Building New Rifles: 7mm08 & 223SHORT

[Wobble]

Probably little benefit in the end, other than reduced powder needs for similar velocities and i'm hoping less noise for pest control.

Any chance of a suppressor permit?

[Gwion]

Probably little benefit in the end, other than reduced powder needs for similar velocities and i'm hoping less noise for pest control.

Any chance of a suppressor permit?

Thought about looking into it but not sure of the process.

[Gwion]

one word. LEFTY

Sucks to be a southpaw hmmmm.

While i'm sure being left handed limits a shooters choice you still can't compare the performance of a $500 factory rifle to that of a semi custom.

Gwioin, the .223 short interest me. do you have some idea on the kind of performance you expect and the amount of work to form brass?

Chronos

Hey Chronos. Previous velocity testing in the States has given about 3200fps out of a target barrel. I don't recall how long that barrel was but def over 24". The barrel I'm using off my Howa will only be 17" after refitting so I'm hoping around 3000fps. This is with 40gn varmint syle bullets. I am also tweaking the case design slightly . I'll post the comparative drawing of case spec when I'm on a PC. Charge weight should be about 11-13gn of something like 2205.

Cheers

[Gwion]

Update. Custom dies have been ordered for the 223McSHORT:

Form/trim, full length, neck sizer and seating die.
Brass will be run through the form/trim die in the first pass, then trimmed roughly to length, then through the full length sizer and put on a Forster neck trimmer. I will also turn the necks down, but this isn't necessary on the standard 223short., as the reamer is spec'd for an unturned necked down case. I just feel this is too thick for easy seating and consistent tension so this is one of the changes i am implementing. The case neck/shoulder will then be annealed before fire forming.

It will be a job to size all the cases because i have about 400 x 233rem cases, but once i do they should last many many firings, especially with periodic annealing to prevent split necks.

Other changes to the McSHORT are 30deg neck as opposed to 23deg as well as the same neck length as a 222 (0.313) as opposed to that of a 223. There is also a slightly longer body length due to change of shoulder angle (from neck/shoulder junction) and slightly less taper. These changes should give a slight increase in case capacity and with the 30deg shoulder i'm hoping for some better velocities as well.

Accuracy for the SHORT has been quite good in the States but there's been speculation that the 30deg shoulder and 0.313 neck length may aid in refining accuracy as well. So, i thought i'd give these changes a run and see what happens.

Specs of the 223short & 223McSHORT on the pics below.

223short ORIGINAL case specs

223shortv1finaql.jpg (20.03 KiB) Viewed 9384 times

223McSHORT case specs

223McShort.jpg (45.34 KiB) Viewed 9384 times

[wheedle]

Thought about looking into it but not sure of the process.

What state are you in? Must be some online stuff to get the ball rolling on the state Police website.

[Gwion]

So.
B709 has arrived for the .284cal barrel. Barrel should go into production shortly.
Stock has arrived for the 223McShort. PTA has arrived for Zastava action, which should be at gunshop anytime now.
Brass has arrived for the 7mm08.
Reamer has gone into production, so should be ready soon.
Same with custom loading dies.
Scope is ordered and should be here by week's end or next week: Sightron S-TAC 2.5-17.5x56 (cancelled Nikon order because turret tracking unknown quality for f-class).
Same with 20moa rail and tac mounts from Talley.

Still need to source a whole bunch of bits and pieces for loading but that will have to wait for the end of the month when i should get a good pay for a side job i have on the go. This will be the last big spend (big for me) on shooting for the next few years, unless my business goals pay off, then i might treat myself in another 18months; might have to throw in one of these new lever shotties while i'm at it!

[Farmjer]

Thought about looking into it but not sure of the process.

What state are you in?

[Gwion]

Thought about looking into it but not sure of the process.

What state are you in?

Tas.

Had a bit of a look around online since the last post and got the impression your reason had to be employment related. I'll get around to asking the Firearms Branch but not holding out a lot of hope.

[Releb]

Did a search in the TAS firearms act and it only says they're prohibited. No mention of exemptions or "unless" in the Act

FIREARMS ACT 1996 - SECT 118

118. Silencers and magazines
(1) A person must not use, keep, possess, sell or manufacture any implement designed to suppress the sound caused by the discharge of a firearm.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/tas/ ... /s118.html

[1290]

155. Exemptions
.........
(4) The Commissioner, subject to any specified condition, may exempt a person or class of persons from a provision of this Act relating to the possession or use of any or any combination of the following:

(a) any ammunition;

(b) a firearm;

(c) a firearms magazine;

(d) a firearm sound suppressor.

[Norton]

Would make too much sense to put the exemption in the same section as the suppressor legislation

[Gwion]

Barrel is ready for the 7-08. Just need to get it shipped from NZ now.

[Herdsman]

Sounding fun

Shipping a barrel from NZ isn't a big deal I guess?

[Gwion]

Not really. Just need a B709a form and a bit of patience.

[Bourt]

"and a bit of patience."

Damn!

[Gwion]

Barrel is now ready to ship to my gunsmith. From memory, that's about 8 weeks from order to finished barrel. Not too bad. Timing works pretty well with planning out finances too.

Schedule is looking good. I was hoping originally for mid July- early August.

Just waiting on this bloody reamer still... oh... and the custom dies for the 223McShort.

The 7-08 might be ready first. Unfortunately i sort of need the McShort ASAP because it's now the season for pest control in the paddocks.

[Spooner]

Just waiting on this bloody reamer still... oh... and the custom dies for the 223McShort.

Reamer get stuck at customs or something?

[Gwion]

Don't think so.

PTG may not have sent it yet but it shouldn't be far away. They said 6-8 weeks and it's been about that now.

[lole]

At least the wait is nearly over

[Gwion]

Yup... Getting pretty keen!

[Manimal]

Hadn't heard of the .223 Short wildcat, waiting to see it

[Gwion]

Hey all...

The 7-08 is ready to pick up. WOOHOO!

Only problem is that the internal mag for the 223 doesn't work great with the larger cases.

Does anyone have a spring and follower from a Howa 308 that they'd be happy to part with???

Cheers

[Gwion]

Picked up the 7-08 but the barrel is to heavy for the stock. I've had to remove a fair bit from the fore end. It will need a bit of and may not look the prettiest.

I'll play with it a bit and see how it turns out.

[Usurper]

What's the latest Gwion?

Firing yet?

[Gwion]

Waiting for my scope. If it doesn't arrive this week, I'll fit the old one I have and send a few shots off next weekend.

[Bark]

I bet you're stinging for that scope to arrive

[Gwion]

You are not wrong!

Trying to decide what bullets to order for load development right now.

Looking at Hornady Vmax 120gn for the goat & pig (not that there are many in Tas, but i will visit Vic occasionally). Might even do for fallow?
A max 162 for f class... would probably make a mess of fallow, though.
Thinking of a bonded bullet around 140gn for heavier deer and such......

[NuZo]

Can't wait to see this 223 short

Cheers,

Nuzo

[Gwion]

I can't wait just to see the reamer!

Getting impatient.

Still no word back on the return of my Sightron S-tac for the 7-08 so i'll mount the 3-9x40 Vortex again so i can start running it in and load development. Lucky i didn't sell the Game Reaper scope mount yet. It will be up for grabs as soon as the Sightron arrives, though.

Will try and get the first shots away on Sunday if the weather isn't too crap.

[Xerox]

Any luck with that weather?