Just got my 30 cal R3 long off of the UPS truck
Just tracked the UPS driver down. Last night, I was just like a kid on Christmas Eve, I couldn’t sleep a wink.
More pics and info to follow.
All Replies
Doug, I think that a 20 to 1 ratio will be too hard for our use. You can order pure lead from Rotometals and also order tin from them. The are great people to work with.
Thats the best answer i could of hoped for !!!
Ride, I’m down right lazy when it comes to such things, so I followed RC’s advice and ordered 20/1 strait form ROTO Metals . com.
Not bad prices for new lead, and they have many different mixes. Also, with a 100.00 USD order, shipping is free. Not a bad thing for lead! 😆
And since I reclaim most of the bullets I shoot here on my range by using the rubber mulch, It becomes very inexpensive over all. 😉 (I’m a cheap bastard as well.) 😆
Knife
Mike,
I got a kind of rookie casting question for you. Where do you go to buy lead so you know that it is pure lead for making a 20/1 mixture or do you buy random and test for hardness. What is the best way to test for hardness in terms of effective tools vs money spent to know for sure what I am getting ??
I think the 80-20 lead tin mix may be a little too hard for AG use. 20-1 is the hardest I’ve, (and RoachCreek) have been able to go. And is probably why it is giving you a fit trying to get it into the lead.
Your numbers are looking GREAT! 😀 this project really looks like it is comeing along nicely. A big Well Done OG!
Staying tuned for up-dates. 😀
Knife
Thanks for the pics and info!!
I added my 25 cal R3 breech blocks that are fitted with a .257” Hart barrel to my 30 cal R3 long.
The 25 cal R3 parts bolted on and worked flawlessly!
My 53 and 55 grain cast .257” 80% lead, 20% tin cast bullets wouldn’t enter into the in lead of the Hart barrel, I might need to increase the angle of the in lead and polish it more plus, I think that the 80-20 bullets are just to hard for the setup that I currently have. I am going to cast some pure lead versions of both and try them.
My .257” 44 grain pure lead cast bullets would load fine and they shot in the 850fps range.
The 850s speeds were with the necked down 25 cal transfer port area in the front breech block. If the necked down area was opened up to the transfer port size of the 30 cal air valve housing, I think that I would be looking at speeds around 900-925 with the 44 grain cast bullet.
I am very encouraged with what I found! I am going to order a complete 25 cal front and rear breech block assembly and a complete 30 cal air valve/regulator housing from Tony. Ordering the extra parts will give me parts to modify without damaging the stock parts if my ideas don’t work out.
The ordered parts will be tried on my 25 cal R3 long. I also need to see if I can buy a 2 trigger screw trigger for my 30. I don’t like the current 1 screw trigger screw setup and I haven’t figured out a way to tune it to come close to the way that my tuned 2 screw triggers feel. I could just grind the “hump” off of the stock 30 cal trigger but, I don’t want to modify stock parts unless absolutely necessary.
I currently have a cut down Lee 257400 mold that casts slugs that weigh 55 grains and a cut down NOE mold that casts 53 grain slugs. I am going to send both molds out to
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/
I want to have the biggest hollow point cavity made that I can get without reducing the accuracy of the cast slug.
I am hoping that I can come up with .257” 45-50 grain HP slugs that shoot lights out in my 25 cal R3 long at around 885 fps. I think that it is doable.
I would really like to take a .257” slug shooting R3 Matador and my 30 cal R3 Matador to the AOA shoot this year and then have to decide which one of them to use!
I lust after a 6.5 x 55 Swedish, with a Mannlicher stock! Now THAT’S a thing of beauty.
Does anyone know someone who is currently dead and doesn’t need theirs?
Warm regards,
Uncle H 😯 😯 t
The “Mauser”, as the 6.5 x 55 Swedish is called here, is indeed a fine caliber. A very popular round for Moose hunting and for 300m competition. Ask Dr. Evil to post a pic of his nice hunting rifle in this very caliber. To his credit i have to say it´s one finely carved piece of Swedish weapon engineering – if there even is such thing – and all the work done to it has cost him “many money”.
And the Swedes are indeed rotten lovers – not at all like we Finns – and the form and shape for that “slender slug” is said to be taken from King Carl Gustav VI butt plug. I don´t know if that´s just a rumor though …
OG…I, too, would like a 25-30 Edgun Long!!!
If you can solve the fitment of the .30 valve/regulator into the .25 Long R3, let me know. I’d like to go that route, and the BC of that long-dog .257 cast slug, spinning at the right twist, might offer some exceptional accuracy at extreme distance. A new barrel would be worth the cost to get the right twist rate! I wonder how much an Edgun valve/reg would cost?
All this reminds me of the 6.5 X 55 Swedish round of my younger days. Often said to have a near perfect BC. Back at the turn of the century, very large game was taken with this small round, even elephants were culled, with head shots, from the little ‘Swedish’ with that slender, but long, stable slug. Those Swedes may indeed be rotten lovers, but they do know how to design a decent slug!
We could name it the “25-30 Long-Kozel”… (kozel = Russian for Goat)
There is no end to the genius in this forum!
Regards,
H 😯 😯 t
Sure hope it comes together for you OG! 😀 I think it would make a BIG impression at the AOA event! 😉
Knife
Today, I tried the 30 cal air valve/regulator housing in my 25 long air tube. The 30 cal assembly wouldn’t hold air in the 25 cal long air tube. The air leaked out of the regulators atmospheric pressure port in the air tube.
The 30 cal assembly, with the 30 cal regulators housing end swapped with my 25 cal regulators end, won’t fully slide into the 25 longs air tube. I have a spare 22 assembly and I will have the regulator housing part turned down to have it fit in the 25 long air tube. Once the modified assembly will fit, I will have to cut a new O ring grove and find some O rings to fit.
When I get that figured out, I will have to order a complete 30 cal assembly from Tony along with a 25 cal breech assembly.
I want to figure out a way to have the 30 cals increased regulated plenum area adapted to the 25 cal. I still want to have a modified R3 25 long shooting my .257” cast bullets in either a Hart or TJs barrel up and shooting great in time for the AOA Extreme Bench Rest comp this year.
I also want to try the latest FX smooth twist barrel on the 30 cal. A couple of years age, Nasser and I tried the 25 cal smooth twist on our 25 cal longs. We both found that it did OK out to 75 yards, the stock barrel was better after 75 yards.
No wonder that AOA and Fredrick came up with the 75 yard range for the Extreme Bench Rest shoot!
Fredrick has made improvements on the smooth twist barrel and I want to try his latest version on the 30 cal.
Whatever it takes; I want to take a .257′ R3 matador long slug gun and a 30 cal R3 long to the AOA meet this year.
Half the AG world is fed up and the other half is laughing at Steve. He is either too arrogant or stupid to get it! 👿
That is very true. I remember when Jonny from FX got banned and every one who was talking FX were frowned up to.
Now Steve is number one fan. eh.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
I will order both and blend if necessary, Thanks guys.