5.7X28 FN chambered in a rifle, solutions for potential issues

[Kenny474]

Amongst my other projects, I have had this idea kicking around for some time; a rifle chambered in 5.7X28 FN with a barrel somewhere between 20" and 24" long and what I believe would be an ideal twist of 1-9" for 30 to 40gr bullets. It will be for paper punching and close range small game, and since it would have relatively little noise in such a long barrel, would be ideal for use where noise is an issue.

One of the issues that will need to be overcome is the odd .307" rim diameter, as even a .22 Hornet has a .350" rim diameter. Does anyone have a solution for this, or will I need some type of custom or bushed bolt head for this to work?

I wold like to use either a Savage or Remington action, and it would be single fed, so no mag issues to work out.

Are there any other potential issues that I am missing?

I know I could just go with a K-Hornet, but I really like the looks of this little round, and think it could have good accuracy potential in a well built bolt rifle.

 

[brfun]

PTG makes a rem bolt for the 5.7. i dont have a clue about savage. with as litte powder as the 5.7 uses like 5.8 grains in mine i personaly think 24" is way to long more like 18 or 20 max would be better. mine is a upeer for my ar with a 16" barrel with a 8.5 twist and loves the 40 bergers. i have gone up to 60 vmax as i am also in search of a good subsonic load. didnt not see any key holeing until i got down to about 800 fps with this twist.
being a semi auto i didnt have alot of hope for it being a tack driver but i think in a bolt it may have some potentel for a short range varmit round. with the bergers mine will average 1/2 to 5/8 five shot groups at 100. i would be very intersested in how the 5.7 works in a good bolt gun.
Brian

 

[ReedG]

Kenny, that l'il 5.7x28 is interesting for sure. The thing it has over the .22 Hornet, K-Hornet, or even the .218 Bee is that it is good brass. Hornet brass is paper-thin. I think the 5.7 is a natural for a Contender or rechambered .22 Hornet. I'm afraid the little cuss would get lost in a full-size action like a Savage or Remington.

Keep us posted if you decide to go ahead with it.

 

[Kenny474]

Reed, the 5.7X28 has intrigued me since I first learned of it a few years back, and I have always wanted a bolt rifle chambered for it. I just think it is about as ideal as a round can be for a quiet (comparatively to other more popular and larger .223 rounds) short range small game or target rifle. It has a bit more power than a .22WMR, and is centerfire so it can be reloaded with bullets tailored to the task at hand, and may also be able to be loaded a bit more precise and consistent as well. Though with such a small round and powder charge, one would have to take great care and weigh every charge very precisely as even small variations would likely show up in high ES/SD numbers.

I just really think it could be a really fun little rig. And since it likely won't have much, if any, felt recoil and should be decently accurate, it would be a great rifle for my girl or anyone else who is relatively new to shooting to learn on or perfect their skills as it won't be intimidating or painful to fire.


But, I need to finish the 6BR barrel for my rifle and do a few other upgrades as well, as I am looking to try 600yd F-Class next year, and need to invest a lot in tooling for my new lathe and mill, the 5.7 will likely end up being a long term project and I will just try to pick up pieces for it over time as I find good deals and have a bit more money to work with.

I would likely use a remington 700 short action, as Kiff makes a 5.7 bolt, and you can often find actions, stocks and other parts for short money used or on sale if you look hard enough and are willing to wait a while to do it. And Remmy's can be made into very accurate rifles as well, so it just seems like it would fit the bill nicely.

Though a Savage 93FV 22WMR would serve the same purpose with nearly the same ballistics and cost a lot less money for the time being. I may just try to scrounge up the cake for one of those, as $250 is a whole lot less than the $1000+ it will cost to build the 5.7.

Who knows where this will end up.

 

[kevinthree]

I have all the parts now, so I'll let you all know how it comes together. My customer wanted a barrel that may turn out to be too long. Remington, PTG bolt, Shilen 1/12 barrel.
I thought the 1/12 would be fine for the light bullets of the 5.7. A note on reloading the 5.7- the "surplus" brass is hard to size in one pass and only after annealing and sizing in two passes could I avoid pulling off the thin rims.
Kevin Ridling

 

[m500]

Kenny, you might want to look at this.


http://savagearms.com/firearms/model/25%20LVT

 

[Kenny474]

Kenny, you might want to look at this.


http://savagearms.com/firearms/model/25%20LVT

I had actually heard that Savage was going to be releasing this and called to confirm. After a few calls and finally finding the right person to ask, I was told it was actually going to happen and was not just a rumor. It's a large part of why I gave up on building one, and I also bought a 22WMR as well, so it really wasn't something I couldn't wait for.

I am still trying to figure out if I want to drop the cash on it, not near decided yet. I am in love with my 22WMR Savage and this is still a big price tag for a "fun gun" with minimal uses. I will see what the reviews say and go from there.

Thanks, I actually had not yet seen what model it was, as Savage wouldn't tell me anything other than a 5.7 was in the works.

Kenny

 

[kevinthree]

The Remington 700 version shoots great, but doesn't eject very well.
It is not too loud and is accurate with the factory loads. I'll try some reloads tomorrow morning.

 

[rbertalotto]

only after annealing and sizing in two passes could I avoid pulling off the thin rims.
Kevin Ridling

I've been playing around with this cartridge for the past few weeks. I have a few thousand once fired brass from my local police range.

The brass has a lacquer protective finish on it that needs to be stripped of or it locks itself into the sizing die and the rims get ripped off. I tumbled it with some silica carbide from my bead blaster and this removed all the finish, then tumbled with regular corn cvob with Brasso brought it back to shinny. Now they go in and out of the dies beautifully.

 

[brfun]

As for the coating on the brass I leave mine on being a semi auto. I have loaded over a thousand with out one rim issue. All I use is Hornady unique case lube. I also run the brass through a couple of cycles in the ultrasonic cleaner with a mixture of simple green. This seems to not bother the coating.
Brian

 

[CFCA1237]

Kenny,

After going through your same exercise, I ended up having Kevin Weaver rechamber one of my Cooper 38's chambered in a 22 CCM into the 5.7-28. It worked out perfectly, shoots great and feeds flawlessly out of the standard magazine once modified. I get about 1inch groups out of the factory ammo at 100yds and that was before ever bringing it to the loading bench. I know the CCM's are difficult to find but most of the model 38's in 22 cal will work by modifying the action and simply setting back the barrel.

As a side note Kevin chambered the gun in exchange for the reamer which was custom made by Dave Kiff for this project. Look him up - Kevin does great work and has the reamer...

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