Reloadron
Contributing Member
Attached are a few images.
About 10 years ago I took a NRA smith course at Montgomery Community College in NC. The instructor was a James Messer who was great to learn from. At the time I had an interest in the 6 PPC cartridge so that became my project rifle to build. I built the rifle on a Remington 700 short action.
James thought it would be a good idea to use his reamers rather than my own. This involved a tight case neck. You end up with a paper thin case neck which is great for accuracy. The downside is when you form cases from .220 Russian brass you need to hand turn the necks of every case. Hold that thought.
The original bolt (now deceased) was a .223 bolt face. I opened the bolt face and added a Sako extractor by milling a slot in the bolt body. The rifle worked fine and was accurate. Well fine right till.... I failed to get a good neck trim and had a fired case stuck in the chamber. I tapped the bolt, then tapped harder, then tapped with a small (I swear it was small) hammer. The bolt handle left the bolt!
My first exercise in brazing on a bolt handle did not go well. This is best practiced on junk parts and not a prized rifle. So much for the learning curve. Bottom line, bolt body destroyed. Good lessons learned though.
So after a decade away from my love of shooting I am digging all my old toys out including this once nice rifle. The barrel is 24" full contour with a 1:12 twist. I think it was Shilen but figure what is there is a 6mm hole in about $300 in stainless steel. Thus I would like to stay 6mm.
So what to do? I can buy a good .308 bolt for the action. I was thinking 6mm Remington. I have my barrel vise and my Remington 700 wrench. I can buy 6mm Rem. reamers, twist off the barrel and re-chamber it. The rifle also uses as can be seen an oversize lug.
I am open for ideas here as to a new caliber. Thoughts, suggestions are most welcome.
Thanks Much
Ron
About 10 years ago I took a NRA smith course at Montgomery Community College in NC. The instructor was a James Messer who was great to learn from. At the time I had an interest in the 6 PPC cartridge so that became my project rifle to build. I built the rifle on a Remington 700 short action.
James thought it would be a good idea to use his reamers rather than my own. This involved a tight case neck. You end up with a paper thin case neck which is great for accuracy. The downside is when you form cases from .220 Russian brass you need to hand turn the necks of every case. Hold that thought.
The original bolt (now deceased) was a .223 bolt face. I opened the bolt face and added a Sako extractor by milling a slot in the bolt body. The rifle worked fine and was accurate. Well fine right till.... I failed to get a good neck trim and had a fired case stuck in the chamber. I tapped the bolt, then tapped harder, then tapped with a small (I swear it was small) hammer. The bolt handle left the bolt!
My first exercise in brazing on a bolt handle did not go well. This is best practiced on junk parts and not a prized rifle. So much for the learning curve. Bottom line, bolt body destroyed. Good lessons learned though.
So after a decade away from my love of shooting I am digging all my old toys out including this once nice rifle. The barrel is 24" full contour with a 1:12 twist. I think it was Shilen but figure what is there is a 6mm hole in about $300 in stainless steel. Thus I would like to stay 6mm.
So what to do? I can buy a good .308 bolt for the action. I was thinking 6mm Remington. I have my barrel vise and my Remington 700 wrench. I can buy 6mm Rem. reamers, twist off the barrel and re-chamber it. The rifle also uses as can be seen an oversize lug.
I am open for ideas here as to a new caliber. Thoughts, suggestions are most welcome.
Thanks Much
Ron