Hello All,

WARNING - WARNING - see my last comment at the end of the post.

Here is a recently acquired rifle. Its a Christoph Funk Mauser in 5.6x61 Von Hofe cal. I don't know a lot about the maker or cartridge, so any info would be appreciated.

I thought I read somewhere it has the same base size as the 6.5x55. If that is true, cases would be a bitch wouldn't they?

Just checking Nonte's cartridge conversions.
He used 06 brass, only for moderate loads.
The 7.7 jap case would come closer to head size, but is only 57.5 mm long. You would gain some length sizing down to 5.6, but would likely be a whisker short even then, although useable.
Just thinking out loud so to speak.

Dietrich Apel put together the best reference for German makers, on the web at

http://germanhuntingguns.com

And the entry for Funk is here:

http://www.germanhuntingguns.c...-makers-dealers-f-j/

The German loading manual "Wiederladen", 4th edition, has a bit of history and loading data for the 5,6x61 SE vom Hofe on page 200, text in German of course, but the three loads listed all use American powders. They show a base diameter of 12,20 mm, just like the 6,5x55 Swedish. If I were to try forming cases for one I'd use 9,3x62 brass which would be slightly undersize (nominal 12,10 mm), but better than the typical 11,90 mm Mauser-based cases.

BPESteve's reference will give you more info on the maker, but I picked up a Christoph Funk single shot stalking rifle based on 91 Mauser in 360NE 2.25" several years ago that I really like. He was apparently a high quality maker of lots of different types of firearms.

https://gunvalues.gundigest.com/funk-christoph/

Mine has double triggers, a cartridge trap, butterknife bolt handle, integral matted rib on an octagon barrel. Pretty neat, well-executed rifle.

An old friend and stalking mentor of mine (Hubert Hetherington) had a rifle in that cartridge for some years. He bought it to use in Ireland, when the ban on any calibre larger than .22 was in force for civilian sportsmen in the north. He said it was easily capable of sorting out hill Red stags and woodland Sika stags.
lt looks a nice rifle you have there sir, well done on your acquisition.

quote:

Originally posted by theback40:
I thought I read somewhere it has the same base size as the 6.5x55. If that is true, cases would be a bitch wouldn't they?

Just checking Nonte's cartridge conversions.
He used 06 brass, only for moderate loads.
The 7.7 jap case would come closer to head size, but is only 57.5 mm long. You would gain some length sizing down to 5.6, but would likely be a whisker short even then, although useable.
Just thinking out loud so to speak.

Hello theback40,
Thanks for the reply.
That's not really true. the 6.5x55 case is much too short by almost 1/4 inch. Ends up with NO neck. I tried some 06 brass, lots of modifications and there is a lot of swelling of the case head. Much more than I feel safe with. I bougth some 5.6x61R and removed the rims.

quote:

Originally posted by bpesteve:
Dietrich Apel put together the best reference for German makers, on the web at
The German loading manual "Wiederladen", 4th edition, has a bit of history and loading data for the 5,6x61 SE vom Hofe on page 200, text in German of course, but the three loads listed all use American powders. They show a base diameter of 12,20 mm, just like the 6,5x55 Swedish. If I were to try forming cases for one I'd use 9,3x62 brass which would be slightly undersize (nominal 12,10 mm), but better than the typical 11,90 mm Mauser-based cases.

Hello bpesteve,
Thanks for the reply.
I found it easier to remove the rim on 5.6x61R cases.

quote:

Originally posted by skl1:
BPESteve's reference will give you more info on the maker, but I picked up a Christoph Funk single shot stalking rifle based on 91 Mauser in 360NE 2.25" several years ago that I really like. He was apparently a high quality maker of lots of different types of firearms.
Mine has double triggers, a cartridge trap, butterknife bolt handle, integral matted rib on an octagon barrel. Pretty neat, well-executed rifle.

Hello skil,
Thanks for the reply.
Sounds like a nice rifle. And it can use the 5.6x61R brass with no modificaion require.

quote:

Originally posted by Ratwhiskers:
An old friend and stalking mentor of mine (Hubert Hetherington) had a rifle in that cartridge for some years. He bought it to use in Ireland, when the ban on any calibre larger than .22 was in force for civilian sportsmen in the north. He said it was easily capable of sorting out hill Red stags and woodland Sika stags.
lt looks a nice rifle you have there sir, well done on your acquisition.

Hello ratwhiskers,
Thanks for the reply.
Well, Here is the procedure to modify the 5.6x61R cases to make them rimless. 5 minutes per case ... 3-1/2 hours to modify 40 cases. here's the steps involved. This has been the most time-consuming project I've had the displeasure to tackle.

Greetings again Mr Buckstix

That looks like an exercise in much frustration, yet good to see an achievement in the long run.

l have thought in the past about regrinding a flat file to use as a profiler of extractor grooves, maybe l should take another look.....

quote:

Originally posted by Ratwhiskers:
Greetings again Mr Buckstix

That looks like an exercise in much frustration, yet good to see an achievement in the long run.

l have thought in the past about regrinding a flat file to use as a profiler of extractor grooves, maybe l should take another look.....

Hello Ratwhiskers,
Thanks for the reply.

I have since removed the excess rail along the bottom of the scope to make it look more streamline.

l must say sir, that has tidied things up nicely.
l may well have left a little either side (l'm cautious that way) but must admit it is pleasing on the eye.

the v Hofe calibers can be barrel burners but none can deny the performance. Good luck...might be worth contacting Reimer Johannsen GmbH if you're looking for tougher .228 bullets. I think the Hornady offering might be to fragile.

quote:

Originally posted by Ratwhiskers:
l must say sir, that has tidied things up nicely.
l may well have left a little either side (l'm cautious that way) but must admit it is pleasing on the eye.

Hello Ratwhiskers,
Thanks for the reply.

I wanted it to be exact for this rifle, so I machined away everything else.

quote:

Originally posted by JonP:
the v Hofe calibers can be barrel burners but none can deny the performance. Good luck...might be worth contacting Reimer Johannsen GmbH if you're looking for tougher .228 bullets. I think the Hornady offering might be to fragile.

Hello JonP,
Thanks for the reply.

Because the brass is modified from the rimmed case, I'll be loading very conservative pressures. Velocities will be on par with the 22 Savage high power. That is until I fing some original Factory brass.

quote:

Well, received the 5.6x61R cases and modified them to rimless. 5 minutes per case ... 3-1/2 hours to modify 40 cases. here's the steps involved. This has been the most time-consuming project I've had the displeasure to tackle.

Hello All,

WARNING - WARNING

If you look back at the pictures of my modifying cases from "rimmed" to "rimless", you will see how I modified them.

Unfortunately, there was a problem. I cut the groove too wide and started to have cases "BLOW OUT". Fortunately the gun wasn't damaged. I tried cutting a more narrow groove, but had another case "BLOW OUT" with the second loading. The Bertram rimmed brass has a sharp interior corner - standard rifle rimless brass has a radius interior corner. I have now switched to reforming PRVI 25-06 brass into 5.6x61 caliber. The heads of the PRVI 25-06 are only .005 smaller and formed to the chamber nicely. Most other brands of brass were .008 to .100 smaller. But most important is there is a large radius at the interior corner. Now, all is well.

1340

The Devil always hides in the small amounts of detail.
Square corners and internal pressure never do go well together, or at least those that l have observed.
l'm sorry to hear you've had an unforeseen problem the Mr Buckstix.

Reimer Johannsen (RJ) has (or had last time I checked), brass and also has the Degol .228 bullets with jackets to handle these velocities. Cutting Edge Bullets also make .228 monolithic bullets, including a solid.To order these items from RJ, you need to fill out some BATF forms, and while intimidating, they approved mine in about a week.

Instead of a hacksaw blade and file, grind a form tool at the end of a parting blade or a hss bit. Shouldn’t be a problem to grind a narrow tip with a chamfer to cut your bevel.

It wasn't the sharp inner corner; it was the thin base web. Just make the rim chamfer more steep like in your picture. Trying to put a radius on is will only make it weaker.