The .30 Wha..................?
Oh.
Yes, cases are a pain to form.
Casual perusal shows .300 SUAM case capacity to be very similar.
In earlier times the Gibbs gave guys with a lot of GI brass a rifle that could get an 180 grain bullet to 2900+ and hold 5 cartridges in the magazine. I have had 180 gr. Hornady's
do 3000 FPS with good case life.
Does this do any better than the .30/06 with modern
bullets & powders? Not really. 100-150 FPS does not do much
over normal hunting ranges.
I feel Hagel's article did not do the Gibbs any justice. A friend of his had a post 64 M70 with 22" barrel that had been shot a lot. In the article Hagel said barrel length was 24", but pictures showed that it was the short barrel.
Friend lost confidence in the rifle after the article......... I think that he posts here sometimes (TW).
Today I still see people trying the Gibbs concept.
I have loaded .240 & .25 Gibbs rounds for youger guys recently. Usually rifles get rebarreled to standard cases after the novelty wears off and the barrel wears out.
I bought my pre-64 .30 Gibbs from a guy that was out of work.
I have killed one medium bull elk and a few pigs with it.
I have the feeling thst it will soon turn into a .25/06 for my 14 year old son!
Best cases for forming are arsenal brass. I use LC National Match 69. Newer commercial brass yields higher case loss in the shoulder area. Neck case up to .338, then size in a Gibbs sizing die for a crush fit. Fireform with 50 gr.4895 and a 168 - 180 gr. bullet.
As always, YMMV
