[Joe S.]

picked up a little straight stock Topper 30-30 today at a pawn shop. gonna set this one up for my little girl to shoot. it has a scope mount attached to it. it has an "AN" serial number, so i would assume that is not 1975, but rather 1999. is this correct?

it has the case colored reciever and rather thin barrel. nice n light. for those that have a similar rifle, what ammo does it like? id like to set her up with a remington managed recoil 125gr round.

also, the stock has been cut down a good bit. i will be posting in the want ads for a stock set. will a handi rifle palet wood stock set work on this rifle? i am sure the stock will, but what about the forend?

thanks
joe

 

[Torwe]

Stocksand fore ends are interchangable. I have a topper 158 mfg in 1967 with a new stock and forend. Enjoy you 30-30

 

[Joe S.]

Great. I felt certain the stock was. thanks for confirming about the forend.

 

[Joe S.]

She will get it for Christmas. Hopefully take her first deer with it that afternoon.

 

[quickdtoo]

AN = 1975, if it was HN or NN, it would be 1999.

Tim

 

[Joe S.]

Oh wow! I got an oldie. Cool. Can't wait to choot it!

Here is the wood that's on it. Good shape. Just wish it was a tad longer. I may actually have a grind to fit pad put on it, then oil it up for her. What kind of wood did they use back then? I'm assuming birch?

 

[airsporter]

Stock appears to be refinished. New stocks should fit fine. I put a synthetic on my old Model 058 30-30 with no problem. Love the older light barrels.

 

[Joe S.]

I'm sure it was refinished. Man I wanna go tinker with it right now.

 

[Joe S.]

Were these factory drilled and tapped? Or am I dealing with an aftermarket job?

 

[Joe S.]

found a youth topper set. i had the guy measure it. 11 3/4" mine, measured the same way he measured his is cut to about 10 7/8"!

i am certain even that would have been too short for my daughter. i will have a recoil pad fitted to the new stock to help tame the recoil for her. coming together... now for a scope and rings...

 

[gcrank1]

With a little more work and some decent pieces of wood you could make stacking spacers and have it grow with her.

 

[Joe S.]

One thing I like is how the hammer sits lower than a handi rifle, allowing for lower scope mounting. That is IF I can find a hammer extension for the thing. I would guess they'd make one?

 

[OldSchoolRanger]

You can pick up a Uncle Mike's hammer extension from Optics Planet. Make sure you order the correct one: Item #2456-0. Link below:

http://www.opticsplanet.net/uncle-mike-s-hammer-extensions-for-a-better-grip.html

 

[Joe S.]

Sweet. Thanks.

Just tried two shells in the gun. One case that was fired in another gun. Case got stuck.
Then 1 new cartridge. It ejected properly but that's got me concerned that a fired case won't eject. Is this a problem? Is that why some people convert to extractor in place of ejector? Or is the fact the spent casing was fireformed to another chamber where my problem lies? I've had 12ga hulls get stuck in my pardner before if that matters...

Stuck case thread: http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,103479.msg1098284834.html#msg1098284834

 

[quickdtoo]

The fired case needs to be full length sized first, then it will work fine, all chambers aren't the same, it could have been fired in a chamber that was slightly longer, once the brass grows a little, it won't fit in the chamber and it will stick since ejectors have very little force to remove the brass, unlike extractors which have a mechanical advantage from the extractor cam. H&R hasn't made an ejector centerfire rifle barrel since about 2007, they've only made extractors since, currently ejectors are only found on rimfires and shotguns.

Tim

 

[gcrank1]

It isnt a problem until its a problem; try it and find out, odds are it works fine.

 

[OldSchoolRanger]

Just tried two shells in the gun. One case that was fired in another gun. Case got stuck.
Then 1 new cartridge. It ejected properly but that's got me concerned that a fired case won't eject. Is this a problem? Is that why some people convert to extractor in place of ejector? Or is the fact the spent casing was fireformed to another chamber where my problem lies? I've had 12ga hulls get stuck in my pardner before if that matters...

Stuck case thread: http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,103479.msg1098284834.html#msg1098284834

The problem is that the case was fire formed in another chamber. +1 What Quick said.

 

[airsporter]

Were these factory drilled and tapped? Or am I dealing with an aftermarket job?

I believe the H&R centerfire barrels were factory drilled & tapped. My Model 058 appears factory.

 

[Joe S.]

Yep I'd say its factory. New mount fits fine.

Got a little more accomplished tonight. Was at bass pro and noticed they had a shorter mount for the topper. So I got it. Its a BIG difference!

Also got a hammer extension.

Then after work I stopped in at walmart and got a set of weaver quad lock rings in high cause they got em cheap.

Got home and swapped everything out and got the scope mounted up. Now I'm just waiting on the new stock set so I can get her to the range and see how she shoots.

I must say I LOVE this little rifle. I bet its half the weight of my 35 remington handi rifle. Just hopin she groups with reduced recoil remingtons.

Hammer extension is close to the lach. Can I clearance that latch a tad if it touches?

 

[44 Man]

Looks like she's coming together great! The light weight is what attracted me to my Topper 30-30 when I saw it in the used gun rack at Jay's. After shooting this one, I was dissapointed at how heavy the new ones were in relation to the Topper (but I bought them anyway). I still have to get me one of the lightwt 7-08's that H&R is offering now! I love my Topper 30-30! And it's a real shooter too! 44 Man