Always thought it’d be a fun rifle for a .338 Federal
Another levergun on the bench
- Thread starter p_ham
- Start date
Big Slick
Well-known member
I’m thinking a low recoil round in an old gun.
p_ham
Well-known member
You guys are going to get me fired!
Thanks Ken!
That would be a classy gun.
p_ham
Well-known member
That might be a little more spicy on the recoil than you expect.
I bet it would be on a 99. Not exactly soft shooting… but they did them in a .358…. A .308 M99 has been the only rifle that bruised both my shoulders before. Only shot three rounds from it too.
p_ham
Well-known member
Against my better judgment I shot a Ruger no1 in 458win mag. 2 shots and got a headache. Now I work of forklifts!
GoGriz
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- Joined
- Jun 11, 2021
- Messages
- 329
Bringing this post back full circle. This gun has been sitting in the safe for some time collecting dust while life happened and while I tried to figure out bullet options for the gun. The load information on 7-30 waters for a rifle, instead of its chambering for single shot pistols where it’s a lot more popular, is scarce. Loaded ammunition options ceased to exist about 5-8 years ago from what I can tell, and it looks like everyone stopped making flat point .284 bullets (and FTX gummy tipped bullets) maybe 4 years ago. The options now are scour the internet and pay $.50-$1 per bullet for old stock, have them made for you at around $.80, or cast them. I am slowly working on the last option, but I settled for a mix of the first two for now.
I found some Speer 130 grain flat points at a small store in Eastern Montana, which I grabbed, and I also had Hawk Bullets make me 120 grain flat points, which just arrived yesterday.
I compared some data for lighter bullets and some similar calibers and settled on 32 grains of Leveroution powder for the 130 grain bullets for my first real outting with the gun. I loaded up some rounds a few days ago and the boy and I (this will be his deer gun in a few years when he is old enough) went to the closest shooting area this morning to try it out. We shot off the hood of the rig, which I prefer over a proper range, but that’s just me.
The results were better than what I was hoping for! The gun cycles like a dream and the recoil is very light. I am still getting the scope dialed in, but the last four rounds out of a warm to hot barrel are below.
Hopefully this gun will get out to chase a few deer this season and then I can really put it to the test, but either way I am going to continue to work on load development and find the sweet spot for each bullet. This gun is a hoot to shoot and if anyone is on the fence for a project like this, go for it!
It might take another month, but I’ll take it to a real range and test it out under some tighter conditions and report back.
If anyone is sitting on a box of .284 FPs for some reason, let me know and I’ll take them off your hands!
Thanks @p_ham for the amazing work!
I found some Speer 130 grain flat points at a small store in Eastern Montana, which I grabbed, and I also had Hawk Bullets make me 120 grain flat points, which just arrived yesterday.
I compared some data for lighter bullets and some similar calibers and settled on 32 grains of Leveroution powder for the 130 grain bullets for my first real outting with the gun. I loaded up some rounds a few days ago and the boy and I (this will be his deer gun in a few years when he is old enough) went to the closest shooting area this morning to try it out. We shot off the hood of the rig, which I prefer over a proper range, but that’s just me.
The results were better than what I was hoping for! The gun cycles like a dream and the recoil is very light. I am still getting the scope dialed in, but the last four rounds out of a warm to hot barrel are below.
Hopefully this gun will get out to chase a few deer this season and then I can really put it to the test, but either way I am going to continue to work on load development and find the sweet spot for each bullet. This gun is a hoot to shoot and if anyone is on the fence for a project like this, go for it!
It might take another month, but I’ll take it to a real range and test it out under some tighter conditions and report back.
If anyone is sitting on a box of .284 FPs for some reason, let me know and I’ll take them off your hands!
Thanks @p_ham for the amazing work!
This one ever get done? I have one that was my Father's. Interested to see the final product. mtmuley
Salmonchaser
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- Joined
- Nov 12, 2019
- Messages
- 2,113
I told Paul not to rush it, we had until Christmas
p_ham
Well-known member
Glad you got some rounds through it!
I'm curious to see what it does on a cold barrel.
It's in all the pieces being prepped for refinishing.
