Dave DeLaurant
Member
Recent discussion on THR about .44 Magnum carbines got me ruminating along these lines:
1) The .44 Magnum case shares similar dimensions at the rim and head with .303 British.
(I used this fact when I had a beater Martini-Enfield from Australia in .303 rebarreled and chambered in .44 Magnum)
2) The .303 British also shares these dimensions with the 6.5x53R Romanian/Dutch Mannlicher cartridge.
3) Dutch Mannlichers are often found for sale cheap with shot-out barrels and beat-to-death stocks but usable actions -- here's one at Simpsons that's under $400 and pre-1898:
https://simpsonltd.com/dutch-mannlicher-d16086/
4) At one time the Brits made a number of very classy stalking rifles using the M95 Mannlicher turnbolt action
5) This sounds like the very plausible makings for a unique and awesome little 5-shot .44 carbine!
FYI, I checked with my caliper and determined the 6.5 barrels are too skinny to rebore to .44 bore dimensions, so it would require a rebarrel job.
On the other hand, I did a test using an old Dutch en bloc clip and found the controlled-feed action worked positively using .44 Magnum rounds, even without an extended feed ramp for the shorter case.
I guess it's a sign of maturity or recognition of impending decrepitude that I had this idea yesterday and quickly realized that I'd never be able to follow through on it. There aren't any smiths around my neck of the woods I could trust for the rebarrel work, and the big shops further away would charge more than I'd want to spend right now.
So, I hereby toss out the idea here to see whether anyone wants to run with it. Somebody please do!
1) The .44 Magnum case shares similar dimensions at the rim and head with .303 British.
(I used this fact when I had a beater Martini-Enfield from Australia in .303 rebarreled and chambered in .44 Magnum)
2) The .303 British also shares these dimensions with the 6.5x53R Romanian/Dutch Mannlicher cartridge.
3) Dutch Mannlichers are often found for sale cheap with shot-out barrels and beat-to-death stocks but usable actions -- here's one at Simpsons that's under $400 and pre-1898:
https://simpsonltd.com/dutch-mannlicher-d16086/
4) At one time the Brits made a number of very classy stalking rifles using the M95 Mannlicher turnbolt action
5) This sounds like the very plausible makings for a unique and awesome little 5-shot .44 carbine!
FYI, I checked with my caliper and determined the 6.5 barrels are too skinny to rebore to .44 bore dimensions, so it would require a rebarrel job.
On the other hand, I did a test using an old Dutch en bloc clip and found the controlled-feed action worked positively using .44 Magnum rounds, even without an extended feed ramp for the shorter case.
I guess it's a sign of maturity or recognition of impending decrepitude that I had this idea yesterday and quickly realized that I'd never be able to follow through on it. There aren't any smiths around my neck of the woods I could trust for the rebarrel work, and the big shops further away would charge more than I'd want to spend right now.
So, I hereby toss out the idea here to see whether anyone wants to run with it. Somebody please do!