300 whisper 1.6" rimmed?

01 February 2003, 09:31

Paul H

I was wondering if anyone has tried lenthening the 300 whisper neck to utilize untrimmed 357 max brass? Not sure if the additional case capacity will amount to any speed gains in the 10" tube, but it would be a way to clean up the factory neck/throat.

01 February 2003, 11:22

Rich Jake

Paul
I had talked with Mike Bellm about the merits of rechambering the 300 whisper to 30/223. When I looked into it further, I found there were quite a few varitions of the 30/223. RCBS sells dies for this chamber but they were pretty expensive.

I Know that you were talking about something different, but are dies available for it or would you still just use the 300 Whiper dies for such a cartridge?
Rich Jake

01 February 2003, 12:06

Paul H

quote:
Originally posted by Rich Jake:
Paul
I had talked with Mike Bellm about the merits of rechambering the 300 whisper to 30/223. When I looked into it further, I found there were quite a few varitions of the 30/223. RCBS sells dies for this chamber but they were pretty expensive.

I Know that you were talking about something different, but are dies available for it or would you still just use the 300 Whiper dies for such a cartridge?
Rich Jake

Rich,

This would use the std 300 whisper or 300/221 dies. I'm a big believer in Mikes theory of using existing common dies and finding wildcats that will work with them. Now, I don't have a set of 300 whisper dies to see if a 357 max case can be run in w/o trimming, but I'm pretty sure they can. I have a bag of 223 cases that were necked up and untrimmed in a 221 die.

The primary goal for this round is to improve the factory throat, but the added powder room just may add another 50 fps, maybe 100?

01 February 2003, 12:13

Rich Jake

John
I have a gun shop here that sells individual pieces of brass. If you'd like I'll see if I can get a couple pieces of Max Brass & try it out for you.
Rich Jake

01 February 2003, 12:36

Paul H

Rich,

I have plenty of 357 max brass, and a couple of buddies that shoot 300's.

Thanks,

Paul

01 February 2003, 13:20

<Headstamp>

Another interesting thought would be to neck up the 5.6X50R brass to 30 cal. But I see you are talking about 10" tubes.

Regards

01 February 2003, 13:50

Greg K

Paul
I tried a couple of 357 Max cases. i sized them through the 357 die first, lubed them and then ran them through the 300 Whisper. Both cases split. Tried one without spacers and one with 0.250 spacer under the 300 size die.
Greg

[ 02-01-2003, 04:51: Message edited by: Greg K ]

01 February 2003, 13:50

Paul H

quote:
Originally posted by Headstamp:
Another interesting thought would be to neck up the 5.6X50R brass to 30 cal. But I see you are talking about 10" tubes.

Regards

I'm planning on doing that one as well for a 14" tube, and the X50R straight, ie 357 max and then some for a 14".

01 February 2003, 15:16

TCLouis

Think you will find that Jim Rock has pretty well already done this . . . 30 Max aka 30X357 Max. Seems better than the Herrett.

Rock's dies (by Lee) were 47 bucks. Always thought it would be great, but have never been able to get a 30-20 or 30 Carbine barrel to start with, and don't know if I could stand to rechamber either if I did find one!

Ok, anyone interested i getting a 10 or 12 inch barrel group purchase going? [Smile]

Just a thought,

LouisB

01 February 2003, 16:56

<Headstamp>

Ha, Ha everybody's mouth is starting to foam again. [Big Grin]

I've necked up an X50R case to 35 and it wasn't all that difficult really, done in stages, I went 6.5 to 30 then to 35. I annealed at the beginning. The case wall thickness was virtually identical to my Rem. 357 Max brass. The bonus is you are working with 50,000 CUP+ rated brass.

Case falls out to about 1.8" or so. Could probably get away with cutting the top off a Lee carbide sizer die to let it pass through and decap with a decapping die.

The 30 Max looks good for a 10 or 12 and the X50R/30 looks good for a 14 or 15 tube as you say.

The Rem Max cases are quite hard, I would anneal carefully before necking down, especially to 22 cal. like a 221 type round. The case walls will actually show fractures in the body from the tapering. Annealing cures this.

Regards

[ 02-01-2003, 07:59: Message edited by: Headstamp ]

02 February 2003, 19:31

<HHI 812>

Paul-that SSK 300 Whisper I modified to take rimmed, used .357 Max brass. I know I used two brands of max brass, but don't remember what brands they were. I tried forming the brass two ways. One I ran through the dies all the way, and had a long neck, then trimmed, and the other I trimmed first, then ran them up the dies. I lost a few brass, but best way was to anneal first, and it was a piece of cake. When I used the .357 Mag cases, the necks were short, so lost now brass. They were only for the longer bullets though. Still not sure what gains there was, with a max case left full length, but as you know left the Whisper as is. That 6.5x50R Bellm barrel I had a long time ago, was a barrel Bellm made in his early barrel making days. Not a rechambering. That was the time I also tried sizing all them 5.6X50R cases, to a 6.5mm, 7mm, .30, .338 and teh .357. Wish I still had my .14-221 Walker dies and/or .17 Super Jet, because I would have tried forming them too! Experiments I never chambered in barrels, although I almost ordered the .338 Whisper #2, off the .221 FB brass. By the way, I did ask Jim about the .30 Max ballistics, but he couldn't give me much info.