A Gun a Week: Remington Model 30 Express, Caliber 30, Model 1906.

Remington Model 30 Express, 30 Caliber, 1906.

I've had a thing for Remingtons since the first Model 700 I bought way back in the late '90s. And once you've bought a 700, the acme of Remington rifle evolution, the only way to go is backwards in time. This Model 30 just so happens to be the oldest rifle, oldest Remington, that I own. It's safe to say they don't make them like this anymore, and of course, my gunsmith buddy always says, "Yeah, there's a reason for that!"

The Model 30's story goes all the way back to the Great War, back when England paid Remington to crank out their ugly Enfield P 14 for their war effort. And after the US entered the war, Remington factories were called upon to crank out our version of the P 14 affectionately called the M 17 Enfield. His Majesty's rifles were in .303 British, but our rifles were chambered in a fairly new (at the time) number called Calibre .30, model of 1906. Nowadays we just call it 30-06.

Here's the British version, The Enfield P 14 in .303 British.

When the war was over, Remington was left with three or four factories and thousands of complete and nearly complete rifles that no one needed anymore. Most of those factories were shut down, and left holding the bag, Remington wisely entered the post-war sporter rifle market with a stream-lined version of the battle rifle they called the Model 30. The line of rifles was introduced in 1921, and mine was made in 1926.

And here's the US Army's Enfield M17. They were easier to make than our
premier battle rifle, the Springfield Model 1903.

It's marked MODEL 30 Express on the receiver and the barrel is stamped SPRINGFIELD 30 CAL. 1906. The battle tested cartridge had just started its march to the top of the list for American hunters and shooters. Veteran's back from the war might have been eager to hunt with a the rifle and cartridge with which they were familiar. To this day, 30-06 is the go-to, do-all cartridge that will take any game animal in North America. Most of America's military cartridges are still quite popular today going back to the 45-70 Government. The only one that isn't as popular as the others is the 30-40 Krag, or 30 Army. Never heard of it? Yeah, neither has anyone else. But the 30-06 is here to stay.

Nicely tapered tapered barrel for sporting purposes.

Remington did all they could to sporterize the M17 and make one of the ugliest military rifles better suited and better looking for the field. They chopped off the gigantic rear sight housing on the receiver bridge and dove-tailed the new rear sight onto the now nicely tapered sporter weight barrel. What they couldn't get rid of was the less-than-sleek safety lever that is as big as I have ever seen on a rifle. To say it's obtrusive is an understatement! It's as big as a human thumb and swings to and fro just over ninety degrees. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it's a positive safety. You flip this monster all the way over and you're positive the safety is engaged. It is right by your thumb though, and I guess that's nice.

Now that is a safety lever! Note the two filler screws for an after market receiver sight. 

The Model 30 is a shameless Mauser rip-off just like its Model 1903 cousin (but that's another post). There's no denying it. The ugly, dog-legged bolt sports the massive claw extractor and two locking lugs the Mauser brothers made famous. And on the left side of the receiver there's a huge, Mauser-like bolt release that you yank to remove the bolt for cleaning and maintenance. The Model 30 even retained the stripper clip guide that was milled into the receiver of the Enfields, and I suppose some hunters would have used it, especially if they had been trained for battle with the rifle. Stripper clips can still be found at gun shows and mail order, and it might be fun to use them hunting--better than having your cartridges clinking around in your pocket.

Massive extractor claw, stripper clip guide, and huge bolt release all inherited from
the Mauser K98.

The stock is a slender rail of walnut with a schnabel forearm and finger grooves. To me, its straight-combed stock feels a tad high for its open sights, as if they anticipated folks scoping the rifles even though the receiver isn't drilled and tapped for scope mounts. You really have to jam your cheek onto the stock to get them lined up the way I was taught to shoot open sights. The receiver is drilled and tapped for a receiver sight like a Williams or a Lyman on the right side, which might be easier to utilize with this stock. I could get a higher front sight I guess, but so far it's done its job when asked.

Like a bunch of rifles from the early years of the 20th century, this rifle has a steel butt plate. And if it were a stone-cold shooter, I'd probably replace the torture device with a rubber recoil pad. But since it has some collector value--even if just to me--I'm content to keep it as is. Shooting from the bench isn't any fun, that's for sure. But when you're hunting, you never feel the recoil, and that's a fact. When I'm hunting, I'm usually bundled up in winter clothes, and when I'm shooting from the bench, I have an old knee pad that goes under my shirt so the other shooters can't see it and make fun of me.

A steel butt plate and a lightweight walnut stock equals quite a thump when shooting.

Before I took this rifle hunting, I did shoot it from the bench. A pretty unscientific undertaking, but since I would just be shooting for the deer's vitals and not bench-rest accuracy, I set a 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" red card at the hundred yard target stand and let fly some home-manufactured 30-06 cartridges. If I can get the bullets into that size rectangle at 100 yards, then I'm pretty certain I can hit a deer in the vitals at the same range and closer. I know that any further out than 100 yards I'll have trouble even seeing the deer as they tend to disappear behind the rifle's front sight. And if's it's predawn or post sunset, I can forget about it. So 100 yards has always been my default limit for open sight hunting, and additionally, I only do so during the morning hunts because as the morning moves along, the sunlight gets brighter and brighter increasing my ability and confidence.

The first time I hunted with it was a grey, drizzle-filled New Year's Day morning--the last day of the season. Earlier that morning while sitting in the stand I was busted by a little spike buck that had walked out of the pines underneath me and he made such a big deal out of seeing me that I thought I wouldn't see another deer the rest of the morning. But soon enough, across the gas line clearing from me, a doe stepped out quietly from the thicket and stared right down the gas line at my friend who was up a tree further down. While she studied him, she stood in a classic broadside right in front of me about 68 yards away. A quick neck shot and she was mine instantly. No tracking was necessary.

It's quite a good feeling taking a rifle that you know was made for war, retooled for hunting, and then probably forgotten for decades out into the field to hunt and harvest a deer. For me, who believes that objects have ghosts with them, it's putting these haints to rest when I use the object, the rifle, for the purpose it was intended that I like. When you shoulder an old rifle and when you shoot it, you're repeating a process that some nameless ghosts did before you. You feel the same heft. You feel the same recoil. You hear the same report just as those ghosts did years before you, and that's a really familiar feeling among hunters.