7.62x39/30-30 alternative?

[Bill K]

a

Looking at putting together a bolt action rifle in a cartridge that comes close to 7.62x39/30-30 ballistics.

Easy, quick handling with +/-20" barrel, light recoil, accurate and could be used for deer etc at reasonable ranges.

7.62x39 was the first choice but internal mag configuration means it won't feed well.

Presupposing handloaded ammo, factory fodder a plus but not requisite.

473, 384 or ppc boltface.

6.5 creed, 6.5x47 etc may work but looking mostly at .30s for now.

In the running so far-

30TC

30 Major

30 BR

30 HAMR

Maybe throw a 6.8 SPC in there?

Have nominally 2.8" to work with but could fudge that a little long or use a spacer for shorter

The Howa mini action, in the 7.62x39 feeds perfect and would work for what you want. And down the road your could rebarrel it to any number of fine cartridges that would even improve it and feed in that same action/magazine. i.e. 6.5 Grendel, 6mm PPC and others.

 

[AlNyhus]

A standard 308W would be my choice. With 125 gr. BTips or Sierra Pro Hunters and 748, they are mild recoiling, deadly accurate, feed like butter and a 20" barrel is no handicap. Add in factory ammo availability and it's all you could ask for. Not real sexy, but practical. A 7-08 or 243W would be just as good but the bullet selection for the .30 tips the scales for me.

I'm actually doing a 308W for myself along those lines now.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[mattri]

Thanks for the great replies.

We already have a short action tonbuikd off of, it is currently a .473 bolt face but as a Savage that is easy enough to swap out.

Thought about the 300BO but concerned it might not have enough gas.

A 308 loaded down certainly has merit, as so the 30rem and the 30/6.8.

 

[rockrat]

Definitely lean towards the 30BR and I will throw another one in, how about the 30 Apache (30-223)? I use 300 blackout dies to load my 30 Apache.

 

[357Mag]

Looking at putting together a bolt action rifle in a cartridge that comes close to 7.62x39/30-30 ballistics.

Easy, quick handling with +/-20" barrel, light recoil, accurate and could be used for deer etc at reasonable ranges.

7.62x39 was the first choice but internal mag configuration means it won't feed well.

Presupposing handloaded ammo, factory fodder a plus but not requisite.

473, 384 or ppc boltface.

6.5 creed, 6.5x47 etc may work but looking mostly at .30s for now.

In the running so far-

30TC

30 Major

30 BR

30 HAMR

Maybe throw a 6.8 SPC in there?

Have nominally 2.8" to work with but could fudge that a little long or use a spacer for shorter rounds.

Thoughts?

Howdy !


" 7.92 X 33 Kurze " ?


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Tommie]

I too like the 300 Savage. Nice fit between the 30-30 and .308 Win.

 

[mattri]

Like the 7.92 idea but with that much taper I'll probably run into the same problems trying to feed from the blind mag.

 

[dfrosch]

Thanks for the great replies.

We already have a short action tonbuikd off of, it is currently a .473 bolt face but as a Savage that is easy enough to swap out.

Thought about the 300BO but concerned it might not have enough gas.

A 308 loaded down certainly has merit, as so the 30rem and the 30/6.8.

If you can find a .422 bolt head, or mod a .378, the 30 HRT might be a good choice. It uses 30 Herrett load data and dies with a 6.8 SPC shell holder. Load data should be easy to find.

AR15BARRELS.COM - 30 HRT

30 HRT Cartridge Details

ar15barrels.com

 

[mattri]

Worth looking at thanks.

Also thinking about the 338 Spectre supersonic just for fun.

We're going to build the rifle together so she can see how everything goes together. I'm not opposed to an oddball or wildcat round so that she can learn that process as well- if it isn't the most practical way to go we aren't out anything.

 

[WayneShaw]

30BR, 30x47 for a little more umph.

 

[ebb]

Several years ago i built a truck gun on a Turk Mauser action in 30-06 with a Montana Rifleman barrel. It shots a 125 grain BT pretty fast, but kicks pretty good also. As i get older it will be loaded down but the 125BT will probably remain. It ain't good lookin but does take advantage of those 30 caliber bullets that Al mentioned. I said all this to explain that not much is needed to do what you want to do, way reinvent the wheel?

 

[DGP4]

My Howa mini in 7.62X39 is an excellent hog harvester. Practically no recoil and about 6 pounds for all day comfort in the field. Cheap steel case ammo shoots 2" groups at 100 yards. Reloads with 124 gr FMJ and CFE BLK will do just under an inch at the same distance.

 

[mattri]

Yeah the x39 was the original idea behind the build- looking at options that will perform similarly whilst feeding from a blind mag.

 

[Ggmac]

30 remington or 30/30 ardvark , nothing but a 30/30 improved with the rim cut to 473 . 307 win if your goin to hotrod it , but then just go bigger , the 30 br in any configuration is great , short , and great brass is available.

 

[DGP4]

I've never had feeding problems with my Howa. A friend has a CZ and he hasn't mentioned any feeding problems. I also have 3 SKSs and they all feed perfectly. Not sure what the problem is with the cartridge.

 

[mattri]

The problem isn't with the cartridge but Savsge's mag. Others have tried the x39 without success so don't see a point in repeating that frustration.

 

[AckleymanII]

Easy button is the 260 Rem or the 243 Win, avoid issues with feeding, lower recoil.

 

[john 800]

I can not speak from experience for any 30 other than a 308, which you could download, like others have said the nice thing about the 30 is bullet selection. You could download a 308 to 30-30 speeds and simply use 30-30 bullets, but an fyi: hornady makes a slightly shorter, slightly softer 150grain sst in 30 cal specifically for the 300 savage. I plan to use this for one of my girls to shoot deer with, I am planning on using starting 308 loads with it and that should put it at about the speed the bullet was designed to work at. Not that there would be anything wrong with just building a 300 savage or 30br.

 

[choprzrul]

GunBroker.com - Error

358 Winchester with 225gr Partitions at 2200fps. JBS tells me recoil energy of 17.5lbs with an 8lb rifle.

Have the barrel Mag-Na ported, put a good recoil pad on it, and go kill stuff swiftly and efficiently....

.

 

[mattri]

17lbs of recoil is about twice what a x39 runs. This isn't a rifle for you or me- it's for a 15yr old girl.

Unfortunately the 30 Rem AR seems to be a thing of the past.

A 243 would fit the bill but would really prefer a 30 cal for bullet selection and room to grow.

As boring as it is a loaded down 308 kind of makes sense.