I bought 2 gigantic heavy old bench rifles

L

logangrimnar

Member
Hello,
I purchased 2 old giant benchrest rifles from cabelas yesterday. One is a schultz & larsen m54 the other is an fn action. Both have 28 inch heavy barrels about an inch diameter and giant wooden stocks. Both barrels are finished down to about 3 inches from the reciever. They are both 30 caliber. Niether has a marked caliber. They seem to be different chamberings. I have cerrosafe on the way but...
Can anyone think of a 30 caliber round that would be short like a 30br but be from that vintage of rifle? The internet was no help. You guys helped me a ton with a very similar 219 wasp. I dont think they are 30 br because that would make them 90s guns. One barrel has air gaged stenciled on it (spelled that way) if that helps at all.
 
For BR work, the short .308s were primarily used in the HUNTER Class (10 Lb.. rifles), beginning about mid 1980s. A pic would be nice!
It they are what I am visualizing, Al is likely correct: .308 Wins. RG
 
Al Nyhus said:
Assuming the bolts are for the .473 family, the 308W is a likely one. It was used quite a bit in that time frame. If you have a 243W, 260 or 7-08 case, see if it will chamber.
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If you mean 308 winchester I tried that first. It goes 90% in. Chamber casting didn't work and got stuck but what i did see is that they are much longer than I thought. 308 bolt face for sure.
 
Cool.
Yea. No scopes. Cabela's takes them off and throws them on the lunch table for the crew. To many complaints...If ya know a Cabela's guy.....
 
Very cool. You would think that the chambering would be stamped someplace on the barrel. My friend had a 50’s BR rifle that had a 30” Hart 1” dia chambered in 6mm Rem. Some time in the late 70’s he had it set back and rechamberd in the original 6BR Rem. Man did it shoot. A fully customized Mauser 98 that you would think was a custom action. I’d take to a good gun smith. If you don’t know. Have him set back and chamber for something you want.

I would have to ask him , but I’m pretty sure he still has it, because it was his dad’s. I see if I can get a hold of him and see if I could get a picture. But after I shot a few five shot groups with it that were in the same hole. I had to have one. I had my first 6BR Rem built on a blueprinted 700 #7 Shilen HV 26”. 14T. First 5 rounds down the tube at 100 yards was .200. It’s been a blast.
 
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.300 Savage ? Can the trim length of the chamber be measured? 1.884" using a wood dowel.

Screenshot_20260204-093454_Chrome.jpg
 
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A lad who used to shoot with us shot what he said was the original 308 which was a bit shorter than todays version.
 
Thanks for the help everyone!!!! The first rifle i finally got to chamber cast. It is indeed a 7.62x51 with the shoulder bumped back slightly more than my lee dies will go. Pushed all the way down I can get the brass to chamber.
 
logangrimnar said:
Thanks for the help everyone!!!! The first rifle i finally got to chamber cast. It is indeed a 7.62x51 with the shoulder bumped back slightly more than my lee dies will go. Pushed all the way down I can get the brass to chamber.
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Now that you've confirmed it's a 308W chamber, make sure and check the chamber neck diameter and the chamber length. Pay attention to the back end dimension as newer 308W brass like Lapua will be a bit bigger.

Cool vintage guns...enjoy them! :) -Al
 
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Super weird. Brass that I pushed the shoulder back loaded and ejected. Two hours later it did not. Im not sure if it sprung back that much or the residual lubricant made them chamber. I scrubbed the chamber and barrel and dont see any obstructions
 
logangrimnar said:
Super weird. Brass that I pushed the shoulder back loaded and ejected. Two hours later it did not. Im not sure if it sprung back that much or the residual lubricant made them chamber. I scrubbed the chamber and barrel and dont see any obstructions
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If you're trying brass in that Mauser, try removing the firing pin assy and putting the case into the bolt face...so the extractor is in the extractor groove. Have you checked the neck diameter?
 
logangrimnar said:
Thanks for the help everyone!!!! The first rifle i finally got to chamber cast. It is indeed a 7.62x51 with the shoulder bumped back slightly more than my lee dies will go. Pushed all the way down I can get the brass to chamber.
Click to expand...
Redding has custom shellholders of different thickness. Or polish bottom of die. With 600 grit sandpaper. Take off a little at a time. very small...
make a figure 8 with the die. Does not take much...
 
Al Nyhus said:
If you're trying brass in that Mauser, try removing the firing pin assy and putting the case into the bolt face...so the extractor is in the extractor groove. Have you checked the neck diameter?
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Yes. I got the chamber cast to work so I know the neck diameter is good. Im at work and dont remember the exact measurement. I can try pulling the firing pin. Im definitely thrown off that I sized 10 pieces of brass that functioned fine and when I checked them again they got stuck. Measuring the chamber cast the only thing that stands out is that the neck is slightly longer than standard 308 but the oal is the same. Pushing the shoulder back is the only thing I can think of. Maybe older dies will form the brass to this "older 308" im hearing about?
 
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