Upgrading to the Rossi R95 in .30-30
By Ian Richardson
Upgrading from a sentimental hunting rifle to a modern option can be a personal odyssey of the heart and body. The Rossi R95 in .30-30 doesn’t quibble with this challenge. In the short quest to explore a suitable replacement for my first childhood rifle – a graying lever-action with an even saltier optic – I was pleased to hold the R95 with its gentle conveniences, traditional style and awesome accuracy. Frankly, I didn’t know the .30-30 cartridge could perform this way until the R95 put punctures to paper.
The R95 is an instant-classic in my eyes because of its respect for tradition, innovation and aesthetics. Battle rifles have their own personable mystique about them with their ability to perform under abusive situations; however, hunting rifles are the wizards of firearm mythology.
Out-of-the-Box Confidence
I’m a firm believer that art consists of beauty at the right place and time. In the R95’s two-pronged ambush on my attention, aesthetics and performance are the bounding squad leaders.
I can’t over-emphasize how much of a pleasure it is working with an ambidextrous platform as a left-handed shooter. While a southpaw running a righty receiver may look like a duck out of water, we’re an adaptable breed. The recent spotlight on lever-actions has brought hand dominance onto a level playing field. The R95 has all the timeless features of the traditional lever gun right out of the box.
Furniture and accessories can come and go but the R95 details just make sense. In contrast to my older carbine, devoid of any butt stock padding, this Rossi comes with one installed and ready to shush away that poor shoulder pocket – and, no, it won’t quiet the tinnitus in your ear when you forget your ear pro.
Additionally, the larger loading gate makes fumbling with cartridges less … fumbly. Concerning stock finishes, far be it from me to criticize another’s selection, but the walnut and black oxide finish is the only way to go. Is it a truck gun? No. Tacticool pew-master 3000? Hard no. This is a North American medium- to large-game hunting rifle and the R95 hearkens to distinguished roots that ooze blued finishes, hardwood stains and a hand-crafted feel.
The prominent and adjustable buckhorn sight doesn’t mince words when it beckons to be utilized. There’s a sensible argument to be made that see-through optic rings are the best option for using scopes and irons. Of course, the scope magnification can be manipulated; however, shifting down to irons is speedier for short-range target acquisition. For my setup, I did not have a proper cheek weld when using my Leopold, but I did on my iron sight picture, which was where I wanted it most anyway. I think I speak for the majority of GWOT service members when I say we could use an extra period of instruction on the importance of the cheek weld because the 5.56 platforms weren’t doing us any favors.
Accuracy
My favorite feature of the R95 is its accuracy. Perhaps this is a common sense desire; however, my rationale rests at the feet of self-accountability more than anything else. If the rifle is sound and there are deviations from its desired performance, I can rest assured that there is operator error at work and I can tune myself much faster than the base performance of the firearm.
The top of the R95 receiver came pre-drilled and tapped out of the box. I began setup by mounting some see-through scope rings that I had cannibalized off of an old Mauser rifle from several years back. For this R95, I didn’t want to squander the opportunity to have access to the iron sights that are a focal feature of this .30-30. With the Leupold VX-3HD peeper apparatus tightened down, I hightailed it to the range.
During zeroing and for the sake of time at 8x magnification, I fired one cartridge initially and between adjustments at 25 yards until I was holding one-inch high off center of mass. Confident with the progression, I pushed the paper target out to 100 yards, still firing one cartridge between adjustments.
Here’s when the magic materialized for me. After shooting a cartridge one-inch high at 100 yards and supposing the average of two more would be my final adjustment, I was pleased that all final adjustment rounds were tight – very tight – holding just above center of mass. This is my preferred sweet spot; I disregarded any follow-on adjustments. This would have been a good time to pull off of the range and make some of my wife’s cookies disappear, but I wondered.
Historically with my older lever-action, I would be at ease pulling the trigger at 100 yards or less with little concern for inaccuracies. Somewhere along the way, I considered this part and parcel of lever-action .30-30 performance, but the R95 was altering my perspective. I wanted more.
I held one foot above center of mass at the 200-yard plate and after the hammer dropped, the residual steel blackhead shining through the Leupold was encouragingly dead-center. I sent the hate downrange a second time and again, the grouping was tight laterally and longitudinally. Try for 300 yards? That’s a Texas-sized 10-4.
Holding two-and-a-half feet high above center of mass at 300 yards, the bullet resounded with a reasonably accurate thump and considerably less energy. Under normal hunting conditions, I wouldn’t deign to send a .30-30 bullet out this far. But, what still makes me nod my head in approval in the wee hours of the morning is that the R95 goes above and beyond in holding the cartridge responsible for inconsistencies alone. In this range experience, both the R95 and the cartridge held remarkably true. Even with a hot barrel, I saw minimal fluctuation in performance.
While the .30-30 cartridge is not designed for reaching out and touching things in a traditionally distant fashion, I would pit the R95’s accuracy against any bolt-action for sporting fun.
MSRP: $984.99
About the Author
Ian Richardson is a devoted father, husband and English teacher in Missouri. He was an infantryman in the U.S. Army and remains a staunch advocate for gun rights and outdoor pursuits.
As an English teacher, Ian has a love for tying in literature to real-world situations and passions, often incorporating his own experiences as a father and husband to enrich old stories.
Ian enjoys the company of his wife and three young children and enjoys the prospect of passing on a deep understanding of nature, marksmanship and the craft of hunting.
Ian is on the masthead as an editor at the ‘Women’s Outdoor News’ network, has written for “Shooting Illustrated” and has done content creation for many firearm and outdoor-focused companies.
