Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Grandpa question

Grandpas lose their minds (and money) when it comes to a grandson. For some hair brain reason, I want to have a 25-35 bolt action made for my first grandchild, if that is even possible. Is there a donor receiver, rifle, etc. that would work? How much would I being biting off to try it? Appreciate your opinions. I would be willing to go $1000 to get it done. I like the caliber and its ability on deer at out to 150 yards, like its low recoil, and like the fact that he will not be like the other ten kids in camp with a .243 or bigger guns that don't fit. I shoot the odd balls too and did not have nearly as much trouble finding ammo as some of my friends. Our local shop had 300 Savage, 250 Savage, 6.5x55, 7x57, and even some 257 Roberts...just not as many folks shooting them these days since you can only kill deer with 6.5 CM and short, fat magnums now...Thank again for your input.

I'm thinking a Savage 340 in 30-30 would make a perfect donor for a project such as that. It would feed properly and have a detachable magazine and would not break the bank. Regards. MPickle

Thanks so much. What options would I have for scoping it? Thanks again.

Most, if not all Savage 340's are drilled and tapped for side mount scope base due to the split rear receiver bridge. Finding a weaver base should not be a problem.

I have a Stevens 325 donor. Sent you a PM

See my post in customs

I'll say that the other caliber options you mentioned would be a better choice. Take something like a 7x57 and load it down to 2/3 full throttle and even a small kid can handle it. Resume hotter loads as the boy matures until he's right in there swinging a heavy bat. Betcha he'll stick with it then for a loooong time. A .250 Savage can be handily loaded to .25-35 performance level and then follow the example of the 7x57 I just made. Ditto all the rest. Heck you can tame a .30-06 into a light recoiling deer killing machine too.

Starting out with "normal" .25-35 loads is ok but guess what, that that's about it for it performance-wise. Pretty much everything else is way more versatile IMO- and I'm a fanboy of the .25-35, but I'm a pragmatist too.

Wish I had a grand dad like you. Mine was totally not into guns at all, but on the other hand he taught me the ins-and-outs of Model T's, Model A's, and flat head V-8's, and then explored the workings of British sports cars with me in the 60's and 70's when I started getting my feet wet with them. (He was a Ford mechanic from 1920 to 1960.) Counterbalanced the non-interest in shooting quite nicely, he did, IMO.

I understand completely. My father was not into hunting or fishing but luckily I had an uncle who had a double-dose of it. I appreciate all the suggestions. I have the other calibers and could cut a stock down. Best best may be to just pick up a TC Contender in the caliber. My daughters loved them in 7-30 Waters. Thanks again.

I guess I would not go with the 25-35 bolt option. If I were to that route, I'd buy a 788 30-30 beater and re-barrel, polish it, and blue it.

Rather I'd consider a 250 savage or a 257 Roberts. The 250 Savage if a short action and a 257 if a medium or long action. With either of these cartridges, you could choose most any manufacturer's actions -- 700 Remington, 77 Ruger, 70 Winchester, Mauser 98, various Savage actions would work also.


I assume that you're going to hand load or you would not have considered the 25-35. If you were going to buy factory ammo then maybe one of the 6mm's.

If I wanted to build a bolt action 25/35, I would look for a Winchester Model 54 in 30/30 and go from there. I don't think you could stay under 1000 dollars but you could have a very classy bolt action 25/35. GD