Putting together a PRC....

[LoonWulf]

@LoonWulf we enjoy watching your projects come together. Thank you!

I really liked the switch barrel idea you did awhile back.
Maybe it's time to build a wildcat cartridge and rifle! 7mm-375 LoonWulf.
Just a thought

Already been done lol. 7mm LRM,and 7mm-300prc trace back to the .375 Ruger fairly directly. 7PRC is a bit shorter than the LRM but also "family"
7mm STW is a full length H&H improved....theres a pile of others


I think the 7-300prc or a fast twist 28 Nosler long throat are whats going on my Mesa LR when the 28 barrel fries.

 

[WisBorn]

Ok I'm going to go a little more off track.
Is anyone making a high BC bullet in 8mm?

I always thought a 8mm Remington Mag would be the ultimate North American Big Big Game cartridge (sadly it is dying).
Neck down the 375 Ruger or Open up the 300prc to 8mm with a fast twist and we have a LoonWulf special!!!!

FYI: I was in a LGS helping out a friend looking for 300wsm and they had 300prc, but no wsm.

 

[troy fairweather]

There are a few high bc bullets like the badlands and cutting edge, probaby more of you could use the 300 grain hawk bullet lol. Problem with a 8mmrm shooting heavy bullets it will need a longer then normal long actions, the real down fall of the 8mm rem mag is it's length and the belt. My dad messed with a few many years ago and liked shooting the one yugo 8mm bullets they were very cheap but had very good bc. Had fun with a 8mm-338rm on a 1917 action, doing one today is look at the prc cases.

 

[LoonWulf]

There are a few high bc bullets like the badlands and cutting edge, probaby more of you could use the 300 grain hawk bullet lol. Problem with a 8mmrm shooting heavy bullets it will need a longer then normal long actions, the real down fall of the 8mm rem mag is it's length and the belt. My dad messed with a few many years ago and liked shooting the one yugo 8mm bullets they were very cheap but had very good bc. Had fun with a 8mm-338rm on a 1917 action, doing one today is look at the prc cases.

I think the PRC case might be running out of juice with the 250s.
Could probably go with the PRC or Nosler case for a 2800ish fps round, and 250s.
Neck up the 300 ultra, or down the .338 lapua (id shorten and improve it too) to make better use of those bigger pencils.

I can build a cartridge profile in QL, tho i dont have an 8mm die to neck down the brass for water weight's.....and yes i could probably do the math to calculate that.....but i don't want to....



OH! Glades bolt handle for the 300 came in last night.

 

[WisBorn]

Thank you guys for the thoughts. My 8mm Remington Mag dreams are going the way of the cartridge...
I would be better served with a 308win anyway. The longest available range in my area is 500 yards. And for hunting my 7rm works fine.
As far as a fun new cartridge a PRC may be a good choice!!!

 

[LoonWulf]

Thank you guys for the thoughts. My 8mm Remington Mag dreams are going the way of the cartridge...
I would be better served with a 308win anyway. The longest available range in my area is 500 yards. And for hunting my 7rm works fine.
As far as a fun new cartridge a PRC may be a good choice!!!

Ill admit, im just waiting for a 8mm Classic to pop up, I dont know how often id shoot it, but I still want one.....I want another 7mm STW (probably what my s20 will become) even tho Ive got the 28 Nosler too, so there isnt really much reson behind my wants lol.

 

[WisBorn]

Ill admit, im just waiting for a 8mm Classic to pop up, I dont know how often id shoot it, but I still want one.....I want another 7mm STW (probably what my s20 will become) even tho Ive got the 28 Nosler too, so there isnt really much reson behind my wants lol.

Refresh my memory. Isn't the 7mm STW a necked down 8mm RM???

 

[troy fairweather]

Refresh my memory. Isn't the 7mm STW a necked down 8mm RM???

Yes,

 

[LoonWulf]

Refresh my memory. Isn't the 7mm STW a necked down 8mm RM???

Yes,

Can do a straight rechamber on a 7 mag, not the ideal way to do it but generally functional.
Bullets much longer than the 162/168 VLDs run a little long of the magazine on most rifles. But since my S20 is basically capped at 162 / 168s......


Or....maybe not lol thought the mag was just short of 3.7, it's actually just short of 3.6. I guess I could probably lengthen it a little bit.


Oh I also got 20 rounds loaded from 78 to 79.5 grains to test sometime this week.

 

[WisBorn]

Can do a straight rechamber on a 7 mag, not the ideal way to do it but generally functional.

You have my wheels turning now.
My MarkV 7rm is the same action that they use for the 300 Weatherby Magnum. So it is probably not much of a stretch. I have thought about someday rebarreling it for a new cartridge.

 

[LoonWulf]

You have my wheels turning now.
My MarkV 7rm is the same action that they use for the 300 Weatherby Magnum. So it is probably not much of a stretch. I have thought about someday rebarreling it for a new cartridge.

If your ok with a relatively short barrel life, the 7 STW class of rounds is pretty striking. If dad really dosent like the PRC, ill probably pull this barrel and have a 1-7.5/8 twist STW barrel made. 190A-tip at about 3K will do anything the 208-215s we are planning on shooting will do.

 

[troy fairweather]

If your ok with a relatively short barrel life, the 7 STW class of rounds is pretty striking. If dad really dosent like the PRC, ill probably pull this barrel and have a 1-7.5/8 twist STW barrel made. 190A-tip at about 3K will do anything the 208-215s we are planning on shooting will do.

I've got the reamer but probably doesn't have the throat like newer reamers. I'd try a gang twist barrel.

 

[WisBorn]

Sorry guys I got the thread off track.

 

[LoonWulf]

Sorry guys I got the thread off track.

Gahhhhhh!!!! and we were being so tractfull!

LOL, No worries, I wont have any real meaningful updates till we get out and shoot this thing some more.....OH I have bore scope pictures! those are always kinda fun.
Heres a couple of the factory barrel. As savage barrels go, this one is about average for button chatter. There was a patch of what was probably rust about 4" back from the muzzle. None of this is visible when looking thru either end of the barrel. Id also bet this tube shoots MOA or better, as most savages do.



Heres the shaw barrel, there were some rust spots when I took it out of the box, probably left over salt from bluing, or perhaps its long trip out here. Nothing real deep, and Im not expecting any major issues. Theres also some button chatter on this one, but not nearly as bad.

 

[LoonWulf]

Made another 20rnds of 300PRC using an middling charge of 7828, as well as 40rnd for the 28 Nosler using 180 Eldms and RL-33. Gonna take dad and head upto our long range spot to wring these two out and burn some 6.5cms. Id like to take the 280AI and see how it does with the 180s, but after loading 100rnds of CM im too lazy to make more ammo....I think....

 

[troy fairweather]

Made another 20rnds of 300PRC using an middling charge of 7828, as well as 40rnd for the 28 Nosler using 180 Eldms and RL-33. Gonna take dad and head upto our long range spot to wring these two out and burn some 6.5cms. Id like to take the 280AI and see how it does with the 180s, but after loading 100rnds of CM im too lazy to make more ammo....I think....

What the Ai pushing the 180s to 2900ish?

 

[LoonWulf]

What the Ai pushing the 180s to 2900ish?

they are stuffed a ways down in the case, so probably in the 2800 range, havent done a load ladder yet. If I had the mythical RL-26 and a longer throat, I could probably crank another 100fps out of it.....

ya know I might rent a reamer and lengthen the throat on my rifle a bit......nervous this would be the one id screw up tho lol.

 

[troy fairweather]

they are stuffed a ways down in the case, so probably in the 2800 range, havent done a load ladder yet. If I had the mythical RL-26 and a longer throat, I could probably crank another 100fps out of it.....

ya know I might rent a reamer and lengthen the throat on my rifle a bit......nervous this would be the one id screw up tho lol.

How much mag space you got to open the throat up.

 

[LoonWulf]

How much mag space you got to open the throat up.

All the way lol.....bout 3.7"

 

[LoonWulf]

Might need to call this thread taking apart a PRC.....Went out today and had a good time, except that i managed to forget to tighten the ring to rail clamps properly (interestingly the scope zeroed horizontally just fine, and only moved about 4moa vertically when I noticed and tightened the rings), and the reduced loads continued to stick in the chamber. I also shot like crap, couldnt even stay on plate with my 6.5CM at 500, but im pretty sure lack of sleep coupled with half a dozen energy drinks was the primary culprit there.

Still cant really complaint about spending time on the mountain, and I did get the worky stuff i had to do today done.

Got home soaked the other guns in clp and pulled the 300 apart again, I didnt really see anything in the chamber that screamed problem, but the chamber was a little rough, and tight. I did some polishing, and now sized shell slid in with finger pressure where as before I had to shove pretty hard. Ill get it reassembled and see if this fixes the issue. If it keeps giving me issues, ill probably face the breach end and ream the chamber again.

 

[WisBorn]

Might need to call this thread taking apart a PRC.....Went out today and had a good time, except that i managed to forget to tighten the ring to rail clamps properly (interestingly the scope zeroed horizontally just fine, and only moved about 4moa vertically when I noticed and tightened the rings), and the reduced loads continued to stick in the chamber. I also shot like crap, couldnt even stay on plate with my 6.5CM at 500, but im pretty sure lack of sleep coupled with half a dozen energy drinks was the primary culprit there.

Still cant really complaint about spending time on the mountain, and I did get the worky stuff i had to do today done.

Got home soaked the other guns in clp and pulled the 300 apart again, I didnt really see anything in the chamber that screamed problem, but the chamber was a little rough, and tight. I did some polishing, and now sized shell slid in with finger pressure where as before I had to shove pretty hard. Ill get it reassembled and see if this fixes the issue. If it keeps giving me issues, ill probably face the breach end and ream the chamber again.

Thanks for the update! Good luck at the range next time.
FYI; You need to take it easy on the energy drinks. As I sit here at 3:25 am
Maybe I should drink some coffee that might help me sleep

 

[LoonWulf]

Thanks for the update! Good luck at the range next time.
FYI; You need to take it easy on the energy drinks. As I sit here at 3:25 am
Maybe I should drink some coffee that might help me sleep

Thanks! Im hoping next outing it runs fine. And yeah i drink too many of those things, my caffeine addiction gets the better of me fairly often.
I just had my before-bed cup of coffee actually lol...... I should probably quit doing that.

Its 1 right now, guns back together, Ill probably get up early Saturday and go try it again before pulling my motor apart.

Oh, i completely cleaned the tube this evening....shiney now lol.
Also chamber picture.

 

[LoonWulf]

So looks like polishing the chamber solved my issues. Rounds loaded with 83gr of powder ejected with zero issues. The rounds with a reduced charge of 7828 felt exactly the same, no signs of issues on the cases.

The rifle also continues to hold right around MOA with effectively zero load work. Now that its running right ill redo the load ladder and start work ups.

Group right of the bull is the final. I came over 3 clicks after firing that shot just left of center.




Shooting much better today....
I also shot zero'd my 28 with 180elds at 3175.
5shot cluster .5 mil high and a scoosh right.....to lazy to wait and shoot 5 more so thats how its zeroed.


Things starting to get firecracking....i didnt notice that last time i looked.

 

[troy fairweather]

I swear you get less firecracking with flat based bullets, it's like a torch flame getting focused at the corners behind the bullet. Wish that style bullet lapua had with the step at the base then the boat tail was more popular.

 

[LoonWulf]

I swear you get less firecracking with flat based bullets, it's like a torch flame getting focused at the corners behind the bullet. Wish that style bullet lapua had with the step at the base then the boattale.

Someone else was making those too...... Solid turn brass or copper if I remember correctly.....
Can't remember who though.

Not cramming 88gr of RL-33 thru an itty bitty hole would probably help some too lol