Remington Model 30 Express

[El Guero]

The Scheels in my town has a very old Remington Model 30 Express rifle that they say was manufactured in 1927. It's lost all the blueing and has an old leather butt-cuff that has either mold or dirt underneath it, I can't tell. For the amount of money they want for it, it's an easy pass. But I'm interested to know more about it...
To me it just appears to be a commercial sporter version of the Remington M1917/P14. I was wondering if there is any interesting history or value to this gun, because it looked like it would have been quite a fine rifle back in 1927.

 

[dfariswheel]

Early in WWI, the British had the P17 rifle made here in the US by Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone, whom Remington took over.

The Brits were in the process of discontinuing the contract manufacture of the P14 since they'd decided to retain the Lee Enfield as their service rifle, when the US entered the war.

The US converted the rifle to 30-06 and had the three factory's manufacture it as the US Model 1917.

Apparently there was more to this conversion than simply barreling it in US 30 caliber, since the government had considerable difficulty in the conversion.

After the war ended, Remington had two factory's full of M17 parts and the equipment to make it.
The basic action was a very good one, so from 1921 through 1940 Remington made it in a civilian sporting rifle as the Model 30 rifle, the 30R carbine, and the 30S deluxe rifle version.

Like the P14 and the M17, the Model 30 was hell for strong, and was Remington's high power bolt action rifle of the 20's and 30's.

The only reason the Model 30 isn't better known is due to Winchester's Model 70 leading the pre-WWII market.

 

[thatguy]

The Model 30 is a civilian P17, for the most part. These were made during the 1930s in a couple of variations. The 30S was the deluxe version. Calibers included 30-06, 257 Roberts and 7X57, among others. I have never personally seen one in a caliber other than 06. The 725 was the final, and most refined version made in the 1950s.

Not only strong, the 30 is a true magnum length action suitable for the .375 H&H and other large calibers.

I currently have two, a well-worn carbine in 06 (top) and 30S that I rebuilt into a .460 (cheapest magnum length gun around). I had a beautiful 30S specimen that was stolen in 1987. I still mourn its loss.

I think these are great rifles. Maybe you should reconsider the one you passed on?

 

[Mossyrock]

I had a custom 30S in .30-06 that was a gift from my grandfather. It was a beautiful rifle that shot better than I could. It's only fault was that it weighed over 10 pounds with a scope. Like a dummy, I loaned it to a friend for use on a bear hunt and it was stolen out of his truck in Michigan. Also, like a dummy, I hadn't entered it in my gun database and didn't have a record of the serial number. It was never recovered.