Foremost model 6400 30-30 "WHAT" ! a bolt action 30-30 ????

M

Metal god

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:confused: Really ? Why ?

So a little back story . We had a death in the family and I was given a couple firearms . I was told one was a Foremost 30-30 . :) I goggled foremost 30-30 , woo hoo going to get me a old lever gun ( Wrong ) I just received the shipping info and the firearm is a Foremost model 6400 30-30 . Turns out that is a Savage 30-30 bolt action :rolleyes: OK free is free but darn I always wanted a lever gun .

Anyways , Do any of you have any experience with this rifle . I'd like to here any and all pro's and cons of the rifle . I'll be getting a Sears model 25 22lr as well . It kinda looks like a Marlin model 60 but not sure .
 
They can be great shooters, and if you reload, you can use any type of pointed bullet you want.

I'm surprised more companies haven't produced bolt actions for the cartridge since it's so popular
 
Good, accurate little rifles. They are not high-dollar, but they are nothing to sneer at, either. 1.5" at 100 yds typically. Crappy triggers, look like hammered you know what, but they shoot pretty well, and there is little that can go wrong with them.
 
What Scorch said sums it up, Foremost was a name JC Penney used to distribute everything from rifles to silk bloomers. Would make a good hog shooter, probably not drilled for a scope.
 
I recently gave one away to a friend for his kids. Savage made a bunch of them and would put anyone's name of them if you ordered enough. Good, low dollar rifle that is actually fun to shoot. They make a sort of hoaky scope mount for them, but I don't think they work particularly well. It's basically a 100 yd. rifle and open sights combined with a light short rifle make them handy.
 
That model requires a side-mount for a scope. Savage designed that rifle to utilize all the 30 caliber machine gun barrels they had leftover after WWII. It was cheap to produce and very serviceable.

When I was 15, was invited to go hunting with my cousin and his extended family in Unity, Maine. The "old poacher" who served as a guide for the group had a 340 and it was used hard, but still pretty accurate.

The barrel band tended to keep them shooting reasonably well, since receiver bedding was not especially good.

Don't lose the magazine, since they may be somewhat difficult to find.
 
Your Sears model 25 .22 isn't a Marlin--It's a High Standard.

I've only had one of the Savage 30-30 bolt actions. Solid gun,
mine would shoot under 1 1/2" groups with about anything.
Mine was very plain and a bit beat up---made a great truck gun.
 
The 340 was one of the designs Savage acquired when they absorbed Springfield (their model 840).

I have a Springfield 840, and it shoots fine, the side scope mount made by Springfield works great and centers the scope over the bore (Gun Parts Corp offers a well made repro). The Weaver side mount sucks and puts the scope off to the right.

Magazines aren't too hard to find, but they aren't a bargain either.

Good luck.

Springfield840bsv_zps3d7e8f17.jpg
 
Snyper said:
They can be great shooters, and if you reload, you can use any type of pointed bullet you want.
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Yes they can be good shooters. However, you can't use any type of pointed bullet in these rifles. There are a few problems with rifles designed for .30-30 cartridges that will affect your ability to use any spitzer style bullet.

#1 is the magazine length. The magazine was designed to feed flat point bullets, so you are limited on COAL.

#2 to get spitzer bullets to fit the magazine you need to trim the necks back substantially. The problem with spitzers is they are long, and seating bullets in an untrimmed .30-30 case will have you seating most ogives inside the neck when seated to magazine length. Thus the need to trim the case back, and you might have to use a different seating die like a .308 Win to get the neck tension right to hold your bullet in place.

#3 excessive jump to the lands with spitzer bullets because the ogive is so far back on spitzer bullets compared to FN or RN bullets. This might make accuracy hard to achieve. Some bullets don't like to jump a long ways before engaging the rifling.

The reason I know all this is I have a M788 Remington bolt action in .30-30 and I've tried several different spitzer bullets in this rifle. I found that if you want to use spitzer bullets flat base bullets in 110-135 bullets work the best. As these limit the jump to the lands the best, and you don't have to trim the brass back as far as with 150-180 grain spitzers. However I never got them to shoot as well as standard FN .30-30 bullets. In fact I could never get the Hornady FTX bullets designed for the .30-30 to fly as well as the FN bullets in my bolt action.

My M788 with FN bullets 125-170 grain rivals a good varmint rifle at 100 yards cutting many a one hole three shot groups. With FTX bullets both handloads and factory Hornady ammunition the rifle is about a .75 MOA rifle. Best I could ever get with 125 grain Sierra or 135 grain Hornady FBSP bullets was right at 1.5-2" groups at 100.
 
Alright guys thanks for the replies . It looks like the rifle has some promise . Although I have not as of yet , I do plan to do some pig hunting in the near future . I had been planning on building a 6.8 spc or 458 socom maybe a lever gun for hunting . Seems this rifle may fit the bill just fine .

Thanks again , I'll post some pics once I actually have the firearm . I'm in CA so that means I will not have it for at least 3 weeks ( shipping to FFL and waiting period )
 
Many of the Savage 340's I've run across had broken ejectors. That design seems to be inherantly weak.
 
The 340 is a solid, bare bones, inexpensive rifle. Have worked on several and really like them. Great rifles to teach basic shooting skills with. A friend had one he used for his bad-weather deer rifle(didn't want to take his expensive rifles out in the rain). With Speer 150gr fp reloads he put a lot of deer meat in the freezer over the years. In short; they are great, accurate, plain-jane rifles. You could have done a lot worse.:D
 
340 Savage

I have one in 30-30 and have seen another in 225 Winchester.B-square makes a scope mount for it but you do have to drill and tap for it.Mag holds 3 rounds and they are fine shooters for being a budget rifle.It is light and easy to carry and it has a very nice feel to it when shouldered.You may need to google it but I think they stopped making them in the mid 60's.Stevens also had one out just like it.I have taken it on both hog and deer hunts in the last couple of years.I would also add that it tends to be more accurate than a lever gun.
 
Savage did make a side mount for these guns for a while. Mine happens to be one of the earliest (first revision) and is not drilled and tapped from the factory. Later revisions had the left side drilled and tapped for the optional scope mount.
Check your gun. You may be part way there.
 
Check your gun. You may be part way there.
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That would be a + but I really don't want a scope on the rifle . I'd like to find a way to put some sort of peep / tech sights on it . Not sure if that will be possible but the FFL the rifle is being shipped to is also a gunsmith so I'll find out soon enough what I can and can't do . I will also find out how much I'll be willing to spend on the rifle to have it the way I want it .

If the receiver is in fact tapped for the mount . I'd consider putting a 1x4 scope on it
 
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