H&R Topper 30-30 project

fixin up a 1975 model H&R Topper 30-30 for my daughter to use as a deer gun this year.
i dont know much about em, except i think they are built on a different reciever than the Handi rifle and it is (seems like) about half the weight of my Handi rifle with 35 remington barrel. that is gonna be a welcome feature for my daughter since she is 13.

one thing i have learned is that the hammer on this Topper is positioned more horizontally than the Handi rifle is. that means you can use a lower scope mount, instead of the extra high rings required for mounting most scopes on the Handi. i really like that feature because i hate having the hiiiigh rings on my 35...

when i got this one the stock was straight, which i prefer, BUT somewhere downt he line someone cut this one WAAAAY off. it is over an inch shorter than the youth stocks. my daughter is tall for her age so i dont think this one is gonna work for her. so after a conversation with cranedriver, i have a stock set on the way for it. it is a youth set off a pardner shotgun. i think it will work good. cant wait til it comes in.

another thing i didnt like that was on this Topper was the extra long scope rail. that would be fine for a standard scope, but my friend Pkett44 gave me a nice little Simmons Whitetail classic scope in 1.5-5x24 that i really want to use on this rifle because it is small and light. but with this scope, the existing scope rail was just about too long.

then i got to pokin around at Bass Pro last night and lucked up on a rail for a Topper that was a good bit shorter. picked that up with a hammer spur and headed home when we closed. stopped by Walmart on the way home and got a set of Weaver quad lock rings. i have had good luck with these on low recoiling rifles. and they are light, sticking with the theme of this rifle.

now all i am waiting on is the stock set to arrive and i can take it to the range to try and get her sighted in. i am going to sight in using the reduced recoil 30-30 ammo that i got from granjack last week. if they group good, then i will buy another box for her to hunt with. if not, i will try the 150gr... really hoping the 125s group good enough for her to use until i can work up a specific load for her.

so anyway, here are pics.
super short stock.



super long scope base on super cool, lightweight scope. thanks pkett44!


old base off, new base on... see the difference?


i used high rings just to give me a little more clearance than my mediums gave me initially. it sits just right, IMO


hammer extension mounted. it is CLOSE to the latch. hope that dont cause an issue... :-/


all mounted up and ready to go. just waiting on the stock set.


more to come.

That's a nice looking rig...especially like the scope and mount...hope your daughter has good luck with it...you mentioned that your H&R has a .35 Remington barrel ... did the rifle come with a .35 Rem or is it a aftermarket barrel, if so where did you purchase it from ... I've seen where .357 Magnum barrels can be re chambered for .35 Rem but have not been able to locate a .35 Rem barrel.

Thanks cranedriver

Pwb, a friend just bought one from vans. I got mine as a combo at outfitter. It came with that barrel and 444 bbl and I sold the 444 bbl

Horseshoes and hand grenades! Close don't count on hammer spurs. Looks good so far. Keep us posted. Philip

found some managed recoil. Bought 1 box.



Shell holder, check.


Youth pardner stock, check.



This wood may not even need refinishing. But it is desperate for a good cleaning. May try buffing it with some steel wool then going back over it with some polish...

I'm tickled. Next up is drill the stock for sling stud and maybe forend but am actually thinkin about one of those barrel band sling swivels that uncle mikes makes for magnum guns. What yall think?

I swear I think I like this gun enough to try and find one for myself. This one may get hunted with even when the daughter aint hunting!

Go with the barrel band and give it that "European" look. Those combined with that scope would make for a classy package.

Barrel band sling swivels on those H&R rifles make the most sense. Pulling on that forearm gives accuracy gremlins an inroad. It sure is hard to get rid of those devils once they infect a gun.

Yea man, it fit great! Gonna look for the uncle mike piece next time I'm at bass pro. I think it will look good myself.

I have a .444 Marlin Handi Rifle. I had High rings on it like you said you did on your .35. I bought some medium warne rings that would work but the hammer was hitting the scope. I used my dremel tool and shaved down the top of the hammer and also the bottom of the hammer extension (so it could slide down further on the hammer). I have plenty of clearance between my scope and hammer now, and I also like th lower (medium height) rings much bettter. I don't mean to take your thread by making this post. I just wanted to share some information.

No problem. I have thought of doing that myself. You didn't have any ill effects from doing so?

I like the reduced loads. Had a spare minute to run out to the range at lunch and got her dialed in for the morning. This is at 50 yards. 3 shots. We aren't gonna take a longer shot on a deer until she gets a little experience under her belt so I'm comfortable with this out to 75 or so

I have not noticed any difference since grinding down the top of the hammer and the bottom of the hammer extension. I like having the lower rings for sure.

I was looking at the pictures again and something jumped out at me. Look how much better the wood to metal fit was with the Topper stock as compared to the Pardner wood.

I would like to have either a 30-30 Topper or even better a 38-55 in Topper configuration.

Yea the wood to metal fit is better on the old wood. It was just way to short to work with. I prefer the straight grip any day.

sharp looking rifle

thanks

Was at a pawn shop today and there was a nice lookin 410 in there. I kept thinking how good that stock set would look on Hannah's little Topper. Well I got it.

Swapped out the stocks tonight and got a crash course in inletting!

The pardner 20ga stock I had that fit the 30-30 perfectly did NOT fit the contour of the barrel nor did the barrel stud hole work. Apparently at some point the factory decided to start using a different type of barrel stud. The one on the 410 was more than just a stud, while the Topper (and apparently the 20ga pardner) was simply a stud hanging down. The 410 forend went on the 30-30 fine but not vice versa so out comes the dremel! I had to open up the barrel channel a good bit from the 20ga forend to fit the 410 contour. not to worried about it as this 410 will be cut down more than likely and spend most of the rest of its life on a 4wheeler rack. The 30-30 looks nice but the channel on the forend is noticeable wider than the barrel. I can live with it. It looks good on there!

Since changing out the forend I wonder how much my point of impact is going to change? Hmmm...

Don't guess it matters much. The nicer stock set totally makes it worth having to readjust the scope's settings. May take this opportunity and go ahead and throw that 2-7x32 prostaff I have on there. Dunno yet...

That looks real nice, Joe!