Bore size

[George Tucker]

Hello, i have a 1903 Greek Mannlicher Schoenauer long Rifle in 6.5x54, the bore measures .269, in order to get any kind of accuracy, will i have to cast bullets to get a good fit for this Rifle, i cast several other calibers, but i dont have a mold anywhere close to this size, any help would be appreciated, my Rifle was origonal, but without a buttplate, one of the members here found me a nice buttplate for it, so i thought i might shoot it for a while, there are pics of this Rifle in the Wanted adds, last yr, when i was looking for the buttplate, iam thinking about Lyman mold # 266673, George.

[leadhead]

Forget about the Lyman mold, you can just about bet it will be undersized.
Try to get a Lee "cruise missle" mold. They throw boolets at .270 dia.
They work really well in my carcano's
Hope this helps.
Denny

[GabbyM]

Of course you need boolits but Hornady does make a 6.5mm Carcano .268" 160 gr RN
SKU: 2645 | 100/BX
While that's -.001" from your measured grove diameter it should still work. However if you're not planing to hunt big game with it I'd just stay with cast boolits.

[longbow]

You could always lap out the Lyman mould if necessary. I just lapped out a Lyman 314299 by 0.004" to suit a Lee Enfield with a fat bore.

Another alternative might be to paper patch. A .257" bullet with 0.003" to 0.004" paper should work.

Longbow

[George Tucker]

Thanks everyone, George.

[swheeler]

Hello, i have a 1903 Greek Mannlicher Schoenauer long Rifle in 6.5x54, the bore measures .269, in order to get any kind of accuracy, will i have to cast bullets to get a good fit for this Rifle, i cast several other calibers, but i dont have a mold anywhere close to this size, any help would be appreciated, my Rifle was origonal, but without a buttplate, one of the members here found me a nice buttplate for it, so i thought i might shoot it for a while, there are pics of this Rifle in the Wanted adds, last yr, when i was looking for the buttplate, iam thinking about Lyman mold # 266673, George.

George I know you mean a GROOVE diameter of .269 and Bore of somewhere around .258". The Cruse Missle offered at Midsouth is an option, but with the chance it will not cast large enough. I am on my third CM mold, this one is a 2 cavity but the first two were single cavity, if I remember correctly mold number one cast at .268, mold two at .272(which I flycut the GC shank off of until I had a 140 gr plain base .272" for Carcano) and my last double cavity from a couple year or so ago casts at .270" from WW+2%tin. Another option is to buy a 270 cal mold(.278-.280) and size down to something close to your throat diameter, which I'm betting is .272 + or-. Even my Swede slugs .266 full length but the throat will swallow .270". The other option is to lap the CM mold out if it doesn't cast large enough.

[George Tucker]

You are correct sir, i meant groove dia, thanks for your suggestions, where are you in Montana?. my Wife is from Missoula, she has relation all over Montana, thanks again, George.

[George Tucker]

Hello, well i ordered some Norma brass and Hornady .268 bullets for my 1903 Greek 6.5x54MS, the rifle likes these bullets, its shooting very well at a 100yds, i really like this rifle, i plan on taking a Deer with it this yr, George.

[mroliver77]

Dont you just love this site? Its like a living breathing encyclopedia!
Jay

[RugerFan]

...However if you're not planing to hunt big game with it I'd just stay with cast boolits.

Why, what's the issue with hunting big game? A 160 gn boolit is certainly capable of taking deer.

[George Tucker]

I am going to get a mold that i can also cast bullets for the 6.5x54MS, i cast other calibers, so i might just as well cast for this one also, George.

[GabbyM]

Why, what's the issue with hunting big game? A 160 gn boolit is certainly capable of taking deer.

Well I'd be the last guy to say you can't hunt with cast bullets. Not everyone wants to though. Especially in the small calibers. I do a lot of things with cast bullets non casters think are silly waste of time. With the OP living in Washington State there are some big critters out their and in places some long range shooting.

[HamGunner]

I have an older Lyman single cavity 266469 that drops .271 with my alloy of ww plus a little linotype. Although the 266469 does not have as long a nose as say a cruise missle, it might be worth looking around for one of the older single cavity Lymans. Perhaps other single cavites ran a bit larger years ago.

[corvette8n]

I have a 6.5 Carcano that likes .269 sized bullets, I don't have a mold but did have 200 commercial .277 140gr bullets on hand, I sized them to .269 and I got on the paper, I now have to refine the load.

[George Tucker]

I just talked to a guy in Idaho, that has over a 100 old Lyman molds, he is looking to see if he has a 266469 or a 266673 which is 150gr, keep my fingers crossed, George.

[madsenshooter]

Any problems seating the Hornady rndnse george? Some die sets won't allow for a bullet much larger than that. For instance I have an old set of CH dies for my 6.5 jap and a boolit larger than .266 won't go up in the die.

[George Tucker]

I used a 6.5x54R die in my old odds and end stuff, weather someone reworked it i dont know, but it works ok. I also tried a set of Hornady custom grade dies in 6.5x55 swede dies, and they seat the .268 bullets just fine.

[pldal62]

Hello,

first of all, I find this forum very informative.
I have a question about resizing 270 bullets to fit 6.5 carcano. What do you use to do that? Are ther dies, if yes, where to find them? Or, how to build them?

Another question, which may be stupid. If this is the case, I apologize in advance: is it possible to use a thick layer of some kind of chrome/metallic paint to increase the diameter of a bullets (e/g/ to go from .264 to .266 or .268)?
Which can be the negative consequences, risks etc. in doing this? I was thinking of it as a possible alternative to paper patching.

Thanks,
Pier

[Three44s]

pldal62,

First off ... there are no stupid questions ..........

You asked about metal plating bullets ......

....... interesting! I have not heard of average folks doing this. Rainer bullets sells copper clad lead slugs and they are electroplated with copper to make them OK to use at indoor ranges.

But you may not be aware of "plating" of a different persuasion ........ paper patching ..... there is a section in this forum and it's a very fascinating pursuit.

Big welcome and congrats on "unlurking" yourself ........

Three 44s

[madsenshooter]

I was looking through the NEI catalog today, and they list a .270 130gr bullet, #28. If it cast near there, ought to be just the ticket for George and some of you other Carcano shooters. One could enlarge a .266 sizing die, or I've read there's folks make custom sizing dies, I think Buckshot is one of the fellows, Buffalo Arms another. I don't know anything about electroplating, on a commercial scale it looks to be a mess. I recall reading that controlling the thickness of the plating wasn't easy.

[George Tucker]

MADSENSHOOTER, i just looked them up at NEI, #28 is a .277 mold #27 is a .270 Mold, i think the .270 would be just the ticket to try, the only trouble i see is, my Rifle likes COL of 3", i dont think you will get close to that with a 130gr bullet, George.

[madsenshooter]

Oops, sorry George, glad you got me straight. Gotta stop this early morning stuff.