Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots .30-30 Rolling Block

I picked up one of these ...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=204463154

It says Gun Parts Corp on the barrel; STAR on the receiver. Mine has considerably better fit and finish. Actually, pretty good by todays standards.

There's not much info out there on them.

I realize it's not an original Remington, but I was taken by the old school appeal and traded for something I wasn't using.

Ever owned one? Shot one? Do you know anything about them?

I'm already thinking it would make a nice conversion to .38-55. How tough are they to rebarrel?

Thanks for your thoughts.

My thoughts are that it is not the right rifle for you. It just doesn't fit you like it would fit me, so you should box it up carefully and send it to me. I will gladly refund the postage...

Sorry, I got carried away, I don't have anything constructive to add, I just REALLY like that rifle!

Good on ya!

Ed

Have been hunting a 30/40krag for a number of years. You may want to review the the Krag's performance. You could have the current barrel rechambered to 30/40.

For more info on mfr., I'd ask on the "Spanish Pistols" forum of www.gunboards.com (I KNOW it ain't a pistol, but there are Star nuts on there). I believe these were originally imported by Interarms, then GPC picked up the leftovers as a batch of parts. Whether they were assembled by them, I don't know. I also don't know whether Star made them or merely marketed them after they had been made by another firm, as they did with the "Imperial" shotguns and some other long guns. Maybe one of gunboards' Spanish members will know.

Does this gun have a "date-of-proof" code on it? It would be a capital letter plus a number (like M2). That would date it; I have the code/date list if you find a code.

Neat gun; leave it .30-30 is my advice even tho I love .30-40s. You can shoot the LeverEvolution shells and get close to .30-40 performance and find brass on the ground at the range. You WON'T get .30-40 brass that way!

It's what I'd call a Baby Rolling Block. Very petite.

.30-40 is interesting. What about .307 Winchester?

I'd prefer a straight walled Black Powder cartridge like the .38-55, but I'll probably leave it be. My 13 year old daughter loves it. It should make a good deer rifle for her. I already load cast bullets in .30-30.

No date code, unless it's under the wood. SN is under 1000 if that helps. The receiver has no markings other than STAR and the SN.

I found out that these carbines were manufactured by Star (Echeverria) but never assembled or sold by them. Later the parts were imported by Numrich's (GPC) and assembled and sold by them. Couldn't find out if some of the parts were US, tho. I suspect that the .30-30 barrel blanks may have been fitted by GPC from their stock of gunsmithing parts, possibley also the stocks. But have no real proof. Somebody in W. Hurley, NY probably knows, tho.

There's no date-of-proof because they weren't completed in Spain and so were not proofed there.

That's a cute little devil!!! How much ye wont fer it????

First, .307 Win is WAY too hot (ca. .308 Win. pressures) -- do not even think about it (Rolling Blocks are NOT the action to hotrod!)

I would leave it as a .30-30 -- at least until you have fired it a bit!

It looks light and I think it could be a real face-smacker in a heavier calibre with a stock with this much drop (not to mention the steel buttplate). A stock like that is fast to shoulder and shoot though -- perfect for the classic thutty-thutty!



I once had a Ruger #3 which had a stock a lot like that, right down to the steel buttplate. Even factory .45-70 loads would get your attention, and if I loaded it up a bit, recoil became quite grim. A nice light, short .30-30 shooting flat-nosed cast bullets seems like a very good idea now that I am older and wiser!

Congrats on the nice find. Do not change it because you will be able to sell "as is" for a lot -- as the circling vultures here indicate! :-)

John

I'd call Dave Higginbotham at Lone Star Rifle. He's pretty knowledgeable about most things rolling block.

The rolling block has many pluses, but the negatives are not to be trifled with. It's not an especially strong action, and gas handling in the event of case rupture is not sterling. If you reload, load it light, and monitor your cases for thinning near the case head.

I had a custom RB in .219 Donaldson Wasp that I had the barrel shortened and made into a .22 Hornet. I did not trust it in the .219. I thought about 30-30 as well.

I did not like the trigger- and the gunsmith refused to do any more work on the trigger. I did not want to put anymore money in it so down the road it went. It was cool looking, but way too heavy with the bull barrel, tho.

Whether RB actions are weak or not depends on what you think strong is. Full-sized (action size #1) rolling blocks ARE a relatively strong action compared to most single shots of their period. The originals proved almost impossible to blow up with any black powder loading, and the later models adapted to smokeless ctgs. were difficult to blow up even with massive overloads, blocked barrels, etc. They performed fine even with 1930s 7x57 military ammo intended for LMGs and Mauser 98-actioned rifles.

Their reputation for "weakness" comes from the fact that some of the 7x57 rifles sold in Latin American were out of spec with excessive headspace. This was apparently a manufacturing flaw, not an ammo flaw nor a product of wear. Those rifles often had case head separations and resulting gas blowback. If you have one, all you need to do to make it safe is fireform your brass to the long chamber with light loads, and reload the case with a full power load.

Frank de Haas' books go over the characteristics of rolling block rifles in great detail, including what ctgs. you can and can't chamber them for. There are some rolling block-type rifles that are pretty weak, but they are all the smaller versions made for .22 and other small ctgs. The Stevens 44 "Ideal" action looks like a falling block but is a lever-actuated rolling block. And it IS relatively weak, due to variations from the original Ryder design.

One problem with hot varmint ctgs. in rolling blocks is that most of the military models had BIG firing pins unsuitable for high intensity ctgs. Your Wasp might have had that trouble; easy to fix, but not cheap if you have a gunsmith do it.

I bought one of these in 1985 for $90 and kept it and shot it for awhile.Very nicely balanced and very accurate.I regret selling it the next year.Hang on to it.

Stan in SC