I might be Building a 6BR for a guy here locally as a youth hunting rifle. I’m concerned about feeding issues using a std BDL magazine. All of the repeaters I’ve built have been DBM fed. He likes the smooth bottom of the BDL style Rifles. Any suggestions or feedback from what you’ve done or tried to make this go smoother would be appreciated. Milled follower vs stamped follower? Install a spacer in the back of the magazine and cut the follower down? Or are we overthinking it? Thanks in advance Zack
What action are you using? My experience involves two Model Seven actions, mine and my brothers. Mine is an older model that was originally a .260 Rem. I trued the action and installed a 22" Bartlein #3b barrel. I am running Norma brass and 95gr TMKs with absolutely zero feeding issues at all. It runs very smooth and I didn't have to tweak anything. My brothers was a new Model Seven purchased last year and build specs are exactly the same other than his has a 24" barrel length. His would not feed worth a damn at all no matter what we tried. He also hates the look of a DBM but we ended up having to run an AICS mag system with a BR mag to get his to function reliably.
It will be built on a 700 so it’ll have the same internal magazine, follower and spring as your Model 7’s. Did you notice if the followers were any different or did you try switching your internal mag parts to his gun and viseversa to see if they would work in the opposite gun? Just curious why one worked and one didn’t.
Good luck. Feeding a 6BR through a magazine has been hit and miss even with the single stack DBM's. The problem is that they tend to "nose dive" in the magazine because of the short body.
If you are going with a 700 SA check out the Wyatt's Outdoor BR internal box. It is a center feed and the ones I have install for the BR/Dasher cases have worked very well.
I fit a spacer in an HS precision dbm mag on the last one I did. They hold 3 and only stick down about 1/4". Feed very well, like any centerfeed. If more guys get to building these maybe we can get Wyatts to make the br box again. It was a centerfeed internal box. Edit: I just read the other posts, the BR box is no longer made unfortunately.
I have done a number of these using the Mike Bryant modification. Some did end up working better than others, but I was usually able to tune the mag feed lips and the spring to get them to work satisfactorily. The factory cast follower is less than ideal because it tends to be "sticky" with the cases and scratches them quite a bit. It may help to Cerakote or apply DLC. The stamped, plated follower sold as from the model 7 can be shortened by leaving a little extra at the rear that can be bent down to give enough ramp to allow the bolt to ride over. I like the anodized followers that Wyatt sells but they would be difficult to shorten. I have asked them to consider making a BR length follower but they don't seem to have enough demand. Now would be a good time for one of the digital 3D printer guys to step up and make a kit.
