Turning Bolt face??

str8shot

str8shot

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If I want to rechamber a rifle in .243 wssm, can I turn the boltface to accept the magnum case , or will I have to buy a magnum bolt?
I have a nice stainless heavy barrel in 6mm AI,as my starting point for a project, but was thinking of changing to the short mag .243.
If I tear down the bolt, indicate it true in the lathe, and turn the opening to accept the magnum case, will this cause any concerns?How hard are the bolts after heat treat?
Thanks for any input.
Scott
 
bolt hardness .........and the make of the rifle is?????

....be prepared to have a single shot that may not be as accurate as your 6mm AI. It seems the quality of brass has been a problem and often making a short fat case feed reliably has also been a problem...
 
Oops, sorry .The action will be a Remington 700,and a single shot doesn,t bother me.The rifle will primarily be a paper killer, with occasional use as a hogblaster.
Scott
 
str8shot said:
Oops, sorry .The action will be a Remington 700,and a single shot doesn,t bother me.The rifle will primarily be a paper killer, with occasional use as a hogblaster.
Scott
Click to expand...

700 bolt heads are not hard. If you want it to extract you will also need to machine the offset for the factory extractor and install one. It is not an easy job.

I do not recommend installing part of a Sako style extractor system.
 
NormB on this site has a 700 bolt opened for SSM. Looked at it a few weeks ago, but I'll be darned if I can recall the extractor. If you do a search, you will find a long discussion of the Sako style extractor conversion, and the potential problems that could occur in the event of a case failure.
 
If I picked up a 700 sps in 300saum,as my donor for this project, would the bolt be the same as would be required for the .243 short mag?It would seem to be an easier , and safer route than altering the bolt of a regular short action rifle.
Scott
 
str8shot said:
If I picked up a 700 sps in 300saum,as my donor for this project, would the bolt be the same as would be required for the .243 short mag?It would seem to be an easier , and safer route than altering the bolt of a regular short action rifle.
Scott
Click to expand...

Remington short mags are a standard magnum head size and should work fine...
 
just my opinion,..but I would leave it in 6mmAI....no bolt work and you know it will feed...I can't see the ballistics being much different than the 243WSSM either...
 
I agree 100% with Rembo. The 6mm AI is a fabulous cartridge that gives excellent accuracy, high velocity and long case life.

I have had two, a 6mm AI and a 240 Page Sooper Pooper. Both would get 100 gr bullets going waaaaaaaay over 3300 fps. :cool:

Ted
 
Is 6 mm AI brass available, or will I have to fireform it?For fireforming, can you shoot light 6 mm loads or is there a special process for it?
The biggest reason I was considering the short .243 was the fact that I could get commercial ammo, brass and dies, but if the brass available is crap, than that doesn't do me much good.Are dies available for 6 mm AI?
I guess I will have to research the matter a little further, before I move ahead.
Again , thanks for the input, it did exactly what I wanted, got me looking at this from all angles.
Scott
 
6mmAckley dies are avaliable from a few sources...I've gotten all my wildcat dies from Sinclair Sales in the US...

http://www.sinclairintl.com/

they'll cost you about $125 at your door..you'll have to fireform brass, either shoot factory 6mm Rem ammo or a starting load for a 6mm Rem out of any loading manual.

if you want to save $$ on dies, rechamber it to 6-284,..you can get Lee dies from Higginson's for about $50...no fireforming either...just neck down 284 Win or 6.5-284 Norma brass and shoot...

what action are you using?
 
The barrel I have is already threaded for the 700 action , so I will likely go with a short action.Funding and priorties , have shoved this project to the back burner, so I have lots of time to collect parts, and do research.I'll be looking for answers here on the board once in a while.
Scott
 
Scott,

You get 6mm AI brass by firing regular 6mm or 244 Rem brass in the AI chamber. This is done using regular, not reduced, loads so you can still be hunting or target shooting while fireforming. Accuracy is usually just as good as when not fireforming.

What I am saying is that you don't just go out and fire off a bunch of ammo uselessly. You can still use it sensibly while fireforming brass.

The 6mm AI easily gets more than 200 fps faster velocities than factory ammo. If it were me, the decision would be easy. I would stay with the 6 Ackley. No question about it.

Ted
 
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