Hey guys - Considering a new project this summer involving a lever, and was toying with getting it converted to ackley improved.

It's a pretty cheap mod at the gunsmiths, and by all accounts it seems to really pep up the 30-30. Anyone ever tried this cartridge, or heard anything? the good, the bad the ugly? Whatcha think?

Hey FOXER  >>  I got a lever action in an improved .30-30 cartridge.  It's a Winchester 94AE in .307 Win.    .  No hassle fireforming cases.  No smith work needed.

I know, I know.  It ain't a project gun, though.

Everyone tells me that my .307 is heading the way of obsoletion anyway, so maybe the .30-30 AI isn't all that bad of an idear.  Should be an extremely easy and inexpensive job for your smith.  I'd be interested to hear how much the AI version actually boosts standard .30-30 performance.  Good luck with it.  >>  klallen 

out of curiosity, how much does improving a 30-30 case raise performance? i guess my main concern would be feeding issues.

have you considered doing a 7-30 waters?

you migh consider buying a savage m99 and restoring it.

re-finish the stock, re-blue and crown the barrel, a little bit of accurizing here and there.

suggested chamberings: .308, .300 savage.

most of the work can be done yourself, and the ammo would be right there when you need it.

food for thought......

DAMMIT TAS - now you got me thinking about the savage too - Everytime I ask about this someone else comes up with another great idea that sounds awesome. NO MORE PROJECTS! Actually that sounds pretty good - I'll put that down as project #5

The 307 is a nice round - it's another that i'm very interested in. But this project is focused around the lightest shortest carrying rifle I can make in a lever - the 307 requires the 'big bore' action and I can't get the 16 inch barrel in that. And due to our #$&^$# gun laws - I can BUY a 16 inch barrel if it comes from the original manufacturer that way - but i can't cut a barrel down below 18.5.

The AI improvement in the 30-30 gives about 300 fps increase dakota. A few i've talked to shooting out of condenders and other actions with more pressure tolerance have gotten it up higher than that - some claim 2700 fps or better with a 150 grain! I won't get that much - but my target is to get the barnes x 30-30 flat nose up to 2500. That would be a very effective little shooter. The fn X bullet is specifically designed for that speed - 6 petals instead of 4, bigger nose, it's supposedly a real killer. It would turn the gun into a comfortable moose gun out to about 150 yards, and a deer gun to 200 or better. Plus, it'd still be a good little animal defense gun against the black bears we have so many of around here (latest estimates suggest more than 300,000 in bc alone! and growing!).

Heheh hunter - hey, you just never know :)