Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting If'n you wanted a .30 caliber cast bullet shooter

The stock is definitely aftermarket, given the time period it's likely to be a Bishop or Fajen.

Have owned a half dozen Model 94 .30-30's and a couple more than that in Marlin 336's, so I was wanting to try a different action. Those lever actions can be made very accurate if you unhinder the barrel from the magazine tube, barrel bands and other constraining features. I used to enjoy getting one and doing all kinds of stuff to get it to shoot up to maximum potential but getting where I wanted a more turn key situation. These 788 .30-30's have a very good rep in that regard and having owned a few in .223, .22-250, 6mm and even one .44 Magnum I knew that reputation is deserved.

I join the ranks of the permanently unemployed this Friday - retirement - so will be looking for more projects in the lesser used chamberings in due time but with the current scarcities a .30-30 did seem like the best choice for now.



Few more pics from the auction to show it off.

I guess you'd call this "honest walnut" - not fancy but good straight grain and decently laid out.




The sight had about 50 years of congealed oil and gunk in it but it was a labor of love getting it cleaned up. It's a nice piece of machinery with very solid clicks. There are scales and indexing hash marks on the dial and sight body so you can return to any exact sight setting without having to count clicks.






Action and finish show their age but overall are in good shape, no rust or major bluing loss anywhere. Trigger is a bit heavy at around 4 pounds but breaks very cleanly.







Definitely not a show piece by any stretch of the imagination but it should shoot straight and that's the main thing I ask for in a rifle.