.308win ---> 30 gibbs

[biff's reloading]

I recently bought a very nicely built rifle that's the wrong cartridge for me. Its a beautiful Mauser jeweled action with 26" Douglas 1"dia barrel in a benchrest thumbhole stock, set triggers, and a Nikon 6-18 scope w/ shade. Its chambered 308. Nothing wrong with a 308, but its a fairly weak round out at the ranges this thing is capable of. But more importantly, I don't have 308 dies or brass, and I don't want to spend the money getting them when I am not happy with it. I have 06 and 300 mag dies, and lots of 06 brass, but I want to keepthe same bolt, and the 06 ream will leave a ring in the chamber from the 308 I believe so those are both out. Is a 30 Gibbs the right way to go? I understand the fireforming process, so that'd not an issue, and I can have the work done for a case of Miller light because a local Smith (who is very good) will do me the favor.

Who here shoots a Gibbs? Any info/opinions would be great

 

[J E Custom]

I recently bought a very nicely built rifle that's the wrong cartridge for me. Its a beautiful Mauser jeweled action with 26" Douglas 1"dia barrel in a benchrest thumbhole stock, set triggers, and a Nikon 6-18 scope w/ shade. Its chambered 308. Nothing wrong with a 308, but its a fairly weak round out at the ranges this thing is capable of. But more importantly, I don't have 308 dies or brass, and I don't want to spend the money getting them when I am not happy with it. I have 06 and 300 mag dies, and lots of 06 brass, but I want to keepthe same bolt, and the 06 ream will leave a ring in the chamber from the 308 I believe so those are both out. Is a 30 Gibbs the right way to go? I understand the fireforming process, so that'd not an issue, and I can have the work done for a case of Miller light because a local Smith (who is very good) will do me the favor.

Who here shoots a Gibbs? Any info/opinions would be great

For ease of fireforming and reloading I would recomend the 30/06 AI. It should clean up the
308 chamber and give a huge performance increase.

Dies should be easy to find and load.

Ether round should do what you want, but the 30/06 AI appears to be a little faster with less
powder(More efficient) and has a longer neck.

The gibbs and the 30/06 AI are very close in performance so the choice is yours.

Just an opinion.

J E CUSTOM

 

[biff's reloading]

Hadn't given the AI much thought but u might be right. Safer too without the headspace issue of the Gibbs.

 

[J E Custom]

Hadn't given the AI much thought but u might be right. Safer too without the headspace issue of the Gibbs.

I haven't owned/shot a gibbs, But I have built and used Wildcats on many occasions and found
them to be difficult to load for and form the brass.and as long as there are other cartriges that
will perform as well and be simple to load for I will avoid wild cats and proprietary cartriges.

I know there are at least 4 people making the 30/06 AI dies and several making reamers
so the cost of reloading will be minimal.

Like i said , it was just a thought.

J E CUSTOM

 

[MSU Marksman]

If you want to go the Gibbs route, please let me know. Some time ago I picked up Gibbs dies, neck reamer, and hydraulic forming dies used. I never used them, but in the next week or so I was planning on selling them on ebay, but if you contact me before then I can send you a photo and price.

 

[biff's reloading]

i didnt mention this, but its a 1:10 twist. as im reading, im finding out that a 10 twist would be better suited to a magnum that can push the big bullets. at 16 1/2 lbs, the recoil wouldnt be bad with a 300mag im sure. is there a way to look up numbers or identify the action to know it would be fine with a 300 mag? then the only work needed is re-chamber/open boltface?

would this be the better route to take?

 

[J E Custom]

i didnt mention this, but its a 1:10 twist. as im reading, im finding out that a 10 twist would be better suited to a magnum that can push the big bullets. at 16 1/2 lbs, the recoil wouldnt be bad with a 300mag im sure. is there a way to look up numbers or identify the action to know it would be fine with a 300 mag? then the only work needed is re-chamber/open boltface?

would this be the better route to take?

I would recomend Talking to Ted (Shortgrass) and if anyone can tell you what you have it,s him.

The problem with the belted mags is that the bolt face has to be opened up, This is not hard to
do on a Mauser but it does increase the bolt loading. (Larger case head,more square inches for the
pressure to work on at the same pressures).

The 30/06 will have about the same pressures (55,000 to 60,000 psi) as the 300 win mag. but
having less case head surface, the 30/06 applies less bolt thrust. (Its like the difference between
a small block and a big block chevy)the same combustion pressure but more piston thrust and
more crank and bearing loading.

Your original idea to stay with the .473 was a good one and the 1 in 10 twist is recomended for all
30 calibers and mote bullet weights. A 308 win with a 1 in 10 twist will shoot 220 grain bullets well
so you will be good with anything faster than a 308 win.

The newer Short mags and Ultra mags have higher pressures (65,000 to 70,000 Psi) so I would
not recomend these in an older action of any kind.

Also recoil will be very manageable in a 8 to 10 pound rifle.

J E CUSTOM