Marlin 30-30 re-bore to 38-55

M

mbogo3

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
87   0   0
Thoughts on going .376 and 1-16 twist so I can shoot factory,jacketed and cast ...........possibly .375 sized bullets.Likely 200-300gr bullets.Was uncertain about going for a gain twist.Lots of time to decide.
 
phone Ron Smith and have a chat with him, he'll know better then anyone here, of course that is unless they've already been down the same road with Ron already
 
I've chatted with him and he is backlogged at the moment.Just not sure I'm sold on gain twist idea.Wondering if anyone else has had one done and the results.
 
fire a message to Reverend Al, I know he had a 358 winchester done with a gain twist and he still smiles every time he shoots it.

I had no idea how popular gain twist barrels were, but there is even benchrest shooters using them in parts of the world, even Kreiger made gain twist barrels.....
 
Dan Lilja went gain twist for a short spell but concluded they had no real accuracy advantage.I am aware of Pope and the BP SS target crowd.Bartlien makes one as well.
 
there are benefits to it, less pressure created with a slower twist as well. and if your shooting cast there is less chance of stripping the bullet as the initial engagement with the rifling is slow and soft, once the rifling has a strong hold on the bullet the twist rate is increased.....I send Al a link to this thread, I am sure he'll be along shortly to tell us what he knows
 
IMHO re boring perfectly good Marlin 30-30W has no economical merit.
First of the option would be selling that gun and buying just like it in 35 Rem with extra available funds left for ammo.
That one compared to 38-55 is much preferable, with case full of Lever Revolution behind 220 gr Speer FP at 2200fps will be enough for any hunting scenario.
Re chambering 336 Marlin in 35Rem to 358 Win is reckless and very dangerous.
If you have extra money and desire for lever action the 358W in Win mod 88 will give you lots of more options....
GR8 2c worth.
 
Except it won't be a 38-55 for which I have oodles of brass ,bullets,molds,a fondness for and dies.It's a baby 45-70 with half the recoil so to speak along with a lot of history.From an economical standpoint ,I am not getting my money back, but who cares.My ex was a poorer investment. With a safe 1/2 full of 30-30's already I want a modern 38-55 lever for BG using cast and if needed jacketed.Don't want /need a .35Rem or .358win for that matter .........I have a 9.3x62 mauser type A sporter for merit if wanted to deal with tougher species in a traditional classy platform.When's the last time you saw .35 rem brass for sale.Micro-groove rifling can be finicky with cast and no you don't want to butcher a Marlin waffle top with traditional rifling.The triggers on the win 88 are horrible and parts unavailable so why bother in a caliber you don't want while destroying a collectable?Realizing the limitations of a 336 action only an idiot would convert one to .358Win. Never entertained the thought.
 
Hi ya! Got Dave's message and the link to this thread. Here is Ron's contact info if you want to discuss it with him directly.

Ron Smith
P.O. Box 635
Wimborne, Alberta
Canada
T0M 2G0

1-403-631-2405

Canadian barrel maker / barrel re-boring service

Gain twist has been popular with the traditional cast bullet target circles (the Schuetzen crowd) for many, many years for all of the reasons that Dave mentioned above. I have gain twist in the .358 Winchester barrel that Ron did for me and am more than pleased. I'm going to contact Ron to get a replacement barrel done in .32-40 Winchester for one of my original Winchester High Walls and I'll get it made in gain twist too.
 
Thanx for following this up...............I'd like your input on what kind of groups you get with the .358 and gain twist? Flexibility on bullet weight used? May not be indicative to the 38-55 apart from barrel quality.
 
Got off the phone With JES re-boring in the States and he does most of his 38-55's .376 groove and 1-15 twist in the lever guns where C.O.L. matters for functioning purposes.Said it works for 200-300gr bullets.
 
I am glad to find your post. Ii would love to do a similar rifle project. I had a Winchester 1894 made in 1914 in 38-55 at one time. I traded it but regret doing that now. I was thinking a 30-30, 32 Special or 35 remington Marlin would make a perfect starting point to create a 38-55 lever gun. I will be checking back to see how you are progressing with this project from time to time so that I have an idea what to expect if I do the same thing.
 
mbogo3 said:
Got off the phone With JES re-boring in the States and he does most of his 38-55's .376 groove and 1-15 twist in the lever guns where C.O.L. matters for functioning purposes.Said it works for 200-300gr bullets.
Click to expand...

Any border issues with JES?
 
It was an info call so it will not be heading south.Ron Smith will be doing mine here at some point.I wonder if Prophet River couldn't act as a courier or I Run Guns?
 
CAllison said:
I am glad to find your post. Ii would love to do a similar rifle project. I had a Winchester 1894 made in 1914 in 38-55 at one time. I traded it but regret doing that now. I was thinking a 30-30, 32 Special or 35 remington Marlin would make a perfect starting point to create a 38-55 lever gun. I will be checking back to see how you are progressing with this project from time to time so that I have an idea what to expect if I do the same thing.
Click to expand...
Better chance of finding a .32 Special with a pooched bore as the 1-16 twist was for both BP and smokeless.I think a .35 Rem 's chamber is too big to clean up and the internal feed mechanism is different.The guts for 30-30 or .32 SP are the same as 38-55.Get a trade name 336 Western Field,JC Higgins , Sears or Glenfield worth nothing to a collector already D+T for scope if your eyes are like mine.I wouldn't do this to a waffle top.
 
Winchester used a 1-18 twist and a lot of the older Ballards 1-20" with generous groove diameters.380+up.Later commemorative 94's closer to modern bore specs.To muddy the waters the 38-55 has two different lengths of brass although the 30-30 was developed from this parent.Although Marlin made the .375 Big Bore in their 336 for a short time they don't recommend this conversion as the pressures are way above @ 52,000 cup The .307 Win and .356Win would also be up there.Some "smiths" will do these conversions but......no telling when or if it will let go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom