a great round and the money spent on just trying to get a 30-30 tom feed, could be spent on upgraded, eye catching features. Like checkering, QD scope mounts and NECG iron sights, ect. You said he already has a 30-30.

Hogg Killer

To get it right is a real job IMO, a rimmed cartridge in an action designed for a rimless cartridge is never easy, very time consmuming and even when done, you have to be very carefull to place the rounds one rim in front of the other...

It might be cheaper to buy a Mod 54, I see them in gunlist from time to time..The 54s seem to taking a jump in price as of late, so it would probably be a good investment...

Another idea might be a 30 Remington, that would be both nostalgic and basically a 30-30...but it would work in any short action bolt rifle, as would the 25 Rem and 35 Rem.....

I have thought of the same thing for a cast bullet shooter. I have found that a magnun action feeds a 30-40 Krag decent.

You forgot one major problem. How in the %^&*$ are you going to headspace the 30WCF case in this bolt action. Since it headspaces on the rim and not the shoulder.

Years ago I did two M70 push feeds into rimmed cases. One in 375 Win, and the other in 45-70.
I worked out the headspacing problem but the feeding problems are a real BIG PAIN to work out.

And no I willing to do another conversion like that any more. There is just only so much time in the day anymore.

The best bet would be get a M77 in 223 and then rebarrel, open the bolt face and make a new magazine box alter the rails to use a 30 REM cartidge.
Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

Just get him a .308 win and download it to 30-30 levels. I'll be starting all my kids off with .308's. With 18.5 gr blue dot and a 110 or 165 gr bullet, it has very little recoil, and astounding accuracy, especially with the 165's. As they get older, they can load it up to take most any game in the world.

You'd be major dollars ahead getting him a .308 bolt gun, a 30-30 lever gun and a complete reloading outfit then trying to make a 30-30 bolt gun.

Seafire -

My Model 54 in .30-30 fed absolutely flawlessly, and almost as slick as a Krag. If I was going to do a conversion, I would start by looking at a Model 54 (and taking pictures of it with a digital camera so I could blow them up on my computer).

Personally, I think it can be done by any GOOD 'smith, but it will take thought & planning in advance, not just cut & try. (Though of course that will be needed too, in the final tuning.)

One thing I would really do in the process is to build a mag box with the tops of both the forward and rear walls slanted forward as in a Model 54 or a Siamese Mauser. That way you do not have to exercise great care in putting the cartridges in the magazine. They only CAN go in with the rim of each round slightly ahead of the rim of the round below it, so long as the box is also of the correct length.

Anyway, if Winchester could do it, so can some of the skilled craftsmen we have today.

If you are still set on a 30-30, one choice I failed to see mentioned is the Remington 788. They tend to be pricy since the cast bullet BR boys seem to like them. Also if memory serves me right, Savage made the old savage super sporter or whatever it was called in 30-30. They were big and ugly so wouldn't be my choice, just another option.

I know almost zilch about bolt guns, but the Savage 341 came in .30-30 and I used to have one. It never failed to work for me, amazingly accurate piece of junk too...

They can be had pretty cheap. Cheap enough that buying one and restocking it with real walnut should not be prohibitively expensive.

Brent

Savage definitely made the M340 bolt action in .30-30, but it was an entry level rifle, with a host of cost cutting innovations in its design & manufacture. Still, it was an effective woods rifle, just didn't have an appearance that automatically generated "pride of ownership". There were Stevens and various large store-chain versions of the same rifle out under various identifying names and numbers too....

I guess the point is that it worked reliably and thus would be a good model for whatever it takes to modify a bolt gun to a rimmed cartridge. The Siamese Mauser did it too. I have never even seen on of those, but if the Savage could do it for literally a couple of bucks, why would it be so hard to modify a Remchesterger, for the .30=30?

Brent

I've got a Savage 340 in 30-30 if you're interested. It was my son's starter rifle, very accurate with factory 150 grains. It's an ugly duckling, but it's grown on me. I've shot a few deer with it, works great. Bob