Need suggestions!

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taylorce1

New member


I have this HVA small ring 98 pictured above, and I don't know what to do with it. I have no real holes in my safe I need to fill, so I'm kind of at a loss for what I want to build. Here is my only criteria.

1. Must be based off of X57, .284, or 06 brass.
2. No 7mm or 8mm alibers.
3. No smaller than .257 and no larger than 9.3mm.
4. No varmint or heavy barrels.
5. Wildcats are okay, I've played with a few in the past.
 
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taylorce1

New member
I doubt I'll do another .25-06 already have that and a .250 Savage, that's the only thing keeping me from making it a .257 Roberts. I guess I should have left the .257 caliber was minimum off.

6.5-284 is a contender as well as the 6.5X55 and X57, the action came from a 6.5-06 rifle. I probably would have left it a 6.5-06 but it only had a 19" barrel. It was very noisy and threw a big ball of flame that was quite impressive, but that was about it. I was going to make it back into a 6.5-06 but the dummy cartridges I made up with the 140 grain bullets I wanted to shoot didn't fit the magazine very well.
 
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oldscot3

New member
What might you be intending to use it for ? I have a S&W branded Husky in 30 06, it's a great hunting rifle. A 270 would be nice though some might find that boring.
 
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taylorce1

New member
Hunting mainly as it's a long action, probably a lighter weight hunting rifle no more than 8 lbs with scope, sling, and loaded magazine. I have two each .270 Win, .30- 06 , and .338-06 rifles so I'm not looking for any of these right now. I'm trying to think outside of the box on this one and come up with something interesting. Tried the .280 a couple of times as well as an 7X57, 8X57 and 8mm-06, and never took a shine to any of these cartridges.

A 1:8 fast twist .277-284 wildcat kind of interests me for some of the new long range hunting .277 caliber bullets. Same can be said for a .358X57 (modern 9X57) or 9.3X57, kind of a thumper in a light weight package. However, I'm not sold on any of these and I don't need any of them either as I have plenty of rifles that'll cover the same hunting situations.
 
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Scorch

New member
Well, since you like the 6.5mm and you mentioned the 57mm case, the 6.5X57 is an excellent cartridge. 200 fps more than the 6.5X55, about the same velocities as the 6.5 Creedmore, and only about 100-200 fps off the 6.5-284. It is a very mild cartridge, and performs very well. I was trying to decide on a rifle last year and was pretty much set on a 6.5X57, but then went with another 7X57 because, because, . . . :eek: I don't know why.

Or maybe a 256 Newton? Halfway between the 6.5X57 and the 6.5-'06 both in case size and velocities. I read it is in the top 10 of RCBS' wildcat dies sales, so there is a pretty good following.

As far as 9X57, I used to own one. Good cartridge, hit hard at both ends. I am considering another one.
 
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jmr40

New member
The 280 is in my opinion the most useful of the 30-06 based cartridges. I've had 338-06 and 35 Whelen in the past and don't feel they offer any real advantage over my 30-06. Of course the 280 offers no real advantage over 30-06 or 270 if you already have both of those.

Perhaps 9.3X62. While only slightly larger than 35 Whelen it is typically used with bullets heavy enough to separate its self from 30-06. I think that round would be well suited in a classic Mauser action.
 
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taylorce1

New member
.256 Newton sounds interesting indeed Scorch. That's the kind of cartridge suggestions I'm looking for. Something a little obscure but not impossible to find brass for. However, I want more choices to look at.
 
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bull bob

New member
I know you said you wanted to stay below 9.3mm, but I have always liked the idea of a 9.5x57. It would basically be a bolt action 375 JDJ. For some reason I just like that caliber.
 
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emcon5

New member
If it is a long action, and you are looking at .264", 6.5-06 is not a bad place to look. .256 Newton is essentially 6.5-06 with more complicated case forming, (shorter, more taper), vs running a .25-06 case into a .264 neck die for the 6.5-06.

6.5-284 is equal to or a little slower than the 6.5-06, (depending on the data you are looking at), and because the case is fatter you can normally get one less in the magazine.

.284 Win wouldn't be a bad choice either, there are a lot of nice bullets available these days.

I think for a light weight hunting rifle though, you may want to go down on the case capacity a bit, unless you want a long barrel, you will end up where you started, muzzle blast like BB-63.

Or you could go old school, and make it a .275 Rigby ;)
 
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taylorce1

New member
6.5-06 doesn't work well with the magazine on this rifle. The newer 140+ grain bullets have to be seated pretty deep into the case to feed. No point in running a 6.5-06 and seating bullets deep to work. That's why a X57 or .284 case would be better, I don't care about losing one round out of a magazine.

No 7mm cartridges, I've played with a lot of them in both standard and wildcat. Don't like them, and for hunting there is no difference between it and my .270. I must admit I'm spoiled I have a .270 that pretty much can shoot anything I feed it right at an inch or less, factory or hand load. It isn't finicky just load to SAAMI length and go shoot and kill things, I haven't had the same luck with any 7mm cartridge I've tried. Same for 8mm I've been down that road, not interested.

It'll have a light contour barrel suitable for caliber around 22" which will work well with anything around 06 case capacity or smaller.
 
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old roper

New member
If you build 270-284 it be pretty close to 270 but let you seat bullet out and 22" barrel could maybe work. To me it's kind of trade-off when your using longer bullets like the 170gr @ almost 1.5" and it be same with 6.5x284 Norma.
 
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taylorce1

New member
I doubt I go as heavy as the 170 Berger in anything short of a magnum cartridge. However there are higher BC bullets like the 150 Nosler LRAB, 140 CEB MTH and 130 GS HV bullets that require a faster than 1:10 twist to maximize the BC. I think with shorter but near 06 capacity case I could do well in a 22" barrel. I'm not set on a 22" barrel, but I don't want shorter than 20" and no longer than 24".
 
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oldscot3

New member
You said it was a 6.5 06 before, I'd hate to see you use the 284 Win as a parent case since you'll likely have to modify the action's insides to get reliable feeding. Of course, then there's no going back.

How about going back to the 6.5 06 except with a longer barrel and the quick twist you want?
 
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old roper

New member
I shoot 150gr ABLR in my 270 but I'm higher elevation and it handle Berger 150gr VLD. It's hard to say on barrel length and I think you know who I am, we did swap scopes and I still have your scope and been good one.
 
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HiBC

New member
Given your criteria,and that the mag box is limited length,in one of PO Ackley's books is the description for the .260 AAR,which,IIRC,is a Warren Page creation.
Its simply a 6.5 mm version of the 257 Ackley.

Plenty of mag length to long seat 140 grs. More/better bullet selection than the 25's.

Myself? I'd go with the Win Fwt profile with a minimal cleanup trim off the muzzle,maybe an inch? From full blank. Frankly,the Douglas Premium I used for my .257 AI has served well. I like a light,quality foam core/glass stock.
I did my .257 AI that way. Total weight,with 6x42 mm Leupold is 7 lbs.
I tried to trackdown Hi-Tech Specialties for you. Came up with this

http://www.legendaryarmsworks.com/category-s/112.htm

Now,I have used a CRF Husky 5000 version of that action. I like it,but here is a caution. That cast aluminum guard assy. Its unique. The full width front "tang " if you will ,where the front guard screw goes,removes a larger pocket from the stock. Its not readily replaceable.

If you glass bed it,be extremely careful removing it.DO NOT pull on the trigger guard. Why? The rear of the tang will come free.You used release agent! Good!. But the front guard screw boss will not just pull straight with it. Where the hinge pin for the hinged floor plate is cross drilled through the guard is where that cast,crystaline alloy is weak and brittle.Thats where it will snap.

That's why I built my 30-338 on the Husky with the Hi-Tech stock blind magazine. Rem 700 ADL and Krag guards work good for that.
 
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taylorce1

New member
old roper said:
I think you know who I am, we did swap scopes and I still have your scope and been good one.
Click to expand...

You'll have to forgive me, I've done a ton of trades over the years. More than likely it was a Leupold 4-12X40 AO I got from you if I'm correct? If it is, it has been a good scope for me as well.

I'm at 4000 feet now where I live and while the 150 LRAB Shoot okay in my .270. However, the drops aren't right for the rated BC Litz listed them at in my rifle out to 600 yards. I've been wanting a faster twist .270 to play with for a while now anyway, Litz used a 1:7 but I think a 1:8 would handle them pretty well.
 
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