I still have one left hand Charles Daly Mini Mauser action left and I can't decide what to do with it. It has a .223 size bolt face, but I already have two .223s, so I want something else. I really wanted to barrel it to 6.8SPC, but it just won't fit the magazine without a lot of action work. Also 250 Savage is a possibility. I know someone who did that with good results; he just had to seat bullets a little deep. I think that 17 Rem, .17 Fireball, .204, 222 Mag, 6X45, 6X47 and 25 calibers based upon the .223 or .222 Mag would feed without any bolt face or magazine modifications. What I'm looking for is a lightweight varmint or small deer rifle that is easy to load for, and has low recoil. Ideas?

I have a mini Mauser in 6 X 45.....it shoots the 55 BTips at varmints and the 70 Grain Hornady SX at deer.

One can also use the 85 Grain partition on deer as well.

It works for me!

I'm with the dog on this one. Hard to beat the 6x45 for a 223 based deer gun.

I'm in the small caliber time of my life, so I've been concentrating on calibers that you and the guys above mention.
Ones to consider on the mini Mauser action are the 222 Rem Magnum, the 6x45 and the 6x47, along with the TCU offerings that are based on 223 bolt face cartridges.
I'm kind of OD'd on 223's and 222's along with two rifles in 222 Rem Magnum, which is a very good cartridge. So, my next rifle will be either a 6x45 or a 6x47. I had a 6x47 39 years ago, and it was very accurate. This time I am leaning towards the 6x45 as I never had one before.

Don

I had Wind River do a 19" octagon in 7mm BR. It's a one holer but needs some fine tuning to feed 100%.

Rich

If you don't have a 1:8 or 1:7 twist 223, you don't know what you are missing.

quote:

This time I am leaning towards the 6x45 as I never had one before.

Don

Mine is a 1-14 twist.....I'd go a faster twist next time....maybe 1-10

300 Whisper might be fun, but a 6x45 would be more practical, both cheaper and easier to feed. Before I tried to cram a 250 Savage into a Mini I'd look for data, dies, and reamers for the 257 Kimber (a 25-222 Magnum Improved that allegedly ran with the 250 factory loads).

My gunsmith is doing a 250 Savage in a mini Mauser right now, I think it is an awesome idea.
If you want to talk to him about the particulars you can Google him up. He is Kevin Weaver of
weaverrifles.com

All his contact info is on his website.

5.6x50 with fast twist for heavy proj's. to take advantage of the larger powder capacity.

quote:

Originally posted by nordrseta:
300 Whisper might be fun, but a 6x45 would be more practical, both cheaper and easier to feed. Before I tried to cram a 250 Savage into a Mini I'd look for data, dies, and reamers for the 257 Kimber (a 25-222 Magnum Improved that allegedly ran with the 250 factory loads).

+1 for the 300 Whisper. With the 30 cal handgun bullets it is a fine deer round. Second choice for me would be the 6 x 45.

I have a mini-mauser that has a Shilen SS 17 Remington barrel. Twist is a 1-10 and I wish I would have put a 1-9 in. The 1-10 does not shoot the 30 grain bullets very well. I love my 17 Remington. The rifle has a 25" sporter barrel and it shoots 5/8" groups consistently with several bullets.

Don't be afraid to give the 17 Remington a try. The quick to foul BS only applies to factory barrels and dirty powders. The 17 Fireball is also a very good caliber. If you do not plan on shooting coyotes with a 17 I would go with the Fireball over the standard 17 Remington.

Mike.

Yo vol717,

I've a L/H Mini-Mauser factory chambered for the 22-250. I like the .473" bolt face size but it's pretty crowded in the magazine area when it's loaded. Like you've mentioned there's no room to squirm in the OAL department.

The 20" pencil-thin barrel heats up enough after two shots to almost burn your fingers and the muzzle flash at twilight just has to be witnessed to be truly appreciated.

Momentarily she's a Safe Queen since I'm torn between an ultra-light stalking rifle in 250 Savage and going the Walking Varmint route with the same catridge, basically a re-barrel with a tapered, fluted, 24" medium barrel - a dilema.

I'll be lurking this thread 'cause I need to make a move; one way or the other, too.

.17 fireball

I talked to Kevin Weaver at Snelstrom's suggestion. No go on the .250 because of the .223 bolt face. I anticipated as much and was leaning toward the 6X45 or 6X47. Does anyone have direct comparison experience between these two? Kevin suggested .25 Kimber which is either .223 or .222 Mag necked to .25. He's done several and they are good deer killers as long as the range isn't too long. A 25/.223 with a 1/8 twist barrel with 80-90 grain bullets might be just the ticket. I also found that CH4D sells dies for all of these for $72. I'd sure like to hear from an actual .25 Kimber owner.

The performance difference between the 6mm-.223 and the 6x47 is minimal -- and you are likely to have more difference between 2 guns of the same caliber than between those 2 cartridges.

My vote goes for the 6mm-.223 (6x45) in a 1:10 barrel. It handles smaller deer with ease and is terrific on varmints as well. I've used them in various configurations -- from Contender and XPs pistols to heavy-barreled varminter rifles -- and have nothing but praise for the cartridge.

The traits of 6mm-.223 which make it so appealing include readily available dies (Hornady), the fact that it forms in a single stroke of the press, does not require true fireforming, is easy to load for, and brass is both plentiful and inexpensive.

Below is a catalina I took in the early 90s using an XP with a 14" Shilen barrel. In the pistols, the best game bullet -- bar none --was the long-discontinued Sierra 80 grain Single Shot Pistol. Driven by H335, it was always extremely accurate and performed so predictably on game that it was almost boring.

In rifle-length barrels, with their slightly higher attendant velocities, the somewhat stouter Speer 80 grain spitzer works quite well.

1) 6.5 TCU
2) 250 Savage (AI or standard)

Mini-Mauser specs from:
http://www.zastava-arms.co.yu/english/civilni.htm


Cartridge--bolt face--magazine--overall

.223 Rem-----.390---2 19/64---7 3/16"


7.62x39mm----.450---2 19/64---7 3/16"


.22-250------.480---2 19/64---7 3/16"

25x39 75 gr.v-max 26.5 grs.of h-322=3023fps.if u want to shoot deer load the 85 gr.bt a little slower but still will get the job done.so far the longest shot with the v-max was 603 yards the coyote was droped in his tracks,as that rifle was chambered for the 7.62x39 getting it to feed and extract should be easy.Good Luck

Dear Vol717,
I went on a kick a few years back shortly after the Mini Mk 10 came in and I got a bunch of actions from Jerrys Sports cntr and started making just about anything that`d fit in a 223 case. 14cal, 17 and on and on. Bottom line was thus: The 6mm shoots great on these little Blacktail deer we got here in Oregon. The .25 cal does too up to about 80 gr then has a few problems opening up at the slower velocities. The 6.5 TCU was an enigma as the standard reamer cuts a LONG throat [for Silouetta] and the accuracy was the pits so I had Clymer knock off the throating so I could seat the little 100 gr bullets a bit closer to the leade. That worked and the 600 I built the 6.5 on is a killer! I was going to ger Mr Harry [McGowan] to make me up a 1-13 6.5 and a nice 1-12 in .25 as I think this would tend to give me more velocity and less pressure in both calibres but never got around to it. Basically the .25/223 and the 6.5 TCU are fantastic for the small deer. If I was in Hawai`i it`d be the cats meow for the Goats that are all over the cliffs. Don`t know if I would care to really hunt the big Axis deer there but if the shot was relatively close and the adrenalin down I would take a 100-200 yd shot with either the .25 or 6.5. Either of these are incredibly accurate if you got a good barrel so have fun with whichever you choose.
Aloha, Mark

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

This time I am leaning towards the 6x45 as I never had one before.

Don

Mine is a 1-14 twist.....I'd go a faster twist next time....maybe 1-10

Vapo,

Good words!
Thanks.
This thread is pumping me up to start the project.

Don

6.5 Grendel? It's designed for the AR15 (with bolt face mods).