Harter66
04-29-2013, 03:09 PM
1st off thanks to the good folks that made my 1 off wildcat custom a reality.
Commercial
Lee and Titan for the dies
Lee and F&M for 1 mould
4-D Reamers for the gauges and reamers
Boyds for a to my liking a good looking gray laminate stock
Midway for the closeout blank rail for sights
Members
Onceabull for the 2nd mould an RCBS 27-130 F
Dagunnut and papalote for the 6.8 brass
Paulh for an outstanding deal on the bbls 1 used for the job .
303guy and Gear for the guidance for the paper patched boolits
GOODSTEEL
Lastly and not for any small part if anything Goodsteel made this project a reality. I don't know that I would mention the 7RWH to him. There were times we talked when I'm pretty sure he was ready to send that "rotten lousey !@#$%^&*(*)$%^&" right straight to the recycle bin. No shortage of gray hair either. You should worry when your smith uses the phrase "this has been a great opportunity",it means wth was I thinking when I said this sounds like fun.
How this started.
About 12 yrs ago I was gifted a 41'Tierni in 6.5 that a fellow had put gobs of time into fitting and polishing. The bluing was right next to perfect. The trigger was mirror polished. The stock was fitted tight and had a decent Monte Carlo inlayed. The inlayed cheek was oak,the bbl was cut at 16 1/4" way below the start of the steep gain twist about 1-10 is what was left . The headspace was out far enough to look at a fired round and a factory at the range and think "that's not right".
I saw Goodsteel's 35/303 Enfield and thought "who would work that hard on an Enfield for a 303 wildcat ?" I gotta talk to him.
The 1st thing we discussed was a bbl bushing so a guy could use take off bbls and stub them like several folks have done here for 38/357 and x39s for the Carcanos. Tim says to me "I don't care to much for that there is just sooo much to go wrong" . So the search was on for a blank bbl. I was looking for a blank but also a 35,32,30,40 w/the idea that some common cartridge might get used. 35 Rem or a rimless 32 Winchester since I'm tooled for the 32 Remmy ,38/357/max or a nice 40 Smith/10mm or "super mag" I could make out of split neck PPC/x39s and those too of course.
I found a 2 7mm blanks in S&S and ,why I don't know, I have a soft place for 7mm's. So I PM'd Goodsteel saying I found bbl's. It took forever to get square w/Paulh the trade stock got spread all over Alaska ,my PO forgot to yellow slip my box and nobody ever paid on the insurance on the lost materiel due to insufficient documentation. After much frustration we got that settled up w/o to much bad taste I hope.
Now a 7mm cartridge that fits the above mentioned profile well its not actually out there. Wooo Whooo wildcat ! I mean what the heck I'm this far off the path out in the weeds why not. Common case , existing dies, fits the .450ish Italian bolt face ,how hard could it be? Ok well 7-30 Waters or an AI , no don't want to turn rims forever. 7x35 Rem again w/o dies likewise w/the PPC family. How about that 6.8 Rem ? We'll just do the neck and throat w/a 7-30 headspace w/6.8 tools ,PERFECT!
Now its December I'm ordering reamers,not knowing about the neck issues to come, Goodsteel and I've set dates and a work plan for 12/26 to include the social hours ,solving the worlds problems....... Well the reamers didn't make it until January,it snowed over a foot in Arkansas for Christmas. So much for smoked opossum,good brandy and a "good"cigar. LOL actually it seems to me like it was roast beef from Christmas dinner.
Well things came together ,finally, Tim really burned the Midnight oil,literally,when the reamers arrived. The gremlins had a field day. Tim checked both bbl's and very practically chose the best of the 2. They are said to be Montana Rifleman bbls but w/o markings or documents I'll take Pauls word for it. Goodsteel/Tim was pleased,well,not totally dissatisfied w/the best of the 2 and commenced fitting basics,chamber reaming and at last the headspace,and target crown. He sent pictures as he progressed through each stage and called me at 10pm Pacific time to announce "Rich we have a rifle the bolt just fell on the gauge". Midnight in AR on Thursday night. Then went on to explain the alignment difficulties brought on by gremlins hellbent on destroying his shop. He explained that under normal conditions the thread chamber and headspace would have been done in about an hour,and that the neck and throat plan had changed as he was calling and the 7-30 reamer bottomed in the chamber w/o touching the neck . 6.8SPCII has a thicker neck than the 7-30. WTH , that can't be , 284 is bigger than 277 isn't it? Nope not this time. "its kinda late ain't it , this will look better after some sleep." " you're probably right. I set up the finished ......" he went on to define the minimum specs and runouts he had finished to .0005 1/10 of industry standards at .005 and probably 5/100 of the original specs for the action. I take responsibility for the neck issue it never occurred to me that any 270 cal cartridge might have a fatter neck than a 7mm as the "planner" I should have known better.
On that Saturday he called again and we confirmed sight mounting options and what we had in mind. Tim then asked if I'd like to get it blued in the brand new bluing tanks ."Well yeah! That's going to beat me cold bluing it."
Its April 10th now while that seems like a long time I will add for emphasis this rifle waited 10yr for me to make up my mind what to do w/it and nearly another yr for a bbl blank so things are moving along at light speed now. Tim has no fault in the extended time lines no matter what he says about the shop gremlins. Tim and I talked again last night this weekend he should have my proving ammo to prove out the fit and function of the bbl'd action.
It's been another week now . The stock is fitted and True Oiled with 7 coats ,its darker than I had hoped. The optics for this little gem are also some what less than I would like to have on it,however, the jump from what should be ok to proper is a leap I just can't make at this time. At this time an actual "scout" scope is on order, I went w/the cheap seats for now so I do some load work and shoot it.
There is considerable load development to do but,
8.0gr Unique
Rem 6.8mm brass
Win LRP
Saeco #070 140gr
Shot a 2.5 50yd group allowing me to dial the Scope in w/in an inch or so of where I'd like to have it hitting.
Next up some PP'd 27-130s w/RL 10x
Same cases/primers . 2x wraps of green bar wet wrapped. Sized 286 on the 278 core. Rolled on RCBS case lube on the case lube pad.
21gr /2150fps 8"@50 but not on the backer due to my un-needed hold over
21.3 gr/2245 5"+@ 50
21.6 gr/ unk 4"+ @ 50
21.9 gr /2275 1.5"@ 50
68797
Well if this ain't info overload I don't know what is . I just wanted to thank everyone that brought it all together.
Commercial
Lee and Titan for the dies
Lee and F&M for 1 mould
4-D Reamers for the gauges and reamers
Boyds for a to my liking a good looking gray laminate stock
Midway for the closeout blank rail for sights
Members
Onceabull for the 2nd mould an RCBS 27-130 F
Dagunnut and papalote for the 6.8 brass
Paulh for an outstanding deal on the bbls 1 used for the job .
303guy and Gear for the guidance for the paper patched boolits
GOODSTEEL
Lastly and not for any small part if anything Goodsteel made this project a reality. I don't know that I would mention the 7RWH to him. There were times we talked when I'm pretty sure he was ready to send that "rotten lousey !@#$%^&*(*)$%^&" right straight to the recycle bin. No shortage of gray hair either. You should worry when your smith uses the phrase "this has been a great opportunity",it means wth was I thinking when I said this sounds like fun.
How this started.
About 12 yrs ago I was gifted a 41'Tierni in 6.5 that a fellow had put gobs of time into fitting and polishing. The bluing was right next to perfect. The trigger was mirror polished. The stock was fitted tight and had a decent Monte Carlo inlayed. The inlayed cheek was oak,the bbl was cut at 16 1/4" way below the start of the steep gain twist about 1-10 is what was left . The headspace was out far enough to look at a fired round and a factory at the range and think "that's not right".
I saw Goodsteel's 35/303 Enfield and thought "who would work that hard on an Enfield for a 303 wildcat ?" I gotta talk to him.
The 1st thing we discussed was a bbl bushing so a guy could use take off bbls and stub them like several folks have done here for 38/357 and x39s for the Carcanos. Tim says to me "I don't care to much for that there is just sooo much to go wrong" . So the search was on for a blank bbl. I was looking for a blank but also a 35,32,30,40 w/the idea that some common cartridge might get used. 35 Rem or a rimless 32 Winchester since I'm tooled for the 32 Remmy ,38/357/max or a nice 40 Smith/10mm or "super mag" I could make out of split neck PPC/x39s and those too of course.
I found a 2 7mm blanks in S&S and ,why I don't know, I have a soft place for 7mm's. So I PM'd Goodsteel saying I found bbl's. It took forever to get square w/Paulh the trade stock got spread all over Alaska ,my PO forgot to yellow slip my box and nobody ever paid on the insurance on the lost materiel due to insufficient documentation. After much frustration we got that settled up w/o to much bad taste I hope.
Now a 7mm cartridge that fits the above mentioned profile well its not actually out there. Wooo Whooo wildcat ! I mean what the heck I'm this far off the path out in the weeds why not. Common case , existing dies, fits the .450ish Italian bolt face ,how hard could it be? Ok well 7-30 Waters or an AI , no don't want to turn rims forever. 7x35 Rem again w/o dies likewise w/the PPC family. How about that 6.8 Rem ? We'll just do the neck and throat w/a 7-30 headspace w/6.8 tools ,PERFECT!
Now its December I'm ordering reamers,not knowing about the neck issues to come, Goodsteel and I've set dates and a work plan for 12/26 to include the social hours ,solving the worlds problems....... Well the reamers didn't make it until January,it snowed over a foot in Arkansas for Christmas. So much for smoked opossum,good brandy and a "good"cigar. LOL actually it seems to me like it was roast beef from Christmas dinner.
Well things came together ,finally, Tim really burned the Midnight oil,literally,when the reamers arrived. The gremlins had a field day. Tim checked both bbl's and very practically chose the best of the 2. They are said to be Montana Rifleman bbls but w/o markings or documents I'll take Pauls word for it. Goodsteel/Tim was pleased,well,not totally dissatisfied w/the best of the 2 and commenced fitting basics,chamber reaming and at last the headspace,and target crown. He sent pictures as he progressed through each stage and called me at 10pm Pacific time to announce "Rich we have a rifle the bolt just fell on the gauge". Midnight in AR on Thursday night. Then went on to explain the alignment difficulties brought on by gremlins hellbent on destroying his shop. He explained that under normal conditions the thread chamber and headspace would have been done in about an hour,and that the neck and throat plan had changed as he was calling and the 7-30 reamer bottomed in the chamber w/o touching the neck . 6.8SPCII has a thicker neck than the 7-30. WTH , that can't be , 284 is bigger than 277 isn't it? Nope not this time. "its kinda late ain't it , this will look better after some sleep." " you're probably right. I set up the finished ......" he went on to define the minimum specs and runouts he had finished to .0005 1/10 of industry standards at .005 and probably 5/100 of the original specs for the action. I take responsibility for the neck issue it never occurred to me that any 270 cal cartridge might have a fatter neck than a 7mm as the "planner" I should have known better.
On that Saturday he called again and we confirmed sight mounting options and what we had in mind. Tim then asked if I'd like to get it blued in the brand new bluing tanks ."Well yeah! That's going to beat me cold bluing it."
Its April 10th now while that seems like a long time I will add for emphasis this rifle waited 10yr for me to make up my mind what to do w/it and nearly another yr for a bbl blank so things are moving along at light speed now. Tim has no fault in the extended time lines no matter what he says about the shop gremlins. Tim and I talked again last night this weekend he should have my proving ammo to prove out the fit and function of the bbl'd action.
It's been another week now . The stock is fitted and True Oiled with 7 coats ,its darker than I had hoped. The optics for this little gem are also some what less than I would like to have on it,however, the jump from what should be ok to proper is a leap I just can't make at this time. At this time an actual "scout" scope is on order, I went w/the cheap seats for now so I do some load work and shoot it.
There is considerable load development to do but,
8.0gr Unique
Rem 6.8mm brass
Win LRP
Saeco #070 140gr
Shot a 2.5 50yd group allowing me to dial the Scope in w/in an inch or so of where I'd like to have it hitting.
Next up some PP'd 27-130s w/RL 10x
Same cases/primers . 2x wraps of green bar wet wrapped. Sized 286 on the 278 core. Rolled on RCBS case lube on the case lube pad.
21gr /2150fps 8"@50 but not on the backer due to my un-needed hold over
21.3 gr/2245 5"+@ 50
21.6 gr/ unk 4"+ @ 50
21.9 gr /2275 1.5"@ 50
68797
Well if this ain't info overload I don't know what is . I just wanted to thank everyone that brought it all together.