Spiris

No doubt that the 6mm Rem would be an excellent choice for feeding and performance. My K.Kale 22-250 uses a single shot adapter so I don't worry about feeding from the mag. Spiris

Does your barrel appear to be good? Is the rifle in good enough condition to warrant the change? Is your rifle the long barrel version? As you probably know, the type 38 action is a very stout action in good condition. I believe the 260 Remington would also be a good choice to consider if your chamber is indeed pitted but I do have a soft spot for the 6.5x55 swede. Taking it a little further, perhaps even the 6.5-284 Norma to clean up the chamber even more. Spiris

Welcome to the site cowboy. I do not have experience with the Japanese rifles except what i read, but there are several on this site who probably could help you with your question. My curiosity is why would you want to convert? The 6.5x50 Arisaka round that I assume is your chambering, is not that far from the Swede round in performance. Just wondering! Do you reload? Spiris

I have seen these mounts around for years but I have never felt that these would return to exact zero each time, at least for serious target work. There are a lot of variables in play here. But that's just me! I've been wrong before. Nice M1 38scarabkv. Spiris

FC, Thanks for sharing that link. Spiris

The 243 is a pretty high performance round and loves the slower powders, especially with heavier bullet weights. The info from the other posts here are great advice. IMR4895 does work fairly well with the lightest bullet weights such as the 55 gr. but realistically is a little too fast burning and gives a much quicker pressure rise and can give you the problems that you are experiencing. Not all guns react the same. The other powders you have listed are also a little too fast and are close in burn rate to IMR4895. IMR4350 or H-4350 are not identical in charge weight but either would be a good match for your needs. They will give you higher velocities with lower pressure as a rule compared to what you are using now, and work great in many other bottle-neck calibers too. Spiris

I'm sure there are milsurpers here who are very knowledgeable about the Fin M39. Here is a good site to read up on them. http://mosinnagant.net/finland/finnish_mosin_nagantm39.asp Spiris

OD, I'm sure you can take pride in your accomplishment. If it was easy, everyone would do it. I would sure like to see that bolt face too. Spiris

I have used the drop quench method involving dropping the bullet directly from the mold into a bucket of water. I shot these from my Turk mauser with the commercial 8mm swede mauser barrel. After less than 10 rounds with a fairly mild load the groups opened up dramatically. I blame the bullet for being too soft but of course there can be many factors in play here. I have not done anything since with the 8mm but will try hardening some of those at the same time. These were gas checked also. From much reading, the wheel weight mix should cast about 10 on the Brinnel scale but how do I really know what I'm getting? I melt the mix and flux and cast. So to maybe improve the hardness of the bullets, I'm going to do the oven deal and quench them. With the cost of shooting jacketed bullets going crazy, I have to try the alternatives. The barrel of the mosin m44 that I have looks like new and the 1in91/2 twist that they are supposed to have, should be perfect for the 160 gr. slug. Ya, I really like doing this stuff. Here's a couple sites that offer some info. http://www.lasc.us/HeatTreat.htm http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/alloyhardness/index.asp Spiris

I ordered the Lee .312 160 gr. Tumble lube style mold. I've had good luck with the narrow driving bands on other applications. I'll shoot them as cast after heat treating and lathering them in lee liquid alox. Spiris

AZ, a good propane torch should do it if it's tin solder, but put a wood dowel in the bore to keep it from oxidizing. I would try cleaning & clamping the sight again and resolder it with the tin solder. It will probably last another 20. Silver solder takes a little more heat to work. Spiris

I was wondering how many of you cast lead for the Russian round and what molds do you recommend? Lee has a 185 gr. available (.312) and looks like something that would be good. I'll be heat treating to harden them up. The M44 that I have looks like new in & out, except for a few dings in the stock. I ordered a ATI stock for it and a scout mount for the rear sight. I have a red dot that I plan to use. I have only fired it a few times and still have 400 plus rounds of the Albanian surplus ammo with the lighter ball solid core. Those bad boys with the ill fitting military stock will tear you up. I may pull the ball and reduce the load a little. Spiris

For us older guys, my friend bought his carcano from Flaigs, that place in PA that sold milsurps and such before the mailorder ban was in place. The rifle was $19.95 and for 5 bucks more they installed a mount and 4x scope. I remember seeing ads from that place in most of the gun magazines of the time. Spiris

I would keep it as is and if you can pick up a cheap set of dies from obay and some brass I would see how it responds to handloads. As Fritz said, the bullets are larger than regular 6.5's but he had a typo in that the proper size is .268. In fact Hornady has a .268 dia x 160 grain slug for this rifle. I have a friend who has one and it is the most inaccurate rifle he owns. It was the first centerfire rifle that he ever owned some 50 years ago. He said he paid like $24.95 with a scope mounted. He did manage to kill a buck with it at about 10 yds. It now resides in his vault as a piece of history. Spiris

Got about 4hours to go: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...E:B:WNA:US:1123 Spiris

I've had a stainless model 60 for a few years and it seems to like all types of ammo and spits them out without missing a beat.I love that tube magazine.

If you use the same type of brass with consistent neck thickness and the same or measured consistent bullets, then closer tolerance reamers, called match reamers, are important in the quest for ultimate accuracy. In my world, there are variations in manufacturers brass and bullets. Using factory spec reamers, but paying attention to the other variables for accuracy that I can control is the way that I approach rechambering. Here is a great article from someone who makes some of the most accurate barrels in the world. http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barre...el_accurate.htm Spiris

You had better check again. There will be a concerted effort to remove your gun rights too if the liberal left gets into total power in the next election. Why do you think that we cannot get immigration bills passsed? We have a huge responsibility to vote these bustards out. Spiris

I was looking for information (not this) on sites and came across this interesting thread. Actually one takes you to another and I'll list them both. The first deals with different stocks modified basically into target style stocks, Mosin and SKS etc. The second thread is a comprehensive step by step on fabricating these cool stocks. The second thread is a few pages long and does take a while to read but is (at least to me) quite interesting. Besides, what else have you got to do? http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic...=276372#p276372 http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126943 Just click on the next page at the bottom to read it all. Spiris

MD, if you want a 8mm-08 then you should go for it. I'm not trying to talk you out of it. I'm basing my suggestions on the fact that you do not have a lot of experience and what would be easier for you to do on your own. But you only learn by doing. You do have to know how to use verniers and have some patience. Perhaps it sounds silly, but the Gunbroker auction that I pointed out in a previous message is really a good deal if you break down the costs of the dies and components and having a scope. I would guess you're actually paying less than $200 bucks for a completed rifle in a caliber that you want. Food for thought. Think of what you would have invested in buying an action and having a smith do the hard stuff that you cannot do plus the dies and components. The cost of the custom reamer alone would probably be over $100. I have not seen any of the reamer rental sites have this reamer in stock, but someone reamed that rifle on Gunbroker. I personally parkerize all my rifles and coat them with Duracoat finishes but it is a lot of work to prepare the metal for finishing but gives you personal satisfaction when it's done. I guess that's what it's all about. Many people on this site know the feeling of a job well done and the pride that goes with it. Spiris

Lee precision offers a custom die set production. A setup charge of $130.00 plus $38.00 per two die set. You have to know what dimensions you want. That's the easy part if you continue to want a 8mm-08. Then there is the cost of a custom reamer and the smithing required to cut the 8x57 barrel back to allow the proper chamber reaming for the shorter case. You see what I mean? And ya, cutting the 8x57 die length down with a chop saw or something without loosing the temper could work. 8mm-06 dies are available at MidwayUSA. Chamber can be reamed without removing the barrel although you might want to cut the barrel down to be handier and recrown it. I would pick up a Turk K.Kale on gunbroker to take advantage of the longer action but you need to get one with a good barrel, sometimes hard to do. The other converted Turks that's available are either short action 1903's or are the conglomeration of parts put together near the end of ww2 and some after. The 24/47 and 48's really are too short magazine wise to be able to seat the bullets out properly with the 06 case. K.Kale's are the only actions that I have used for my rebuilds except for the VZ24 in 6.5x55. I have a 270 win, 8x57 With new swedish commercial barrel, 22-250 and 243 win, all with Remington barrels except the 8x57 and 6.5x55. Well, it's getting late for me and I'm sure we'll continue the discussion. Spiris

A&B does make unthreaded barrel blanks and Midway has them. http://www.midwayusa.com/esearch.exe/searc...h=Search_Button Spiris

Couple things, the bolts are the same headsize so your ok there and you can use the expander button to open up the 308 to 8mm but you cannot resize the case neck to hold a bullet because the 308 case is too short to size in the 8x57 die. Also the 308 case is fatter at the shoulder than the 8x57 by .024". You could possibly modify a 8mm sizing die to give you what you want. It would be less costly doing a little grinding on a lee die than having a set made. Shortening it and carefully opening up the shoulder area would do it. All you really need is to size the case mouth to 8mm without altering the basic 308 dimensions if it's used in only one rifle. You do need tools and common sense to do a good job. But if you get down to it, really an 8mm-06 makes much more sense. It's a simple conversion, and has the capability of maybe a couple hundred FPS more than a 8mm-08 would have with the same bullet. Spiris

If your heart is set on carrying thru on this project, the still relatively cheap m24/47 or m48 actions would be, I think, ideal for the conversion. These short actions fit the 308 series much better than say the Turks longer action, not that they can't be used. But check things out before you proceed because it entails more than just reaming a barrel. The dies for 8mm-08 are probably quite expensive too. Spiris

Here ya go boys! http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=85893519 Spiris