Custom handgun hunting cartridge

[Sneakshot92]

Hi all. I'm taking a more serious plunge into handgun hunting.

I'm thinking of shortening a 45-70 case to 1.75 inches, necking it down to 6.5 or 7 mm and giving it the Ackley treatment.
This will be for a 14 inch barrel.
I'm hoping for performance between the 7-30 waters and 7mm-08. This should give me a pretty good window for load development.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Dad is willing to let me use his Encore frame as a test bed. If I'm successful i'll get my own and should have a pretty sweet little rig.


Edit*
After looking at several similar cartridge dimensions i'm thinking I may be better off by starting with the 25 WSSM case and necking up instead of trimming and necking the 45-70. Cases might be more expensive but I might be able to save on other areas. Namely the barrel reaming and reloading dies (hopefully).
Asking for any thoughts might be a bit of a fool's errand but oh well.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Why not just get a 7-30 Waters or 7mm-08 barrel?

 

[Riomouse911]

Or a 6.5mm or 7mm JDJ using the .225 Winchester case. Those have a lengthy history of being fantastic hunting and silhouette rounds. They have more oomph than the 6.5mm and 7mm TC/U, which was based on the .223 Rem case. Both were designed specifically for the TC Contender.

The .375 and larger JDJ rounds were based on the .444 Marlin case. this is a bruiser for anything that walks on the planet.

Stay safe.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Don't forget the TCU 6, 6.5, or 7mm rounds.

I appreciate you wanting something different but it will be $$ and possibly frustrating. If you have time, patience and $$ roll on.
Custom dies may be $300, custom reamer about the same, gunsmith time, and a custom barrel. Could have $2k+ in the project and then find out that it has some odd internal or external ballistics which limits it.

Not trying to talk you out of it so much as help you make an informed decision so you know what you're getting into. Worse would be you spend $1k or more and never get to fire a shot as you loose interest.

Keep us posted. I thought about this path many times and just never carried through on it.

(911 typed faster than I did).

 

[Sneakshot92]

Why not just get a 7-30 Waters or 7mm-08 barrel?

I guess I'm always looking for something a bit different. I've had a few guns in older/oddball cartridges that have made people at the range wonder *** I'm shooting. Makes me miss the little 32-20 rifle I had. Damn that thing was handy.

 

[Sneakshot92]

Don't forget the TCU 6, 6.5, or 7mm rounds.

I appreciate you wanting something different but it will be $$ and possibly frustrating. If you have time, patience and $$ roll on.
Custom dies may be $300, custom reamer about the same, gunsmith time, and a custom barrel. Could have $2k+ in the project and then find out that it has some odd internal or external ballistics which limits it.

Not trying to talk you out of it so much as help you make an informed decision so you know what you're getting into. Worse would be you spend $1k or more and never get to fire a shot as you loose interest.

Keep us posted. I thought about this path many times and just never carried through on it.

(911 typed faster than I did).

I'll add one thing. I have a rifle in 300 wsm. The short, fat, remarkably efficient case design is what I'm hoping to mimic on more of a handgun scale. I know I may be limited to shorter, lighter weight bullets depending on what my case neck length will be. That's my only major variable as far as case dimensions go. This is a pretty ambitious undertaking for someone with my limited experience.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I guess I'm always looking for something a bit different. I've had a few guns in older/oddball cartridges that have made people at the range wonder *** I'm shooting. Makes me miss the little 32-20 rifle I had. Damn that thing was handy.

Make a 32-20 pistol.

 

[Sneakshot92]

Make a 32-20 pistol.

Hmm. That may just happen. Would be stupid handy when I go out to the farm.
More than likely I'll do a 25-20.

 

[rabid wombat]

Try Match Grade Machine...they have a LONG list of chambers for Contenders and Encores

https://matchgrademachine.com/chambers-list/

for weird, I am thinking 25-35 for a Contender

 

[Sneakshot92]

Try Match Grade Machine...they have a LONG list of chambers for Contenders and Encores

https://matchgrademachine.com/chambers-list/

for weird, I am thinking 25-35 for a Contender

I know several people that have used them for encore barrels. They are where I planned on going. My buddy has a marlin 336 that was re barreled to 25-35 sometime back in the 60's I think. I cast and load custom 150gr round nose bullets for him. I've carried it deer hunting and it's a nice 200yd deer slayer. It sure has a hell of an arc in the trajectory though.

 

[rabid wombat]

I have bought a 300 BO barrel from MGM, and they are great people. I will buy more in the future.

My buddy has a marlin 336 that was re barreled to 25-35 sometime back in the 60's I think.

i would love to have a 38-55 and a 25-35 (and a like set for the wife). In a perfect world, a high wall - done modern. Straight butt (not crescent), proper comb height, etc. Failing that, Marlins. Yes, the rounds have a ballistic trajectory, but what a family.

For flatter shooting, we both have 257’s (mine Rob, hers AI). I have a variety of other stuff for me

 

[Sneakshot92]

I have bought a 300 BO barrel from MGM, and they are great people. I will buy more in the future.



i would love to have a 38-55 and a 25-35 (and a like set for the wife). In a perfect world, a high wall - done modern. Straight butt (not crescent), proper comb height, etc. Failing that, Marlins. Yes, the rounds have a ballistic trajectory, but what a family.

For flatter shooting, we both have 257’s (mine Rob, hers AI). I have a variety of other stuff for me

With those cast 150s I'm tempted to stuff a few in a 25-20 and see about some subsonic loads. Might be grounds for another cartridge adventure.

 

[Sneakshot92]

Don't forget the TCU 6, 6.5, or 7mm rounds.

I appreciate you wanting something different but it will be $$ and possibly frustrating. If you have time, patience and $$ roll on.
Custom dies may be $300, custom reamer about the same, gunsmith time, and a custom barrel. Could have $2k+ in the project and then find out that it has some odd internal or external ballistics which limits it.

Not trying to talk you out of it so much as help you make an informed decision so you know what you're getting into. Worse would be you spend $1k or more and never get to fire a shot as you loose interest.

Keep us posted. I thought about this path many times and just never carried through on it.

(911 typed faster than I did).

Dad necked a 375 Winchester down to a 338 trying to get something different. He was reasonably successful but something must have been off because it never has been anything more than a neat AF plinking rifle. I suspect he had issues with too much pressure for the brass. Maybe this old project needs a revisit with a different approach.