I came into a barrel chambered for the 6mm Musgrave threaded for a Martini Enfield or SMLE action and am trying to decide whether to put it on an action. I would like to hear folks' experience with this caliber, and what rifle it was on.

taking a big o'l WAG here, but I'm guessing you got a 243/6mm Rem in a 303 type case.
maybe another 50-100fps?
shrug.

After the World War 2 a great many South African 303s were converted to 6mm Musgrave and, sadly, some older, family-heirloom SMLEs. Musgrave was a very successful family-owned firearm company.
It is not as fast as the 243 Win and the rifles were invariably a bit inaccurate due to the action, but they accounted for a great many springbuck on driven hunts.

The Musgrave is a less powerful .243, but not by much. Bullet performance was about 2800 fps with a 100-grain bullet. Still a potent killer for smaller game, remember that the factory load for the .250/3000 was the same. Is it worth screwing onto the OP’s action? That’s up to him.


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I believe this is what it looks like.

I think the Ellwood Epps gunshop in Canada did the same thing by necking down the .303 British to .243. The final dimensions probably varied a bit from the Musgrave, but I'm sure performance was the same. There's probably an Australian version also -- you'll find such anywhere the British Commonwealth left some Lee Enfields behind.

I have several years worth of Man Magnum magazines.
I remember several articles on the 6mm Musgrave.
If I remember right, it was quite well thought of for smaller antelope, and didn't ruin as much meat as a full house 243.

I say build the Martini.
Years ago, I had a Westley Richards switch barrel falling block that had a 450NE barrel and a 6mm Musgrave barrel.
I shot the 6mm quite a bit at the range but never once touched off a 450.

One built on a smaller Hagn action would be about ideal but one on a nice Martini would be quite nice as well.

quote:

I say build the Martini.

That is the direction I am leaning, especially since the barrel is already screwed into a bare martini action.

Can't wait to see your Musgrave in action, Dave!

Not sure if it would be possible (or worth while) shipping them over, but I have 5 boxes (100 rounds) of PMP once-fired brass, still in the original boxes if you are interested.

Hi Peter.

Thank you for the offer, and let me see if I can figure a way to get them here to the U.S. without you having to mail them. How much do you need to get for them and where are you in South Africa?

Dave

I found a set of dies and found that I can easily neck down .303 brass by first reducing the neck to 7mm by running it partly into a 7mn-08 die.

quote:

found a set of dies and found that I can easily neck down .303 brass

Yes, that’s what I did too.
Another reason to like the 6mm Musgrave