Reply With Quote7 a lucky number, especially since you have seven 7's :) Is that good luck times two or seven squared? :)
Seven.....My very first was the one I did on the 350 Remington Mag case which was basically
a 7mm Remington Mag short action. From there I did a few on the Schmidt and Reuben case.
Always shorter. Although not a seven; The one i had the most fun with was taking the .284
Winchester case and making a .375. Original plan was to make a double rifle, but did make
it into a 760 Game Master pump.....i swear this will be my last "7". but I said that before....LOL
Grandson is going to be an issue since that's what the .224 was for. I may grab some 100 grain
Sierra varmint bullets and run them thru the 12 twist barrel for him. I have a pile of 7mm barrels
in large shank, so that's not a problem.
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
7 a lucky number, especially since you have seven 7's :) Is that good luck times two or seven squared? :)
Just an update....The 300 pieces of Peterson brass has had the final sizing and trimming. Next up
will be the mule barrel chambering for the fire forming. I should be able to get to this after the
holidays.
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Just a couple more steps. :)
I also changed plans by quite a bit. I put all my casting on hold for a while. I was not enjoying it with increasing tremors in my left hand (the one I hold the mold with). So, I spun off the .308 barrel and put the old .223 barrel back on. It is still shooting well but will probably get a Shilen in that caliber for the Axis. Then I'll probably have to break down and put some better glass on it.
Since it is getting close I'll wish you good cheer for the coming holidays. Good health to you and yours.
Getting closer to fire forming the new cat......The barrel I decided to use will be on it's 4th
set back and a good many re-crownings. Originally a 1.200" Bartlien 5R that started at 31"
it's now 24" long. Settled on short stepping a .284 Whitley reamer, which is basically a real
short throat 284 Winchester reamer with a 1 degree, 30 minute lead. After using the die I left
on, I added close to another .280" worth of thread, then head spaced it to see how much of
that thicker barrel I need to turn off, to give the nut some clearance. Normally I shoulder my
match barrels, but the mule barrels I like to stay with the nut......Next I'll do my chamber cast
to see where exactly I'm at for neck length dimensions. I'm leaving a slightly longer neck on
purpose......I'm ahead of schedule !!
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Is this going to be your competition gun this year?
The Cartridge will be. What I'm working on now is a mule barrel set up for just fire forming.Originally Posted by charlie b
Initially I have 300 cases ready to form. Doing it this way saves wear on the new barrel. It will
save more barrel life as I work up lower limit loads. Grandson has really no time behind a
center file rifle so during fire forming, he'll get some trigger time......I have a 30" Hart Max
Varmint barrel that will get this cartridge for my match's this year......It will be interesting
to see how this old Bartlein will shoot. With being an original match barrel then set backs for
various mules. The fire cracking in it looks like a cheese grater.....LOL
Got a new buddy for the shop. It showed up about a week ago. I think someone dumped it.
Friendly and checks out everything. I figure it's only about 2 months old. The boy needs a
mouser where the shop is at. He traps several per month......
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
I kinda figured the mule part. I'll be interested in how the old thing shoots too.
So, do you switch barrel brands cause that is just what you have laying around? I may have to replace my 6BR barrel this year and wondering what I will get. The Shilen has lasted longer than I thought it would so that's my 'backup' choice.
A lot has to do with how fast I can get one in. Having shot Hart and Douglas mostly, I can get
barrels from them quick. This particular Bartlein and my last two Brux barrels dang near took
over 10 months. The particular Hart I'm using for the match rifle was for a project about 2 years
ago, and put it aside. So, I'll keep a Brux on the shelf for long range, Hart and Douglas, for the
short game, and both my AR's have Kreigers. I may order a 4 groove Kreiger for next year once
I figure out a proper twist rate for a bullet I'm looking at as a custom......2025 is now here, so I'm
shifting gears and moving ahead.
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Thanks Fuj. I suspect when it comes time availability will be the biggest issue for me as well. I've heard Bartlein and Brux have even longer wait times these days.
Since PRS took off again in a huge way, It's sucking up the stocks. Long range beyond 1000 yards, has been steadily
growing. The demand for high twist rate barrels is going thru the roof. I do check most makers for shelf stock as well
as "Bugholes", but it's the same. No one is stocking slow twist BR barrels other then the few top button riflers, And they
are having a hard time keeping up. Did'nt help that barrel grade 416-R stainless jumped again in cost. I'm going to make
do with what I have and probably move away from the .284......But I said that before.....LOL
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
I suspected that and do expect to wait no matter who I get one from. And, yeah, cost will always go up.
I do like my 6mm. :)
Well while Phil has been casting bullets. I've been tweaking reamers and casting chambers. Numbers
look good for what my intents are, and will be mounting up the mule barrel. A little too cold out and
drifting snow will keep me home though. Looks like a sub zero night coming. Still ahead of schedule.
I did come up with a name. "284-OBX" It does mean something, but since i also posted it up on the
ACS site, I'll sit on the meaning for awhile.....
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Still watching :)
Warm in my shop when casting, not as cold here as in Erie, but mid-20s is a bit colder than I'm comfortable with to sit and run load tests. Shame, it's been dead calm for several days.
Look forward to your next update.
Out here when the wind is calm it is either very cold or very hot :)
Very cold to me now days is 30F :
Woke up to 6 degrees this morning. News say's a wind chill of negative 14 degrees. I have the
typical one foot drift up my front door. Plows went thru so the end of the drive is plugged again.
Typical Erie winter (from the old days).....I'll put on a second pot of coffee, and maybe sometime
today put the rifle together, and pull out one of my Bald Eagle rests to swap out bags. I have an
early model aluminum slingshot I don't use much, so for just fire forming, it will be easier to lug
around.....
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Been unseasonably cold this month. Farther south in Louisiana, to use a common northerners winter term, it's snowing it's ass off.
Been using the time to pocket ream a couple of thousand case fired rounds and prepare to prime them. By the time I have all the cases fully prepared, the number should be about 3500. I'm anxious to get to these as I've spent the time to do it right all the way thru from beginning to end.
Pretty amazing how much time case prep can take, and there are steps some of you do that are far in excess of mine.
I've learned a hug series of lessons in the last year with my Savage 223. The most important is that the gun is a static issue. Once you have it like you want it, not many changes take place. It only puts the bullet where it's aimed. It's the ammunition that's fluid. So much can change even between components of the same manufacturer.
Well, no fire forming today. Negative 3 at the airport, and negative 4 by my thermometer. News is calling
for a negative 5, with a negative 15 to 25 wind chill.....i fired the car up last night to see how the battery was
doing. It was fine but, I put my battery tender on it as a precaution......Few more days should be back in the
mid 20's and sunny.
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Ran out to the range yesterday afternoon with it promising to be in the mid 20's and clear.
I took half of the 300 cases, and did a simple setup to start hammering away. I got about
100 of those done before I said screw this. Range was about 18 degrees, and by noon, the
snow was coming down hard.....This coming Monday looks a lot better, if the club gets plowed.
Other then that, cases look real nice, and sharply defined. Things going well in that department.
Still ahead of schedule.....
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
Heck, we are even having colder than usual. Haven't been out to the range since the temp drop.
Wife and I were just discussing if we wanted to move back to northern NM. This week kinda sealed that up as a NO. We are getting wimpy.
Fire forming is complete. 26 degrees at the bench, with extreme sunshine. I should have brought
my sun glasses. It was a bit brutal on the eyes with that large white field of snow.....Next up will be
the complete brass prep, starting with the annealing.....i did get a bit of a chill and got the bottle of
Rye out of the cabinet and self medicated. May be a bit of a couch tater tomorrow. Take a day off,
so to speak.....
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
I grew up in Phoenix. We did go to the mountains a few times during the winter, but, still not tons of snow. Used sunglasses in the desert all the time (even then we knew the sun killed the eyes).
When I was back east the first time (NY state) we had a large snow fall, a couple feet during the week and then a 3ft drop. Everything went from gray to white. I figured it was winter, why have the sunglasses out. Then the sun came out and I was snow blind. My eyes hurt for several days. Kind of a shock for a desert rat.
I always wear sunglasses when outside because my light blue eyes are extremely sensitive to bright light, even had prescription sunglasses while active duty, and later, a waiver for 'photo gray' lenses. Asked my civilian optometrist about that many, many years ago, he told me it's very common for people with lightly pigmented eye color. Snow blindness is very real.
For years I sneezed when walking out of a dark building into bright sun, thought it was just me until I saw a full page ad in the newspaper asking for people with that reaction to participate in a study. It's called photic sneezing or Autosomal Dominant Compelling Heloopthalmic Outburst (ACHOO) Syndrome and people with lightly pigmented eyes are more likely to experience the condition.
Fuj, always interesting following your thought process. Thanks!
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