Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .300 H&H Magnum Wildcat- 300 H&H "Super"

Hey Fellas, I've got a pre-64 (1952) Model 70 Winnie in 300 H&H Mag, that was owned by my grandfather first, then passed down to me by my Father. After shooting the standard H&H for a while, my Grandpa had a gunsmith by the name of Bishop in L.A. ream out the chamber, thus steepening the shoulder considerably upon fire. Far improved velocity and accuracy are what we've gotten out of this round. The stock is like drift wood, the bluing is worn, but this old Warrior still hits like a train and drives tacks. Between my Grandpa's and my Father's cheeks on the stock, it's taken more great deer, elk, and speed-goat than you can shake a stick at.





Here's the fire-formed cartridge. Check out the steep shoulder. Similar to the Ackley Improved?

Probably closer to a .300 Weatherby. I had a pre-64 in .300 H&H that surprised me the first time I shot it: It had been re-chambered to a Weatherby with no markings to indicate the conversion. I've had older gunsmiths tell me that it wasn't that unusual a request in the 50's and 60's.

Great rifle! Now refinsih that stock.

Good call on the Weatherby, I've been thinking that the shoulder is probably more similar to the Roy cartridge as well. Maybe I'll load some up using Wby info, and see how the ballistics are. Not sure if I'll ever refinish the stock, if you look, the bolt side of the stock is actually incredibly lighter colored than the other side, from being exposed to the bright Colorado/California on a right-side shoulder! Pretty cool.

NICE rifle. Love the rifles from that era. Pure class, and real thunder.

Welcome to the Campfire.

Your mission is to turn around and walk back to even the stock side colors!

jim

Thanks for the Welcome. Maybe a carry on the left shoulder for another 60 years will even out the stock, eh!?

Does anybody know of another H&H wildcatted in this way in a pre-64? I know of only 2, this particular one and my great-uncle's, who had his done at the same time my grandpa did.

Nice shooter with cool family history.

Too bad it was rechambered and had that pad put on it. Quick lesson on making a 2 grand rifle into a 1 grand rifle but that happened to a lot of M 70s and 721s back in the day. As for improved accuracy and velocity, a 300 H&H is a very accurate cartridge and with modern powders can push a 150-168 gr premium bullet well over 3000 fps which will kill anything in North America very dead.

Worth refinishing the stock in the proper Winchester red and putting a modern Sorbothane pad on it.

Sure if he wanted to un-do the history his family has put in to it....


Its gem the way it is man.

Good point, some history is best left as history.

I'd lay odds that it's a 300 Wby, as others here have said. Very common conversion, and a pretty good one.

no reason to redo that rifle... would only increase the value to someone that will never own the rifle and decrease the value to the current owner... I can not imagine that he would EVER sell his grandfather's rifle.

I think its VERY cool you have this family rifle and I hope that you keep using it just as you see fit.

There were many, many wildcats based on the full length H&H case merely 'improved' to one degree or another. Since the shoulders are not radiused, I am going to guess 300 ICL Grizzly or 300Ackley. If it were my gun I would merely neck size the cases, shoot it and call it whatever I wanted. Say..... the 300 Claiborne sounds kinda cool, as does the 308 Safariman!

That recoil pad is original, if you look at all the other Pre-64s, they've got the same "white line". Refinishing would be cool to see, but like I said, the history behind it is too much to go over with new Birchwood Casey. I'll keep it!

If you think about it for a few minutes you will realize that when this model 70 was "improved" the model 70 was just a good rifle and not a collectors item. In the day it was "improved" the thought that Winchester would try and go broke and butcher the model 70 in an effort to make the company profitable was beyond comprehension. So lets not talk to badly of those that did in the past what a lot of us like to do today that being rifle loony acts of "improvement".

Beautiful Rifle as is or refinished. Do what you want and or what you think your granddad would think was a good idea. He after all did the "improvement" he wanted I would think that he would approve of anything that you did as long as it continues to do what it was made to do. In my opinion that is letting the operator/shooter have fun while putting meat on the table.

8mmwapiti

Haven't seen any factory-issue P-64s with white line recoil pads. It was certainly a popular after-market modification, along with MC stocks and Weatherby chambers in the heyday of 'super velocity anywhere kills' mania.

An interesting bit of history.

Perhaps I'm off in saying that the recoil pad is stock, my bad! It surely doesn't feel aftermarket, that "pad" is hard as a rock no matter, the recoil is extremely minimal.

Safariman, I like your idea! And after considering it, I've gone with the .300 Bishop Mag, after the fellow that wildcatted it.

Or, .300 Coulter Mag, after my Grandpa himself.

300 Coulter sounds pretty good, that is what I would do and might even have the barrel stampes as such. Neck size, use 300WBY data, a tad bit backed off until loads proven and hunt! With 7828SSC, you should be able to get to 3200fps with 180gr TTSX's and similar. Add powder till you see that number or see obvisous pressure signs ( I predict you wont get to any signs of pressure first) or see 3200 on the Chrony and call it good. Nothing that load won't do that one should attempt with a 30 cal anything. Same/same with the 168TTSX running 3300. I have a shorter version of a similar era wildcat called at the time a 30 Belted Newton. Because of the slow burn rate and long pressure curve 7828SSC is your friend.

I think that sounds like a lethal killer. I've just fire-formed 50 or so pieces of Hornady brass, and I look forward to trying some Wby load data! Previously, we've hunted everything with the 168 grainers, but the 180s will be my thunder this year I believe. Cheap 190s for the fire-forming gave a sweeeet whollop.

BUT, if .300 AI data is available, would you use it, or the 300 Wby?

300AI because of the freebore discrepancies, but NOT the stuff from the PO Ackley book. I have his books, and they could have been called " How to disassemble your rifle through the use of injudicious handloading" Crazy hot stuff in that manual. Actually, no real difference in what the two rounds should do which is why I said to get a batch of 7828SSC and work up unitl you get to 3200 w/180's or 3300 w/168's andcall it good. Might could go more, but no one can know for sure if the pressures are OK and then the question is..... WHY?

180 TTSX at 32000 does it all, unless a 375 or larger is needed. Easy as that. And to have this in a pre 64 model 70? Absolute perfection in hunting rifle nirvannah. Don't get no better than that.

I like the way you think. In essence, I will be developing my OWN .300 Coulter Mag loads, beautiful. A 180 grn Triple Shock at 3200 fps, should kill most anything quite dead, unless I'm VERY badly misinformed

Do you have any idea as to what amount of 7828SSC I should start with? As I have no access to AI data.

Because we do not know how much, if any, freebore there is in the throat area nor the other dimensions we need to be more precise I would start with 75.0Gr of 7828SSC and go up from there one grain at a time. I would suspect that you will end up in the low to mid 80's for a final charge but no way to know without starting at 75 and chrono'ing as you go up. Again, once you hit 3200fps, STOP. That case size will not be able to produce higher numbers than that without running way high pressure EVEN IF you do not see any evidence of high pressure such as flattened primers, Shiny spots on the cartridge case head or sticky extraction. IF you see any of these signs or if the velocities are not going up in a smooth non parabolic curve then stop right there and back off at least one full grain of powder. Even if you need to stop at 3100, that is faster than than a 300 Win MAg and a DEADLY combo.

Lastly, there is a co out there that makes red recoil pads to fit your rifle that say Winchester on them. This would be a nice added touch on this truly fantastic rifle of yours. LONG LIVE THE 300 COULTER MAGNUM!!

Thanks a million, your knowledge is really helpful man! With the great guy I'm learning to reload with, I'm sure some really sweet loads will get worked up! I'm a teenager, if you haven't been able to notice, and though I'm millions of years behind all you old savs as far as knowledge goes, I feel blessed to have this gun, and folks whom I don't even know help so much and have such positive things to say about it. I'll keep bumping this, just for the feedback, positive or negative. I'll also be posting some videos of me and my new appendage in action, with the loads we work up! Thanks!

That is a Grand Old rifle you have there.

Handsome looking rifle you have there.

A teenager, eh? OH NO! I have been contributing to the deliquency and afflictions of a minor! You shoulda told us that before! Sell the gun and spend the money on girls, QUICKLIKE! Trust me, they are a MUCH less expensive addiction. Other benefits as well, but not for this site.......

Yeah, you saw it here, girls are better than guns.

Haha, I'm thinkin' that I've got girls figured out about as well as I'll ever be able to, so some time and money on guns and reloading will serve me much better in the long run. Again, thanks for the help.

Tanner haha.....good to have girls figured out at a young age. I've a pre like yours cept' it is in the HH AI chamber. Don't know when it was rechambered either, I picked it up last fall and have not done a whole lot of reloading with it yet. But it is one heck of rifle,enjoy and tell some good tales of the hunt down the road!

Chandaler, where'd you pick your gun up? If you don't mind me asking.

Tanner, it's good to realize that you know as much now about girls

as you'll ever know; females are all certifiably insane, and

they're anything BUT predictable. Good for you!

That rifle on the other hand is a real treasure.

MagnumDood, right you are. I found one little lady that I think I can convert into a gun-nut, and that's all I need.

Tanner, if you have, hang on tight! There are few enough men that take up the martial arts;

women who are intensely interested in firearms are as plentiful as 4-leaf clovers.

I�ve been looking for a 4-leaf clover all my life and have never found one, but I

married a beautiful woman who is also loves the outdoors, she hunts and she is one

helluva good shot on game.

Well if she's a great shot, then all you have to worry about is acquiring enough rifles for "her" to shoot! Better spend good money on your ladies rifles... Wouldn't want her to run short of something to throw lead with...;) Maybe she'll even let YOU shoot 'em, eh?

Nice gun Tanner. Treasure it. You may eventually buy another rifle down the road, but none will ever provide the memory of your Grandfather like that one. Great rifle, great cartridge.

Now, go forth and hunt!

Tanner,

I inherited a pre-64 Model 70 from my father and my grandfather, both are in 30-06.

from a fella over at the AR forums/classifieds last fall.....serial# from 1956 yr., bout as mint as you can get for 1100 bucks.

To TannerGun:

If you want to know, there is a very simple way of determining how much free bore you have. In my opinion, you need to know this when you are developing a load for a cartridge you are not sure what it is.

Take a fired case, just barely size the mouth, enough to start a bullet by hand, and it stays in the case.

Seat the bullet in the case, point first, enough to hold it in. Chamber the dummy round, with the bullet seated backwards, closing the bolt all the way.

Carefully extract the dummy round, and the amount the base of the bullet sticks out of the case mouth is your freebore. Use a flat base bullet. The base of the bullet stops against the origin or the rifling, and the case pushes up on the bullet.

As far as I know, freebore, or as it is also known, throating, is an inexact science. If the bullet protrudes about 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch, I would not consider it freebored, but as having a normal throat. 1/2 inch or longer, I would consider it freebored. Over 5/16 but less than 1/2 inch, well mayby, but watch carefully when you are approaching max. loads.

I know from experience that a short throat, or no throat at all can raise pressures hugely, even with mild loads.

If you can get ahold of a fired .300 Wby. visually compare it to your fired case, then compare the volume. If both are the same, then it is probably a .300 Wby. Many M70s in .300 H&H were rechambered to .300 Wby., some by Weatherby himself.

Another word of caution--if it is a .300 Wby., but NO freebore, then do not use the max. loads suggested in manuals for this cartridge, nor would I use Wby. factory loads.

Thanks for that info. No 300 Weatherby has been fired through this gun, as far as I know. We've fired a pretty simple process: 1) Fireform 300 H&H 2)Reload 3)Hunt 4)Enjoy delicious meat

Just by looking at 300 Wby casing, I think it's evident that our said Coulter Magnum is pretty different. It doesn't have the double radius shoulder, and I do believe the neck is longer. But that could just be my small experience talking! I'll have to do this process know my amount of free-bore. I'd like to get some hot loads going.

Chandaler,

51-56, I've heard, are some of the best M70s ever made. Nice find!

My pre 64 (now a 257WBY) is a '52, I would tend to agree!

Tanner....it is a beauty for sure....enjoy yours and share the hunt(s) with us down the road as u use it. cheers!

I'll be posting a video soon, I've still got some rounds to fire form so maybe I'll blow somethin' up! Let's see ya'lls if you've got pictures, these guns are quite the eye candy.

Safariman, did you keep everything else original on your 257 Roy?

The picture of the fired case looks like it is a 300AI. I have one in a 1950 rechambered rifle, also have the Ackley made dies.
On an interesting note I have 1963 rechambered 338 mag rifle that uses the 300H&H/300AI case but no dies, 338/300AI? No cartridge markings on the rifle.

Tannergun, My 25ROY only has the action, trued and bluepronted, left from Winchester. Everything else is full on custom. My second full custom 257WBY. LOVE the round for deer and similar sized game.

Nathaniel, your 338 wildcat sounds a LOT like my own sort of original wildcat creation which is the 8mm RemMag necked up to 338. Probably not a nickels worth of difference between the two. My barrel is stamped 340 Tyrannosaur 'cause that is what I decided to call mine. Sort of a 340WBY improved. Pushes Barnes 225gr TTSXs out at 3100fps, which is right up there with 338 Lapua and 338RUM factory specs using a goodly dose of 7828ssc. I like mine better than those two rounds becasue I am getting there with only about 90 grs of powder and the rifle is built on a Magnum Mauser (OK Actulaly a hihgly modified 1917 Enfield, bout only the bolt body and reciever is left from the original manufacturer)

Would love to hear more about your 338 300AI!

I still haven't seen another action I like better than the M70. The 3 position safety and CRF are gold. And the bolt is incredible, that's awesome that you kept it in your 257.

If anybody ever has some extra H&H brass, I'd love to have it. Just lemme know a price.

I have seen it for sale here in classifieds recently, you will need to check often andmove fast as many here grab up all they can get. You can also use 7mmSTW or 8mm RemMAg brass and just neck it to size. Don't buy too much of either until you are sure the case body fof the STW stuff is narrow enough or you might find yourself having to figure out a way to re-size the brass body a little but most likely it would work. Lots of that around and I saw some for sale recently here. Might want to go to the classifieds and look at the last week or so worth of ads or do a word search in that forum. You could also post a "want to buy" ad there. Midway often has it as does Blue Star Brass co (In Dallas Texas, of course) nearly always.

Thanks again Safariman. I actually just got 50 brand new pieces of Hornady brass, but I can never have too much. Probably should just get that thing sighted in, and shoot the 243 Win when I feel the urge to shoot!

Do you suppose the 7mmSTW and 8mm Rem would still feed equally well? being necked out well and resized of course.

They will feed just fine. Base, belt, etc are all the same. Length is close enough to not matter one to the other but all should be trimmed to a consistent lenght anyway. I have uses 7mmRemMg and 264 Win MAg brass to make 257WBY, 7mmRemMag to make 30 Belted Newton, lots of 300 H&H to make 300WBY back when the H&H stuff was lots more available and cheaper than the Roy stuff and I was younger and broker. Lots of fun interchanagle stuff out there when one knows what he is doing.

If you want to shoot that rifle a lot, even for varmints and practice you can load 40grs of AA5744 under whatever cheap bullet you have on hand from 125 grs on up and it will throw them out at about 2500fps with good accuracy and VERY low recoil.

Are you anywhere near Craig, Colorado? I used to love Elk hunting around that region.

Dang, that sounds like a blast. I'll have to make a trip to Wyoming and see if I can't hit a few turf poodles.

I actually live about an hour away from Craig! Wapiti are still plentiful, but we don't hunt down there. How many times do you reckon I can reload the Hornady brass effectively?

If you don't load 'em up too hot, 5 easily, maybe 10 or so but brass is cheap enough and plentiful enough that I rarely push the envelope that far anymore. You "need" Several hundred more pieces.....

That's kinda what I expected. But, if I were to load them up to said 3200 fps, how many reloads could I expect?

I guess I probably should start collecting that brass! The Hornady stuff really isn't too expensive.

Yep, start grabbing up brass. I don't re-use mine very many times anymore as I really REALLY hate the idea of a case head separation EVER, but especially in the middle of an elk hunt. Brass is cheap, eye's and opportunities at Elk not so much. With age and wisdom and perhaps a bit more money these days compared to 35 years ago I am no longer such a penny pinching scrounge at the expense of safety or loss of opportunities AND....as cool and excellent as pre 64 model 70's are, they are NOT so good at venting gases away from a shooter in the event of a case rupture. Not the place to be practicing a false economy.

I do believe my eyes would be valued at more than $47.95, even with contacts in them! Safariman, being the officionado you are, do you have a preferred brass? As far as resiliency and what-not goes..

I have a pre-64 300 H&H that I picked up for a song. I have restocked it and had it Cerakoted. I could give a damn about the value- I have a better rifle now. I am going to resist the urge to rechamber to 300 WBY for now.

Having put several thousand rounds through my 300 WBYs, let offer a couple of suggestions. 165-168 TSX or TTSX pushed by H4831 or H4831SC is all you need. It's fun to play with stuff but this has proven to be accurate and deadly in about 6 different 300 WBYs (effectively what you have). Never found a better powder for my WBYs (without freebore). That is why I suggest it. In a WBY with freebore, you might explore the slightly slower powders.

The recoil pad was almost certainly added by someone and if it is like the one on my 1952 vintage 30-06, hard as a board. You would do well to change it out to something softer. I really like the Pachmayr presentation pads. They look good and work well enough. The ultra soft ones are good to, just harder to install and make look good.

Have fun

I shoot the 300Super/30-8mmRem Mag and like it purty good,as far as belts go.

Much better than H&H....................

The recoil really isn't noticeable, so no point in replacing what my Grandpa had done. Plus, the pad on it right now looks really cool, IMO. What sorts of velocity do you get out of the 168 TST pushed by those powders?

Does anybody own or have previously owned anything chambered in 300 ICL Grizzly? I'm curious if this is closer to the round I shoot than the Wby is.

In my 26",I dote on the 165XLC in front of Re-22 and crowding 3400fps +.

8mmRemMag cases,formed with a false shoulder,to control headspace outta da gate.

Had another in a 30" spout and retained the 26"..............

Big Stick, do you have any pictures of a fired 300 Super case? I'd like to see how similar ours are.

'Bout like this................

Interesting, I'm diggin' your color coding haha! I hate to trouble you, but could you perhaps post a close-up photo of a fired case for me? Thanks!

The distinction is tougher to make,beings I don't form via 300H&H parent hulls. The 8mm Rem mag is purty "improved" outta da gate and that transformation is very modest,when fireforming in the Super chamber.

I reckon I prolly have some virgin 375H&H hulls to compare and some 7STW stuff kicking around too and could do a modest extrapolation via those means.

The 300H&H is easily the schittiest full length H&H hull of All Time...........................

Funny... You're the only one that says that! Oh well, to each his own. Good medicine is good medicine.

The 300H&H's greatest asset,was/is as fireform fodder.

Would rather have a 300WSM,from a performance standpoint...............

TG, now that you have another couple of high experience posters adding in, you are getting a PHD / Masters degree in wildcat big 30's including thier care and feeding. There are thousands of reloaders and hunters out there who do not know 1/4 as much about these things as you have just learned in the last two weeks. This is a fun thread to be posting and involved in, as well as just follow.

Big 30's are not needed as much as they once were, smaller guns can now do what it once took these behemoths to do, but I STILL like 'em and they do still kill stuff rather quickly, even if said 'stuff' is out there a ways.

I sincerely hope your 300 Coulter slays many many ELk and other big game.

Pass the Montucky 7 Whizzum and hold the fluff...................(grin)

No kidding! I don't even want to imagine how much I still DON'T know, even after all the info here! I believe it's time to do the freebore test. Or, maybe not?! I'm sure that if the gun was supposed to be reamed out to Weatherby, the smith would've stamped that on the barrel. There is just so many dang questions to be asked!

Well, I just ordered the Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14, so when I get that mounted and sighted, we'll see how the famous Safariman rocket loads do!

I have a 338 Super (338/8mm RM) built by Jim Cloward in the mid 90's. I used 340 Bee brass to FF because of quality (at his advice). I'm think the 338 version has like 5-6% more capacity than a 340. Load is something like 94 grains of Re-25 with a 250.
Apparently Cloward had the first wildcat reamers built on the 8mm case...he said the 7mm version (STW)was the worst of the bunch. But shooting times got a hold of the spare. The
300 was his favorite.

Big Stick, what IS up with those bullets? Vinyl?

Not vinyl, a sprayed on coating Barnes used to offer on thier original X bullets which worked pretty well. I have a couple of clients that slew many,many African plains game with those blue "XLC" version of the bullets. They tend to minimize fouling and increase accuracy in mnay rifles for which they are tried. I still have a box or threee or.....

Interesting.

Safari, could you give me any information on the barrel life of the M70s? It's been 60 years, and thousands of rounds have been through it.

"I believe it's time to do the freebore test. Or, maybe not?!"

Knowing is better that not knowing, if you are going to load for a chambering that you are not sure what it is, and you don't have up to date loading data.

Depending on how hot the barrel was allowed to get i.e. how quickly the rounds were fired in succession the barrel could still be quite nice (most likely) condition or getting well worn in the throat area. Another thing that ruined more barrels than over firing use was cleaning them too often - especially with the cheap aluminum cleaning rods many used years back. the only way to Know is to shoot it and see. Lots of barrels out there that look rough through a borescope but that shoot well. If nothing shoots into better than 1.5 inches or so, might be time for a re-barrel and you can either find an original 300H&H bbl or send the rifle off to PAc Nor or another bbl maker and then pick your caliber among about any belted or RUM based rounds.

Shoot it soon and report back to us, we are all curious as to how this thing is gonna perform. Be sure to try the Barnes TTSX's, they usually shoot exceedingly well. Good Luck, MARK

Gracias! If I were to have it rebarreled, I could give that formed case to a smith and essentially have the same chamber made, correct? Just building off of a 300 H&H barrel, probably E.R Shaw.

You could, but the expense of having a chamber cast made and a reamer cut to merely replicate this PARTICULAR wildcat would be cost prohibitive. If the barrel does not shoot well, and I think it will shoot just fine, then it will be time to decide on a more commonly available belted round, or at least one for which the barrel maker you choose has a reamer and for which you can whip up some ammo without the expense of custom dies as well. The round you have would be very closely replicated with a new barrel in 300AI, Jarret, WBY, STW, ICL Grizzly, and a few others I cannot think of right now that are essentially the same.

I am still, however, putting money on this barrel shooting quite fine. Very rare for these barrels to truly get worn out.

I think you're right (expected) on the life of the barrel. I've got to stop jabbering, and put it on paper to see.

An ICL Grizzly would be verrrry cool though, as would a WBY. Have you had personal experience with the Grizzly?

Not with that one, but a handful of others that do the same thing. Not a nickels worth of difference between the pile of 'em anymore including my current project 30 Belted Newton. They will all push a 180gr bullet faster than a 270 will push a 130. THAT is killin power, my young freind.

Killing power indeed!! This whole ordeal has gotten my older brother, (who religiously believes in his .270 Win), pretty dang jealous. But he just simply couldn't have shot the Old Warrior when the time came for him to get a good hunting rifle. My time came, and it was bequeathed upon me! Off to Bass Pro to pick up some 168/180 TSXs and 7828SSC, and its to the press for me.

Tanner,

Below is a pic of my Weatherby 30-378 IMP next to a standard 30-378. The rifle is throated to shoot the Berger 210 VLD. I believe I can get 3400 fps, but, I'll end up shooting whatever velocity my accuracy node falls into. I hope it's on the high side, but that's never my luck. I look at this way; a loud, fast miss doesn't kill anything.

Wow. What a cartridge. I always thought the 30-378 was really impressive in its own, but that is truely improved. Let's see the gun.

I had the very similar (to a 30/378) 300RUM for several years and took it to Africa twice. Bangflopped a big Kudu at 350 with it but personally could not deal with the noise so finally sold it. Hate having to wear hering protection when hunting but that one required it. No, it did not have a brake which is an evil device that I also despise. YMMV.

Agree, that we need to see this firebreathing UBER30!

Tanner, get the TIPPED version of the TSX, the TTSX. MARK

Seems like everyone and their Uncle Ted around here either shoots a 7 Mag, 7 RUM, or 300 RUM. Not very hard to locate those fellas in the woods. Good call on the TTSX, I woulda forgotten.

Safariman, I'm interested in your Belted Newton project! I'd like to see some of that stuff.

Big Stick, I just connected the dots and figured I'd been watching your Youtube videos for a while! I've got to ask, what's the deal with your "barrel break in" video? Clearly that rig still shoots like magic after you toss it a bit, but what's the story behind that?

Tanner,

Here ya go...

WOW. I bet you couldn't even kill anything with that...

That is a stick and a half.

I haven't bloodied it yet. Seems a shame to first bloody a weapon like that on a mangy coyote; better to put an Elk down with it first. It's just so danged expensive to go to CO and Elk hunt.

If ya build me a rig like that I'll take you and put you and that monster in front a bull

Tannergun,

I like your gun better, and I can afford to buy or build such a creature as the rifle above. BUT as a specialized tool, Magnumdoods rifle IS pretty much the epoch of its genre'

I am a wood and blued steel rifle guy and was so even with my old 300RUM which I used on a lot of critters here and abroad, but I have to concede that the skulls on the stock is a way cool look. Truly custom and unique.

Thanks for the compliments, and I understand if it's not to your liking. Truth be told, I'd rather be totin' that Model 70 of yours Tanner, especially up around 10~12000 ft, where you inhale...and nothin'...it don't feel like you drew a breath, but you know you did because your lungs are full and your chest is all puffed out - oxygen runs mighty thin up there. My rifle weighs WAAAY too much to carry AND be chasing Elk up and down the mountain at 10 to 12 thousand feet.

I really like the chambering on your rifle. Heck, I like your rifle period. I noted previously, I have two model 70s, both in 30-06; one was my Grandpa's and the other is my Dad's (He's in an Alzheimer's wing of a nursing home now - that's a horrid disease). I wouldn't trade either for love or money, but it sure would have been neatER if one of them at least had been in a unique chambering such as yours.

Tell me about it! I was born and raised here, and about 4-5 years ago I actually DEVELOPED pretty hardcore asthma. I consider myself to be a pretty elite/in shape athlete, and it really takes a toll on performance on the field and in the woods, especially around horses. So, I know how you feel, though I'd never admit it hunting (kinda hard-headed that way.)Also, thanks a lot for the thoughts on Grandpa's gun. Means a lot to hear that from experts like you and Safariman.

What did you plan on exploding when building that particular stick, Magnumdood? Blue whales?

I wanted something that I could compete with out to 1000 yards, and hunt the Senderos of SW Texas for white tail deer, or the highline breaks in the timber where you could easily get a 500 yard shot. Shooting the Senderos is about like picking one off of the highline break. I also like burning a lot of powder.

I guess you got what you wanted with the powder burning! What sort of load do you put through that? And, do you shoot it often? I know that brass ain't cheap...

I just bought 200 pieces of brass for $600.00, and that was a great deal! I weighed each one until I had 126 pieces that all weighed with 1 grain of each other. Next, I'll anneal and fireform. After that I'll ream the primer pockets, deburr the flash holes, trim all the brass to a uniform length, deburr the exterior and interior of the case necks THEN start load development. I think I'll start with 115 grains of H50BMG and load 10 rounds, each with 1 more grain of H50BMG. Then I'll run my first ladder. I've got several powders I want to try (20N29 & H-1000). Each will have to go through the ladder drill to find the accuracy nodes.

I'll be shooting Berger 210 VLDs exclusively, coated in Acculube by Arizona Ammunition. It's supposed to be 7 times "slicker" on sliding surfaces (bullet sliding on barrel steel) than Molly.

Seems a bit unfair for game You've got your process figured OUT! I like it. Where did you find bulk brass? I'm always looking for more.

[color:#3333FF][b]Sinclair International[/b][/color] had the brass on the best sale I've seen in a long while; 100 pieces for $297.00 + shipping. I bought two bags. I should have bought three and tried to get the brass I'll shoot with all within 0.5 grains of each other. But that leaves me with a lot of extra brass.

That is really a steal when you consider the price that Weatherby sells their factory 30-378. You really get it out the yahoo buying boxes of 20 from 'em. What happens to your incorrect-weight ammo?

It's not really incorrect weight. There were 74 cases left out of my big group, and 50 of those weighed within 0.5 grains of each other, but they were light. At the other end are cases that are a lot heavier than all the other cases...26 to be exact. I save them for setting dies up, setting the trimming tools, then when I get ready to work my shooting brass all the tools and dies are already set.

Ah, I get it. I should start weighing my cases to work up loads, probably get way better results that way? On the other hand, it IS hunting rifle, and whatever I'm shooting at is usually bigger than 1 inch. So many options, so little brass.

Sooooo many details about minutia that really dont matter in most cases. BUT, if you are having fun then CARRY ON!

Tanner,

Safaridude is right; 95% of what I do probably won't matter, unless you have to thread the needle between 4 limbs and 3 tree trunks, or, you have the Elk of your dreams sitting out there at 800 yards....

Then the little, what was the phrase? Oh yeah:



...do matter.

Or the difference between a match winning X or a second place 10 at 1000 yards.