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I picked up an old (1909 according to the serial #) 1899 that is in reasonably good cosmetic and mecanical condition but the barrel is shot out. The caliber is 303 Savage. Can I rebarrel it to 30-30 without changing the rotory mag parts?
Interested in hearing any options.
(trying to post photos through a photo host but no luck yet)
http://www.huntchat.com/showthread.php?p=249088
It seems possible, but why 30-30? Why not take advantage of the rotary mag and use a cartridge with better bullet selection? I'm not sure I'd rebarrel your 100+ year old gun, but if I did it would be with a .308, .260 or .243. For the cost of a rebarrel you may be able to pick up a used Winchester 30-30.
30-30 would be my choice because case size, rim size, and power levels are so close between the two cartridges. The idea being to change only the barrel and end up with a usable rifle in one of the original calibers. That being said their are also sentimental (perhaps heavy on the mental ;) ) reasons as my fathers favorite gun was his 30-30 1899. I lost him when I was in my early teens and my mother sold off all his guns.
Rebarrelng a Savage is very expensive. You are right thinking 30-30 as it would take alot of work to change to a modern cartridge and I don't know if the strength would be there. I would sugest having the original barrel rebored to 35-303 or a lightly loaded 356 Win(rim is correct and length is correct, body diameter might be a little large). Reboring the original barrel would be about a third of the cost of a rebarrel. give this guy a call about a rebore. Even going 35-303 with a custom resizing die would be half the price of a rebarrel.
Give this guy a call. will post this link in a min.
http://www.35caliber.com/