Okay, you clicked on this thread because you asked yourself, "Self,what in wide world of sports is a 7x65R-06??!!" So let me tell you!

I picked up a MP221 in .30-06 pretty cheap. I'm sure it was cheap because the barrels had about 8" vertical separation and about 3" side to side at 100 yards (before you go and ask why 100 yards, its because my range won't let you shoot high power any shorter than that...) I got the regulation sorted out easily with an adjustment of the jack screw and an automotive tappet feeler gauge. Worked a treat.

Next came the horrible triggers with about 3 metric tonnes of pull. A couple of days at the gunsmith sorted that out. Just needed some serious cleaning of the all the old grease and a fair bit of swarf left over from the manufacturing. My smith was intrigued by the little gun (he worked at H&H for many years and knows doubles quite well) and so gave it bit of spit and polish here and there on the action to make it all smooth. MUCH better know.

Still, though shooting was fun, after 4 or 5 pairs of shots I would end up having to pull the cartridges out with my Leatherman. Grrrrr :-( The problem seemed to be mostly the extractor pins.

After a LOT of homework I bought twenty 7x65R Norma brass and ran it through my .30-06 dies. Trimmed them to length and made up a pair of dummy rounds (bullets but no powder or primers). I took them and the gun back to the smith and had him rebate the face of the bore to accept the flanged brass. The fit and finish was excellent (as can be on a basic russian hammer!) the smith filed off the .30-06 and hand engraved in lovely script "7x65R-06." Why?, you ask? Because now I can take the gun with brass head stamps that match (well, close enough for thick headed customs folks who know zilch about guns anyway) through to places like France that ban all military calibers like the .30-06. That, and to be honest, just because I can!

He had not touched the extractor pins. His thinking was by leaving them, I could still use regular over the counter .30-06 ammo if needed. While probably true, that isn't exactly what I wanted as the brass still stuck in the gun at the length of the extractor.

This afternoon I took the extractor block (is that the right term, Mac??) to my shop and using an air cutoff tool, ground down the spring loaded extractor pins to be flush with the extractor block. I then dropped the block back into the barrels and tightened up the set screw that keeps it from falling out. Dropped in the two dummy rounds and lifted the gun to my shoulder.

Looking down the aperture sight and centering the front sight through the window on that hard bossed Cape Kitty from next door that was scratching in my garden I shouted, "BANG! BANG!!" As I lowered the rifle, I broke the gun open and slightly rolled my wrists to the right. The two "spent" rounds flew over my right wrist as I pushed two more imaginary rounds into the breech, closed the gun and took aim again on the mean old kitty that was giving me the "you owe me catnip!" glare.

Am I happy with it? Yes! It is regulated for 150 grn bullets at the moment but I think I'm going to buy a mess of 7x65R brass and bucket of top quality 220grn bullets to have some fun regulating it with and then take it to SA or Namibia next year.

Is it a .450/400?? No, but it did not cost as much as one either! I can use it on anything in Europe and it will whack with the best of them at normal ranges in Africa on plains game and warthogs, I'm betting.

Will I ever get my money out of it?? Not a chance...but that was not the point to begin with so I'm not bothered. So far, I've got about a grand in it and it is 100% custom to me. I think that is a pretty fair deal!!

I've taken a bunch of pics with the wife's camera. Once I figure out how to get them off her camera and posted here, you lot will be the first to see it.

Pics!


Flanged, ought-six, flanged


Left barrel is 7x65R-06, right is ought-six.


Both barrels 7x65R-06



New headstamp


new engraving


new front post.

You can see the set screw here. The front post can screw up and down. best way is to do 180' turns and then set it. Final adjustment with the aperture sight at the rear.

Great work! You've definitely inspired me to look at pursuing something like this for my Baikal. Those little extractor pawls have proved more than annoying.

Thanks! I'm really enjoying the learning curve of doubles. In all honesty, it would have been much easier to just start out with a 45-70 but this is what I came across. It's too damned hard to change guns here in the UK to make it worth selling and getting a bigger bore. That bieng said, I've always been a big fan of the .30-06 and thats exactly what I've made; a flanged ought six!

Next on the list of things to do is restock it with a lot more pistol grip and palm swell. The factory stock is too long in the grip for my tastes.

Congratulations!

Didn't you just re-invent the 30R Blaser by doing this?

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:
Didn't you just re-invent the 30R Blaser by doing this?

Sorta, but not really. The 30R Blaser will clean out a .30-06 chamber. I did not want to do that. I simply wanted a flanged .30-06. Not that anything is wrong with the the 30R Blaser but I did not want to have to ream the chamber or buy proprietary brass. Instead of reaming the chamber all I had done was milling a rebate. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy! I already had the ought six dies and case trimmer so it was easy to push the 7x65R brass through it.

Would the gun have a higher resale value as a 30R Blaser? Surely! But it would not be as unique and cool to me. Besides, if I ever really wanted to, I could still have it reamed to the 30R Blaser...

I did the same thing many years ago with a Valmet 412. It worked out great in the Valmet...

DM

very cool

Nice!! How well does it shoot?

Pretty cool. How about a sight pic for us?

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
Nice!! How well does it shoot?

Sorry I left off this for so long. I've been travelling a LOT for work lately.

Anyway, it SHOOTS GREAT! Absolutely spot on. I worked up a few rounds with some 150gr bullets just to make sure it would not blow up and it worked fine. I just bought some 180gr bullets and will see where it shoots. Once I get the 180's regulated (v- easy on the Baikal!) I make up a bunch for practice.

The plan is to take it to Namibia and use it on plains game next August. I'm planning on 180gr TSX's for that.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:
Didn't you just re-invent the 30R Blaser by doing this?

I had the very same thought

Very clever work, and those cartridges look great. I really like the idea of the 220 gr in that kind of rifle. Alot of knock down on the cheap.

quote:

Originally posted by Kebco:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Brooks:
Didn't you just re-invent the 30R Blaser by doing this?

I had the very same thought

You have to remember that UK gun laws are extremely arcane. In order to ream the chamber out to 30R Blaser, I would have to apply for a whole new gun! That means 8 weeks or more of no license while its off being reviewed plus the cost of applying. By just cutting the face to accept the flanged brass, I have not changed the chamber of the gun at all; it is still the same gun. And that makes all the difference in the world over here!

Ps. When I finally move back home to the US, I can ream it to 30R Blaser if I want to

Great story. We need more positive input on these Baikals and Sabattis. Dialed in they are fun game getters at a fraction of the cost of euroart guns.
Can Imagine a Baikal 500NE for 2-3 grand some day.

quote:

We need more positive input on these Baikals and Sabattis. Dialed in they are fun game getters at a fraction of the cost of euroart guns.
Can Imagine a Baikal 500NE for 2-3 grand some day.

There is a lot of reasons why some guns cost more to make than others, and art is only part of it.
When you shoot for marketing a gun in the shallow end of the of the price market the mfg has to cut every corner they can to maintain the price point.
That is fine if you understand exactly what you are getting and willing to accept the short cuts but for me life is far to short to hunt with something that is clunky or in some cases ugly and clunky.

I spent 30+ years as a dealer tech.VW,Volvo and Benz. Anyone of them will get you where you want to go.Which one makes you feel the best traveling is in your head. Same with guns, an Elephant, Elk or hog is just as dead with a sub 5000 dollar gun as it is with a 14000+ dollar gun. How you "feel" about that gun is in your head.I'm just glad to see that some are trying to bring functional doubles at moderate prices to market.
No one sold on or selling euro art can be real happy with entry level guns coming to market. It may dilutes the customer pool for higher ends by offering an entry level product, but like the auto business there is room for both.

quote:

No one sold on or selling euro art can be real happy with entry level guns coming to market.

I do not personally care, my only concern is that many that are new to double rifles will think they are getting more than they actually are. And latter when they get frustrated it will effect how they feel about all DR's