Wild idea: Handi to .30-40 Krag!

[Cosmoline]

OK, so I've been wanting to get one of the inexpensive .30-30 or .308 handi rifles for a while now. But I'm not a big fan of the .30-30 or the .308. On the other hand, I love the .30-40 Krag and similar vintage cartridges, with low pressure and big bullets.

My idea: re-chamber a Handi rifle to .30-40 Krag.

I checked with NEF and it turns out the .30 caliber Handis all use the same 1 in 10 twist as the Krag rifle. The .30/30 uses six grooves, however. I suspect it's geared for smaller bullets. The .308 and .30'06 models use four grooves, which again is what the Krag rifle used. So I should be able to recreate the Krag standards with a .308 or .30'06 Handi. Presumably the reamer will automatically cut a space for the Krag's rim, but I wonder if this will pose extraction problems.

Anyone hear of something like this being attempted before?

 

[Jim Watson]

A Krag reamer would not clean up a .308 or .30-06 chamber.
It's the .30-30 or nothing. I don't know why they use six groove for .30-30 and four for .308 but doubt it is for "smaller bullets." They are nearly all .308" regardless of cartridge, anyway.

Winchester made the Model 54 bolt action in .30-30. It was fairly common to rechamber those to .30-40 for more power.

 

[Cosmoline]

Any idea what six grooves would do to the performance of big 200 and 220 grain RN's from a Krag? I'm worried they'd fly all over the place, but I"m not sure what impact the two extra grooves has.

 

[Art Eatman]

I doubt the number of lands/grooves matters nearly so much as the rate of twist. To stabilize that long bullet and truly be accurate would take something even a bit faster than the Krag, really. I'd think for the 220-grain, maybe a 1:9 or 1:8...The Krag was pretty accurate, but not really a tack driver.

Art

 

[Jim Watson]

I can't say no impact, but no predictable impact. I think there are more six groove barrels being made now than four groove, and I am surprised H&R uses both. You can get about anything from a specialty barrel maker, and I don't know a rule to go by. But you have no choice from H&R.

 

[telewinz]

Remember, the Remington 03/A3 and A4 sniper rifle all had 2 groove rifling with no negative effect on accuracy. I guess it the quality of the 2 or more grooves and not the number. I bet shooting lead bullets could be effected by fewer grooves.

 

[Chainsaw]

You might be better off with the 300BRM from www.eabco.com
or with the 30 GNR from Garry Reeder Custom Guns. Here are the addy's.

www.reedercustomguns.com/tc/cartridges.htm
www.reedercustomguns.com/tc/calibers.htm

Both use the standard 30-30 brass and are modified. That way you can use the better extraction system that the 30-30 Handi has vs. the rimless .308-30-06. It would also be cheaper to convert. I had a falling block in 30-40 Krag and never attained the velocity I wanted. Did not do much better than a standard 30-30 Handi.

I have two 30-30 handi's and am considering having one converted to 30-30 GNR.

If you want a single shot 30-40, you might try looking for a used Ruger#3.

 

[tex_n_cal]

There is also such a thing as a .30-30 Ackley Improved, which gets a little more chamber capacity. As a plus, you could still fire .30-30 factory ammo in it, which is a lot easier to find than .30-40.

 

[106rr]

Read in a gun mag some time ago that the 30-40 conversion was popular in Louisiana. The Krag used a 1 in 10 twist ad the 30-30 used a 1 in 12 twist. The Krag will work fine with a 180 gr bullet MAYBE with a 220gr roundnose.
You would have to modify the extractor for the Krag.

Edited to remove information on 307 WCF rechambering of 30-30 Handi Rifle. Chainsaw (next post) is right -- 30-30 WCF chamber is a smidgeon longer than the the 307 WCF.
I can't think of any proprietary cartridge that would work except the 309 JDJ -- and the reamers are not available to you.
it looks like the 30-30 AI or the Krag will have to do.

Thanks for the correction Chainsaw!

 

[Chainsaw]

106rr,

I believe the 30-30 chamber would be longer than the 307 brass, making it extremely difficult to rechamber that round in the 30-30.

The rim diameter of the 307 and 30-30 are the same. I think you could modify 444 brass to shoot in a 30-30 Handi though---Chainsaw

 

[David4516]

I think It'd be nice if NEF would just sell handi-rifles in .30-40 Krag. I'd buy one...

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

they need to make them in .303 british and 7.62 commie long.