311 Imperial Canadian Magnum

c-fbmi said:
I believe Bevan's button was a 1-14 in 35 cal...........not 100% sure, but 95%...............I have never built anything in 35 cal with one of Bevan's barrels.............I can tell you Johnn, the recoil at 3300 fps was getting into the retina detaching, filling loosening level, it was brutal!!!!!!!!
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Pretty sure you are right about the twist, Douglas.

My loads were always a tad under 3200 in deference to the Speer Hot-Core. That was right on the ragged edge of destruction in water tests.

It was quite a step up from the same bullet at 2800 in my 358 Normas, and the accuracy was indeed quite amazing!

Ted
 
Banished said:
Hi c-fbmi; Welcome to my world. During the early 1990's I spent days, weeks & months at the local range constantly developing loading data with various bullets weights, powders, primers etc. for the many calibers I was developing. The calibers were the five Imperial Magnums from 7mm to .360 and the Canadian Magnums from 7mm to .458. All calibers based on the .404J case. This produced starting and maximum loads in all ten calibers for our customers. By the end of the development process recoil was not my friend. The .458 Canadian with a 500 grain bullet had recoil in a class all by itself. It was very hard work and I'm glad its behind me.

Regards; Aubrey
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Hey Aubrey;

So you can appreciate, more than most, why I'm developing the 23 cal family of wildcats...........;);):d:d

I can appreciate your work for sure......even developing the top loads for the 30-404 Imp (which incidentally was also built on a Sako L61R) with 200 gn bullets was abusive...........but then so was my 450 Ackley, with 500s at 2550 fps...With these top loads, the 450 used to remove my muffs and shooting glasses (if I wore them) every shot...........
 
Boomer said:
I thought Newton Rifles were the first manufacturers of .404 based cartridges made on a commercial basis; but either way, NASS and the Imperial Magnums are an interesting chapter in Canadian firearm history. I tend to agree that the idea of a .311 overbore chambered rifle is a bad idea without appropriate bullets being available. I suppose once you've gone that far though, you could invest in bullet swaging dies and presses from Corbin.
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Interesting ... I have two Newton rifles and one came with a spare barrel in 35 Whelen (which was designed 10 years later than the 30/35 Newtons) which may indicate the early preference in 35 calibres but reflecting the lack of 35 Newton Brass... I do not own a 400 or 35, 30 Newtons .. but I cant find any reference to the parent being 404. Some folks mention the 8x68s as a usable case for producing the 35. The 35 Newton case apparently had a diameter of .525 ... the 404 Jeffrey .545....8x68s .524 (these are published diameters and for the latter two are base diameters).

As for the bankruptcy of Kimber -- as I recall this had a lot to do with the US Govt contract they won to produce and provide target rimfires; The rifles they submitted for the procurement 'competition' met the specified accuracy standards (as did others - notably 'offshore' productions) and Kimber was selected for the valid reason that it was a domestic manufacturer. BUT Kimber was unable to maintain the accuracy standard in the production run rifles it provided to the Government. IIRC this was reported in the American Rifleman quite thoroughly. At the time I believe they attempted very hard to correct the problem but the end result was their bankruptcy.
 
Hi Boomer; See below for my correction of my previous post to you. A brain fart made me say Imperial Magnum when I should have said NEWTON.

Hi Boomer; Charles Newton was a prolific cartridge designer of many large capacity calibers however he never used the .404 Jeffery as his parent case for any of his commercial calibers. The parent cases for the commercial .30 & .35 Newtons were based on a slightly smaller diameter case similar to the 8x68S Mauser. The .404 Jeffery case, because of its large size, cannot be used to form the NEWTON cases. That being said I would not be surprised if he did use the .404 case in some of his early wildcats.

Regards; Aubrey
 
Okay all this history has gotten my interest peaked. So obviously these rifles are extremely rare, being that under 100 were ever made. Do these EVER come up for sale? If so, what might one expect them to go for? I would love to have something like this, there is something about a Canadian designed rifle/cartridge combo that really tickles my fancy, and Im always looking for that unicorn to add to my "when I win the lottery" list... (Currently, the Polish wz.38M sits at the top of that list. lol)
 
Suther said:
Okay all this history has gotten my interest peaked. So obviously these rifles are extremely rare, being that under 100 were ever made. Do these EVER come up for sale? If so, what might one expect them to go for? I would love to have something like this, there is something about a Canadian designed rifle/cartridge combo that really tickles my fancy, and Im always looking for that unicorn to add to my "when I win the lottery" list... (Currently, the Polish wz.38M sits at the top of that list. lol)
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Hi Suther; A serious collector will pay $2,500 or more if it is in unfired or mint 100% condition. Hunters will pay from $800.00 up depending on condition. It is important for hunters to get the loading dies and any cartridge cases available in the deal. The dies are an expensive spl order item from RCBS. I have some boxes of original brass in .300IMC, .338IMC and .360IMC. 7mmIMC & .311IMC can easily be formed by running 7mmRUM or .300RUM cases through an IMC full length sizing die. I can supply loading data upon request. The Imperial Magnums in the Sako production rifles are great performers. They are very rare and seldom come up for sale.

Regards; Aubrey
 
Banished said:
Hi Suther; A serious collector will pay $2,500 or more if it is in unfired or mint 100% condition. Hunters will pay from $800.00 up depending on condition. It is important for hunters to get the loading dies and any cartridge cases available in the deal. The dies are an expensive spl order item from RCBS. I have some boxes of original brass in .300IMC, .338IMC and .360IMC. 7mmIMC & .311IMC can easily be formed by running 7mmRUM or .300RUM cases through an IMC full length sizing die. I can supply loading data upon request. The Imperial Magnums in the Sako production rifles are great performers. They are very rare and seldom come up for sale.

Regards; Aubrey
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Wow those prices are much, much cheaper than I would have expected for a part of Canadian gun culture history. I will absolutely be adding one of these to the must-have-one-day list. It won't even need to be relegated to the when-I-win-the-lotto list at those prices (which is good, 'cause I generally don't play the lotto lol)
 
Banished said:
Hi Suther; A serious collector will pay $2,500 or more if it is in unfired or mint 100% condition. Hunters will pay from $800.00 up depending on condition. It is important for hunters to get the loading dies and any cartridge cases available in the deal. The dies are an expensive spl order item from RCBS. I have some boxes of original brass in .300IMC, .338IMC and .360IMC. 7mmIMC & .311IMC can easily be formed by running 7mmRUM or .300RUM cases through an IMC full length sizing die. I can supply loading data upon request. The Imperial Magnums in the Sako production rifles are great performers. They are very rare and seldom come up for sale.

Regards; Aubrey
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I know a fellow up here who has one that has been rechambered to 7mm Rem Ultra Mag. Same accuracy and power, much easier to obtain ammunition.

Ted
 
tsavo said:
Say, Aubrey

Did the Kimber remain in Canada or end up elsewhere?

Cheers, Joel

P.S. Is the 1000m on for this year?
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Hi Joel; The Kimber ended up with a collector on the east coast. Problems with the1000m range will likely force us to cancel for this year. Will keep you informed when we get it up and running again.

Aubrey
 
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