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I Want to build a big cat
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Picture of thecanadian
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I have decided that I want to build a big bore round to use in an ar-10. And since I'm about to allocate a whole pile of sweet sweet cash, it had better be the biggest. Seems like every year some company comes out with their weak=sauce 50 cal ar-whatever with claims of being top dog. Well, I want to wear the crown and I think I have the round to do it. However, I have never designed my own wildcat before and am feeling a bit overwhelmed, especially when it comes to designing and sourcing a reamer. How detailed a design do I need to have for them to make a reamer? I'm looking at those SAAMI drawings and am seeing a bunch of numbers that are head scratchers. Anyway, I already have picked out most of the other main components; barrel (Pac Nor), brass (RCC) and dies(hornady). Below is a rough outline of what I was thinking. It is based off a .505 gibbs, obviously shortened and rebated rim. Would love to hear everyone's thoughts.


"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

---Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 1085 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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you might want to turn a .550 taper, cut off a gibbs case and measure the neck.. it should be a good piece less than .585 ... and resizing will break the case t the neck over time.

it will have to be fairly low pressure to reduce bolt thrust .. like the 458 socom in an ar is loaded less than for a bolt gun...

550 express loads START at 55,000psi

you'll have to use fast powder


PM me your cell phone number, I'll share what I know about the 550s


#dumptrump

opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com
 
Posts: 38457 | Location: Conroe, TX | Registered: 01 June 2002Reply With Quote
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Hello Canadian:

Interesting project that, on its face, has several potential issues that may be difficult to overcome.

From a cartridge/chamber relationship standpoint, there are two potential problems. The first is headspacing. You wisely specified a 40* shoulder angle, which is good, but there's only .015" per side to seat on, when cartridge/ chamber clearances are taken into account. In our experience, this can be made to work.

The second problem is case-head strength after rebating the rim and extractor groove to suit a 308-size bolt face. The Gibbs case was designed for pressures not nearly as high as those common today, and you may experience case-head collapse in the pursuit of velocity. The Cheytac case is based off Gibbs dimensions, but is considerably stronger.

A third possible issue is one of feeding. If you use a typical lead-core projectile, it will be quite heavy and may cause the cartridge to nose-dive after release from the mag lips and strike the edge of the chamber opening. You do have a huge hole into which it's being fed, so I bet it would work without too much trouble. If it did tend to drop, you could always use a turned brass/bronze projectile, which is lighter.

The AR design utilizes a barrel extension, into which the bolt locks up and the cartridge feeds through. I don't know if the standard hole in the extension is sufficiently large for your round to pass through. If the through-hole needs to be enlarged, will there be sufficient extension lug height to hold the pressures involved?

A related question to the above has to do with std barrel tenon diameter, and whether chamber wall thickness would be sufficient for a cartridge as large as yours.

I hate to simply raise questions without being able to provide data, but I don't have std dimensions of tenon and extension threads in front of me. It would likely be possible to make a larger extension, but it'd be much easier to use standard components.

A larger extension would require a larger barrel tenon, which, in turn would require that the upper receiver be re-tapped with the larger thread. This leads to the possibility of a weakened thread in the upper, as well as having to re-position the gas tube. Definitely easier to use standard components.

Other members, I'm sure, can add to these comments and likely answer the questions I raised.

E-Mail us if you have further questions about chambering your beast.

Dave Manson
support@mansonreamers.com
 
Posts: 683 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 04 November 2007Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by DManson:
Hello Canadian:

Interesting project that, on its face, has several potential issues that may be difficult to overcome.
From a cartridge/chamber relationship standpoint, there are two potential problems. The first is headspacing. You wisely specified a 40* shoulder angle, which is good, but there's only .015" per side to seat on, when cartridge/ chamber clearances are taken into account. In our experience, this can be made to work.

Do you think I would be better off by reducing the taper a bit. I can go up to .6242 shoulder diameter while still maintaining a .009 per inch body taper

The second problem is case-head strength after rebating the rim and extractor groove to suit a 308-size bolt face uses standar magnum bolt face . The Gibbs case was designed for pressures not nearly as high as those common today, and you may experience case-head collapse in the pursuit of velocity. The Cheytac case is based off Gibbs dimensions, but is considerably stronger.

I am going to have RCC make brass for me (I know its expensive) but they lathe turn the brass to my specifications which should alleviate any potential brass weakness problems I would have by putzing with Gibbs or Chey tac brass.

A third possible issue is one of feeding. If you use a typical lead-core projectile, it will be quite heavy and may cause the cartridge to nose-dive after release from the mag lips and strike the edge of the chamber opening. You do have a huge hole into which it's being fed, so I bet it would work without too much trouble. If it did tend to drop, you could always use a turned brass/bronze projectile, which is lighter.

The AR design utilizes a barrel extension, into which the bolt locks up and the cartridge feeds through. I don't know if the standard hole in the extension is sufficiently large for your round to pass through. If the through-hole needs to be enlarged, will there be sufficient extension lug height to hold the pressures involved?

A related question to the above has to do with std barrel tenon diameter, and whether chamber wall thickness would be sufficient for a cartridge as large as yours.

I think this is the million dollar question with this build. I do know that the 500 jeffery has been made to work with the standard barrel extension (470 Rhino and 500 Phantom) but I don't know if by adding .021 base diameter would change that. I want to say that the .585 Nyati case had been done as well with the .510 phalanx but I cant seem to find any information.

I hate to simply raise questions without being able to provide data, but I don't have std dimensions of tenon and extension threads in front of me. It would likely be possible to make a larger extension, but it'd be much easier to use standard components.
I really appreciate you taking the time to point out potential problems (even if you dont have the answers). It is much better that its brought to light now than when I have thousands invested in parts..

A larger extension would require a larger barrel tenon, which, in turn would require that the upper receiver be re-tapped with the larger thread. This leads to the possibility of a weakened thread in the upper, as well as having to re-position the gas tube. Definitely easier to use standard components.

Other members, I'm sure, can add to these comments and likely answer the questions I raised.

E-Mail us if you have further questions about chambering your beast.

Dave Manson
support@mansonreamers.com


"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

---Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 1085 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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Hello Canadian:

Good to see you've thought of those issues. Customers occasionally send us RCC brass and it appears uniformly good--they should do a good job for you. I mis-read your cartridge print and took extractor groove diameter for that of the rim; it's better supported than I thought.

Wouldn't hurt to increase diameter by .002" per side because you'll still have .015" body taper, which should be good for extraction. It's not a huge increase in headspacing surface area, but .017" shoulder height--rather than .015"--will help.

Dave Manson
 
Posts: 683 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 04 November 2007Reply With Quote
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You might want to do a Google Search on the AR-10 Ultra Magnum. There is a good article from Shooting Times, 9-23-2010. It discusses the changes made to accommodate the 300 RSAUM and why this round was chosen over the 300 WSM. There also is an article from American Rifleman about the AR-10 Magnum.

I have one of the AR-10 Ultra Magnums. It is one of the most accurate rifles that I own. It would be a great place to start for your project. Unfortunately, they did not make many and they are hard to find. If you need any measurements from it I will be happy to help.

I would appreciate updates on your cartridge. It might be just the ticket for me to rebarrel my rifle to.

I would love
 
Posts: 251 | Location: Newport, WA | Registered: 06 December 2002Reply With Quote
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Nothing against AR platforms I own a few
however not anything to do with your design but the end product would be very heavy.
I have had a AR 10 in the 6.5 Creedmoor and I can tell you from first hand experience it was heavy. Since I only dealt with a blow back design they tend to be tricky to get to function correctly not to mention the feeding issues you may have as previously noted
Good Luck
 
Posts: 291 | Location: wisconsin  | Registered: 20 March 2005Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by 338guy:
You might want to do a Google Search on the AR-10 Ultra Magnum. There is a good article from Shooting Times, 9-23-2010. It discusses the changes made to accommodate the 300 RSAUM and why this round was chosen over the 300 WSM. There also is an article from American Rifleman about the AR-10 Magnum.


The article from shooting times was interesting. Bulging cases just above the web could probably have been remedied with a longer dwell time by utilizing an adjustable gas block, more buffer weight or a combination of both. I think the ultra mag is a better designed cartridge for a semi due to its 30 degree shoulder vs the 35 of the WSM.


"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

---Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 1085 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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A bit surprised that my reloading dies came a few days ago, so much for 4 month lead time. I got the chance to cut down and size a few cases. Now I just need to lathe turn the rims and uniform the necks.



"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

---Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 1085 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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Do you have a bolt head?

this is the one to use

https://www.kakindustry.com/kak-industry-head-mag


Get Close and Wack'em Hard
 
Posts: 404 | Registered: 15 March 2004Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by MoreBS:
Do you have a bolt head?

this is the one to use

https://www.kakindustry.com/kak-industry-head-mag


Yep, that's the one I bought. Reamer came in last week, just waiting on the barrel and ATF approval.

Build list (so far)
Doublestar Star 10 matched set
Doublestar ace stock
KAK magnum bolt
Apex 15" handguard
Blackwood tommy gun grip
Troy SOCC Charging handle
Lantac E-CT1 trigger


"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

---Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 1085 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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You might check that RCC is even in business. Heard a rumor they are circling the drain.


I'm what you call your basic famous.
 
Posts: 1257 | Location: Colusa CA U.S.A. | Registered: 27 June 2001Reply With Quote
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Looks like they filed for bankruptcy. The last time that I called they were still taking orders with a pretty healthy lead time. I wonder if they are trying to restructure debt? With the component shortages, especially for harder to find calibers, they must have had a ton of overhead or just plain poor management to be losing money.


"though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression."

---Thomas Jefferson
 
Posts: 1085 | Location: Eau Claire, WI | Registered: 20 January 2011Reply With Quote
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