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bolt action 30 carbine

10K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  Uncle Mike 
#1 ·
Just surprised that no one has made a bolt action 30 carbine yet.
 
#2 ·
Before tooling up to make something like a bolt action in .30 Carbine, you first have to do a market study to figure out IF there's a market for it.

I suspect that there aren't that many people willing to buy a rather odd ball firearm like this.
Few gun companies can afford to build a low sales specialty rifle that would have little market.
 
#3 ·
This is correct.



A bolt gun in .30 carbine would likely have about as much appeal as a bolt gun in 32 WCF, Another one that nobody is really clamoring for.
 
#4 ·
The problem is with the .30 Carbine round itself. Other than M1 Carbine owners there is virtually no demand for it. It may have been a good idea at the time when the Army needed a light rifle but there are so many other well-established calibers that perform better.
 
#9 ·
Marlin built the Levermatic in 30 carbine (as well as the failed 256 Win mag). Performance of the 30 Carbine is similar to that of a 357 magnum. Aside from the Levematic, TC Encore, and the M1 Carbine, your choices for 30 Carbine long guns are pretty limited. There are plenty of 357 magnum options though.
 
#22 ·
I think those pretty much are the choices. I have all three of them and an old Ruger Blackhawk 3 screw in 30 carbine. The M1 came first, then I picked up the Marlin 62 to convince myself I should reload the 30 Carbine, something I wouldn't do with the Inland. Then I picked up the T/C because I wanted to see just how accurate the cartridge could be. The Ruger was "such a deal" I couldn't say no.

I may have a gun buying problem …..:bawling:
 
#10 ·
I would like to see a 357 semi auto rifle. Yes I know 30 carbine is similar but I have multiple 357's so for me it makes sense.

Hate to admit that I passed on a sweet deal for a m1 carbine. My need for a light weight mag fed garand style action is already filled by my mini 14.
 
#12 ·
You could always convert a Mini 14 or AR or such to a rimless 357 Magnum, ala 350 Legend (or 223) cases trimmed to Magnum length. A handloading task, but 357 Magnum ballistics. Perhaps nicer than working with the rim of the Magnum cases. Magazines may need some sort of modification.
 
#13 ·
The .30 Carbine has too many things going against it to be taken seriously either as a pistol round OR a rifle cartridge. It's way too long to be practical in semi-auto pistols, but it's also rimless which makes it less than optimal in revolvers. It is a straight-walled cartridge and was designed to use round-nosed, FMJ bullets which nobody outside the Hague Convention ever thought was a great idea. Virtually all serious rifle calibers are bottlenecked and use pointed Spitzer bullets. That's not to say that the .30 Carbine is useless, for a JHP version like Hornady's Critical Defense makes for an excellent short-range home or ranch defense rifle, and can be used for small game hunting as well. Unfortunately beyond that there's nothing it can do that other calibers can't so it will likely die off if/when all those M1 Carbines out there finally do.
 
#14 ·
Hush on that, I've too many M-1 Carbines in the safe.

It'll be the same as the FN P-90 and it's 5.7MM round, designed for a specific weapon and then used on a limited basis by FN on some handgun designs to try and sell the round. Luckily for me I doubt the interest in M-1 Carbines dies out in my lifetime unless the left wins the gun ban wars and bans all semi auto rifles.

I expect it'll end up costing my heirs what it costs me to feed the 1876 Winchester 45-70 that's been in my family since 1899...$2.00-4.00 bucks a round and it'll sit in their safes
 
#18 ·
I'm thinkin' the only appeal lookin' back 50 years was the availability on the surplus market for ammo and Carbines. Beyond that not much appeal.

I had an opportunity to shoot the Ruger 30 carbine revolver. Significant blast and flame similar to the .357 MAX!

R.I.P.,
 
#19 ·
AMT made an auto handgun in .30 carbine back in their day.

It was pretty short lived as only about half of them would actually run. Typical of AMT in general.
 
#23 · (Edited)
The .327 Federal cartridge offers similar performance to the .30 carbine and they do chamber some lever action rifles in .327 Federal as well as some handguns too.

You could rebarrel a CZ 550 into .30 Carbine. The .22 Hornet version of the CZ 550 would be a good candidate as you would need to do very little to get it working. Now then there have been some people who built .30 carbine bolt action rifles from some of the old military bolt actions. So it can be done.

But as mentioned there just is no demand or market for .30 carbine guns.

OH YEAH, one thought i just had was you could use a chamber insert for .30 carbine in a bolt action rifle. They make them in several calibers like .30-06, .308Win, etc.
 
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