445 Super Mag Bolt Action Rifle Project

[OFFSHORE]

I have come to really appreciate and enjoy the 445 Super Mag. I currently have 2. . .Dan Wesson revolver and T/C Encore scoped pistol and find the two to be awesome hunting rigs. I now would like to build a 445SM rifle, preferably a bolt action or a Ruger #3, and possibly a Ruger #1. . .but leaning hard to the bolt action. I do not wish to build on the Encore or any other type of break action platform nor a lever action. I have been looking hard at the Remington 788 in the 30/30 Win, 22/250 REM or 222 REM as a donor platform. I also looked at the Savage 340 and Stevens 325 but just do not like the scope mount required for them. What are the possibilities of making a Remington Model 7 or 700 short action or a Ruger M77 short action work with the magazine/hinged floorplate for the shells? Any gunsmiths or fellow shooters out there who have performed such a project, please let me know what you used to make a rimed straight-walled cartridge bolt action rifle. Thank you.

[beechbum444]

Going down this same path , look at the 44 x 1.6 cartridge made from 30-06 brass, it’s a rimless 445 super mag that fits a 308 bolt face .... regards

[Tatume]

Cool! So the only change to the reloading setup would be to swap the shell holder. That would be the cat's meow.

[Tatume]

Would the difference in base diameters present a any problems? The 44 Rem Mag is 0.457" and 0.471" is the 30-06 diameter. That's a 0.014" difference.

[Moleman-]

You use a 444 Marlin die that's been trimmed until it leaves the cases with good neck tension or a standard 444 die and then run the top 1/2"-3/4" into a 44 mag die. I've used both methods and they both work. Die in the pic is a trimmed herters 444 marlin that I had to make a decapping stem for, also have a trimmed Lee 444 and untrimmed Lee and Hornady 444 die sets. The case capacity ends up the same as a 445SM but the OD is thicker.

[OFFSHORE]

Moleman - what are you using for a reamer? I just trimed down a '06 case and ran it in to a 445 SM die. . .no bueno. I see now your post of using 444 Marlin dies. I really like this idea of using a rifle with this bolt face. . .I just need to know everything I'm getting into to see if is worth while for me. Please tell me more on how you form your brass and if you have a custom reamer. Thank you.

[Moleman-]

Made the reamer, mostly use 762x51 cases cut off at the shoulder, annealed, expanded, sized then reamed with a .427" reamer pilot on a forster case trimmer when trimming to length. I started out using a 44AMP case forming die set and the cut/anneal/expand/size/trim-ream method is by far the fastest. The cases seem to last much longer than my 450BM cases and I'm still using the first couple batches I made from 4 to5 years ago.

[beechbum444]

Evening Moleman, he’s the gent that I got this cartridge idea from , still trying to figure out neck tension in relation to inside neck teaming to outside diameter of boolit and how much the collet crimping die will swage down a lead cast boolit , maybe I’m overthinking all of it , and still haven’t ordered a reamer ..... projects

[Moleman-]

What would be neat is if 240 weatherby brass was cheap and plentiful. Body dia is close enough to use a 44Mag/445SM die and headspace off of the belt and roll crimp to your hearts delight while still using a standard .473" bolt face.