I recently gained custody of this beauty from another board member.
Attachment 245168
Attachment 245169
I'm not through with it yet, but the bore is clean and shiny. As time allows I'll get the stock clean.
Now I needed ammo. I read all I could find on the subject - there have been several threads about this conversion. It looked doable, so I decided to give it a shot. I rounded up 100 pcs. of brand new virgin R-P headstamp brass, a set of RCBS 6.5x54 MS dies and a Hornady 6.5mm generic neck sizing die. I f/l sized with a Lee .303 Brit. die then pushed the shoulder back with a .308 Win. Lee die w/the expander removed, then necked it down further with a 7mm-08 Lee die w/the expander removed. Then, I trimmed it to 2.1" with Forster trimmer powered by a 1/2" corded drill (it made short work of it). Then I ran them into the 6.5x54 MS f/l die and trimmed them to 2.1" again. I cleaned all the lube (mink oil) off of them then annealed them and ran them through the tumbler again. Didn't lose a single piece. I'm totally satisfied with the final product. I enjoyed every minute of it and I can't wait for the weather to cool off so I can shoot it. I might try to shoot a doe with it.
Attachment 245170
L to R: f/l sized .303 brit., shoulder pushed back in .308 die, necked down in 7mm-08 die, trimmed and sized f/l in 6.5x54 MS die, dummy round - the boolit is a Lee cruise missle. I'd like to thank EDG for his guidance for my little project and condorjohn for letting me take custody of "shorty".