Cool with mild breeze and overcast
22" Shaw barrel. 41.4 grains DP85 ( ball powder similar to the 4350s in burning rate..243 RP reformed cases. Fire forming.#34 primer.

140 grain HP-BT, Sierra Match, oal= 3.000" mild some soot, 2371 to 2462 fps. nice at 200 yds.

139 sp bt, Prvi.,Oal= 2,985" mild some soot, 2398 to 2485 fps., 3 shot 1/2" group at 50 yds. great at 200yds.

.308 RP, reformed cases necks turned, #34 primers.

120 grain A-Frame, 45.6grains H-4831 compressed a little, oal=2.980" Mild 2676 to 2739 fps., 4 shot 1 1/2" group at 50 yds.

140 gr. NP, 44 grains H4831 compressed, oal= 3.020", 2498 to 2563 fps. 1" 4 shot group at 50 yds.

140 gr, NP, 43.5 grains H-4831, compressed, oal= 3.019", 2489 to 2547 fps.mild ,sooty, 1 1/2" 3 shot group at 50 yds.

120 grain A-Frame, 46.2 grains H4831, light compression, 2766 to 2822 fps.Nice at 200 yds.
Non of these loads gave any indication of dangerous pressure. The cases fire formed nicely.

Although I'm glad the rifle has the thumb hole stock,because it gave me something to try out that I hadn't had the chance to do, it is not the thing for me. It tends to bend my aching rist as does a fair sized pistol and it beats the top of my thumb knuckle. roger

Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone..

Roger,
FWIW I'd think you eventually should be able to improve on the performance of the .260 Remington so I'm not surprised at the "soot" comment on the 139 PRVI loads....it seems your rifle likes that bullet at least so far.

As to the thumbhole stock.....I've loved them for bench shooting and have never had the wrist and thumb issues you describe....but then again that thumb joint has been removed from both my thumbs.

For a temporary assist I might suggest a cheap pair of gloves with the fingers cut off and anything else removed but the thumb left intact to help prevent rubbing the knuckle.

We can look at a classic stock if you like but I don't have any decent blanks right now!

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
Roger,

We can look at a classic stock if you like but I don't have any decent blanks right now!

The stock will stay on as is. I've been doing some rasping and the thumb problem has improved. The torquing of the wrist isn't horrible and once I determine the upper limits I'll start searching in the Carcano velocity area. The wrist problem should substantially be reduced.
The 120 grain bullets are already within 75fps. of the .260 and that's with a 22" barrel. I'm sure that with a modest increase of DP85 we will arrive. That wasn't, however, the original goal of this rifle. roger

bartsche,

Is it yours or Vapo's rifle?

quote:

Originally posted by rcamuglia:
bartsche,

Is it yours or Vapo's rifle?

For the most part Vapo put it together but had help from Too Many Tools and a talented lady checkering artist . The rifle is all mine, however.By the way ***The 6.5x47 Lapua is .1400" shorter in case length.The useable capacity of the 6.5R-Bar is close to the 6.5x52mm Carcano and when the bullets are properly seated out it's usable capacity ,especially for heavy bullets, is near that of the .260. That is attributable to magazine and throat lengths.
This is something I designed many years ago ,long before the .260. I figured "what the hell; have one built while you're still able shoot it." So I did with Vapo's help and a Shaw barrel which I consider adequate for a hunting rifle. I selected a Redfield 2x7 low mounted scope which may not be the greatest but not all bad. It has drawn quite a lot of attention at the range for appearance and performance.The balance is just right for off hand shooting. When standing up the punishment to the thumb and wrist are minimal and on a hunt the pain from one shot wouldn't be noticed.
roger

quote:

Vapo put it together but had help from Too Many Tools and a talented lady checkering artist .

TooMany Tools installed a swing safety and did the bluing and engraving of the caliber on the barrel.

Carol at Ahlmans in Minnesota did the checkering.

I did the rest of the work!

Cool!

I've heard more then a few knowledgeable riflemen out there say the 6.5 Carcano was damn near the perfect designed 6.5 cartridge. Never the less I build me a 6.5x54MS. Yes Rick it has a LW barrel on it. I built it on an old Savage 110 with a synthetic stock. Wow! It exceeded my expectations, what a hell of a cartridge. I kind of have a little collection of 6.5's....6.5 Grendel in an AR 15, 6.5 Japanese in the original Type 44 carbine, the mentioned 6.5x54MS, and the 260 Rem on a Type 38 Arisaka action with a Shaw barrel, which by the way shoots damn good enough for a hunting rifle. I feel the 6.5 Japanese is one hell of a cartridge also.

Your rifle sounds nice and lots of fun Bartche.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinJ:
I've heard more then a few knowledgeable riflemen out there say the 6.5 Carcano was damn near the perfect designed 6.5 cartridge. Never the less I build me a 6.5x54MS. Yes Rick it has a LW barrel on it. I built it on an old Savage 110 with a synthetic stock. Wow! It exceeded my expectations, what a hell of a cartridge. I kind of have a little collection of 6.5's....6.5 Grendel in an AR 15, 6.5 Japanese in the original Type 44 carbine, the mentioned 6.5x54MS, and the 260 Rem on a Type 38 Arisaka action with a Shaw barrel, which by the way shoots damn good enough for a hunting rifle. I feel the 6.5 Japanese is one hell of a cartridge also.

Your rifle sounds nice and lots of fun Bartche.

From my point of view, the Carcano, 6.5x54 and the 6.5 Japanese all fall in the great deer rifle category . In modern rifles and with heavy bullets they could give the .260 a fine run for the money and probably win.Using them, however at their modest design pressures they're still top shelf. I've done a little blurb with a photo to somewhat delineate what we say here. Perhaps Vapo Dog will post it for us. roger

Posting for Roger:
SOME COMPARATIVE 6.5mm CARTRIGES
From left to right;
6.5 Grendel MAX. OAL= 2.255”
6.5X47 Lapua MAX. OAL= 2.736”
6.5 R-Bar MAX. OAL= 3.100”
.260 MAX. OAL= 2.800”
6.5 Carcano MAX. OAL= 3.020”
6.5x53.5 Daudeteau MAX. OAL= 3.020”
6.5x55 Swede. MAX. OAL= 3.150”

From the photo and these OALs you can pretty well grasp the useable comparative volume and the ability of each of these cartridges to handle the heavier for caliber bullets. Roger

Thanks,VD, roger