I have a 26" barreled single shot Savage 219 30-30 and should have the opportunity to shoot whitetails does in a suburban setting. Trying to set it up as a stalking rifle. Accuracy(neck shots?) and quietness are paramount shots will be absolute maximum 100yds with 50yds much more common.
What loads has anyone actually used?
something like a 125-150gr Ballistic tip?
other extreme a soft 190gr lead?
experiences?

No experience here but it sure sounds like fun. Are suppressors allowed where you shoot?

I owned a Savage 219 chambered for .30-30 for a number of years. It liked 150 grain Winchester factory ammo. Five shots into less than 1-1/2 inches using a 4x scope. Stupidly, I sold it.

I think for your purposes any factory ammo from up to 170 grains will do fine, assuming you can find any.

You will love it. Like R40X, I also had one that I stupidly let go of. They are slim, light, and in my opinion, downright elegant in their own way. Perfect for stalking, and mine was very accurate.

I have a 219 in 30-30 and 22 Hornet, and I have a vintage H&R two barrel 410 and 30-30 combo.

I load the 170 gr loads under 165 gr BT SP bullets, and the load has been a good 150 yard killer for several kids who used the guns on their first deer. I've loaned them out to many friends over the years, and their kids loved them...nice and easy to carry.

I traded a 219 30-30 barrel with a Savage scope mounted to a good member here and kept the open sight barrel I had. The H&R has a Weaver K3 P&CH mounted.

it wont be a $3000 German Jagd or British Stalking rifle but i dont see why it cant be a quiet quick classy American gentlemans rifle just the same.
Hornadys .308 190gr subsonic bullet looks interesting anyone using it on game?

Maybe look at some of the bullets commonly loaded into the .300BO that will perform at subsonic velocities and work up some reduced loads for them...

Yup. My first thought when I read the opening remarks was this very thing. Maybe one step further and go with a flat nosed 190-220 grain cast bullet, cast extremely soft so as to expand nicely at 1000fps or so.

Another bullet worth your consideration is the Speer 130 gr. FN if you can find them. I have used this bullet effectively on Whitetails (small sample of four) at 50/75 yards with shots placed just behind the shoulder and have read reports of similar success. My rifle is a Marlin 336A and loaded these rounds to standard velocities not subsonic. Interested in how your project develops.

Any recommended loads for the heavy and slow ?

Get thyself a Lyman cast bullet manual and read up on it. TrailBoss is one powder that comes to mind for this application. I've messed with minuscule charges of Bullseye and Red Dot but I'm not publishing loads because I don't know how careful other folks are when it comes to guaranteeing the prevention of double and triple charges.

I load the 165 grain flat base Interlock with RL15 for my Utica 219 in 30-30 and for my recently acquired Henry single. I have not hunted the load, but see no reason why it wouldn't work. The rifle is light, and handles well. I'd like to find a barrel in 22 Hornet.

Savage 219L-D single shot break action 30-30
1 in 12" twist
26" long.
7 pound rifle

220 gr HNDY round nose moly W748 2.92" 26" barrel, 30-30
Quickload prediction:
33 gr 51 kpsi 2176 fps
34 gr 56 kpsi 2232 fps
35 gr 62 kpsi 2287 fps
36 gr 68 kpsi 2340 fps
37 gr 75 kpsi 2394 fps
38 gr 83 kpsi 2446 fps brass and primer still look good
39 gr 92 kpsi 2498 fps primer very cratered, case full of powder, ball powder compresses a hair below 2.92"

I used some 120 grain Barnes TAC-TX bullets in a Henry 30-30 single shot I had recently. They are designed for the 300 BO. They shot very well in the rifle with no load work up but I have no idea what expansion on game would be like. I would guess they wouldn't need to be pushed hard in the 30-30 to perform well so that might work well for lower/starting loads at the ranges you're considering.

If you can get it, Hornady has a 30/30 subsonic ammo that works well.

yeah planning on trying that but WAY more fun to work up loads!

The load used was RCBS 30-150-FPGC (from Montana Bullet Works), 15gr. SR4759 (discontinued) and Federal 210M primers in RP cases, fired at 100 yards.

Yes! That's what I'm after!
Can you by chance tell me the numbers on the scope bases

I learned from another thread that the .30cal. 125gr. Ballistic tip is crazy deadly and some swear by it. I'm hunting with it this year.

If I recall correctly, they are both No. 43. They appear at the top of this photo, though not sharp enough to easily read the numbers:

I also like the 125gr. NBT, though the target on the right was shot at 200 yards using 125gr. Sierra SFB, 36gr. IMR 4895 and Federal 210M primer in FC cases:



The target on the left was shot at 100 yards using 311041 cast of wheel weights and sized .309” with Alox/beeswax, 15gr. SR4759 (discontinued) and CCI 200 in RP cases.

What a rifle! So accurate. Now I want one.

The barrel, receiver and external steel components were Black Nitride treated by H&M Metal Processing of Akron, OH. So, this lightweight stalking rifle is weatherproof, too.

You can pretty much sub imr 4227 for the 4759 loads on the low end. 4227 is still available.

I rechambered one to 30/40 Krag and wish I had kept it. 150's at 2650 were a good load. GD

A guy I knew near Moscow ID had one that had had its chamber buggered by Bubba trying to remove a stuck case. He re-chambered it in .30-40 and killed a meat elk every year I lived there, with one shot each except one that required two. I lived there 8 years and he still had a few ctgs. left in the original box of Rem. 180 gr. Core-Lokts.

For the price, a 219 makes for a pretty fair single shot stalking rifle IMO. Long ago I decried them for their "hardware store" aesthetics (fit/finish, clunkiness, balance, etc.) but then I wised up and realized that it's unfair to compare them to wonderful German kiplaufs. The 219 was made to a price point to appeal to the average American Joe, not a well-heeled Teutonic hunter in a country without the freewheeling attitude toward access-for-all shooting/hunting that we enjoy (or at least used to enjoy).

Dead on!

A 219 in 30-30 with an extra barrel from a 220 in 20ga is the perfect young hunter first gun/guns. Since the 219/220 has no exposed hammer and has a safety, plus they are single shot with no chance of an accidental discharge after the first shot or the kid walking with a hammer cocked, they are about the ultimate learning tool. Kids learn to rely on a well-placed first shot.

decided to go iron sights with mine, now question is what to use? Exchippy dont suppose you have any details on what yours wears?
Be cool to go with a folding buckhorn-ladder like you could find on some of the old lever action carbines. Would like a bigger square top partridge type front though.....Thoughts?

If you’re hurting all over for one and can’t find it, the Henry makes an excellent substitute. Ones made in 2020 and later have the improved trigger. Once the dust settles from some other purchases, I may try and sneak a .357 in the house.

Great photos. I feel for those who didn't have a dog as a youngster.

[quote=Pappy348]If you’re hurting all over for one and can’t find it, the Henry makes an excellent substitute. Ones made in 2020 and later have the improved trigger. Once the dust settles from some other purchases, I may try and sneak a .357 in the house.[/quote]
Would you have it bored to 357 Max or just leave it as is?

No need for straight-wall deer cartridges here, so I’d probably leave it as is. I might consider having Bellm tweak the chamber for best accuracy if it wasn’t up to snuff.

19gr of LilGun will get you 2000 with 158s. That’s plenty.

I read somewhere that dry firing these rifles causes problems. Something to do with the firing pin. Have picked a few of them up at gun shows but wouldn't know if I was looking at with problems or not. Any of you guys know anything about this ?

Yes, don't do it. The firing pin may not break the first time but sooner or later it will. Replacement PARTS are available. But you need to know what you're doing to get them RE-PLACED!

Should have kept this 30-30, I could even see the sights with my old eyes

My first shotgun was a 16 ga. Savage 220 with factory Polychoke and ejector. I hunted quail, dove, pheasant, crows, rabbit, and deer with that gun. I knew there were .30-30s and .22 Hornets, but I didn't know the barrels would interchange until a few years ago. Wish I had kept it, but I traded it off years ago.

Mesa, is the firing pin being broken an obvious thing if it was at a gun show ? How can I tell looking at one ?

Two months ago I built this rifle. I have not shot it yet.

I cut down a Sav 220 12 ga shotgun barrel.
I tapered down a rifle barrel to the shape of a 12 ga chamber and bore.
I epoxied them together.
You can see the stainless steel rifle barrel sticking out of the Chrome moly shotgun barrel.

This rifle came as a 219 sav in 30-30 with an extra sav 220 12 ga barrel.
I drilled and tapped the 12 ga barrel for scope.
I made a fore end from Cedar.
I made an extractor from 4140 steel.
The chamber now is 6.5x54r Vostok.

Stock front sight and Marbles folding rear, set to hit POA at 100 yards with 125gr. Sierra Spitzer Flat Base bullets and 36gr. IMR 4895, then ignored in favor of the Leupold 1-4x20.

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I too have several of these rifles, and LOVE the styling

Great Rifles for the money, BUT you need to know a couple things about them

Dry firing can break the FP, but not usually.
What DOES often happen is someone without smarts opens the action, pulls the trigger, and shuts the action

the 219 does not have a rebounding FP so it sticks out after a trigger pull, then if not retracted, the barrel slamming home breaks the tip off with the extractor.

IF you do see one, and it is broke open, ALWAYS work the lever to "Open" it again, as that retracts the FP, then you can safely close the action

I LOVE mine.
I have a .22 hornet I'd love to drill a 222Rem reamer into!