Okay........Now with Pics of Loading Bench and Gun Vault

c-fbmi

c-fbmi

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Well I got into rifle building mode yesterday......took the 450 Ruger Imp back a thread, which worked perfectly, then I knocked the barrels off a Husqvarna FN 98 8X57 and an old Ruger 77 tang safety 270. I got the Husqvarna barrel all chucked up and dial gauged in with the 4 jaw and proceeded to start recutting to 8X68 Imp. Well despite the quantity or quality of oil I threw at it, it refused to cut properly. I grabbed my 300 Wby reamer and ran it in for a ways and it cut like butter. Tried the 8mm reamer again, it cut well for a bit and then it nearly seized in the chamber. Swapped it out for the 300 reamer again and again cut like butter. Went back to the 8mm and again it seized up without even coming up to the shoulder cut. Pulled it out and took a real close look at it, nothing appears wrong but it is definitely dull along the body cutting edges. This is a JGS reamer and I have had other problems with JGS reamers in the past. Now I'll have to stall this job and send it out to Dave Kiff (PT&G) and get it sharpened. It has only cut one chamber IIRC and has been stored in it's plastic sleeve it's whole life. This sucks.........Now I'll have to pull the barrel and set it aside until I get the reamer back, and then dial it all back in again. Not the end of the world, but unnecessary time wasted none the less, and I ain't getting any younger.............
So today (because it's pouring rain) I shall head back up and knock the 270 barrel (another tomato stake) off the Vanguard and take a good look at it. I'm pretty sure it will make a perfect platform for a 234 Penguin. It has a great trigger for a Vanguard I series, and is just a really nice looking rifle all around. The stock finish is a little beat up but no gouges or big dents, so just a good sand and refinish and it'll look like a new rifle. Maybe I'll thread up a blank and work on that today.........or maybe I'll stick with the Husqvarna 98 and lengthen the bolt throw and magazine and open up the bolt face, and drill and tap for scope mounts.
Then there is the new 1-12 twist barrel for my 22-284 that needs attention as well, threading and chambering and installation. AND, I need a bunch of new reamers, now that I don't have access to Bevan's any more. Need to make a list and scrape together a bucket load of cash and get stocked up..........AHHHHHHHH the trials and tribulations of "first world" problems !!! :):)
 
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AP said:
What needed 'improving' in an 8x68s?
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The original chambering was the venerable 8X57, however I bought a pair and I'm keeping one as an 8X57 and I thought the other would make a nice 8X68 S Imp, which reamer I do have.......or so I thought previous to attempting to use it. The 8X68 case is blown out a little and the shoulder is sharpened to 30*. It actually is a very nice looking case, I made this in a 7mm years ago (which is actually what the reamer is, but I have an 8mm N&T) and it was a very impressive cartridge. I also made a 7mmX300 WM around the same time and used it to hunt with a bit. Much better access to cases with the WM. I have since come across 200 new RWS 68 cases so I thought I should have an 8X68 S Imp. A perfect cartridge for a nice clean Husqvarna commercial FN rifle and the barrel was free....so to speak.

BUM.....nope on the X300 Wby, the back of the chamber is already too big for that as the X68 case is larger than the base dia of the belted mags, and I don't want to have to lengthen the action and magazine that much.
 
I like the 8x68s - it looks like a bigger (better looking) brother to the 30/06
 
Well, we all know it takes a lot of set up time and effort to have a good tight reaming job.....of course your "tool" does have to be capable also.:p
 
22-284! What's the barrel life like? And what kind of velocity will that thing get? How heavy of a bullet will stabilize at those velocities In a 1-12 twist?? Do you need to shoot a solid projectile to stop the bullet from exploding? Man I have so many questions. I would love to see a 1-8-8.5 shoot an 80gr bullet.
 
And to think some years ago where the only chamberings seen out hunting was .303, .30-06 and .30-30.

You are a brave soul. Hopefully you have easier access to items needed than I do.
 
How about a 22 Newton -- in honour of a great man who was a long time ahead of himself (great rifles too!)... or a 5.6x57 to stay with the metric theme instead of a 22-284 ... ?
 
rl4930 said:
22-284! What's the barrel life like? And what kind of velocity will that thing get? How heavy of a bullet will stabilize at those velocities In a 1-12 twist?? Do you need to shoot a solid projectile to stop the bullet from exploding? Man I have so many questions. I would love to see a 1-8-8.5 shoot an 80gr bullet.
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I have a 22-284 with a 1-8 twist now and a 27" heavy barrel........80 gn Sierras don't make it to the target at 3700 fps. Did more research and decided a 1-12 twist will stabilize 80-90 gn bullets above 3700 fps. The 22-250 will stabilize 80 gn bullets at 3200 in a 1-10 twist.
The reason I want 22-284 is because I have the reamer and more than 500 284 brass, and I want to drive 80 gn bullets at 4000 fps..........maybe. Then I'm going to take it to Africa and just shoot baboons for 2 weeks, have I mentioned that I hate baboons almost as much as elephants, and they are a lot cheaper to shoot in great quantities. My goal is 1/2 moa out to 500 mtrs, meaning I can hit a baboon in the head at 500 mtrs pretty much every time and wind drift will be minimal. I have a Nikon 8-32X44 which should do the trick nicely and with a sight in at 350 mtrs should be dead baboons every where out to 500 mtrs ..........no sweat !!!
New Kreiger barrel will finish at 30" and this won't be no wandering around shooting stuff rifle, it'll weigh over 12 lbs all set in a Remington varmint thumbhole laminated stock. Made for shooting over the hood off bags. Very accepted practice in southern Africa, especially for baboons..........
 
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Well I knocked the barrel off the Vanguard this AM and took a good look at it all............then I changed direction and built a stand for my bench grinder, which reminded me how big a PIA it is to get at my steel stock. So after I got the grinder all mounted to the wall I started on a steel rack and 20 ft roller cutting table..........should have that finished tomorrow or the next day. Maybe then I'll get the urge to do some more machining.........
This thread is giving me the urge to finish off my 22-284 and see how it performs, maybe I'll do that next..........

NWS.........not sure why it is with the baboons......they are an arrogant lot (can't stand the competition) and they just love to scream at me from about 400+ mtrs out and dare me to try and shoot them. It is also likely rubbed off from the PHs I have hunted with.....Baboons are universally hated in southern Africa, they are very destructive to certain trees and all small animals and their young.
 
Curious about powder/primer choice as well as which Bullets hold up best at these velocities. How many shots do you get before the throat is eroded to the point you can't load close to the lands?

Can you go as fast as varget because of the light bullets, or do you need something like h1000 because of the extreme overbore? I assume h4350 and short cut will work because they work damn good in the 6.5.
 
c-fbmi said:
NWS.........not sure why it is with the baboons......they are an arrogant lot (can't stand the competition) and they just love to scream at me from about 400+ mtrs out and dare me to try and shoot them. It is also likely rubbed off from the PHs I have hunted with.....Baboons are universally hated in southern Africa, they are very destructive to certain trees and all small animals and their young.
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They're really #######s. Plus one sat on the opposite side of a tree from the rest of the troop and jerked off...IN FRONT OF MY MOTHER!!!

So, yeah...#### baboons.
 
BigUglyMan said:
They're really #######s. Plus one sat on the opposite side of a tree from the rest of the troop and jerked off...IN FRONT OF MY MOTHER!!!

So, yeah...#### baboons.
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Agreed. Baboons are horrible beasties around farms and settled areas. A mate of mine used to work defence on his brother's farm in Rhodesia in the 70's and baboons were the choice target whilst out on patrol. Any troop of the buggers sighted were immediately engaged with fire from .308 FN FAL's and any other ordnance onboard the vehicles the lads were in at the time, but they saved the grenades & rockets for the "Terrs."
 
rl4930 said:
Curious about powder/primer choice as well as which Bullets hold up best at these velocities. How many shots do you get before the throat is eroded to the point you can't load close to the lands?

Can you go as fast as varget because of the light bullets, or do you need something like h1000 because of the extreme overbore? I assume h4350 and short cut will work because they work damn good in the 6.5.
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Never got far enough to answer any questions of yours.........we were just doing initial load testing when the bullets started to come unglued on the way to the target. At that point I quit, because my goal is 4K with an 80-90 gn bullet, and started to look for a 1-12 twist match barrel. Barrel only has about 40 rounds through it...........never worked with any bullets lighter than 80 gn. One thing I can tell you is that Varget isn't anywhere near appropriate for this cartridge, it's more a RL 25 or 33 or IMR 7828 maybe or Retumbo..........definitely not a Varget burning cartridge..........When thinking of the 22-284 think along the lines of 7mm RUM or 30-378 Wby or 6.5X300 Wby...........these cases are more in line with bore size/case capacity. I'm fairly certain I was using CCI BR-2 and CCI 250 primers for the little testing I did.

You got me to wondering which powders I did try so I checked my data.........tried Win 780 Supreme, Ramshot Magnum, RL 22 and RL 25.........all loads were with 80 gn Sierra Match and CCI 250 primers. Best velocity recorded was 3860 fps with RL 25 so far, but the bullet never made it to the target..........turned into a small gray cloud about 30 mtrs out.
Going from an 8 twist to a 12 twist should give me about another 100 fps and adding 3 inches to barrel length should give some more, so 4K fps is not out of the realm of possibility.........Guess we'll see when I get it all together.........
 
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c-fbmi said:
Never got far enough to answer any questions of yours.........we were just doing initial load testing when the bullets started to come unglued on the way to the target. At that point I quit, because my goal is 4K with an 80-90 gn bullet, and started to look for a 1-12 twist match barrel. Barrel only has about 40 rounds through it...........never worked with any bullets lighter than 80 gn. One thing I can tell you is that Varget isn't anywhere near appropriate for this cartridge, it's more a RL 25 or 33 or IMR 7828 maybe or Retumbo..........definitely not a Varget burning cartridge..........When thinking of the 22-284 think along the lines of 7mm RUM or 30-378 Wby or 6.5X300 Wby...........these cases are more in line with bore size/case capacity. I'm fairly certain I was using CCI BR-2 and CCI 250 primers for the little testing I did.

You got me to wondering which powders I did try so I checked my data.........tried Win 780 Supreme, Ramshot Magnum, RL 22 and RL 25.........all loads were with 80 gn Sierra Match and CCI 250 primers. Best velocity recorded was 3860 fps with RL 25 so far, but the bullet never made it to the target..........turned into a small gray cloud about 30 mtrs out.
Going from an 8 twist to a 12 twist should give me about another 100 fps and adding 3 inches to barrel length should give some more, so 4K fps is not out of the realm of possibility.........Guess we'll see when I get it all together.........
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Will that get its own thread at some point?

I am very interested in something this over-the-top lol

Also, what sort of velocity do you expect from the 8x68?
 
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