Bolt rifle for dedicated handloaders

[Von Gruff]

With only about three hours into it I have what I think is a more user friendly bolt handle, and take no notice of the grotty magizine extension welds. I made the extension and as I dont weld I had the guy at the garage spot weld and will get the GS to do a decent weld and I can then file and clean it up.



This will get me the OAL for the Grendel-Max at 2.405 COAL with 2.470 internal mag length.

[Variable]

Coming along nicely Von Gruff!

[LRRPF52]

Remind the neighbors not to leave their bike parked near your house, or their slippers! Your resourcefulness is inspiring sir.

[eljefe]

... Your resourcefulness is inspiring sir.

Von G , where where have you reached? Pics?
Cheers

[Von Gruff]

Von G , where where have you reached? Pics?
Cheers

Still waiting on the reamer so having to excercise the paitence button a bit. That is helped a little by the rough weather we are still getting with bad winds for the last week and snow this morning - typical for the start of spring here. Am getting a mould made for a cast bullet that will be in the 130-135gn weight range and as it will be made to suit the reamer print then accuracy and animal terminal performance are the priorities. Expect to be able to run it to 22-2300fps so it is expected to be capable of 150-200yds terminal on goat sized animals and of course it will be a superb and cost effective plinker.

[chuckbuster243]

Dave Manson has the SAAMI spec Grendel reamer as well as JGS. The the reamer PT&G has as a Grendel reamer is identical in every way but has a .295 neck instead of the .300 in the SAAMI chamber. I have the prints for all three in front of me.

[Von Gruff]

That is all very fine and good and even my GS here in NZ has the saami grendel reamer in house but we are not using the saami reamer which is all explained quite fully throughout this post. There has been some export restriction changes that have made getting an increasing range of firearms related products more difficult (verging on not at all) to source from the US. An email nearly 2 weeks ago said it was 2-3 weeks from shipping but about 12 weeks ago it was 6-8 weeks away so we will just have to remain paitent. Because I have't shown my reamer print yet, here it is and it needs noting that I will not be firing hundreds of rounds at a time and the necessary care in loading to suit my chamber will be taken. It is specifically drawn to load the A Max to 2.4 OAL which is just shy of the max length I could get in my extended magazine.



SAAMI Grendel



I have had another part of the project come about in that I always intended to try cast bullets in this rifle and contacted a number of the custom mould makers with Verel Smith from LBT (Lead Bullets Technology and is very highly regarded in the cast bullet comunity) being able to make what I wanted after the other 1/2 doz makers all declined. After a detailed consultation process and a short wait the resulting mould arrived, I can only say that his reputation both as a superb machinest and a gentleman is richly deserved. I sent him the reamer print for the raw data with design requirments and the result is a bullet that drops ( effortlessly) from the mould and when gas checked and lubed is 130 gn. It closely matches the A Max in ogive form with throat dia drive bands and a .135 meplat (flat nose) to initiate expansion in meat. I fully expect to get this bullet into the 2300fps plus range ( Varget should get me there) and that will give me a 250yd game bullet ( slightly further than initially anticipated, with a pouch full of A Max's on my belt for animals further out)

[Von Gruff]

Some long awaited news came this morning in that the reamer finally shipped from Mansons on Nov 28, so it may be that it will be done before Christmas.

[Von Gruff]

Wahoo, the reamer has arrived and will be dropped of to the GS on monday morning when I go through to pick up my 20VT that has had the barrel shortened from 25 down to 21 inches.
6.5 GM should be ready for me to pick up and finish the stockwork for in about 10 days so I should be burning powder by Christmas. May not get it back for blueing so will be in the white for the time being.
What else could a man want or need in this season of expectation?

[Variable]

Hehee! Congrats on your Christmas rifle!

[sneaky one]

Von, good to see some fruition on the GM. I hope it ends up as what you desired, as far as ballistics-etc. are concerned. You can have the dream-then become a reality-for us all to see, partake of -etc. Nice, struggle of a wait tho.. Early x-mas present to oneself=cool. As long as the wife is okay w/ this project,,, all is well. So, thoughts are=2.400 OAL? I can hit 2.33 OAL-maybe a tic more in my AR. I found a new spot to tweak upon it. Could yield 2.400. Hmmmmm.. Your chamber is not close to sammi Grendel-extra taper from the AK brass ,,, I hope you can get at least above Grendel speeds. Your future tests-trials- will reveal all that is availiable for the GM. Good luck. Stay safe!

[Von Gruff]

Your chamber is not close to sammi Grendel-extra taper from the AK brass ,,, I hope you can get at least above Grendel speeds. Your future tests-trials- will reveal all that is availiable for the GM. Good luck. Stay safe!

There is no more taper in my case than the Grendel SAAMI spec because I have simply mooved the shoulder forward and my Lapua 7.62x39 cases will fireform to the longer chamber the same way my Grendel brass will fireform to the longer chamber. I will have about 10% case capacity advantage over the grendel so getting Grendel speeds will be a minimum with expectations of about a 100fps increase with the same pressure and because I am running a bolt rifle I should get a little more besides that as well. Not looking to hotrod this but wanted to get as much (safely) as the case could give and have it so that in the unlikely event that I was ever going to use factory ammo again then simply repeating my de-bullet and powder, expand the neck and resize again to have a .006 crush fit. re-powder and bullet again and I have usable ammo - allbeit with a reduced velocity because of the lengthened case but usable all the same.

[Von Gruff]

Getting increasingly excited guys, as I have just had an email from GS to ask about barrel engraving so it must be getting close to being done.

[Von Gruff]

I have it in my hands as we speak. Just got home from GS, having lunch now and then away up to my shed to inlet the barrel into the stock. May put a protective coat or two of oil on it. but expect to have the first fireforming loads through it by the weekend. ( Stupidity of the Mayan doomsday rubish ignored)

[Variable]

I have it in my hands as we speak. Just got home from GS, having lunch now and then away up to my shed to inlet the barrel into the stock. May put a protective coat or two of oil on it. but expect to have the first fireforming loads through it by the weekend. ( Stupidity of the Mayan doomsday rubish ignored)

Excellent! In for "End Of The World" boltgun pics.LOL