What caliber should I choose.

mickri

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My house remodel projects are drawing to a close. That will allow me to get my shop squared away and get started again on my list of projects. Those projects include new barrels for and calibers for my carcano and a 95 mauser. Current plan is to chamber the carcano in 35 remington and the 95 mauser in 222 remington. My other rifles include a 257 Roberts, a 6.5 x 55 Swede and a 30-06 03A3 Springfield. I want a mid bore and varmint rifle to round out my rifles. That's why I picked the 35 remington and the 222. The 35 remington fits the carcano bolt face. Using a 222 in a 95 mauser requires the bolt face to be modified to fit a 222.

In case you are wondering why I have a carcano the answer is simple. I didn't pay squat for it and it is a learning platform. If I screw it up no big deal. Better to screw up a carcano then practice on a more expensive action.

The carcano's by all accounts are strong actions that can safely handle more pressure than the original 6.5 round. On the other hand you want to keep a 95 mauser to the pressures in a 7x57. With this in mind I am thinking of a 8x57 for the mauser and a 22 caliber round for the carcano. Something more potent than a 222. Maybe a 222 rem magnum or one of the 22 rounds based on the 7.62x39. The 7.62x39 based rounds fit the carcano bolt face.

As far as accuracy is concerned my goal is 1 MOA. Maybe a little better with the 22 round. I grew up in a bygone era where 1 MOA rifles were considered to be very accurate rifles. These rifles like all my other rifles will be hunting rifles. I rarely shoot anymore. Punching holes in paper holds no attraction. Been there done that when I was into competitive small bore prone matches growing up.

Don't want another 30 caliber rifle. If I get another 30 caliber it will be a 30-30 lever action. Another empty slot in my collection.

Should I stick with my original plan? Or switch to something else?
 
The 222 Rem is a good cartridge, but hard to find brass for. I'd go 221 Fireball for a crack .22 varmint gun, but that's tainted with my own interests. Re-sizing bolt faces is a simple task, but if you want to stay Carcano, I think the PPC (my recommendation would be for 6mm PPC, but .22 PPC is also a super-accurate sizzler) built off the Russian cases is a super contender with a longer barrel. The PPC holds close to 30 grains of powder, give or take. If you're already up to speed with 257 Bob you will have no problem with PPC loads. It's just another wildcat, albeit a popular one with match rifle shooters. I run its cousin, the 6mmBR. Those short/fat overbore cases really make for an accurate round.
 
You're asking for opinions, sooooo....
35 Rem - good idea. I think that really fills a good niche.
I might entertain .243, also. Simply because it can have the look and feel of .30 cal without being .30 cal. To me, it seems a bit more befitting a nice bolt action for something more than the little guys.
I'm one of these guys that think a 'varmint rifle' is any rifle used on those critters and only in special circumstances do they require special equipment, which circumstances i'm never in.
 
I like the 243. Problem is that it has too much pressure for the 95 mauser and the cartridge head is too big to fit on the carcano bolt. .445 verses .473 for the 243.
 
Nothing wrong with your choices in my opinion.

Chuck
 
I don't have a lot of choices. No matter what I finally choose it will be fun making the rifles.

The mauser is pretty straight forward.

On the carcano I modified it to use an Arisaka Type I trigger guard. The Arisaka Type I was a carcano with a mauser style trigger guard that the Japanese required. That allows for a scope to be mounted over the action instead of on the side of the action. I will have to make a bracket to hold the scope mounts. And because nobody really wants to restock a carcano I had to buy a blank from Richards that had no inletting. I will have to fully inlet the blank to fit the carcano action. The plan for that is to make a fixture for my mill to hold the blank to rough out the inletting before finishing it by hand. So lots to do.

In reading about the different cartridge suggestions I took a look at the 223. Might be another possibility to add to the list.
 
I much prefer the .222 to the .223... the .222 is generally more accurate...

I handload and shoot both... but the .222 is a favorite.

I have Remington 788 rifles chambered for both cartridges... my wife also has a short stocked 788 in .222 that she shoots. She can out-shoot me with her .222... she has shot 5 shot ½" groups at 100 yards.

-Bear
 
I have always liked the 222. It is still my first choice of 22's. Have never shot one. If I go for the 8x57 in the mauser I would then have an excuse to get a 35 remington in a lever action. I could see a 30-30 94 winchester and a 35 remington marlin lever gun.
 
I have a short action Win 70 in 222 REM coming out of a Douglas HB made up over 30 years ago. Still holds under 1” without trying. My Sako 6 PPC HB shoots better than I can hold and I cannot seem to shot between heart beats either!
Pierre
 
I know that one of the calibers will be a 22. Trying to decide on a twist rate for that barrel. The most common twist rates I am seeing are 14 and 12. I also see some barrels with 7, 8 and 9. I know that longer, heavier bullets need a faster twist rate. What happens when a lighter bullet is used in a barrel with the faster twist rates? Is there a happy medium?
 
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