30x47 Lapua

S

skeetlee

Active member
Fellas i would like to talk a little bit more about the 30x47 Lapua. I have had now for a while a desire to build a rifle for nothing but groundhog shoots. The varmint hunters association in IN hosts a couple of matches each year and i want to join and play. A few of my friends shoot 30cal rigs so they can see there shots in the mirage and so they can catch the scoring rings. I think a 30x47Lapua would fill this bill quite nice, but i have zero experience. I dont really think i want to shoot 118gr bullets as i have seen what the wind will do at 300 yards to these bullets. My idea is to shoot a BIB or Berger 155gr bullet. What do you think? The BC will be higher, but so will the recoil. Im going to make this rifle heavy around 17 pounds so that shouldn't be an issue. I have read that the flash hole needs opened up on the lapua case to shoot these 30cal bullets. Is there any truth to that? I guess i was thinking a 13 or 14 twist barrel would work nice as well? Like i said i have zero experience with this chambering or with groundhog shoots. They shoot from 100 out to 500 yards so i need accuracy up close and afar. I have come to really like the 30's so i am pretty sure this will work, but i am always open to what you fellas think. Give it to me straight!! Do you think this is a good idea for groundhog shoots, or will a good old 6br win every time? Lee
 
If you're building a heavy gun, why not go with a full 308? Brass, dies, reamers are tried and true. 14 twist and you're good to go.

I shot one years ago in Hickory, NC, 100, 300 and 500. Didn't do too bad with it.
 
In my opinion if they score like Hickory the smaller 6 BR will have an edge. Have you run the ballistics to see how they compare? If you aren't considering resale and weight isn't limited I would go heavier than 17, maybe 25 or so.

just my 2 cents, worth what you paid for it

Sam
 
Clifdweller77 said:
In my opinion if they score like Hickory the smaller 6 BR will have an edge. Have you run the ballistics to see how they compare? If you aren't considering resale and weight isn't limited I would go heavier than 17, maybe 25 or so.

just my 2 cents, worth what you paid for it

Sam
Click to expand...
Its a best edge score system and the targets they use make it tough to see a 6mm bullet hole at the longer yardage.
 
Lee, dont forget to try Sierra's new 155 palma bullet, it edged out everything I tested including the BIB.
I did some extensive testing at 600yd with my 308 Cutright case when the new Lapua Palma brass came out and 155 SMK's won every time.
Dont worry about the recoil, you can use a muzzle brake in VHA shoots.
 
Last edited:
Best Edge is a whole nother ball game. 30 definitely makes more sense in that realm. I shoot Hickory and the 6's are king. I would check the ballistics and compare that to other options before building. Clay Spencer builds a lot of these and is worth the phone call, be warned, last time I called him I was on the phone with him for 2 hours.

Sam
 
Update
I have my barrel in and i am going through with this idea. My barrel is a Brux 1-17 twist 1.250 straight bull target barrel. I am hoping to shoot BIB 132BT bullets. What i am not sure is what to do for a seat die? Harrels will get my money for the FL bushing die. I still need a reamer and i am not exactly sure what to order. I am thinking a free bore between .015 and .035 but i just really dont know. I want to still shoot the 118 bib for the 1-200 part of the comp. I Know this is a popular chambering with the hunter benchrest guys so i would like some input. What bullet do you fella use and what kind of free bore are you using. Also things like powder you use. Just looking for information. Anything you may have would be great!!
The only other thing that may hold this up is if i find enough information to support the use of the standard 30BR with these heavy bib bullets. It would be nice to stay with something i already have everything for, but my gut tells me the x47 case will prove to be better at the longer ranges. Not sure about the short range part of it. I would like to think that the x47 lapua case can shoot bug holes at 1-- and 200 yards? Lee
 
Last edited:
Skeet,

When we did ours, we shortened a full length .308 seating die and reamed the "chamber" with our reamer. We did not need a shorter or longer sten and all is well.

Paul
 
In my 30/47 I use the 136gr BIB, 10ogive bullet and have found it gives excellent results at both 200 and 300 yards. I load 42.8gr of V135 behind it with CCI primers. However, I use Rem 300 Savage brass to make the case, less work.

virg
 
virg
I was thinking about getting a reamer for the Lapua brass. All i would have to do is neck it up and turn. Would the 300savage be less work than that? I am not at all familiar with the 300 savage cartridge. Never even seen one. thanks Lee

I read in another forum that Russ Hayden (I think, i will have to re-read) has 30x47Lapua seat dies. Im not sure this is true, but i will check into it.
 
skeetlee said:
virg
I was thinking about getting a reamer for the Lapua brass. All i would have to do is neck it up and turn. Would the 300savage be less work than that? I am not at all familiar with the 300 savage cartridge. Never even seen one. thanks Lee

I read in another forum that Russ Hayden (I think, i will have to re-read) has 30x47Lapua seat dies. Im not sure this is true, but i will check into it.
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that the origional 30-47 used 300 Savage brass with it's shoulder pushed back to give it a longer neck. This also reduces the capacity to get it closer to the minimum water weight limit of HBR cartridges.

A person once told me that he had three reamers made around the 300 Savage and of the three, the 300 Savage was the most accurate.
 
Last edited:
Skeet,I have a Brux barreled 308 in 17 twist.It shoots BIB and Cheeks 125 grn.very well.The rifle really woke up when I switched to 50.5 grns.of H414.I am sure the 30x47 is an excellent cartridge but at a glance it seems very similar to 308.You might give R.R of BIB bullets a call and see what he thinks about a 15 twist for the 130 grn.series bullets.
 
Your best bet....

skeetlee said:
virg
I was thinking about getting a reamer for the Lapua brass. All i would have to do is neck it up and turn. Would the 300savage be less work than that? I am not at all familiar with the 300 savage cartridge. Never even seen one. thanks Lee

I read in another forum that Russ Hayden (I think, i will have to re-read) has 30x47Lapua seat dies. Im not sure this is true, but i will check into it.
Click to expand...

If you get the reamer for the Lapua brass, I think using the Lapua 6.5x47 brass would be your best bet. My reamer was made before 1997 and I ran into trouble when I tried to use the Lapua brass since it is about .003 larger in diameter at the web than Rem or Win brass. This made it too tight in my chamber. Small base resizing didn't help either since the web on a case is too thick to resize. So I had to turn them down with emery cloth to get them to fit. Yes, I could have reamed the beginning of my chamber, but I chose not to do that. Anyway, the ten rounds I made proved no more accurate that my present brass and load. So...I went back to the 300 Savage brass. Since Win and Rem brass is 47.3mm long there is very little trim back. I just run the brass through my Redding custom "S" type die to push the shoulder back, and turn the neck to .009 for my .332 neck and fire form.

My statement of using the 300 Savage brass (which is hard to find now) relates more to forming 30x47 brass from Lapua 308 brass (much more work).

When you get your reamer for the Lapua brass, sizing up the 6.5x47mm Lapua brass will be a cinch.

Good luck,
Virg
 
Thanks fellas. I have been emailing back and forth with Randy R and i think i have a pretty good grasp on this project. I now just need to allow myself a couple weeks to make darn sure this is what i want to do with this barrel. its going to be an investment of my money getting dies and brass,and reamer so i want to be sure. I can always do another 30BR as i have everything needed for that. Im am not real confident with the 30BR out past 300 though so i am thinking the 30x47L will be the ticket. I think it will be a lot of fun to have something maybe a little different on the firing line at the groundhog shoot although it sounds like there may be a couple other fellas going this direction. Thanks for the info fellas! Lee
 
Have been shooting HBR matches for a few years and using the 30-47. Using a 15 twist am shooting the 133g bullets my friend Ron makes. Anything bigger does not stabilize. A 17 twist will be limited to 125 g bullets I would think. I would get the Lapua chamber as making brass is a snap. I am using the 300 Savage, because that is what our reamer is for, I have all the dies and a custom made FL sizer. Starting from scratch would use the Lapua chamber. the 308 Lapua uses large primers and the 65x47 uses small. Test them both to see what works in your barrel. I sold my Viper a few years ago and used the money to build a BAT HBR gun. Still in peices until Ron gets time to put it together. Shooting with that 6X scope at 300 is surely a challenge.
 
I built a 30x47 variant for my HBR rifle. I have the spec for it in the archives if your interested. You use a .308 reamer, held back a little. This allows me to use a .308 die, I cut short.

I expand up the 6,5x47 brass for the cases, much easier than all the trimming required as virg mentions above.

Ben
 
skeetlee said:
Update
I have my barrel in and i am going through with this idea. My barrel is a Brux 1-17 twist 1.250 straight bull target barrel. I am hoping to shoot BIB 132BT bullets. What i am not sure is what to do for a seat die? Harrels will get my money for the FL bushing die. I still need a reamer and i am not exactly sure what to order. I am thinking a free bore between .015 and .035 but i just really dont know. I want to still shoot the 118 bib for the 1-200 part of the comp. I Know this is a popular chambering with the hunter benchrest guys so i would like some input. What bullet do you fella use and what kind of free bore are you using. Also things like powder you use. Just looking for information. Anything you may have would be great!!
The only other thing that may hold this up is if i find enough information to support the use of the standard 30BR with these heavy bib bullets. It would be nice to stay with something i already have everything for, but my gut tells me the x47 case will prove to be better at the longer ranges. Not sure about the short range part of it. I would like to think that the x47 lapua case can shoot bug holes at 1-- and 200 yards? Lee
Click to expand...

You will shoot the 132 BT bullets in THAT barrel ONLY if they are shorter than 1.080". In order to shoot the slow twist, you do need to be aware of jacket length. It is more important than the weight of the bullet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top