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Harry O
10-31-2006, 08:16 PM
Not exactly a cast-bullet gun, but I recently bought an interesting custom rifle from an estate.

It started out as a Ruger No. 3 in 30-40 Krag. The owner had a 26" Lilja stainless steel barrel installed and chambered it for a wildcat. The wildcat is a blown-out and shortened-neck 30-40 Krag and is necked down to 7mm. I have not found that wildcat in any of the books I have.

The blown-out case holds 67.0gr (+ or - 0.2gr) of water, which is almost the same as the .284 Winchester and the .280 Remington. I fireformed some cases and loaded them up with varying amounts of IMR4831. I will work up until I see signs of pressure.

Back to the gun. The stock was replaced with a laminated Ruger No. 1 stock, the trigger was replaced with an aftermarket one, and the action was smoothed. No sights, but there were rings so I took a Leupold off another gun I have and plan to use it until I get another one. I plan to go to the range Thursday (if it doesn't rain or snow) and try it out.

To keep this on topic, what would be a good 7mm cast bullet to try?

No_1
10-31-2006, 09:10 PM
pictures, pictures. Please? I love those single shot rugers!

Robert


Not exactly a cast-bullet gun, but I recently bought an interesting custom rifle from an estate.

It started out as a Ruger No. 3 in 30-40 Krag. The owner had a 26" Lilja stainless steel barrel installed and chambered it for a wildcat. The wildcat is a blown-out and shortened-neck 30-40 Krag and is necked down to 7mm. I have not found that wildcat in any of the books I have.

The blown-out case holds 67.0gr (+ or - 0.2gr) of water, which is almost the same as the .284 Winchester and the .280 Remington. I fireformed some cases and loaded them up with varying amounts of IMR4831. I will work up until I see signs of pressure.

Back to the gun. The stock was replaced with a laminated Ruger No. 1 stock, the trigger was replaced with an aftermarket one, and the action was smoothed. No sights, but there were rings so I took a Leupold off another gun I have and plan to use it until I get another one. I plan to go to the range Thursday (if it doesn't rain or snow) and try it out.

To keep this on topic, what would be a good 7mm cast bullet to try?

Harry O
10-31-2006, 10:21 PM
Sorry, but don't have a picture of it yet. I will try to upload directly when I get one. There seems to be a problem with my uploading to Coppermine anymore. Maybe this weekend. Until then, here is a picture of my other Ruger No. 3's. Fairly ordinary, but they shoot well. The upper one is in 30-40 Krag. The lower one is in .375 Winchester. I am seriously looking for a Ruger No. 1 buttstock for the upper one, if anyone has one.

http://gallery.sixshootercommunity.org/albums/userpics/10013/IMG_0083.JPG

scrapcan
11-01-2006, 12:08 PM
Harry O,

Just curious as to how close your case dimensions are to the 7mm06 AI? I think the 30-40 rimmed case would be a great deal in a single shot. No warries on headspace that way. I like the ruger single shot action, and like the no.3 the best. They are very scarce in this next of the woods.

BOOM BOOM has posed 7mm06 data for cast on the forum. I have nto had much chance to shoot cast in my 7mm06 AI to date so cannot offer much there.

It will be interesting to see what your experience brings to us. If you have case dimensions it would be interesting to see what you got.

jeremy

scrapcan
11-01-2006, 12:11 PM
could you have a 7X65R?

see the drawing at the following link
http://www.4-dproducts.com/index.php

then go to rifle calibers and look at table.

Pepe Ray
11-01-2006, 12:33 PM
How about a 7x57R?
Thats a Europian factory chambering. Available but pricey.
7x57 rimless should fit the chamber.
Pepe Ray

Harry O
11-01-2006, 03:56 PM
Don't have the dimensions of a 7mm-06 AI around, but this one has to be a little shorter. Here are the dimensions.

Rim = standard 30-40 at 0.545" OD by 0.064" thick (different references give slight differences on this)
Case base = just ahead of the rim, it is standard at 0.457" OD.
Shoulder = 0.447" OD that is 1.857" ahead of the bottom of the rim. This compares with 0.423" OD that is 1.725" ahead of the rim.
Neck = 0.340" which compares with the 0.484" of the original Krag.
Overall length of the case is the same (actually, the fireformed cases come out just a little bit shorter at 2.312" -- I expect they will lengthen to original length upon firing.
In summary, the shoulder is a little larger in diameter (0.017") and it is moved forward even more (0.132").

Depending on the source, the water capacity of the original Krag case is 55 to 58gr (a little more than the 7mm-08 and about the same as the 7mm Mauser). The wildcat has a measured capacity of 67.0gr of water (about the same as the .284 Winchester and .280 Remington).

The Weatherby's and other 7mm Magnums have nothing to fear, but it should be a nice rifle -- at least that is what I am hoping.

Harry O
11-01-2006, 06:42 PM
Lets try this:

No_1
11-01-2006, 06:58 PM
That is a very nice looking rifle and the others in your collection are nice too. In my collection I have #3's in .44 mag, 30-40 Krag, 375 WIN and 45-70. I also have started my #1 collecting with a 6MM REM. All are scoped except the .44 which has a peep site.

Robert


Lets try this: