Indians For Guns

My cousin has inherited an old 30 bore Springfield rifle. He was told by the arms dealer that 30 bore cartridges were not available but 30.06 would work fine in the rifle.
Kindly advise if that is true or some further data would be required to decide on the cartridges that can be safely used.
After going through the various sites on the internet I am still confused.

Regards

Atul

first rule is to check the bore size, cartridge length and diameater

It is easy to check the dimensions of the cartridge to a certain degree of accuracy, using a vernier caliper. But the internal dimensions of the barrel would be difficult if not impossible to check unless one has specialized bore measuring equipment. Specially as no old cartridges of this particular rifle exist.

Regards

Atul

aadhaulya wrote:It is easy to check the dimensions of the cartridge to a certain degree of accuracy, using a vernier caliper. But the internal dimensions of the barrel would be difficult if not impossible to check unless one has specialized bore measuring equipment. Specially as no old cartridges of this particular rifle exist.

Regards

Atul

true, but there was a post on how to find the bore size using lead by i think xl or two rivers while back , am sure much info can be had from googleing

I tried google about the rifles though it was not clear to me. Let me check this lead stuff. But I am sure that lead melting stuff like crucible etc may not be commonly available in India.
But I guess that would be the best option.

Regards

Atul

There are two problems, answering your question:

1. "Springfield" was a U.S. Arsenal and now is a business. They made guns back in the 1800s and the commercial business now makes the M1A, the civilian version of the M14. So, to say "Springfield rifle" really doesn't identify an individual rifle.

2. "30 Bore" is often used in conversation, but it doesn't identify any cartridge. A number of cartridges having a .30 bore have been used in rifles made by Springfield, such as 30-06, 30-40 Krag (which could be called 30 U.S. Or 30 Army) and the predecessor to 30-06. 30-03. Maybe someone is calling 30 Carbine "30 Bore." A better description of the rifle and/or the true name o ft he cartridge (not just the diameter of the bore) is needed here.

Thanks Tim,

I will see what further details of the rifle I can get.

Regards

Atul

IMHO - While the bullet size 30 cal (7.62) could be the same for all bores pertaining to different brands of 30 cal rifles, what difference is the length of the cartridg &, the dimension of the shoulder....
Hence fitment in the breech could cause problems.....

Briha

Examine the rifle carefully.
Somewhere on the rifle, usually on the barrel, there will most likely be a stamp that tells you what cartridge it is chambered for.
The manufacturer will usually have marking on the receiver telling you who made the rifle.

If it says .30-06 Springfield then that is what your rifle is chambered for. If it says .30 US or .30 Government then it is chambered for the 30-40 Krag.
"30 bore" is essentially meaningless in this instance. Even saying 7.62mm when talking about bullet diameter is not very specific because NATO's 7.62X45 has a .308" dia. bullet but the Russian 7.62X39 uses a .311 bullet. The British "30 Bore" is .303 in diameter. It can get very confusing. When asking for ammunition to be used in a particular rifle, you have to be very specific.

The only cartridges that can be safely used in the rifle are ones that conform to what the barrel is marked for.
Anything else is dangerous and can could be deadly to the shooter and/or bystanders.

On the other hand it might not be a Springfield made rifle at all. It might just be stamped 30-06 Springfield.
We don't know what it is, without photos or a description of the markings on the rifle.

Chances are the rifle is a WW2 Springfield rifle, chambered for the .30-06 cartridge. I doubt that many Krag rifles made it to India. No military rifle ever carried the cartridge designation on the barrel, or anywhere else.

Caliber designates the diameter of the bore before the grooves are cut. Cartridge designation may, or may not, correspond. But it is a mistake to assume that a certain caliber/bore diameter corresponds to a certain groove or bullet diameter. For example, both the American and Russians rifles are caliber 7.62mm, or .300", but the nominal groove and bullet diameter are 7.82mm/.308" for the American cartridge, versus 7.92mm/.312" for the Russian cartridge. The Russian barrels has grooves half again as deep.

The British .300 cartridges are just that, true .300 caliber, except for the .300 Sherwood. The .303 stands alone, it is not ".30 Caliber", with a nominal .303"/7.7mm bore , and deep grooves, with a 7.92mm/.312" bullet. Groove diameter in modern firearms is 7.98mm/.314", in military barrels it can be considerably more.

aadhaulya wrote:My cousin has inherited an old 30 bore Springfield rifle. He was told by the arms dealer that 30 bore cartridges were not available but 30.06 would work fine in the rifle.
Kindly advise if that is true or some further data would be required to decide on the cartridges that can be safely used.
After going through the various sites on the internet I am still confused.

Regards

Atul

.30 Springfield was and still seems to be, the term used to describe, .30-06 cartridges as used in the 1903 Springfield and M1 Garand (Both Army officer allotment NSP rifles). Post a picture of the said rifle, if BA I am sure it is the 1903, If original/converted SA then the Garand.

Thanks for all your helpful reviews. I have already told my cousin not to use the 30.06 cartridges till we are sure. He will be sending pics of the rifle and the markings. If it is not the correct ammo I have offered to buy the ammo off him as I am always short of this ammo.

airguns wrote: .30 Springfield was and still seems to be, the term used to describe, .30-06 cartridges as used in the 1903 Springfield and M1 Garand (Both Army officer allotment NSP rifles). Post a picture of the said rifle, if BA I am sure it is the 1903, If original/converted SA then the Garand.

I have one doubt though. As per my understanding the 30.06 Springfield was introduced in 1906 after the modification of the 1903 version.. Or maybe I am misinformed about this subject??

Regards

Atul

aadhaulya wrote:Thanks for all your helpful reviews. I have already told my cousin not to use the 30.06 cartridges till we are sure. He will be sending pics of the rifle and the markings. If it is not the correct ammo I have offered to buy the ammo off him as I am always short of this ammo.

airguns wrote: .30 Springfield was and still seems to be, the term used to describe, .30-06 cartridges as used in the 1903 Springfield and M1 Garand (Both Army officer allotment NSP rifles). Post a picture of the said rifle, if BA I am sure it is the 1903, If original/converted SA then the Garand.

I have one doubt though. As per my understanding the 30.06 Springfield was introduced in 1906 after the modification of the 1903 version.. Or maybe I am misinformed about this subject??

Regards

Atul

One should be prudent, but 99.99% chance the rifle in question is a surplus WW-I era rifle, one of the many gifted to the Indian Army by the US. Most were subsequently allotted to ex-servicemen along with substantial quantities of disposal ammunition. Our family had one of these Springfield rifles along with a lot of disposal ammunition, very inaccurate rifle, so we sold it and acquired a commercial 30-06 rifle. However, we retained the disposal ammunition and kept using it in the new rifle. The reason, I still remember all this is because of the head stamp on the commercial NRAI allotted ammo used to have 30-06 on it. The army disposal ammo just used to have 30 ball written on the grey boxes, cartridge head stamps had code markings only, no mention of 30-06??

My Belgian Mauser '98 sporter 30-06 has .30 E.U.BLENDEE written on it. I was pretty confused while buying it but it turned out to be a genuine 30-06.
Keep your fingers crossed and hope this ones a 30-06 as well.

Marksman