Building a rifle specifically for cast.

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  • Last Post 24 February 2017
SierraHunter posted this 10 February 2017

So..I've got two actions sitting around. The first is a Interarms MK5, which I plan on building into either a 6.5/06 Ackley, or a 280 Ackley. The second, is a Turkish 98, with small ring threads. I kind of want to build this one into a rifle specifically for cast bullets. I want to stick with the 06 case head. I'm thinking something along the lines of a 308 case with the shoulder pushed back to give it the same length neck as the 06, and then blown out to straight with a Ackley shoulder. Put in a semi heavy 3 groove 24” barrel.

What would you guys build? It's gonna be While before I have funds to put anything together.

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onondaga posted this 10 February 2017

I'd go 30-06 Springfield just because you are considering the 280A.   In cast world they are so close,  I'd go 30 caliber where the most wonderful selection of bullet molds is. If I can do 1.2” @ 100 yd with a 1942  Rem. Barrel 1903A3 Springfield you can do better with a build. The Lee 303 Brit bullet is nice enough to build a rifle around in 30-06 with a standard chamber..

 

Gary

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 10 February 2017

if you like the longer necks, consider something on a 250-3000 / 22 varminter  case ..... about 37-44 grains powder max .... there are already such cartridges, probably somebody has chamber reamers ready to go .

how about a  6mm-250 .... because that is what i am thinking about ... ( g ) . joeb has shown that case to do well .

also there are lots of benchrest 14 twist match grade take-offs out there ... i have 4 or 9 of them myself .... even if needing setback, they just get smoother and better ...

just some thoughts ..

ken

 

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Scearcy posted this 10 February 2017

A 3006, 308 or 30BR are all good choices. Twist rate and throating will be important considerations.  As for me, I am with Ken.  I have been thinking my next cast bullet rifle will be some variation of the 6mm/250.  I will probably not go with a slow twist take off barrel though (unless Ken can persuade me otherwise).  I have a 105 gr 6MM mold that will likely require a 1/8 I would think.

great stuff to dream about until the grass turns green

Jim

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John Alexander posted this 10 February 2017

If you don't ever intend to shoot in CBA competition including postal matches ignore the rest of this message. But if you think you might like to try CBA competition you should  look at the CBA rules. A built up rifle will put you into the Heavy or the Unrestricted class. There is no weight limit on UNR and the weight limit is 14 pounds with scope for heavy.  Unless you want to shoot with the disadvantage of a harder to shoot lighter rifle and be pounded accordingly it should weigh 13 pounds plus.

John

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SierraHunter posted this 10 February 2017

I'm kind of wanting to go 30 caliber. I've got a 308 and a 06, so kind of wanting a oddball. Plus I like oddballs.

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giorgio the slim one posted this 10 February 2017

And what about  the old 30-30 alias 30 WCF ?  You would have only to work on the bolt face, and life would be easier  with chambering reamers & brass .

I have  a 30 -30 Contender carbine amd a Chiappa little Sharps , they do not have the  bullet shape limitations of the lever action carbines . Wonderful toys  for old shooters .

 

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SierraHunter posted this 10 February 2017

If you don't ever intend to shoot in CBA competition including postal matches ignore the rest of this message. But if you think you might like to try CBA competition you should  look at the CBA rules. A built up rifle will put you into the Heavy or the Unrestricted class. There is no weight limit on UNR and the weight limit is 14 pounds with scope for heavy.  Unless you want to shoot with the disadvantage of a harder to shoot lighter rifle and be pounded accordingly it should weigh 13 pounds plus.

John

14 pounds! I would like to shoot CBA matches with it, but still want to be able to pack the thing around if I choose to hunt with it.

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SierraHunter posted this 10 February 2017

And what about  the old 30-30 alias 30 WCF ?  You would have only to work on the bolt face, and life would be easier  with chambering reamers & brass .

I have  a 30 -30 Contender carbine amd a Chiappa little Sharps , they do not have the  bullet shape limitations of the lever action carbines . Wonderful toys  for old shooters .

 

It's a option, but getting it to feed might be tricky.

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rhbrink posted this 10 February 2017

Since you are building it up anyway that will put at least in the Heavy Class with a 14# limit why not make it a switch barrel could go with a nut like the Savage but not really necessary. I know several bench shooters at my club switch barrels all the time one guy comes to the range with at least five barrels one is windy day barrel, one a hot day barrel, one a cold day barrel and who knows what the others are for? 30 BR and never look back!

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SierraHunter posted this 11 February 2017

30 BR is interesting, but I would like to see a cartridge with just a bit longer neck.

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tomon posted this 11 February 2017

I'm shooting Cast with one 30WCF, and one 30-30 win!  I have a Winchester 54 with Palma Aperture sights, and a Remington 788 with a Tasco World class 36X Japanese scope.  The Winchester can take a 314299 seated against the lands and the base right at the shoulder/neck junction.  Same load won't even chamber in the Rem.

All the 30 cal boolit options, using a lot less powder.........What's not to like???

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delmarskid posted this 11 February 2017

I have a 30BR and I rarely shoot it because the case is a nuisance. I like your idea of the long necked 308 and have considered it myself. A 308 chamber could have the neck lengthened with a second straight reamer pretty easily I'm guessing. The same thing could be done with the 30BR for that matter.

 

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SierraHunter posted this 11 February 2017

Well, I'm wanting to push the shoulder back on the 308 case to extend the neck, since 308 cases are plentiful. If we simply extended the 308 neck, we would have to make cases from x57 or 06 cases.

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OU812 posted this 12 February 2017

Build it to shoot both cast and jacketed. Nothing wrong with a good bore riding bullet.

Why such an odd ball caliber? Long neck is not needed. Find you a good bullet mold that is still manufactured and build around it.

Tom at Accurate Moulds can make something for you in 30 caliber that would be easy to bump and fit well.

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45 2.1 posted this 12 February 2017

Build it to shoot both cast and jacketed.    Good suggestion.

Nothing wrong with a good bore riding bullet.  Except that you need a very good throat fit for really good accuracy.

Make sure you have 4 thousandths groove depth, land to groove width ratio of 1:1.5 to 1:2 and a normal twist for the caliber. A tapered nose bullet design will get you better accuracy along with a tight chamber neck.  

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Larry Gibson posted this 13 February 2017

The 30x57 (30 XCB) cartridge was designed expressly for cast 30 caliber bullets out of Mauser actioned rifles.  I suggest a 26” barrel with a 14” twist.  It will be fine with jacketed bullets up through 1.245 in length (Sierra 175 MKs) also.  Might check over on goodsteelforums.com for the complete skinny.  And you can shoot cast bullets up through 2600 fps with excellent accuracy.  For hunting I push a Lyman 178 gr 311041 at 2500+ fps out of my 14” twist but prefer the 30 XCB (NOE) or a Lyman 311466 for most target shooting.

 

The 30x57 is easily formed out of 30-06 based cases including the 8x57 which requires the littlest amount of forming.  And, like I said. the 30 XCB cartridge feeds slicker than snot through Mauser actions with no action alteration necessary and it is an amazingly accurate cartridge with cast bullets, especially at HV when the 14” twist is used.

 

LMG  

Concealment is not cover.........

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SierraHunter posted this 13 February 2017

Wanting to stick with 308 case or shorter since I have a lot of 308. Ross (2 buckets full)

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JSH posted this 13 February 2017

Doing all that work and wanting the gun to shoot, then a comment of a buckets of brass. Unless you have buckets of new brass. Do yourself a favor. If money is an object,sell some of the odds and ends out of the bucket and buy yourself some new, for this gun only brass. Kinda like building a blown, injected pro street car, then wondering why it won't run any times with bald used tires.

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SierraHunter posted this 13 February 2017

I suppose that is a really good point. Being young and not having a lot of extra funds, I am always looking for short cuts but maybe that's not always a good thing.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 13 February 2017

oh... sh mentioned $$$ ... dang ! .... reset .....;

now you need a spreadsheet ( g ) ... and we might widen your selection filters ...

do you really need a long neck case ??  note that top shooters barely seat the whole gas check .... and a current mj benchest case has almost no neck at all ... after all, the most effort in mj benchrest is to fix that dang neck error ... so why not just cut it off ... almost . ........ if it has something to do with seating long bullets .... how about just have a long-throated chamber ...... would seem better to have more of the bullet already guided in the throat when you pull the trigger ....

chamber reamers are available with no neck ... i have one for the 7mm rem mag ... then you ream the amount/dia. neck you want ... then the throat you want.

you might also consider a 7.62 x 39 ... lots of reamers around ...$$$ ... also lapua makes cases ( large primer ) for the  x39 .... for getting serious .   not sure but possible your mauser extractor will extract  x39 ....  for a starter/shooter barrel i bet you can find a small ring x39 barrel for $100 .... try green mountain ...  probably better than a factory barrel ... and you might get lucky .

notice that we all are having fun spending YOUR money ...  oh:  money ... you can probably get a still-excellent take-off match barrel in 30 cal ( 30 br---308  ) for about $200 ... but then needs crutched a bit to adapt it the 12 pitch mauser action . estimate another $100 ... but still cheeper than a new shilen plus chambering .

ken

 

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