Backing my way into a .30 Remington project

maple_leaf_eh

maple_leaf_eh

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My father made a 6x50 wildcat on the .30 Remington case. Along the way he collected several hundred cases. Even if I make a supreme effort I'll never get to the bottom of the bin converting and firing every one of them even once. On my own, I collected several hundred of the most crap .30 Carbine rounds Marstar had on clearance. Nothing wrong with the bullets, but punky powder, unreliable primers and brittle cases. Then last week I splurged a $20 on a set of Lee .30 Remington dies. You get the idea.

A .30 calibre barrel and a single shot action will be easy enough to locate. But as I read head and rim dimensions of common cartridges I can't see an obvious basis for a conversion. I've hummed and hawed at .308/6.5 Creed (.473"), 7.62x39 (.445"), and 5.56/.223 (.378") but the .30 Remington/.30-30 Winchester is in between all of them at .421". Finding a chamber reamer might be an issue, but let's deal with the receiver next.

What common bolt face diameter would be a reasonable starting point for a .30 Remington conversion?
 
Perusing a Canadian manufacturer's site, I noticed the .40 S&W has the same base dimensions as the .30 Remington. That company makes a forty carbine. Hmm? I wonder if the bolt head for a pistol cartridge is strong enough for a rifle round? Better ask them.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Perusing a Canadian manufacturer's site, I noticed the .40 S&W has the same base dimensions as the .30 Remington. That company makes a forty carbine. Hmm? I wonder if the bolt head for a pistol cartridge is strong enough for a rifle round? Better ask them.
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What company makes a .40 S&W locked breech action? It could reasonably be upsized from a .223/5.56 bolt depending on how the face and extractor are arranged.
 
I have already made a long time ago some rifles in my own wildcat (then) the .243 SPC which is esentially a slightly shorter 6mm-30Rem. Reamer and dies available.
 
A&Shuntr said:
I have already made a long time ago some rifles in my own wildcat (then) the .243 SPC which is essentially a slightly shorter 6mm-30Rem. Reamer and dies available.
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Interesting. My father's was/is a 6x50 based on the .30 Remington. He collected cases, and even machined the rims off .30-30 to make more. As mentioned already, there are several hundred cases and a few loaded rounds. I have his Remington 788 (which is probably going to become a switch barrel rifle), and some 6mm barrels. I have his dies and load data, but no chamber reamer. Earlier this year I wrote to RCBS asking if they'd look in their archives for any correspondence from 1976 describing the chamber. If they don't have anything, I would need to convince Pacific to reverse engineer the drawings.

One online seller has .30 Remington CIP reamers. That is a start. If there are 6mm wildcats that dance around the dimensions his 1970s experimenting, I might have to go with one of them instead. Don't know, but good to know.

Edited to add - I see 6.8 SPC is limited to 2.0" OAL, whereas that is only the length of the .30 Rem case at 2.050".
 
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maple_leaf_eh said:
Interesting. My father's was/is a 6x50 based on the .30 Remington. He collected cases, and even machined the rims off .30-30 to make more. As mentioned already, there are several hundred cases and a few loaded rounds. I have his Remington 788 (which is probably going to become a switch barrel rifle), and some 6mm barrels. I have his dies and load data, but no chamber reamer. Earlier this year I wrote to RCBS asking if they'd look in their archives for any correspondence from 1976 describing the chamber. If they don't have anything, I would need to convince Pacific to reverse engineer the drawings.


One online seller has .30 Remington CIP reamers. That is a start. If there are 6mm wildcats that dance around the dimensions his 1970s experimenting, I might have to go with one of them instead. Don't know, but good to know.

Edited to add - I see 6.8 SPC is limited to 2.0" OAL, whereas that is only the length of the .30 Rem case at 2.050".
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I was just stating that the SPC uses the same head isze . If you are ordering reamers you can utilize the full length of the brass that you have if you wish.
Neil
 
I've been kicking around making a 25 rem on a 788. The bolt face will have to be bushed and a sako extractor installed. "30 Remington" brass can be made on the lathe quite easily from 30-30. Life would be a whole lot easier to make it in 25-08 or 250 Savage but that's part of the fun.
 
mbogo3 said:
Why not just buy .25 Rem brass?
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Tonight I was looking at the two .50-cal ammo cans of .30 Rem brass, .30-30 Win brass, formed cases and fired cases. I don't need brass!

I wanted to look at the bolt face to understand the conversion, and got out the rifle. Well. That was a surprise. The factory Remington 788 bolt face is a round recess with a circular wire extractor inside a groove. From the internet chatter, it isn't very reliable and a PITA to repair. My father's 788 bolt face has been extensively modified. The face is flat across, like a No.4 Lee Enfield. The extractor is a flat sided conventional hook. My concerns about rim and head diameter were misplaced.

He also got rid of the barrel nut. The 6mm barrel is snugged against the external recoil lug, like a Remington 700. I want a switch barrel combination. (( Yes I know mortal gun owners think of barrel changing is something beyond a dark art, only to be entrusted to wizards. )) I would be happy using a strap wrench and a portable vice to change out 6mm for .30 Rem barrels. Benchrest shooters do it all the time. Which led me to the next thought problem. How can I reliably help my gunsmith chamber a .30 cal barrel without sourcing headspace gauges for an obsolete case? I have plenty of fired cases. From other guns mind you. Is there a field test method that I can mention?
 
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