6mm/284

[Michael W. De Land]

You might want to take the plunge and invest in a good bore scope so you can keep and eye on throat erosion. Keep in mind there will be a learning curve to interpret what your viewing as most scopes have some magnification and tend to exaggerate the practical shooting condition of the particular barrel . I have a Hawkeye and although expensive I use it all the time. Best 800.00 bucks I'd spent in a long time but that was ten years ago and have no idea what they are now days.
If you get on line and search for eroded bore pictures you can get some idea of what to look for. I personally built a new .284 Winchester about 20 years ago using a Douglas XX barrel and could see the beginning of throat erosion in less than 200 rounds. The Hawkeye I have has a 24-x eye piece so what I see would hardly be noticed with the naked eye.
I'm guessing with the 6mm.284 and moderate loads accuracy should remain pretty unchanged until around 1500-2000 rounds. But if one insists on running them over 60K PSI then the throat will be gone in about 1k rounds or so.
Another point I think is important to discuss is how much better stainless barrels resist erosion than does chrome-molly. I have one of P.O. Ackleys books. For those that are not familiar with his writings, he maintained that there was virtually no difference in throat erosion resistance between the two, having re-bored and rifled many shot out barrels.
Probably is a good idea to use long barrels over 26 inches so that they can be set back and re-chambered as the throats start to go although I don't see much practicality ballistic-ally in barrel lengths over 26 inches.

 

[Michael W. De Land]

With a 1-9.5" twist rate, it should shoot those Hornady 87 gr. V-Max bullets very well!

IMR-4350 or 4831 powder should get you started very nicely. Federal Match primers work very well too.

Congratulations on such a wonderful score! That rifle and 1917 action are great, so I hope you get to really enjoy them.

Thanks for the powder recommendation! Good ole 4350 is one of my most favorite powder choices. I shot a .338 Mag for 30 years as my main moose and bear rifle so both 4350 and 4831 were my go to powders in that cartridge. About 15 years ago I got the notion to make a .338-280 improved on a Chezk 98 Mauser action I had on hand. I use Hogkins 414 and can run 210 grain Nosler's to and honest 2900 fps with no pressure issues. I like and use the 225 Hornady interlocks as well for caribou, bear and moose.
Stocked it with a Clifton classic Kevlar/fiberglass stock and like it so well I've pretty well retired the Ruger 77 .338 Mag.

 

[BRGUY]

No problem! I hope one of them works very well for you.

I like the .338-280 Improved and have built a few of them myself. Like you, I used Hodgdon's 414 since it is basically a ball powder version of 4350 and you can actually get a little more of in a case.

I don't remember know how long it's been, but when you could get a 98 Mauser in a single shot, with a big beefy solid bottom on it for $200 I bought several of them and built a lot of different "Improved" cartridges around them, and stocked them in Fajen thumbhole stocks set up specifically for these single shot actions.

 

[Michael W. De Land]

No problem! I hope one of them works very well for you.

I like the .338-280 Improved and have built a few of them myself. Like you, I used Hodgdon's 414 since it is basically a ball powder version of 4350 and you can actually get a little more of in a case.

I don't remember know how long it's been, but when you could get a 98 Mauser in a single shot, with a big beefy solid bottom on it for $200 I bought several of them and built a lot of different "Improved" cartridges around them, and stocked them in Fajen thumbhole stocks set up specifically for these single shot actions.

Yeah, pretty amazing how well engineered the Mauser 98 is and for a big game rifle I can't think of anything better although for varmint and target rifles it's pretty hard to beat the stiffness and quick lock time of the Remington's. The Pearson's are a bit better but are nothing more than hand made precision Remington's.
I built an F class target rifle for a friend last winter who brought me all the parts. He used a Pearson custom action with a Jewel trigger, Bartline barrel, HS Precision stock and a Nightforce scope on it. He has several Rem 40-x's in various calibers and says this gun will out shoot them all. I asked what he had in the parts cost and he was hesitant to say so I ventured a guess at 5 grand and he affirmed it a pretty good guess but actually a bit more.
It is chambered in .308 for the military matches he likes to enter. I used the Pacific version of their match reamer with a tight throat. He has been using Berger bullets and texted me a picture of his first 300 yard bench group. Four went into one ragged half inch hole then he made the mistake of taking a peak through the spotting scope before firing number five. It still with into one inch but was out of the previous four shot hole. It's pretty easy to make an accurate rifle when you have components like these to work with.
I picked up another Martini cadet worked over by Fracotti about month ago and spend yesterday and today turning down a Douglas barrel blank to fit it. I like to shoot each month in our offhand gong shoots with lead bullets only at 50,100,150 and 200 meters. This rifle will be chambered in .357 Mag this go around . I have another in .357 Max that is a real shooter but found I don't really need the extra case capacity for smokeless loads. I built the Max on another Martini Cadet to shoot Black powder loads it. With 200 grain lead bullets the loaded case will barely make the turn into the chamber. The .357 Mag case will be much handier in this regard and should not give up anything in velocity for the speed we use. The Max runs the 200 grain Lyman at 1600 fps with 15 grains of H-110 and it only fills half the case.
I'll cut a new grease bullet mold of about 225-250 grains for the Magnum as I can use the extra weight on the rams at 200 meters and still have a shorter over all case length.
Got this deal going along with getting the 6mm-284 running as well. Not really much use for the cartridge (6mm/284) up here as I don't hunt varmints any more and when after caribou moose or bear I prefer the .280-.338.

 

[BRGUY]

I have built quite a few 6mm-284 rifles for guys to use caribou hunting, and they always did very well. And back when Speer made their 105 gr. Hot-Cor bullets, those were used almost exclusively for caribou, elk and black bear, and I shot more that a few whitetail deer with them as well.

Talking about the 357 magnum and 357 Maximum, I rechamber a lot of the single shot rifles in 357 magnum to the 357 Maximum, as well as build a lot of rifles chambered for the Maximum. I've got a couple of customers who shoot 250 gr. hard cast bullets for big hogs and bears, and accuracy is superb for that kind of load.

I'm building a rifle now for my Pastor that has a Bartlein barrel, H-S Precision stock, Rifle Basic trigger, muzzle brake, etc., chambered in 300 Winchester Magnum and topped off with a Vortex Viper 4X-16X scope. Nothing near as fancy as your friends F-class rifle, but at the same time it's not costing my Pastor anything either.

I don't believe I have ever had my hands on a Pearson's action, but I do have a hankering for a Stoll Panda action, and would actually like one with a 30-30 bolt face, as I build a lot of rifles based off of that cartridge.

Me personally, I have never bear hunted nor have I ever shot anything bigger than a 350 pound whitetail deer or a 500 pound hog. I just like to shoot and be able to place that bullet EXACTLY where I want it.

 

[Michael W. De Land]

I have built quite a few 6mm-284 rifles for guys to use caribou hunting, and they always did very well. And back when Speer made their 105 gr. Hot-Cor bullets, those were used almost exclusively for caribou, elk and black bear, and I shot more that a few whitetail deer with them as well.

Talking about the 357 magnum and 357 Maximum, I rechamber a lot of the single shot rifles in 357 magnum to the 357 Maximum, as well as build a lot of rifles chambered for the Maximum. I've got a couple of customers who shoot 250 gr. hard cast bullets for big hogs and bears, and accuracy is superb for that kind of load.

I'm building a rifle now for my Pastor that has a Bartlein barrel, H-S Precision stock, Rifle Basic trigger, muzzle brake, etc., chambered in 300 Winchester Magnum and topped off with a Vortex Viper 4X-16X scope. Nothing near as fancy as your friends F-class rifle, but at the same time it's not costing my Pastor anything either.

I don't believe I have ever had my hands on a Pearson's action, but I do have a hankering for a Stoll Panda action, and would actually like one with a 30-30 bolt face, as I build a lot of rifles based off of that cartridge.

Me personally, I have never bear hunted nor have I ever shot anything bigger than a 350 pound whitetail deer or a 500 pound hog. I just like to shoot and be able to place that bullet EXACTLY where I want it.

I got a true story you may be interested to hear. Season for last my hunting pardner and good friend Chris were raft hunting up near Tok junction AK. I killed a nice caribou across the river from our camp. I shot off cross sticks from our camp on the river and the range finder said 277 yards. I used the 280-338 and Hornady 225 interlocks. We had to line the raft (14 ft NRs scout) up river from out side so the current would not make us miss the caribou on the other shore as we crossed. Chris asked me if he should take his rifle and I told him it was up to him and that I was going to leave my rifle and only take my 4 inch 629 Smith with me. I cast and shoot Elmer Keith's load of his 250 grain flat point and 22 grains of 2400 pounder. Any way we cross and go to work on my bou and about 45 minutes into the field dressing job we take a break. The carcass was right on the water line and I had my back to the river in front of the bou facing Chris who was taking a drag off his canteen. Chris's eyes got big as he looked past me down river and without saying a word he points there. I turned and at about 150 yards here come an enormous boar black bear (about 400lbs and squared 6 feet green) sticking his nose in the water where we were throwing the guts and blood to get it out of our camp area.
I drew my revolver and told Chris to get down and when the boar got to a clear spot in the rocks on the river bank I would shoot. I reclined on my back and side bracing the pistol against my raised right knee. The boar came out of the river bank grass onto the rocks, later paced off at 21 yards. I give him one of Elmer's bullets cast of wheel weights and water dropped right in the chest aiming for his spine and shoulder intersection. Well my shot was a bit right and missed both slipping into his chest and out his back without connecting any bone.
He came straight for us and by the time I had come down out of recoil he was right beside me and in Chris's face who promptly threw his canteen at the bear. I can see it in my mind as clearly as if it happened yesterday. I could see the bear and Chris almost together and realized I had to shoot now as I would not be able to shoot into the hair ball once he was on top my pardner. I gave him a quick double action shot as he passed me just a split second before closing on Chris. Well the 250 grain Kieth bullet went through him like hot cheese cutting his spine and thus his wiring and folded him up like suitcase. He was four feet from closing with Chris and what a mess we would have been in that far out in the wilderness and a days raft float from help.
I would like to take credit for the shot but the truth is that The Good Lord had just saved two old coots from getting their butts mauled and he happen to use my hands. I couldn't make the same shot under the same conditions again in 200 tries. If I had not blown the first shot there would have been no need for the hairy second.
After Chris stopped shaking he asked,"do you think he was actually charging"? I said, " All I know Chris is that he was making his get away over the top of you and that was not going to turn out well"!
https://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277/mdeland_photos/IMG_1160_zpsn1glcxdb.jpg
https://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd277/mdeland_photos/IMG_1163_zpshsxis5vg.jpg

 

[BRGUY]

WOW!!!

Great caribou, good bear and an excellent story! Thank you very much for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Exciting and scary at the same time.

 

[Michael W. De Land]

WOW!!!

Great caribou, good bear and an excellent story! Thank you very much for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Exciting and scary at the same time.

That was my sixth black bear but the first to ever come at me! I rendered 2.5 gallons of pure bear fat from him and plan on using it in my bullet lube both for smokeless and black powder loads. I like and shoot both black powder cartridge guns and muzzle loaders. Kept the leg and back sinew out of the caribou for a Ole Sage bow I would like to try my hand at some day.
Also in the middle of my first flint lock build and am waiting on the stock wood. I ordered fancy grade tiger strip maple and have been waiting since Dec 17th of 18. Got sights and breeching completed but can't do much else without the wood to get the flash hole correctly placed in the barrel wall dictated by lock pan placement.

 

[Michael W. De Land]

Sorry for getting so far off topic. I tend to wonder and will get back on track. Here are some pictures of my gift gun 6mm/284 Mauser 98. I'm going to take off the cheek piece, shorten the pull, reshape the stock and give it an oil finish.

 

[Michael W. De Land]

WOW!!!

Great caribou, good bear and an excellent story! Thank you very much for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Exciting and scary at the same time.

Yeah, the good ole 30-30 is one of the best single shot and lever gun cartridges around. I just finished one earlier this winter using a mini 74 Dakota action( scaled down Sharps 74) for a shooting buddy of mine. He's working up loads for it now to shoot in these offhand gong matches we have up here each month. I tried to cut him a bigger bullet but messed it up in the nose and have to tried again. Been a while since I cut a grease bullet mold cavity and I'm rusty on getting the nose forming tool ground right.

 

[BRGUY]

That's a cool looking and interesting looking rifle for sure. I have never seen one like that up close and personal. I like it!

I am one who has never been into shooting cast bullets, even though I have tried it a few times.

The 30-30 based cartridges have always been built the H&R, T/C Encore and the Ruger #1.

And that 98 Mauser you've got there looks like it is all business!