7x61 S&H wildcat?

That's what its lookin like, I'm set up for 7mm mag reloading I was digging the web and see where rcbs makes a die that I could make brass for the 7x61 out of 7mag brass. Could be interesting
 
If your rifle is a Mauser Action it would be a good rifle for reloading in 7X61 S&H. The only rifle at one time that was built in that caliber was the Shultz and Larson rifle. The S&L action had its lugs on the back of the bolt. Between bolt compression and action stretching, About 3 shots and cases were toast. About 3/8 - 1/2" above the belt the case would separate. I had a friend who had a 7X61 S&H,S&L rifle, When he was at the range or hunting he carried a case extractor in his pocket or pack just in case.

I liked the 7X61 S&H so much, When Remington came out with the 7mm RM, I Compared the 2 and bought a 7mm RM and hunted with it, Till my wife blew the money and I had to sell it for food, heat and electric.
 
Oh wow that's happened to me more than once having to sell to feed the mouths at the table. I checked out Huntington and ordered a 60 pieces of new brass got my reamer on the way. I'm tryin to decide on what stock I want now lol
 
Sad to say the urban myth about S&L actions persists ever here, being repeated by Lone Traveler. (who never owned one)

Odd that Roy picked it as the only action suitable for the 378 WM.

The Schulz action was way ahead of its time having low bolt lift and short bolt throw.

Many were rechamered to 7mm Rem Mag as 7x61 ammo was hard to find. Don't recall any of those folks carrying shell extractors in their pockets.

Even Elmer Keith liked it !

"
In all fairness. 1 must admit to having been prejudiced against those rear locking Jugs when J started working with ibis rifle. However, the more 1 use it, the more I like and admire its many good features. The four locking lugs permit a bolt lift of only one-eighth turn, about half that of conventional Mauser-type actions. The flush extractor permits the bolt to be completely enclosed in the receiver. The trigger pull is one stage, no slack to take up. Lock time is very fast. Striker travel is about one half inch. The safety has three positions: fully forward is fire, fully to the rear for safe with trigger, bolt, and firing mechanism fully locked, and the half-way position which locks the firing mechanism but permits bolt to be withdrawn or ammo loaded safely into the rifle.

The rifle bolt is easily dismounted by cocking and moving the safety to the midway position. Then press a small pin on the left side of the cocking piece to rear and rotate the sleeve clockwise 45 degrees, and it comes apart. After much study and considerable shooting, I firmly believe this Schultz & Larsen action to be one of the strongest I have ever used including the well known Magnum Manser actions.

After looking through a lot of factory-made rifles since World War Two and finding many crooked barrels, poor stocking, and rough reeeiver-and-bolt fits, it is a pleasure to test a rifle that comes to the shooter all ready to take into the hills. Merely slap your favorite scope in a set of Buehler split-ring mounts, bore sight and target, and you are ready to go. In conclusion, 1 can only give this rifle and cartridge a clean bill of health and believe the rifle and the 7x61 S & H factory load to be one of the best yet offered sportsmen for all our lighter big game that has to be taken at long range.

Excellent dies for reloading the cartridge may be had from several reloading tool makers, including the fine R.C.B.S. dies. The 7x61 Norma cartridge case takes our commercial large rifle primers, and empty cases as well as loaded ammunition may be obtained from Sharpe & Hart or their dealers."
 
Well being as old as i now am, i have quite a few memories, and one involves a guy i really never got to know who had a 7x61 S&H. He also had a green Willys wagon of the 50s era. We would see him on occaison but not
often at some of the places we hunted. Anyway it would have been in the early 60s as i recall that my brother and i were hand glassing from a spot where we could see a long way down the valley as well as straight across the valley. I had found a few deer together down the valley and one was a buck with one horn broken off maybe 3" above his head. So we got in our 55 Chevy suburban hunting rig and coasted down the road till we were opposite the deer. There was snow on the ground so seeing the deer wasent all that hard. It was a pretty hard uphill angle shot for me and the first shot caused the scope to whack me hard on the eye brow causing lots of bleeding. Anyway i didnt really need more excuses for not killing the buck, but thats the one i used. When i stopped shooting i turned around to find the Willys wagon sitting there with the guy watching me shoot thru his glasses.
The back side window had a gun rack with a fairly heavy barrel gun with a Unertle scope on it. I asked the guy what it was, and he said a 7x61 S&H. Next morning my brother and i glassed off a few fields at first light, then headed down to where we had been the day before. When we got up the mountain road to where i had shot,
the green Willys wagon was parked and they were loading the broken horn buck on the roof. They had their act together and we didnt obviously. I dont recall ever running into that guy again after that. But needless to say everytime i drove up Montours Run rd i think of that as i go by that spot.
But now we fast foward many years, till about the mid 90s, maybe even 96 or 97, it was the last day of the Pa buck season, my son was driving my 93 Pickup and we had packed it in about 3 pm to head back to our camp in Driftwood. He was driving, and as we approached Montours Run rd i said why dont we just drive up to the top of the valley which is maybe 2 miles or so then turn around and go home from there. As we passed the spot i again reminded my son who hadnt been born yet when the story took place. As you drive up that valley you come to a very sharp curve in the road which is a good place to park and glass.
It is actually where we had been parked when we first spotted that broken horn buck many years back.
But this time as we rounded that curve it was though i had seen a ghost, because there sat the green Willys wagon. I was actually beside myself, and couldnt believe what i was seeing, probably good i wasent driving. We of coarse pulled past and parked, and i walked back and spoke with the guy. Same guy, same Jeep wagon, but of coarse a much older guy and Jeep. He did remember the incident of coarse, and told me this was the last trip for the Green Willys wagon due to very serious rust issues making it unsafe to be on the road. I only wish id had the presence of mind to take pictures. And i also didnt think to look for the gun rack and the 7x61 S&H with the Unertle scope.
 
Neat story. Shame you didn't ask him about how often he had to deal with stuck cases.
With those 26" bbls the 7x61 could equal the 7mm RemMag that usually have 24" bbls.
 
Well, I'm puttin it on a mauser action so shouldn't be a issue I wouldn't think. Wish I had a unertl scope to put on it for sure
I bought a new 2" 15x ultra varmit in around 1973 for $200. My son still uses it on his 40 x Rem 6.5x06 which is another classic. They can still be found on Ebay, but the prices have gotten pretty high.
Actually a better choice for hunting, was the old Bausch&Lomb Balvar 6x24 variable target scope with the original external adjustment removed and replaced with a Kuharsky micrometer setup that looked like the Unertle micrometer. They were more user friendly as for getting back on target following a shot.
The old Lyman target scope was used also, and they all looked very similar as for appearance.
If you wanted to dial with any of those externally adjusted scopes, the mount block spacing distance was very critical.
 

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