need gun help

I bought a custom Mauser action gun with a casting from a shop on gun broker. The guy said he measured the casting and it was a 308 Norma mag....it's not. They made it right but now I have a rifle and no clue what it's chambered for. I need some help. Looking for a gunsmith or someone that can either measure or has the blanks to put in rifle to figure it out. Mckinney area. I know it's a belted magnum case with the same shoulder length and taper as 308 Norma but it's almost half an inch shorter.......help.

Closest guy I TRUST to do that and have used for some real live gunSMITH kinda work is Doc's in Carrollton...mebbe FJG's guy can help, or possibly Vernon over in Wolfe City....or even Larry Pockrus in Ponder.

IMO you are on the right track with a casting of the chamber...you DO NOT want to guess about something like this.
Ron

If you're lucky, it'll be just a bit longer and the neck a bit smaller than the 308 Norma, resulting in a 300 WM. You still need a professional that understands chamber casts.

A .30 caliber belted magnum cartridge that is 1/2" shorter than a .308 Norma Mag?

350 Rem mag?

Missed the 1/2 inch shorter

First, it is a 30 caliber barrel? Second, why do you say half an inch shorter? If the case you are trying to put in the rifle won't fit by half an inch, that could be a different size case easily. The correct thing to do is to get a chamber cast of the chamber. This will tell you what it is. The first chamber cast, was it not of this rifle? Or why did that not work correctly?

Chad's right, think about this, the 308 Norma has a neck diamete of 7.85mm the 300 WM 7.8 where do you think it would hang up? If it hangs up on the neck the neck is approx a 1/2 inch.

30 cal, short and fat says .30-284 to me; but there's no belt.

If you have a cast, why do you need another one done? Take measurements and post here.

Are you sure the barrel is .308"?

Are you sure this is a belted magnum?

To clear everything up. I'm not looking to do another cast I just need to figure out what I have. If I had calipers I could measure it. When I hold the casting next to the 308 Norma the angles all look the same but the case is longer and yes it has a belt at the bottom. Yes 30 cal.

Pic upload isn't working or I could post pics next to the Norma round.

This is a job for a gunsmith. You can't really eyeball something of this nature, and if the gunsmith says that another chamber cast is in order, then I would not argue with him.

308 Norma Magnum chambers are unusual in that they do tend to vary, especially in the throat area.

The sooner that you have the issue professionally resolved, the sooner you'll be safely and successfully enjoying the new rifle.

308 Norma Mag has a leg up on .300 Winchester Mag to some extent, as it has a bit more neck on it.

It may be that you have a wildcat on your hands, a shortened 308 Norma mag. - If so, then a gunsmith will be able to rent or buy a .308 Norma Mag reamer a de-wildcat it for you. - Or possibly fix it up as .300 Winchester Mag if you prefer. - Or re-barrel if you prefer.

You'll never know until it is in the hands of a good gunsmith. That's the way to go.


73 DE Charles, N5PVL

Who close to Mckinney is good enough to figure this out for me...I haven't needed a gunsmith in a long time.

Check your PMs. sent you the number of one in Wylie

Finally got to measure the casting....here they are.

It looks like a 6.5 Rem Mag necked up to 308 to me. It's a short action caliber at 2.120" case length. See if you can find a 6.5 Rem mag case and chamber it (carefully!!!) I bet that's it.

Is it a short action rifle, or is it a regular length action with a short cartridge? If it's a regular length action, converting it to .300 WM or similar, seems a lot easier than fooling around with an unusual wildcat, unless you can find dies for cheap; which can happen, if you're lucky.

Depending on what the barrel profile allows, you have a couple of options, go full length to 300 WM or have the barrel recut to 350 RM. I wouldn't assume it can be converted to long action, it'll depend on if there's enough metal, I know Ron (Wiley Coyote) has the name of someone that can do the work.

Couple different names & contact info I have can do the barrel reboring caliber conversion, if that's what you decide to do. Most all of them are West Coast operations, that will require you to ship the barreled action to them....and some of'em are faster turnarounds than others

Different parts of the country have different ideas on doing custom stuff, and I started "shopping" to take a beater 30'06 M70 P'64 I'd found really cheap and turn it into a 9.3x62 or a 338'06 ... then another crisis hit and I got tied up in my ongoing family medical issues ...and the project got shelved, like everything else in my life has for the last 3 years. These will be cut rifling barrels in your choice of # of grooves...and lots of other options too and outside of the barrel will be left untouched.

There's another guy in Ohio I'd recc'd after talking with him several times that is nationally known for re barreling using Douglas barrel's like Melvin Forbes used on his NULA guns or in your choices of barrel grades, profiles, twists, finish's and lengths with a large inventory on hand that cuts down the wait time for you, or rechambering your barrel into another caliber if it's possible - which is also an option depending on your barrel's profile - and lots of other custom work. Dave's had a heart attack late last Spring I think it was, but is expected to get back to work sometime later this year, and the shop is still down for the moment is the last thing I heard back at the start of the summer. With him, I had the same idea on doing something custom only lots simpler, as I was gonna to buy a new Zastava 7x57 & turn it into a 280 AI with a custom throat for not much $$'s...but the importer sold out his inventory and has never had any more of them in 2 years at a Ruger American price point .... and now there is a new importer with lots higher prices.

Lemme know if you need any of this info & I'll PM it to you.
Ron

I think Chad pegged it. Think the 300 WSM might be an easy conversion for a good gunsmith using the same barrel. The barrel might have to be setback a little but think it could be made to work.

The gunsmith I PMed the OP can take of the gun changes if you want or match any profile barrel you might want If you elect to go with a new barrel.

I got to looking around on the 30-350 RM wildcat dies are available from RCBS and the 350 RM brass is available from Graf & sons and Midway. This site is supposed to have some data but it requires Windows and I use Firefox http://stevespages.com/page8.htm

30 Ackley improved #1 or #2?????????????

Ackley improved what? AI anything is a 40 degree shoulder, which is very steep. What shoulder angle is the chamber cast? What's #1 or #2??

That is a very unusual wildcat. At 2.120" long, it is shorter even than the 6.5 mm Rem Mag and the .350 Rem Mag (both 2.170"). The .300 WSM is slightly shorter (2.100") but, of course, much larger in diameter and not belted.

Please recast.

doesn't that casting material EXPAND a bit over time?
get this gun to a gunsmith to re-cast and measure correctly & timely.
also, once known (IF you're not going to change) get gunsmith to MARK / INSCRIBE caliber into barrel for safety of all future owners, etc.!

thanks guys I have decided to make a 300wsm out of it and move on down the road....I spent and hour at a gunsmith and neither of us could figure it out.

Fwiw, I think you made the right call.

Agree on the call. It should not be hard for a good smith to make that conversion, then ammo will be available