My first 30 Gibbs was a rechambered M700 30-06 that I bought when I was in high school. Some how a grain of sand got in the reciever and when I opened the bolt, it put a scratch on the bolt lug. I lapped it out, and shot for years. The lapping increased the headspace slightly but it was not excessive. but I decided to to "fix" it anyway. I had it rechambered to the .30 Gibbs. I eventually had it rebarreled . It was my go to deer rifle so I did most my shooting with a 150 grain bullet. I had a lot of H414 powder so that's what I used. My velocities were almost as fast as the .300 SAUM. I used 30-06 loads to fire form. I necked out to .338 and necked down until I could close the bolt with slight resistance. I had excellent results. I used "cheap" .308 FMJ bullets. I seem to rememberreading that Gibbs recommended regular loads to fully form the case. BTW, I would never try this, supposedly, when using Mauser type actions they would use surplus GI Ammo and the claw would hold the case against the bolt face. They would fire form with no problems. I don't have a .30 Gibbs in a mauser action, and even if I did, this kid ain't doing it. I'll stick my my tried and true method. Although I'll look into into that COW method and if if the volumes are identical, then I might be a convert.
.30 GIBBS is finally ready ...
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Exactly and I thought I made it clear on my initial post.
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Fun post!! Took me back to the 50's when I was a kid. My dad, a pipefitter making about $5/day, was always a gun guy. Expert Rifleman in the military probably because he bought his Winchester Model 1892, 25-20, for $13 as a teenager and shot whenever he could afford to buy cartridges. He was on a first name basis with Rocky Gibbs. He turned his Winchester Pre-war Model 70, 270 Win into a 270 Gibbs about the time Rocky enjoyed notoriety for winning a match with the 270 Gibbs. Dad helped have of our little town get "poor man magnums" by working with Gibbs to create 6.5 Gibbs, 270 Gibbs, 30 Gibbs, 8mm Gibbs from mostly military surplus rifles. These guys were all working men mostly interested in keeping the freezers stocked to feed their families. $5/day didn't go too far. Most of the conversions were to 30 Gibbs from Model 1903 Springfields that guys ordered through the Civilian Marksmanship Program for about $18. Prior to the Kennedy assassination, anybody could buy or send firearms through the US Mail. I was born in 1949 so I was pretty young, but I vividly remember the excitement of dad's friends when he handed their Gibbsed rifle back to them along with a lesson on hour to use the Gibbs oil forming attachment that came with their Gibbs die sets. Still remember that compression pin flying sometimes while dad was turning military surplus 30-06 brass into 270 Gibbs cases. Dad kept our freezer full of wild meat using that 270 Gibbs for many years and I still have that rifle. Just recently used the oil sizing die to produce a 100 270 Gibbs cases from 270 Win cases. Keeping my eye out to find one of the many 30 Gibbs dad helped create in my hometown to add to my collection. The 1960's brought an era of more affluence to the working men and the introduction of the 7mm Remington Magnum, the 300 Winchester Magnum, the 264 Winchester Magnum. So, there were other magnum cartridge options available and not much interest in the Gibbs conversions anymore. One of my dad's buddies was in our hunting party and carried an 8mm Gibbs. On many days when we returned to elk camp after seeing no sign of game, old Bob would like to shoot the tops off of trees with his 8mm Gibbs. I liked to help with whatever lessor caliber I happened to be carrying at the time. Have fun with the best looking 30 Gibbs I've ever seen!
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
I have a 30-06 AI that was originally chambered with excessive headspace. This is a situation that is similar to a properly chambered 30 Gibbs in some respects. I was attempting to fire-form 30-06 factory loads, and several of them didn't even fire. After thinking about it for a little while, I thought that maybe I was lucky they didn't fire, and the ones that did go bang were where my potential for trouble lies. Well, I expanded the necks with an 8mm Sinclair expander mandrel, and then necked them back down for .308" bullets, leaving the head-spacing shoulder on the brass. This worked perfectly, and all was well. This got me through one hunting season, and then I got the gun fixed properly.
The band-aid fix I used in the interim taught me a couple of things : One, the extractor on a Model 70 Winchester won't hold the cartridge case head against the bolt face well enough for safe fire-forming. Two, neither did jamming the bullets into the lands. ( Looking back on this, I probably didn't have enough neck tension, and that may very well be why.) Lastly, if I was going to work with a wildcat that involves moving the shoulder forward, I would do exactly what you're doing here and get all the input I can from guys who have done it before. That way, you can sift through all the information and forge ahead with your project knowing what you're getting into. You're probably going to get what you want out of this endeavor, and you're going to have fun doing it. When you're done, everybody else on this forum is going to be having a ball with your write-up of the process.
19elkhunter51
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After I posted I wondered about the bolt. That would put a different twist on that conversion. Maybe not as easy as I thought. Doggone it!
bigngreen
Well-Known Member
On a 700 you just need to have a M16 extractor installed and part of that process is bushing the bolt nose, you can have it set to a 06 case head at that time, not a biggy!
bigngreen
Well-Known Member
Funny, I've never had a problem!
Timnterra
Well-Known Member
Or you can just post an add to trade a standard for a magnum bolt and there will probably be about ten guys message you in the first hour.
Timnterra
Well-Known Member
I don't know if you have considered Hodgdons superformance powder or not. It might be worth exploring if you want top velocity. I did load development for a buddy who has a 30-06AI last fall and used the 178eldx with superformance powder. I don't remember off the top of my head but I think the powder charge was about 61grains and 3030fps. Not too shabby at 300fps above the factory precision hunter Hornady 30-06 ammo with the same bullet.
Since starting this thread, I know at least 4 members that are starting their build/considering a build and I think it's great. As noted in my initial post, my goal is simply to contribute to the knowledge base in the forum.
I am thankful for the LRH members' support that is evident here and for keeping it on course. I am also getting substantial support via PM from very nice folks to include annealing service (thanks Jeff, not sure "if" if you want it known here without your permission, so I'll just leave it as such
).It is always nice to know LRH members that are always willing and able to lend a helping hand. Thanks again.
nicholasjohn
Well-Known Member
Since starting this thread, I know at least 4 members that are starting their build/considering a build and I think it's great. As noted in my initial post, my goal is simply to contribute to the knowledge base in the forum.
I am thankful for the LRH members' support that is evident here and for keeping it on course. I am also getting substantial support via PM from very nice folks to include annealing service (thanks Jeff, not sure "if" if you want it known here without your permission, so I'll just leave it as such
It is always nice to know LRH members that are always willing and able to lend a helping hand. Thanks again.
Looks like you rang a few bells with this one, Sir.
That's just plain Sexy(NOTE: Please disregard the un-mowed grass, I fertilized the day before and it is wet from 2-days of rain, ... mowing this weekend. That's my story and I am sticking with it.
Factory Kimber 84L Hunter in .30-06 ($575) re-chambered to .30 Gibbs ($250, including muzzle threading bead blasting and installation of MB), 4-port Ross Schuler MB ($37), Warne high scope rings ($50), 20 MOA EGW rail ($70), and topped with USO TS-12 3-12 FFP ($325).
View attachment 192716
View attachment 192714
View attachment 192715
View attachment 192718
(This is my lightest scope hunting rifle thus far, average 10-12 lbs).
I managed to make it to the range yesterday to do some fire-forming ...
View attachment 192717
(From L-R: .35 Whelen virgin brass, after re-sizing, fire-formed with 11g WSF (COW method), and after re-sizing).
Not sure what to load at this time but I have the following bullets readily available Berger 190/210/215/230, Hornady ELD-X 178/212/220 and 208 A-Max, I'm sure I got more just too lazy to dig through. Too many to list on powder choices.
Now the load development fun begins ..................................................................................................................... I just hope, I find the time to do it.
ADDED:
Just for the record, I am in no way trying to convince anyone to build a .30 Gibbs or compare it to a similar improved version. My goal is to simply add to the knowledge base in the forum. If you do a quick search, there is hardly any information about it and they tend to die off. Hopefully, those that have .30 Gibbs that remained quiet will engage and share their experiences.
