Unfamiliar chambering in old benchrest rifle

G

Greyfox

Active member
The owner of a local gunshop, who also shoots UBR matches with us, recently bought several old benchrest rifles from the widow of a shooter who passed several years ago. I tend to be a sucker for the old stuff and one is virtually identical to a rifle I already own. It is chambered in 222x40 and is in a Shilen "raygun" stock". But I could only justify the cost of one and I settled on a sleeved XP 100, that was also an oddity. This rifle had a solid sleeve with no loading port. To load and unload the bolt had to be removed. Also, it had no visible marking on the exposed barrel. I could see that it had a small bolt face (222 etc) and suspected it was also a variation on a 222. This afternoon I had a few minutes and first heated up the glued in barreled action and removed it from the stock. And since the sleeve was already pretty warm I decided to go ahead and remove the sleeve. Turns out it has two sets of markings. One is by Ferris Pindell and looks like he chambered it in 223x38. I am unfamiliar with the chambering and wondering if anyone can shed some light. There is a 2nd set of makings which indicate it was originally chambered and fitted by a well known local gunsmith named Harry Creighton. This appears to have been sometime in the 70's as part of the date stamp remains. The rest was apparently cut off when F Pindell did the 223x38 chamber. So if anyone knows anything about a 223x38 I would be grateful if you would share it. I have a new sleeve with a loading port and intend to resurrect the rifle but haven't decided on the chamber yet. What I learn may help me decide.

Rick
 
Stan Bucktel could tell you more, I had a .222X40 that I shot but Stan had a .222X35 and a .222X45. All it means is that instead of a 25% shoulder, or there abouts, it was a 40% or a 45%, to hold more powder.
 
Bill Gammon said:
Stan Bucktel could tell you more, I had a .222X40 that I shot but Stan had a .222X35 and a .222X45. All it means is that instead of a 25% shoulder, or there abouts, it was a 40% or a 45%, to hold more powder.
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Thanks Bill,
I will do a chamber cast in the next couple of days, but this will tell me what to look for.

Rick
 
Butch Lambert may be able to shed more light on such a chambering. His friend, Red Cornelison (Sp /) shot a 23/40 which was a .223 with 40 degree shoulder. Yours is probably a .223 with 38 degree shoulder. I guess the cast will show you more. Good shooting...James
 
JDMock said:
Butch Lambert may be able to shed more light on such a chambering. His friend, Red Cornelison (Sp /) shot a 23/40 which was a .223 with 40 degree shoulder. Yours is probably a .223 with 38 degree shoulder. I guess the cast will show you more. Good shooting...James
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Thanks James,
Maybe Butch will see this thread.

Rick
 
Sometimes you get lucky. A friend and fellow shooter just called. Turns out he has a barrel with that chambering and history suggests it may have even been chambered with the same reamer. He also has dies and is willing to loan them to me for a test drive. I looked at the barrel with my borescope and even though it has to be 50 years old it is slick and the chamber looks to be fired very little. This should be fun.

Rick
 
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