Jeffeosso,

After Dans exellent article abouth the big boomers, I can not get this one out of my mind.

Does it have a ghost-shoulder, or taper all the way like the Lott? Was it tricky to get to feed in the M98?

Cheers,

Bent,
in a mauser it requires a single stack... but a ruger, cz, enfield, it will feed staggered.

there's no ghost shoulder, at all.. it's fully headspaced on the belt.

http://www.weaponsmith.com/550-exp.html

If you do it in a mauser, you can get 2 down, one up, with a more or less conventional box... other than it being single stacked. Just look at a 45 caliber ACP mag, or a browning BAR mag, and it will become very clear.

I bought the weatherby magbox to give me specific direction... 35 bucks and that helped ALOT

jeffe

You mean it has no taper at all?

Yea, I figured it would need a singel-stack magazin, should be easy to make.

Hm......VERY tempted!!!

Who makes barrels and reamers?

oh, it has a taper... i don't' have my drawing right in front of me, but i believe it's .02 in ~2.1"...

but even a zero taper case will fall out of a tapered hole

Dave Manson makes the reamers, and they are now public, though controlled (no changes to the same name)

Pacnor, Bauska, Badger, and Pederson all make barrels

CH4d Makes dies. You might have to job Dave D's memory and say "550 short"... or "the 2.65" case version.. these dies are on 1" stock, so you might need a bushing (15bucks)

jeffe

Of course you could have pacnor deep chamber you a barrel and clean it up with 460 weatherby go gages. which would let you avoid the reamer expense

jeffe

Yea, thanks, Jeffe!

The deep chambering was a good idea!

I'll think it over!

Regards,

Bent, send me a note if you decide to move forward. I have a set of dies I will not be using.
Frank

Thanks, Frank, I'll keep that in mind!

Jeffe, I read it over, and wonder if I made myself unclear abouth that ghost shoulder - that is the term, is it not? Like the .470 Capstick and .495A2 wich only uses two dies, compared to Lott's 3? Were the taper floats over to a parralell area were the bullets are seated?

Bent,
there's a flat, to be sure, where the bullet has a "neck" ... but it's kind of like a snake, which has a neck, but it's rather hard to makeout.

If pacnor doesn't' have the reamer, I can make sure that they have a 550 express reamer for a brief period

jeffe

Jeffe,

So it uses a two-die set like the Capstick?

I am very grateful for your help with a reamer, but I will have to wait a bit with this project - seems like the missus have booked tickets to Egypt - but I will hook up with you on this one as soon as I can!

Thanks,

Bent,
it's a three die set, just because that's how dave makes them.. sizer, then expander, then crimper/seater.. but it's a good trick on big bores to seat THEN chrimp, to avoid crushing the brass

jeffe

Ok, hm....... I really don't see why a two-die set is not used like the Capstick and .495A2 does, I think Alphin's ghost-shoulder is a grand idea. I understand with the Lott, because of the ability to shoot .458 WinMag in a pinch, but on brand new cartridges with no such options....

Well, no BIG deal, but still.....

Anyway, still mighty TEMPTED.......

I'll be back on this one!

Thanks for all help!

Jeffe,

Thanks for the response on the other thread. I did a search and dug this one up.

I think I've got it about the single stack mag box but are the mag box feed lips flexible? Do they control the feeding and not the action's rails?

I ask because the .45ACP mags I've played with all required sliding the cartridges in from the front. Dunno how you'd do that in a rifle action.

Thanks again!

I see no reason why you could not modify the box on a Mauser to take staggered rounds...or perhaps just built a new box to specs...Correct me if I'm wrong.

PWS,
the weatherby piece, which you can order for 30 bucks, is a great role model. i made mine where you can snap over it... the sides don't touch the rails, just like the weatherby...

Ray,
Like the 500 jeffe, if you actually made the rounds properly stagger feed, you would have to cut THROUGH the rear rails, to make it wide enough... the 3 rounds banded together thing... and, well, its WAY easier to make a single stack and make it feed right
jeffe

There's great information out on this topic by guys like Timan and Robgunbuilder to name a few. They've been down this road and know the potholes. For my own experience to see, I did build a box from scratch to match the cosine rule. It holds four down staggered with space but getting the cartridges to feed from each side required way too much rail and bolt face relief. I wouldn't recommend doing it other than for a throwaway experiment.






There is a validity in the cosine rule however. In Jerry Kuhnhausen's Mauser Shop Manual, he states that, in essense, that the cosine rule can be applied as a ratio to the width of the mag box and that it doesn't have to be the full calculated width as long as the taper matches the taper of the stack. It becomes a trade off between widening the stack, fitting more in the vertical dimension, and easily keeping the rounds down with more horizontal "pinch" and narrowing the stack, making it taller, and lessening the amount of "pinch" between the rail and cartridge (or follower) less to the side and more below. The basic geometery is not mysterious but getting the dimensions correct in a limited area is.

The experience was good and cost me time and a cheap action. Version II is going have what Jeffe recommends with a single stack.