Will it take it?

[Bigfatts]

So I just picked up one of these:

It's the MR221, which is the .30-06 model. Now I was thinking of reaming it out to the AI version for a little more performance but then I thought, why not the .300 H&H? Peak pressures for the .30-06 are 50,000, the H&H is 54,000. Is that enough to stop me? I'm not talking about running max loads through it either. Just something with a little more punch that is a little more appropriate in a double rifle. Opinions?

 

[jaguarxk120]

Even if the gun would take the extra pressure, you have the problem of barrel regulation. With higher bullet speed and greater recoil the barrels won't print to the same spot. Generally a double will perform with only one or two load combinations.

 

[Jim Watson]

The Baikal-Remington double rifle has a jackscrew between the barrels to allow some user regulation. Whether it would handle a caliber change from .30-06, I don't know, but some of the .45-70s have been rechambered to bigger .45s with success.

I don't think the AI would gain enough to be worth the trouble.

MY concern would be about the extractors going to .300 H&H. Rimless extractors on double rifles are kind of a gimcrack gadget in the first place and recutting them for a different head diameter might not be a reasonable thing to do.

 

[Bigfatts]

MY concern would be about the extractors going to .300 H&H. Rimless extractors on double rifles are kind of a gimcrack gadget in the first place and recutting them for a different head diameter might not be a reasonable thing to do.

That was more or less my biggest concern. I just think it would be really cool to have an H&H double. The cheapest one I have seen is a Searcy conversion that's riding GB and he wants like $4k for it. I'll have to do some research and see if the extractors would be worth messing with.

 

[HiBC]

My 2 cents,you may disagree.At the ranges one would typically choose a double rifle for
The 30/06 will deliver everything the 300 H+H will deliver.

Higher velocity will give longer range,but higher velocity does not necessarily give a better,more reliable full performance wound channel.

If I had to shoot a bear at 20 yds,I think a 200 gr Nosler partition in a 30-06 would perform as well as any 30 caliber.
You do what makes you happy,but I would just shoot and enjoy it.

 

[Bigfatts]

Yeah, more or less the conclusion I've come to. The AI would give a little more performance but at the cost of significantly higher chamber pressures. The .300 would just be way too much work. So I think I will enjoy the rifle in .30-06 and spend the money improving some other things, the triggers, sights, wood finish, etc.