Yeah, I hear a lot of that spoiled ammo virus is going around. Almost as contagious as Covid!
My recent side effect is a 9.5" 218 Bee, Just because Midway has them( Bee bullets) on stupid sale 11.29 a box one should never forget how many you bought the time before and the time before that and..... So at least they will stop collecting dust now, I hope
Exactly correct! Haha Either a stash of bullets, brass or running across a set of dies, have worked their way into logical reasoning to seek out a barrel in many occasion. Gotta love it.Originally Posted by J A XSP
I wonder how many Contender barrels have been purchased base on having buttload of bullets to shoot up. My latest trip down that road is with 44 caliber. I bought a bunch of JHP and JFP bulk bullets years ago and ended up without a 44 barrel because I couldn't comfortably handle the recoil in my 14". I'm currently in possession of a 445 Supermag carbine and not one but two 44 Mag carbine barrels.And to make matters even more stupid, I still buy XTPs every time they go on sale somewhere because they shoot much more accurately. :D :D
Meanwhile, I have this pile of NOS Winchester .25-35 brass.....
It's better to shoot for the moon and hit the fencepost than to shoot for the fencepost and hit the ground!
I think I'd rather have a 25-35 than the 25 Bullberry barrel I have. Before LVR powder there was no comparison but the 25-35 will keep up with the larger-capacity Bullberry with new powders. If for no other reason, 25-35 dies are cheap and plentiful. I'm still loading without a 25-35 die set and don't see buying a set any time soon. :)
I was momentarily excited, I have been thinking of selling my 25-35 Barrel and getting a 23-35 AI or a 25 BB but now I dunno, See what you've done now I do have Leverevelution hummmmm I wonder what that would do in my 257 JDJ
I can tell you that the 25Bullberry doesn't love the LVR powder. And in fact, I've found apparent pressure spikes in the 30-30 AI. It seems to be specifically designed to work well with slope-shouldered cases of a certain capacity. And even then, it's only listed with certain bullet weights. It's tricky stuff. For cases with extra capacity, there are powders- Varget, H4895, maybe CFE223 - that will equal the performance without hitting a wall and spiking.I was momentarily excited
I do use CFE223 in a number of cases not listed with good results
JA-
I never got the accuracy I wanted with LVR in the 30-30AI barrels I had but found sweet spots and fantastic accuracy in the 7mm Bullberry and 7-30 Waters. I wondered if a hotter primer may have done better with the volume of LVR needed for the 30-30 AI but never got around to testing that. Even in the 25-35, LVR was magical, especially with the 80 grain Barnes TTSX.
I've got notes that indicate .5" grouping with bulk Winchester 150 grain bullets at around a grain and a half over max for 30-30. Just a few tenths of a grain over that and it showed definite pressure signs. I was working to anecdotal data that pushed way beyond that but I found a hard limit. Given the accuracy at what looked like okay pressure, I should go back and revisit that powder and do some chrony work. Varget is so accurate that I don't find much need for anything else when I have it but I stocked up on the LVR when Varget was scarce. I may compare some velocities with 150 grainers and see if the LVR is showing some advantage.
Varget was my most-used powder in the three 30-30 AI barrels I had. Like you said, with the results it gave, I found little need for anything else. I did have one load in a 23" SS barrel that used H380. It only generated 2400 fps with 150 grain Nosler BTs but was one of the most accurate 30-30 AI loads I have ever found. The hogs never noticed the difference between it and the faster Varget loads ha ha.
Well, I heard that there may be a .270/.225 IMP (.270 JDJ) barrel in Van Horn's existing inventory. There is, but it's a 16" barrel. I prefer 22 to 24" barrels for my usage.
This one would have been interesting. With the proliferation of softer bullets for the 6.8 SPC, there are plenty of options out there. Heck, even the tried-and-true 130 grain Ballistic Tip would be a topflight choice.
Thus, I am back to square one, so to speak. I'll look around for a bit more. If nothing surfaces, I'll likely just sell the brass for what I have in it.
Bobby if you decide to, I'll buy them. Now I will be thinking of the 270 barrel all day.. mumble mumble
Well, a 21" untapered .270/.225 IMP barrel surfaced in Dave's stash of barrels, so I am going to take it and the new RCBS dies. Might be two or three weeks before it gets shipped to me, but I can live with that ha ha.
Nice find. I'll be watching for a report from you when you get it shooting. I've only got one Van Horne barrel. It's a straight 21" 221.It's a good barrel.
Congrats Bobby, nice snag. Pigs and deer beware.
Hey Bobby. Where are you finding the inventory? I've never found any Van Horn barrels via google search. I'd be interested in seeing what else might be out there. :)
A guy named Craig -- a longtime friend of the Van Horns -- is handling this. I'm going to see if he'd be willing to provide and let me post a list here. I think it would be beneficial to him and also much easier than selling them individually on ebay, which he did a bit of in the past. If that doesn't pan out, I'll see if he would be OK with me sharing his contact info.
After our initial conversation, when he thought the only .270/.225 was the 16-incher, he started off naming a bunch of barrels that sounded appealing. But it's hard to take all that in over the phone. I'd love to see a list myself.
If you posted a list here, there'd be a feeding frenzy. :D :D
I'd be interested in finding out if he might have a 357 mag carbine and/or 22 Hornet carbine, though. :)
I'm fairly certain I heard "Hornet." But I know for sure I heard .300 Savage, 7-30 Waters, 6.5 Grendel & .225 AI. I do recall that the Waters is 24" and stainless and think there was a shorter version as well.
I would love to have a .300 Savage, a .250 Savage would be nice as well.
It's better to shoot for the moon and hit the fencepost than to shoot for the fencepost and hit the ground!
OK, here is a list of the barrels. His name is Craig, and his # is 602-316-8299. He will also have a bunch of stocks to sell soon for Dave.
Am getting ready...
I have to say, of all the 225-based wildcats, I think I like the idea of this 270 version the best. I liked that 6.8 Long Rimmed barrel and even using 30-30 brass much shorter than full length, it had a lot of potential. Your x225 version should really be capable of some power and velocity, even with heavier bullets. :)
I really haven't toyed with the idea of potential velocity for this one, but it has a good bit more capacity than a 6.8 SPC, so anything above 6.8 SPC performance will be gravy, so to speak. I'd be completely content with the 120 grain SST at 2600 fps (factory 6.8 120 grain SST load claims something like 2460 fps) or the 95 grainer in the 2850 range. He'll be shipping to me on Tuesday, so maybe by next weekend I'll have it. For fireforming, I have 100 blem Nosler 130 grain BTs that I bought for about $26 when they were on sale last year.
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