6PPC advice needed

[timeout]

Now promise not to laugh, at least not too hard. My first 6PPC purchase was online from someone I knew nothing about. I may have fallen for the oldest line in the book, rifle came from an estate. At any rate, exact details were sketchy at best. The rifle has sleeved action with a Remington style bolt and Sako style extractor. It was said to have a 1 in 10" twist rate, but if I can count a full turn and measure, it is a 1 in 14". No matter, here is my dilemma. It appears 2" or more of the barrel is covered beneath the sleeve of the action. I can find no caliber, neck size, or maker info on the exposed part of the barrel. The rifle was advertised (but not gauranteed) to be a 6mm PPC. It came with a Redding 6PPC FL die. I loaded 2 cartridges, removed the firing pin and found "jam". There does not seem to be a great amount of bullet depth inside the case. With a Bart's 68 grain Ultra I am "eyeballing" approximately .113" from the end of the case neck to the pressure ring of the bullet. I compared the "jam" dimension of these two bullets with that of my other 6PPC. On this rifle, "jam" is .0565" longer on the Bart's and .066" longer with a 69 gr. Sierra HPBT. I am a novice, but it sure seems like the bullet would be seated deeper. I am thinking that I will take the rifle to a local gunsmith and have him remove the barrel for inspection and confirmation that it is chambered correctly. Looking for advice. Also, if there is a problem, I am open to suggestions as perhaps a different caliber for the new barrel. Since I already have a 6PPC, I am setup with equipment for loading. I mainly want to shoot 300 yards. Would I gain anything by rechambering to 6BR. Or should I stay with the 6PPC and choose a faster twist? As always, I appreciate everyone's help and opinions.

 

[skeetlee]

If that barrel is long enough just have it rechambered for a 6ppc with a know reamer. I would have the barrel inspected first to see if it is even worth of a re-chamber. barrel might be shot out? hard to say. If a 6br is more your speed then just have it rechambered for a 6br with a known reamer. The 14 twist is just right for 68gr 6mm bullets. lee

 

[Catfish]

Removing the sleves is alot of work and a problem I would not want. Were it mine I would load a round alittle below sugested start and fire it. If all is well I would work up the load untill I knew I had enough presure to form the case to the chamber and see what you got. With the trouble someone went to with the gun it may be a great shooter and I would hate to tear one down that was.

 

[GSPV]

What Lee said. Some other thoughts:

1. You might also try getting some CerroSafe and casting the chamber. You'll be able to tell a lot about the chamber.
2. Get your smith to borescope the barrel. It might not be worth any effort.
3. If it checks out, shoot it till it's gone.
4. While you're going that, *consider* getting a 10 twist on order.
5. If/when you get it, you can have it chambered for PPC and 68 bullets or you can have it chambered for 6BR, 6BRX, etc. and mid-weight bullets. I've enjoyed the Berger 87 VLD Hunting in my 6BR with 80 thou or so FB. I have another, almost identical reamer, with 104 thou FB on order for the 95 BIB. I'm pushing the 87 with 30.1-30.7 grains of 8208 XBR and the 95 with 30.7 grains of Varget.

FWIW,

Greg J

 

[timeout]

Thanks for the replies and also PM. I put on a good pair of safety glasses and ran 3 rounds down the tube this morning. It was 19 degrees out, so I did not spend much time. All 3 rounds were using different bullets. Also, I have not purchased a good rest and rear bag yet (still researching that). Being quite cold and my range not in close proximity to the house, I shot the 35 yard deal from the patio with my woodpile as a backstop. Quite the Redneck setup! Anyway the 3 shots made about a 30 cal. sized hole in the paper. I visually inspected, then made some measurements on the spent casings and all appears well. I am going to take your advice and have it borescoped before I stick a lot of time and components into tuning. Since I have another 6PPC, I may check into getting a replacement 6BR barrel with a twist suitable to heavier bullets.