Well I went to one of my local dealers and in his rack was a 30 Express - .30-06. I handled it, looked it over, worked the bolt etc. It all appears to be there - except the front sight hood. The bluing is almost completely gone and the stock has dings all over.

I was trying to "listen" to all its stories. It obviously has been stored for a while now. No rust mind you but the bore had "dust" in it. For a rifle made in the 20's or 30's it was in pretty good shape. Even though it hasn't had any TLC in awhile the bolt was smooth as butter.

Good thing my normal guy wasn't working or I would have had him punch the bore to check it....If it was bright I might have "rescued" it. Prolly worth it just to bring it home and clean it, run a box of ammo through her and see what she does. For less than $300 I was surely tempted.......

Why do some of those old rifles make me want to do that??

StoneCold

Funny how that works isn't it?

For the price you quoted you should be taking it home.

My 30 Express and Remington 720 are both good shooters and represent the same workmanship and quality of prewar Winchesters for a lot less money. I actually prefer the action of the Remingtons from the strength and safety standpoint; although the Win. M70 has it as far as looks go. Even if the bore is bad it would be worth $300 as a rebarreling or reboring (think .35 Whelen) project.

That old girl deserves a good home.

This thread reminded me that I have a almost as new take off 30 Remington barrel in "25 Remington caliber", now that is a rare one for sure...I guess I need to put it over on the classifeid and either sell it or see if anyone has a 30 Rem. action.

had a Remmy Model 30 . it was a Rem 35 caliber. someone punched out the chamber to 35 Whelen. They put is in a funcky Bishop syle stock. it did look kind of cool though. shot well. I just thought the action was too heavy for a 35 W so I sold it to a guy that was going to make something big out of like 458 Lott, 404 Jeff, 416 Rigby. Sold it for $350 so basically he was just buying the action. when I priced it at $350 I had a bunch of guys wanting it. I would buy the gun and if you do not like or want you can always sell the action for what you have into it.

Kind of what I was thinking too. Buy it, play with it, if I don't like it I could probably trip it for little to no loss. I know lots of guys like to build "big" guns on 'em cause it is supposed to be a true "magnum" length action. It is hell for stout....which in itself is kind of cool.(Has to be or it wouldn't still be here..)

SC

aka MKBenenson. An extremely fine action, an improved Enfield 1917, used parts left over from Remington's WWI Enfield production. Strong enough for any modern cartridge, long enough for .375 H&H. Needs a fair amount of action streamlining work to make a high class custom, most of which is superfluous to having a good shooting hunting rifle. I am one of that dwindling band who thinks every American shooter ought, at some time, to have and shoot our older military rifles as well as the semi autos. I bought a 1917 Enfield from the DCM decades ago for, as I recall, $7.50, and shot it hundreds of times with military ammo before graduating to a Springfield 1903. You will enjoy the Model 30, buy it.

I have 2 Model 30 Express Rifles one in 257 Roberts and one in 30 Gov't 06. Good shooting guns and very accurate w/ just the peep sights that are on them. I see from time to time the Model 30's that have been left original and kept in good shape bringing some good money. My advice would be to grab it and enjoy it!!

A P-17 Enfield can be nicely customized. This one, in original 30.06, is also remarkably accurate. Kept the bolt handle original, as well as the bottom metal. Carries BSA trademark. Dayton Traister trigger is a big impromement, too.

air springer, I would have guessed a BSA would have been originally in .303. But that is a nice basic custom job.

I enjoy old rifles such as the Model 30. I have a 1917 Enfield, that was sporterized back in the 50s. Just put a 4 power scope on it..Plan to use it deer hunting this fall.

I've had it 10 years now.. but it needs to get out more.. than just an occasional trip to the range...

mine is very accurate.. but is a Winchester built action with a Remington barrel dated 1918...

I love this thing!

Every now and then, but not often, I encounter Model 30s
in .25 Rem that have been rechambered to .250-3000.
They are an attractive looking rifle, but a bit heavy.

Weight is the only issue with them. Everyting else is +++++. I had a 1917 in 30-06 years ago, when I was young and strong.. With the cocking change to cock on bolt opening, plus a good trigger, that action is one tough brute, and the safety is THE best design ever on a factory rifle. Someone back then had their head screwed on right with that safety design. For a right hand shooter, the safety is user friendly, and quiet. Too bad more current rifles don't have such a safety. I had a Dayton Traister trigger unit in mine.

Don

Smilodon...

A family member has a BSA in .303, and I saw one years ago in .270 Rem.

Few years back I emailed BSA with the s/n and asked about any history they might be able to supply, but never got a reply.

Have no idea where mine was built, or whether it was originally a .303 and changed up to 30.06, meaning it could have started life as a P-14. It doesn't feed particularly well, which the smith who did the custom work told me was because the magazine is designed for .303 rimmed cartridges, and thus a bit wider, causing staggered 30.06 to be a tad sticky in sliding into place. Have to work the action with authority to make sure they snap up into place to be picked up by the bolt.

I've hunted the net for hours to track down info on these, but to no success so far.

It's a very accurate rifle, will stuff factory ammo inside an inch all day. It cocks on close, which I never found to be a big problem.