Sean,
BTW, I love it when you guys talk so technical.

XP,

There are no major dimensional changes to the standard reamer as far as shoulder angle and body diameter goes.

What is different is that I took the SAAMI factory reamer specs that JGS made the reamers for Winchester with(obviously this round has been studied as a factory offering) and adjusted them to a much better accuracy minded design in the neck and throat area.

THe factory specs list a neck diamter of 0.301" at the mouth of the case and finishing at 0.302" at the neck/shoulder junction.

When I measured a dummy round loaded using 270 WSM brass, the neck diameter was 0.2934" with a 140 gr A-Max seated.

I then decided on a neck diamter of .2950" at the mouth and 0.2960" at the neck shoulder junction.

What this 0.001" taper does is allow the reamer to be sharpened repeatedly because it is a taper. If it did not have this taper, there would be no way of sharpening it if it developed nicks.

Basically, this will leave me with 0.0008" clearance on both sides of the bullet when it is fired, perfect.

If some brass is thicker then this, a simply light pass with the neck turner will allow perfect fitting and improve consistance. Also, if one wanted to use turned neck cases you would simply use the 300 WSM case and turn them to fit.

If the cases are a bit thin, again this is tight enough that they will be a great fit or you can use the thicker larger diameter brass.

THe major difference is the leade/throat area. The factory throat had less then 0.050" of throat which is because they are used in short action repeating rifles.

I lengthened the throat to roughly 0.320" to allow the bullet to be seated much farther out fo the case but not to far to become a problem with the shorter bullets in the 120 gr class.

I also tightened the throat up dramatically as the factory spec thrat was 0.0045" over bullet diameter. I changed this to 0.2642" for 0.0002" over bullet diameter.

Basically, the reamer is a standard spec reamer from the bolt face to the shoulder, then it is a semi-match neck with a full BR style throat that has been lengthened for the longer VLD bullets.

Gor maximum case capacity, I could easily increase the length of the throat but this design has worked very well for me in the past.

In fact this neck/throat design is the exact same as the design I used on my 6.5-06 AI reamer and it has proved to be a consistant sub 1/2 moa rifle out to 600 yards and often much less then that.

IT still is a WSM, its just been tweeked and tuned alittle.

Good Shooting!!!

Kirby Allen(50)

LD,
I hear and understand your concerns. I understand that I am loading beyond the max load in Hogdon's data. A number of the men I have talked to are using Remington (some Savage) actions also and of course, some are using custom. Their MV's are beyond the Hogdon data also. The loads which are customary using H-4350 in bench use for the 6.5-284 are typically (from what I can tell) beyond Hogdon's data. Does that make it right or safe in and of itself? No. But those who are using it in various actions, both over the counter and custom are not having problems or short brass life (again this is not a national polling of competitive shooters using this cartridge powder combination). I have not yet measured cases like Don has to determine pressure and I do not have pressure testing equipment. That is a good suggestion and one that I will do (shearer's method).

LD,

I agree with your opinion to be careful with loading to extreme pressures but I expect XP has plenty of experience in the field of handloading and would trust his judgement on his ammo and handgun performance levels.

I will respectively disagree with your comments that the Rem action is not a strong action.

When built or rebuilt correctly like my printed actions I use for my own and customers rifles, they are as strong as any action available from any factory maker and as strong as many custom actions sav ethe actions designed for the huge case headed rounds.

Many tell me the Wby MkV is the strongest factory action available and if its nine locking lugs all were in contact with their locking surfaces they may have a point but I seldom see a Mk V with more then 6 or 7 lugs that even bare.

A reM action, especially an XP action that is properly printed and that has the barrel properly fitted with minimum spec bolt nose recess wil handle any pressures up to 70,000 psi from any round with a bolt face the size of the standard belted magnum.

I have run over 1300 rounds through my 338 WSM XP-100 using the 180 gr B Tip at 2900 fps and while the stock has needed some repairs to it(due to improper set up by the original maker) the action is still as stout as ever with no hint of bolt lug set back.

I just recently built my 2000 yard rifle using a 700 action chambered for the 338 Kahn(338-378 Wby W/ 35 degree shoulder) and it to is performing great with the huge Wby case.

With this round though I would recommend holding pressures to the 60,000 psi range .

But to say the Rem is a weak action could not be farther from the trueth. As far as action flexing, this is true with the repeating 700 action but with the XP-100 using XP-100 length barrels, there are few action on the market stronger then one that has been properly printed.

And for rounds that will fit in the XP, it is far stronger then it needs to be when using safe loads which I am sure XP is.

Good Shooting!!!

Kirby Allen(50)

Kirby,



Before you get your bowels in an uproar go back and read my posts again. I didn't say that Remington actions were weak. In fact I've been using them and reloading for Remington rifles for over 35 years myself.



I DID say that the custom actions are a good bit stronger and will stand on that statement.



I'm sure that XP has a lot of experience loading. I've read his posts for quite some time. I also still think he's well beyond the ragged edge getting 2800fps from a 6.5-284, a 140gr bullet, and a 17" barrel.



He hasn't used any sort of scientific pressure testing yet by his own admission and I was merely raising caution flags. He may be within reasonable pressure limits but it sure wouldn't hurt to check, considering his velocities.



Cool your jets man... We're all on the same team....



$bob$

LD,

I was not flaming at you in my post at all, just stating my opinion as well.

If it came off with aggressive overtones, I apologize.

While there are a few actions out there that are stronger then the Rem actions, such as the McMillan, Bat and Geske, most are no stronger in any way compared to a solid bottomed Rem action such as the XP.

As you know, one custom chamber can shoot much faster or slower then another, this is the problem comparing load data velocities with real life readings.

Here is just one example of this problem. Looking at the Hornady Fifth addition manual. If you look up what the 6.5-284 will do with the 140 gr A-Max, they list six powders developing 2700 fps from a 24", 1-9" Encore barrel.

If you flip a couple pages, they list the 6.5-06 out a 24", 1-8" twist barrel as getting 2900 fps with seven different powders.

Now, there is about 3 gr difference in case cpacity comparing the 6.5-284 with the 6.5-06. THe slower twist 6.5-284 should in theory produce faster velocities with same pressure loads then the 6.5-06's 1-8 twist.

Most of the velocity gain or loss will be in the throat portion of the chambering along with the neck. Comparing a SAAMI quality chamber with a tight throated BR style chamber will often increase velocity by 200 fps with this change alone.

If one is running on the ragged edge of pressure on a firearm with a plunger style ejector, you will see ejector marks on the case head long before you get into serious pressure problems.

The last batch of Rem 7mm and 300 RUM factory ammo I tested in Rem rifles showed mild ejector marks so I feel that to be in serious danger of excessive pressure you will see this sign long before you get into dangerous ground.

I once saw a 221 FB that a shooter had loaded with 23.0 gr of what he thought was H-BLC2 with a 50 gr B. Tip when in fact it was 2400 that had been put in a mismarked container(use only original containers to store powder for everyone else reading this).

I saw the results of the firing after the fact. Other then not being able to open the bolt, the handgun looked mint condition.

Unfortunately, the barrel had to be removed to get a look at what had happened and in the process, the case which had been basically welded to the chamber and bolt face seperated at the case head. The rim and head was in the bolt and the body of the case was in the chamber.

With the barrel off, the bolt was then able to be hammered forward and forced open. There was noticable lug set back and the only way to get the case head out of the bolt face would have been with a burr on a Foredom tool bit by bit as it had filled every little nook and crany in the bolt nose.

Most actions first of all would not have supported the case under that kind of strain. Second of all, most actions would not have prevented a gas leakage like the Xp did.

After fitting a new bolt, this handgun was back in action and shooting quite well.

I agree there are stronger actions out there but for conventional rounds, it is very hard to justify the much higher cost of those compared to the Rem actions when you figure in the accuracy potential of a preper Rem action.

SO again, I was in no way flaming at you, just feel the Rem actions have a better reputation then you give them credit for.

Good Shooting!!!

Kirby Allen(50)

You may be looking at a die modification to use Mr. Shearer's pressure gauging method. He and I talked awhile back about the method he describes. I have yet to apply it to any loads of my own, but I know I'm looking at a few changes to my dies to make it work.