I have a client that wants a med. caliber side by side (not over / under) double rifle that would be good for shooting Texas deer, elk and plains game in Africa.
He is not against getting a double rifle made but of course if one was available in a med. cal. it would be easier.
Things being considered are:
30/30 and 30/30 AI
303 Brit
30R Blaser
How easy is it to get the 30R Blaser brass or loaded ammo as this seems the easy way out.
Now..no need to tell me about all the o/u's available as he does not want an o/u period...he wants something smaller than the 470NE side by side he already has.
He has tons of bolt rifles in all the calibers..this will just be a play toy that will be used mostly at the ranch shooting whitetail deer and the occasional trip to Africa.
What say yee?

Krieghoff SxS in 9.3x74R ----deer then OK on the 30-caliber but when you say elk and African plainsgame ---- 9.3x74R

Harry
I have been using a 9,3x74R Chapuis [with scope and iron sights] for several years.
Deer [several], pigs [several] turkey[several], coyote [4], bobcat, other varmints [several] in TX, black bear in Idaho and Canada,
impala [12], baboon [4], civet cat, side striped jackel, klipspringer, kudu, waterbuck,
zebra [3], giraffe, cape buff bull, and cow elephant in Zimbabwe.

The 9,3 Chapuis is an excellent hunting rifle/ calibre combo.
The 9,3 is the best choice for a double rifle under 40 cal.

What ever brand double rifle he likes the 9,3x74R is the best calibre choice.

.30R Blaser brass is even quite scarce here in Europe. I doubt it would be easy to get either brass nor loaded ammo in the States. RWS makes the brass, and it *should* be available in the States, but whether it actually is, who knows??

If it was my gun, I would do one of two things. I would either ignore the fact, that it is a bit easier to build an extractor for a rimmed cartridge, and build my rifle in .30-06. Rimless cartridges work just fine in combination/double guns, but to stay on the safe side, perhaps you'd load a bit conservatively.

Alternatively, I'd choose a rimmed cartridge for which it was easier to get brass and loaded ammo. In Europe, my options would include: 7x65R and 8x57IRS. But I don't know how easy it is to obtain ammo or brass for these in the States, so maybe the .303 would be the better option?? Performance wise, there would not be much difference between the various rounds.

- mike

I’ve wanted a double in 8x57JRS to do just the job you’re asking.
Factory rifles chambered for this cartridge are available at least from:
Krieghoff
Heym
Chapuis
Blaser

Some of these makers also chamber the 30R Blaser in their double rifles.

I have no idea about ammo availability in the US.

- stu

I reload a lot of uncommon cartridges, just because they are most interesting to me. (300 Rook, 25-20 single shot, 6.5x57R, 500/416 etc.)

I explored the 30R Blaser a while back but decided ir was not worth it as then components were not listed for sale any where within reason for sale in the US.

Huntington's does now list RWS brass in their catalog. I can't speak to actual availability.

http://www.huntingtons.com/index.html

Loaded rounds, I found none of them available here.

I still wanted a .30 caliber so I opted for the .30-06 in both a double and single shot rifles. NO problems on African PG and US game (no matter what the nay sayers here say.)

My other double does wear a set of 9.3x74R barrels and I echo the positive comments of those above. Ammunition is readily available for the non-reloader and components are much easier to find from several sources here.

Good luck,

Mike

Thanks for all the good input. Most appreciated.I will pass your comments on.

Harry
I own two guns in 30 R Blaser , none of them a double, but I am plannig one in the future. I have almost ten years of experience reloading for the calibre. The brass was no problem to get in the U.S.;I purshased at Huntingtons and Old Western Scrounger, other brass I got in Spain , where the calibre is getting more adepts . The calibre is very friendly to reload ,a very important issue when the components are scarce to non existent,like is where I live. The brass can be used many times if you keep the pressures low ; and is enough powerfull for a 250 or more kilos of a red stag deer .
If you need more information on the calibre I will gladly share my experiences with it.
Pulki.

Thank you Pulki. That is kind of you. I may be getting back with you on this. Will see what the client finally decides to do.
Thanks for the comments.

Harry, just in case your customer should decide that a .30R Blaser was a "must have" caliber, and in case Huntington's did not have .30R brass in stock, I'm sure we could arrange for a shipment from Europe. This would be opposite of what we normally experience: Europeans buying enough US brass to last us for the lifetime of the rifle... Not an ideal situation, but at least possible.

Prices in Europe are rougly equivalent to what Huntington charges.

Apart from availability issues, the 30R Blaser is actually quite a cartridge - delivering ballistics just a hair off the .300 Win Mag.

- mike

quote:

Apart from availability issues, the 30R Blaser is actually quite a cartridge - delivering ballistics just a hair off the .300 Win Mag.

- mike

Not realy!

The 30R is a hair more than a 3006 not more because of the low pressure level!

So use the 7x65 R Brenneke and be confident and enjoy to get brass more easy!