Henry Rifle Forums

I recently came across a Henry single-shot rifle chambered in 30-30. It was too tempting a deal to pass up so purchased it, somewhat on impulse. After picking it up, I began thinking if these rifles might lend themselves to some tinkering, specifically rechambering it to a different cartridge. (Not thinking about reboring at this point, just rechambering to another 30 caliber cartridge.) The cartridge I have in mind is the 30R Blaser. I have always wanted a stalking rifle in this chambering like a Blaser K95 or Krieghoff Hubertus but the rifles in this cartridge are not made available in the US market. Anyway, when I saw that Henry had introduced their single-shot, I thought this could be the basis for the idea I have been thinking about.

Thanks in advance for any insights.

I'm guessing some member(s) will be able to address this, but I'm not one of them. Will be interesting to see what responses come about!

Blaser K95 or Krieghoff Hubertus .. .. never heard of them .... I would bet that if you call Henry they will say NO WAY .... my recommendation would be to check with whoever you would trust to do the work .... they should be able to offer some sound advice

If you find someone please post it. I was considering a medium bull barrel with a 1:8 twist for .223 or a 6.8 SPC.

Read your post with interest. Sure is some kind of project to rechamber a Henry SS, and will be if you accomplish your goal.

Neither am I familiar with the .30R Blaser caliber, so did a little reading on it. Seems like it is quite rare to find in the US, no different than trying to find the two rifle models you mentioned. RWS/Rottweil does market this caliber, and say it is a very good hunting ammo. Is that where you might purchase it, or do you plan to reload?

Along with others, will enjoy following your efforts.

This would be an interesting project. The cartridge is essentially a rimmed 30-06, and, since the Henry steel receiver rifles are chambered in .308 Win., this cartridge should be fine, since it's proofed at a slightly lower chamber pressure than the American SAAMI spec.s for .308 Win. It wouldn't be any more trouble to handload for this one than for the 30-40 Krag, right? I'd still want a good gunsmith to be happy with the chamber length, since it is a bit longer round.

Yornoc3 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:05 pm

I'd still want a good gunsmith to be happy with the chamber length, since it is a bit longer round.

absolutely agree .... if you are going to do the work yourself, I suspect most "gunsmiths" would not want to OK the project .... in recent years a realistic fear of liability lawsuits have narrowed the field of what modifications they are willing to undertake .... example : bolting in an aftermarket trigger is one thing .... lowering a trigger pull through honing OEM components is another

It would most likely work out. However, if you ever have a problem with the rifle, I don't think H.R.A. would be obligated to fix it.

I'm not familiar with that cartridge, but my big concern would be the extractor. Something like the .30-30 AI would certainly make sense to me.

but my big concern would be the extractor.

Good point.
Most 'rechambering' is based on the adaptation of the rifles' current cartridge case into another caliber dimension or reshaping it to create more capacity - but leaving the head in its original size and configuration.
A complete rechambering to an entirely different cartridge size is a much more advanced operation that might require bolt face modification and most likely extractor and ejector modifications as well.
Not all rifles are candidates for rechambering to an entirely different cartridge and if one is wanting an exotic, rare or unique round a rifle originally chambered for that round should be chosen.