Farquharson extractor question

[MRogersII]

Good evening. In an effort to NOT re-invent the wheel, I thought I would reach out for guidance. Backstory...In my mind the Farquharson single shots are among the most elegant of rifles. Some years back I bought a kit consisting of forged components (very) roughly representing those components necessary to build the action. After maybe a hundred hours of machining and filing, it is beginning to resemble the finished product. Since the beginning I intended to build this for a 6.5x55. I have quality dies and components and everything necessary to make the ultimate deer hunting rifle. (Some of you probably figured out the issue already). Anyway, it occurred to me the other night that the 6.5x55 is a rimless cartridge, and the extractor system for the Farquharson is a very strong, forked lever designed with rimmed in mind. (See attached )

Seemingly, I have two options: change to a 6.5x57r, or similar rimless (NOT my preference ), or design some type of mechanical extractor to accommodate the rimless 6.5x55.

Feel free to jump in with any constructive guidance. And thank you all, in advance, for your help.

Michael

 

[Sniperhandle]

I would switch to the 6.5x57R, Cases are available in 7x57R and 8x57R and I have used them for Wildcats on Actions designed for Rimmed cartridges, The only trouble will be the added expense of getting dies, But they are available and the price is not really all that bad considering.

 

[MRogersII]

I would switch to the 6.5x57R, Cases are available in 7x57R and 8x57R and I have used them for Wildcats on Actions designed for Rimmed cartridges, The only trouble will be the added expense of getting dies, But they are available and the price is not really all that bad considering.

I posted a thread on the reloading side the other day, just for that purpose. But, I'm still hoping that someone has crossed this bridge before and comes along with "oh, it's simple. All you have to do is....."
Thank you for the feedback.

 

[AlNyhus]

Does the extractor have two hooks that pull on the rim? I know some of the repro companies companies made a rimless extractor version. Can you post a pic of the extractor you have?

 

[MRogersII]

That is correct. It is a forked extractor that is made to catch the rim on opposite sides of the chamber. Here is a pic I found online that shows it. No doubt, a very strong design, but for a rimmed cartridge.

 

[Will Henry]

It has been about forty years ago that I worked on a rimless extractor for one. As I recall, I reamed the hole for the pivot pin on a taper. I eliminated to left side of the extractor. Then I added a spring and plunger which was set into the extractor. The plunger pushed against the inside of the receiver. The extractor could deflect sideways about .050". It worked similar to the Ruger extractor. but not as well! I had toyed with the idea of making a split extractor, retaining the two sides, and loading both sides with a Bellville washer. Never got around to it though. WH

 

[MRogersII]

It has been about forty years ago that I worked on a rimless extractor for one. As I recall, I reamed the hole for the pivot pin on a taper. I eliminated to left side of the extractor. Then I added a spring and plunger which was set into the extractor. The plunger pushed against the inside of the receiver. The extractor could deflect sideways about .050". It worked similar to the Ruger extractor. but not as well! I had toyed with the idea of making a split extractor, retaining the two sides, and loading both sides with a Bellville washer. Never got around to it though. WH

Thank you, Sir, for your response. I very much appreciate you taking the time to provide it. I didn't want you to think that I was ignoring your message, just processing it.

 

[AlNyhus]

Checking the case dimensions, you're in a bit of a pickle. I sure wouldn't alter the extractor, as it's one of the big benefits of that style action.

A change to the 7x57R case would be a good move. If you wanted to stick with a 6.5 bore size, you could have the f.l. 7X57R die modified to take a neck bushing to use with the 6.5 brass. That would get you into dies fairly economically. 7X57R brass is available from quite a few sources.

Another approach would be the 7.62X54R Russian case which has a .570 dia. rim. and neck it to 6.5. The 307 Winchester case is a rimmed 308W, though the rim is only .500 diameter...not sure if that extractor would pick the rim up. I use that case in a B78 with a wildcat chamber in 6mm.

Just some thoughts, fwiw. -Al

 

[MRogersII]

Thank you for the feedback. At this point, the 6.5x57 route seems the easiest solution. I had bought Lapua 6.5x55 brass and a quality set of Type-S bushing dies for a different project and so was hoping to use those for this build. That was, of course, before the rimless issue occurred to me. I have posted a thread in the reloading section for brass so we'll see how that develops.

In the meantime, I have included pics of the current progress, for those of you interested in it. I am within about 0.400" of having the breech block fitted into its fully closed depth and am now dry fitting the lever and linkage to final position. So I still have some time to decide on the extractor issue. One of the primary issues I've encountered in this build has been the lack of precise measurements to use as an endpoint. Most of the time has been filing part A to nest into part B. The difficulty has been determining how deeply A needs to be seated into B. And because A and B interact with parts C , D and E (and so on) what their final position should be. I've kind of worked backwards from the premise that the breech block, fully seated and closed, needs to be oriented such that the firing pin hole is centered in the receiver ring, and that, in this position, the lever needs to be fully closed and latched. That has seemed the most reasonable way to proceed.

 

[Sniperhandle]

Prvi Partizan Brass 7x57R Rimmed Unprimed Bag of 50 - Graf & Sons

Imported from Serbia. Fully reloadable brass cases. Accept boxer primers. This is not loaded ammunition.

www.grafs.com

 

[MRogersII]

Prvi Partizan Brass 7x57R Rimmed Unprimed Bag of 50 - Graf & Sons

Imported from Serbia. Fully reloadable brass cases. Accept boxer primers. This is not loaded ammunition.

www.grafs.com

Thank you

 

[MRogersII]

Prvi Partizan Brass 7x57R Rimmed Unprimed Bag of 50 - Graf & Sons

Imported from Serbia. Fully reloadable brass cases. Accept boxer primers. This is not loaded ammunition.

www.grafs.com

I'm wondering, does anyone know if using 7x57R to make 6.5x57r requires neck reaming or turning?

 

[Sniperhandle]

I'm wondering, does anyone know if using 7x57R to make 6.5x57r requires neck reaming or turning?

Most of the time when necking down it will require a neck turn or reaming for proper clearances, Although the specs of the reamer will ultimately be the deciding factor. I have used the exact PRIVI brass I put the link up for and it's decent quality. Norma also makes the brass in 8x57R.