Rebarreling

[HolyMeekrob]

I'm toying with the idea of sending my rem 700 off to be squared and rebarreled. I find the idea of playing with a new and/or uncommon caliber very intriguing. However I have three criteria: Must be able to run it in a short action, good barrel life, and it shouldn't be SO uncommon that it would cost me a fortune to tool up for it. It would also be nice if I didn't HAVE to go to Lapua for brass, but that's not a huge factor. Obviously since I'm posting in this forum I'm thinking something 6.5 and up.
I'm leaning towards the 6.5x47 Lapua right now, .284 isn't really uncommon but I find it intriguing. Has anyone fiddled with the idea of a 7x47L wildcat?
If all else fails I'll probably fall back on the .308. Plain vanilla, but no one ever went wrong with vanilla.

Any ideas? They're all appreciated, and I'm sure someone has thought of something that never crossed my mind.

 

[TonyR]

How about a 6mm Dasher or BRX? Great performance out to 1000 yards, excellent barrel life, wide selection of bullets for any purpose, a chance to play around with case forming while buying dies off the shelf, and it will fit nicely in a 700SA. You would probably be stuck using Lapua or Norma brass but that tends to pay you back with longer case life for your case prep effort. Very helpful cartridge guide on this website: http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/6mmbrimproved/

 

[357Mag]

Holly C -

Howdy !

Howzabout' some "outside the box " thinking ?!

For a really low-buck 7mm wildcat made from " common " brass, you could neck-down .35Rem to 7mm.

A 7 X 64 Brenneke form/trim die ( Redding ) can be utilized, in-conjunction with a
"perch" you make yourself. The perch is made w/ a stock .308 shellholder, a flat-head screw of diam that fits through primer hole in shell holder. Screw head diam is
kept to < .470". One jam nut is positoned above the shellholder, and one below
( these can be used to adjust brass position relative to the forming die ).

Brass to be formed is sat atop the perch. Press handle is operated, and the
perch allows the .35 Rem parent brass to go up-inside the form die. The 7 X 64 die gently squeezes the .35 Rem neck diam down to notional 7mm.

*** The neck lengths, shoulder angles, and case tapers of .35 Rem and 7 X 64 are SO CLOSE... cases form like squeezing butter in your hand. Newly-formed brass fairly falls from the die. *** I have trial formed some, so I know.

The resulting new 7mm wildcat will have a neck lenght just a couple thousandths short of what a 7 X64 chamber reamer will cut. This shortfall is so minute, that it amounts to little more than what some guys casetrim off their brass oal; as part of normal reloading practice. Brass oal could be grown w/ subsequent firings.

7 X .35 Rem is a wildcat that can be case formed, loaded and re-loaded w/o need to $$$ CUSTOM dies. No custom chamber or re-size reamers are required, either. Using a Hornady bullet seater ( example ), no perch is required for the loading process.

7 X .35 Rem would have less case capacity than the 7-08, but more than the
.280 British.

7 -.35 Rem. Just a thought.


Regards,
357Mag

 

[TonyR]

Or the 7X64 Brenneke itself. I have one and it is very similar to a 280 Remington but the case is rated at a higher maximum pressure. I load it single shot through a Nesika K which is a short action. Way longer than a SA magazine though. Seems like a very efficient cartridge and you won't see very many of them in the US. Commerical dies are readily available and you can either buy Norma brass or form your own from 280, 30-06 or other similar cartidges. The necks may be a litte shorter if you start with 06 brass but you would have to trim anything formed from a 280.

 

[15Tango]

Must be able to run it in a short action, good barrel life, and it shouldn't be SO uncommon that it would cost me a fortune to tool up for it. It would also be nice if I didn't HAVE to go to Lapua for brass

6BR or BRX, XC, 243 Win.
6.5 X47L, Creedmoor, 260, 260AI
7-08/AI, 284Win

Wayne

 

[Laurie]

I've always fancied a play with 7mmBR myself. Easy to form from 6BR brass and dies are readily available at normal prices from companies like Forster. While usually only considered as a single-shot target and deerhunting pistol number, it's a very efficient little cartridge like all BRs and should be great fun in a rifle. Less case capacity and performance than your 7X47L wildcat of course.

A quick run with QuickLOAD says it would exceed 2,600 fps with a 139gn bullet from a 24" barrel with several powders, 2,687 fps with BLC(2). If suitably throated with a long freebore a la 6mmBR Norma, BLC(2) should give the 162gn A-Max around 2,420 fps from 24" up front.

 

[jonbearman]

I would go with a 30 br as it has incredible barrel life and is loads of fun,because that is what it is all about.Look up the cartridge on our website and read the statistics.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

May not be totally relevent because of the platform, but I'm working up a 7x47 Lapua as a hunting rifle. Yes, you can beat it for speed,and if 1000 yards was my goal, I'd do something bigger. But I think it'll make a great do-all cartridge for my part of the country. It should be a great 600+ yard round from a bench gun,IMO.--Mike Ezell

 

[1000yardstare]

.260AI

Bushing dies available from Redding.

 

[HolyMeekrob]

I've been curious about chamberings in the BR family, and the 30BR in particular piqued my curiosity. I took a cursory look into it and have a couple questions for anyone who knows:
I see that all of the reloading data is for bullets in the 120gr range, but that they're getting some impressive velocities. What's the largest bullet the 30BR is capable of pushing?
Also, it seems the only brass I can easily obtain is 6BR or 7BR, but the 7BR is only offered by remington, so how does the 6BR brass handle being sized up to 30 cal?

 

[Laurie]

Depending on how the barrel is throated, it'll handle any .30 cal bullet going. With the small case capacity 175-190gn seems a practical maximum unless you fancy playing with subsonic loads. 155-168gn would seem well suited to short to medium range targets, 150-165gn for deer, and 125gn for varmints.

The .30BR isn't too different from the slightly smaller capacity .308 x 1.5" Barnes which has quite a bit of loads data around if you Google the cartridge name. QuickLOAD gives the Barnes 38gn water capacity and the .30BR 41gn - if correct, it means you can use the 308 x 1.5" data safely and exceed it a bit too.

Here is a taster:

http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_detail.cfm?MetallicID=990

 

[HolyMeekrob]

To my surprise the 30BR was in my sierra manual. They claim a practical limit of ~165gr, which is fine. I'd probably never want to shoot more than their 168gr MK with it.
Does anyone know anything about the 7 IHMSA?

 

[357Mag]

HolyM -

7mm IHMSA was the brainchild ( one of them ) of Elgin Gates.

Intended for metallic sillhoutte shooting, it is based on .300 Savage brass, w/ a nominal 38* shoulder angle.

Regards,
357Mag

 

[Bnhpr]

Build a 6,5x47L with an 8 twist barrel in krieger #7 contour and dont look back.

The only rifles that you should not use lapua brass in, are ones that they dont make brass for.

 

[Larryh128]

I can tell you that you wouldn't be disappointed with a 284. RL-17 makes that a whole different breed. I am also toying with the idea of 6.5 x 47 L and have a 30 PPC done pending the loading dies (brass fireformed from 7.62x39). 30 PPC was done as a play project & won't have the steam necessary for yardage hunting shots. I do however intend to use in some culling. Shows good accuracy while fireforming cases so there's hope. ;D

 

[HolyMeekrob]

I like the idea of the .284 because I'd enjoy tinkering with the big 7mm bullets, however compared to the 30BR and 6.5-47L I'm shying away from the .284 because it's pretty powder hungry. It wants 50-55gr of powder where as the other two I can get away with less than 40. But wanting to use 7mm bullets is one reason I was inquiring about a 7-47L or 7 IHMSA.
Between the 6.5-47 and the 30BR, weighing the pros and cons, it's more or less down to a question of how much range do I want? No question the 6.5 can get out there, but it seems the practical limit of the 30BR is 600.
I also get a sense of a fashion trend. Thinking about having a 30BR rifle I feel like an indy kid where as the 6.5-47 is the hot new fashion, the crocs of the shooting world.