gun nutty

De Haas mentions in his book that the Siamese should (will?) feed the 458 American (458 X 2") better than the 45/70. I imagine that the 450 marlin would be just as good a candidate. Both cartridges offer 45/70 performance and capacity in a case better suited to a bolt action. The SMLE will also feed the 45/70 if the magazine is altered. Gibbs Rifle Co. offered these conversions. I handled one and thought the barrel was heavier than I liked, but it's a "do-able" thing.

No disagreement on the dimensional data (I'd rather use the diameter forward of the belt though). Am I looking at the minor thread diameter correctly? Thead Depth = (Cos 30) X .0625 <--- For 16V threads, of course. The Weatherby has a barrel shank of 1.060 (per De Haas) with 16V threads, with a thread depth of approx. 0.0541 (x2). That's 0.9518". Subtract the belt diameter of the .460 Wby (0.6035") and divide by 2 to get a wall thickness of 0.174". And the Weatherby has a smaller receiver ring too. (1.342 VS 1.410). The small ring Mauser with 12V threads actually has a wall thickness of 0.152, according to the above calculations. I've seen an interesting article link posted here about wall thickness recommendations. The article stated that both the Weatherby and Remington were marginal at best for the bigger boys... Both Husqvarna's HVA and and the HVA-8000 were offered in 7mm Rem Mag, and the 8000 was offered in 300 Win Mag. Both rifles had the small ring Mauser barrel shank (.985", 12V) and small-ring diameter receivers as opposed to the large M-98 receiver. I'm not sure what to think. Barrel material and hardness should come into play as well. If it's a bad idea, it's a bad idea. I don't want anyone to blow up. With the feed rails and bolt face altered for a magnum case, the only other option that I can think of would be a 450 Marlin or 458X2inch. Both cartridges operate at lower pressures (actually, a Wildcat can operate at whatever one wants it to operate at) and should be fine. I doubt the Marlin 1895 barrel wall thickness exceeds that of the Turk.

I doubt that the Turk action will "blow apart" on the first pull of the trigger. Or the second. Or the third. What will happen with a soft receiver is that set-back will occur in the locking lug recesses. The 98 Mauser was designed inherently as a safe and strong action. I wouldn't be concerned about the small diameter barrel shank of the Turk; there are commercial actions with roughly the same shank diameter (Husqvarna, Krico), but the Turk has much more receiver metal around the shank. The materials should be fine too. Folks on this board have commented that the Turks can be soft. You're obviously concerned about it too, or you wouldn't be asking questions about it. I would have no problem chambering a Turk for a 300 Winchester Magnum PROVIDED I KNEW THE HEAT TREATMENT OF THE RECEIVER. The only way to be assured of that knowledge would be to get the thing heat treated. See if you can piggy-back with one of the others here when the next batch is sent in. You've put much work into creating a fine action. Why not have the peace of mind knowing that your efforts weren't for naught?

I avoid the Weaver-styled rings/bases because of this very issue. With a Redfield setup, things would have to be REALLY bad to not be able to adjust for windage. My one rifle with a Weaver base, a Mini-Mark-X, came with the base; I bought a pair of standard Burris Zee rings, crossed my fingers, and was within an inch on windage at 100 yds. Pure luck (or stringent Zavasta Quality Control ). You still need to investigate the issue and figure what's going on, but using Millet ajustable Weaver rings or switching to a Redfield setup should cure the evil spell.

The front ring diameter on the P14/M17 is about identical to the savage 110. The Savage 110 bridge is flat and sits lower than the front ring. Rather than re-contouring the bridge, I'd mill it flat to match the Savage bridge, or at least a section of it .750" wide. You can then use Savage one piece and two piece bases. With a flat rear bridge, there should be no mis-alignment. You can actually measure the difference between base heights to determine how far to lower a milling bit referencing the front ring.

The 6.5X57 is neat... Same performance as the 6.5X55 but can use 7X57 brass re-sized - No oddball cases to find. 6.5X57 should feed good - Taper on it and the '06 case is similar.

Excellent action. First choices: .257 Roberts, 6.5X55. 6.5X57, 7X57, 8X57, 9X57 Second choices: 250 Savage, 300 Savage

Someone posted a wonderful link to a site with statistics on the low-numbered '03s a while back. An aquaintance is an avid '03 collector... His argument is that a small number blew. Army pulled from service those deemed unworthy. The remainder served sucessfully through countless rounds of ammunition and two world wars. "Just 'cause a couple were bad doesn't mean that they all were bad". I think low-numbered '03s make great cast-bullet rifles or mild-load rifles as-is. Mausers are cheap, fixable, and there are no questions about their safety. A fellow could get two or three nice Mauser receivers in exchange for a low-numbered Springfield.

I know this goes a bit off what was originally asked for and I'm being a bit of a prude on this... Inexpensive switch barrel combo, supporting multiple calibers, case head sizes and case lengths? Light and easy to carry when stored? Requires no need to re-sight-in after barrel changes? Try: http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/index.php?cat=4&subcat=36 You can get a complete Handi-Rifle for under $200; I walked out the door with a synthetic-stocked model for $170 at my local dealer (nice sale). Extra rifle barrels go for $82 for blued on the web site. You can even add a shotgun barrel to the rifle reciever for $59. The base rifle, an extra rifle barrel, and an extra shotgun barrel won't set you back more than $350. With two scopes, the entire package should fit into a briefcase-sized guncase no longer than 24" (with 22" barrels). That's portability. And no funky tools to change out barrels; all that is needed is a stubby phillips-head screwdriver to remove the forearm. I have never read a negative review on the Handi-Rifle. The trigger is very good, and you can't get any simpler in operation. You can't get any more compact, save a bull-pup design. The handling and carry characteristicts are sheer joy. A setup with .223 Rem, 30'06, and a 12 guage barrel would be more than adequate for anything on the Continent. I know that this forum is about overcoming challenges and creativity, but sometimes there are simpler solutions...

Currently, the only way to view messages is to actually log-in. I agree with the anonymous postings, but non-registered users should be able to view posts.