Long winded, so please bear withme. I’ve tired researching some of theissues I’m raising and was unsuccessful in finding an answer so I’m hoping thatthe community can point me in the right direction with either an answer ortowards published material that I could get ahold of for future reference.

I have a Remington 700 BDL in30-06 that I plan to rebarrel to a more manageable caliber due to injuries andnerve damage that I sustained in the military.

Main use for this rifle would behunting – pigs, deer, and hopefully up to Elk sized game as opportunity knocks- with some informal target shooting from time to time with friends, so withhunting in mind I’m thinking about a 7mm caliber but am not married to theidea. I am also looking to keep the woodstock that came with the gun and have the barrel channeled out as I want thenew barrel to be a heavy varmint profile as I do not like sporter profilebarrels. I only bought this rifle in thefirst place because I got a smoking deal for it years ago at Walmart in thewake of the Remington trigger fiasco and they were selling off their stock dirtcheap. I’ve read some older posts andgood things about Pac-Nor rebarreling and blue printing actions and was thinkingabout a Remington barrel nut package so that it would be easier to change outbarrels. I want to keep the wood stock purelyfor aesthetics and sentiment as it takes me back to my youth growing up withvarious wood stocked rifles. Corny, I know.

Calibers for consideration are6.5x55 Swede and 7x57 Mauser and their ballistic twins the 260 Remington andthe 7mm-08 Remington. I will reload sofactory ammo loads and restrictions as relates to the watered down ammointended to be shot in century old rifles will not be an issue here.

I really like what I’ve readabout the 6.5x55 Swede and 7x57 Mauser and their effectiveness on game but Icannot find any published data on updated, or modern loads if you prefer, foruse in a modern manufactured action that can bring these two grand oldcartridges into the modern era and breathe new life into them. I’m not looking to load either to anywhereclose to magnum levels, I just want to get ‘a little more’ velocity to increaserange and effectiveness on game as it relates to the velocity at range requiredto have a bullet reliably expand for damage and penetration. Basically, the lack of any modern load datais the limiting factor for me concerning these two cartridges.

As for the 260 Remington and the7mm-08 Remington, although they have published reloading data for modernactions, my only reservations are what I’ve read about bullet setback when itcomes to 140gr bullets in the 260 Remington and 140gr and above bullets for the7mm-08 Remington and the corresponding reduction in case capacity due to therestriction of being used in a short action. It seems to me that this setup actually reduces the effectiveness ofthese cartridges with the use of heavier bullets by limiting any untappedpotential in velocity and energy that might otherwise be obtained if theseheavier bullets were to be set forward into the case to make use of theresulting case capacity. So what if somejackass, like me, decided to use a long action and to have a barrel chamberedto either a 260 Remington with a 140gr bullet set forward or a 7mm-08 with a 150to 165gr bullets set forward? I’m surethat a specialized reamer will have to be created for this, or does anyone knowif there is currently one already in existence? Has anyone out there already tried this already? If so, what were the results and who did thework?

If I had my choice I’d prefer eitherthe 6.5x55 Swede or 7x57 Mauser with updated load information as that wouldinvolve less smith work and has the better aesthetic cool factor, especiallywhen combined with a wood stocked hunting rifle. Second choice would obviously be either the260 or 7mm-08 Remingtons with the modern loadings and ‘full length’ cartridgesfor the heavier bullets, but at a cost of additional equipment (reamers) tochamber the barrels.

In short, does anyone out therehave any knowledge and or access to material regarding:

1 – safe, modern reloading datato improve the performance of the 6.5x55 Swede and 7x57 Mauser;

2 – knowledge of anyone who havehad chambers reamed for the 260 Remington and or the 7mm-08 Remington forlonger bullets that are not set back into the cartridge – effectively lengtheningthe cartridge and making it longer than what would fit in a short action andthus necessitating the use of a long action;

3 – knowledge of theeffectiveness of lengthening the 260 and or the 7mm-08 and if it improved theballistics of these cartridges;

4 – know if such a reamer in 260Remington or 7mm-08 already exists and where to get one as I’m sure I wouldneed to provide a barrel manufacturer with one to produce what I needed, orknow of a barrel maker that already has such a setup and produces said barrels;

5 – suggestions on who to chooseto do the gunsmith work if I chose to the course of action to go with a ‘modified’or lengthened 260 Remington or 7mm-08 Remington.

Any help that can be given,either in free knowledge or being pointed in the right direction for readingmaterial would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve