Donor Bolt Action

[Silvertp]

Where would you folks start in making a bolt action .475 Linebaugh?  My thoughts are to build a repeater, bolt gun that would be light in weight and quick handling.  Could a model 7 action be made to feed and chamber that pistol round?

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

Silvertp

[mcwoodduck]

I would say a Siamese action.
I have one in 45-70 that is the parent case to the 475 Linbough.
BUT.  The 45-70 is shorter than the 8X52R in over all length and there are some problems with the shorter non necked case.
Ran into a few snags on the project.
If I were to do this project again I would have used a 98 action and chambered it in 450 Marlin for the same effect.
With that said.
I would look at necking up one of the Win Short Mags to 475 or necking up 350 Remingtom Mag up to 475 and douplicate the ballistics of 475 Linebough.
The 300 Win short mag case if you do not like belts or the 350 Rem case if you do like belts.
Either are sized for a 308 length action that the 98 is.
At that point the 98, remington 700,  Winchester M70, Ruger M77 all make a short action that has lots of after market options to build what you are looking for.

[Frank46]

Just a suggestion but why not go for a 458x2 American?. Cut down standard 7mm, 300 win brass, no hopefully alterations on a magnum action and readily available bullets. Frank

[Silvertp]

McWoodduck, thanks for the reply.  Appreciate your response about the Siamese action...if getting the 45/70 conversion was difficult, the shorter .475 round would probably range from "more difficult to not at all". 

I was hoping that the Ruger 77/44 could be converted to the Linebaugh round.

At least at this point I am more interested in building a rifle for the .475 round than replicating its ballistics with a different case.  Gotta admit, the short mags necked out would probably do everything I want this rifle to do except for "share ammo" with my  Freedom Arms revolver. 

Frank 46...do you know what bolt actions are being converted to the 458 x 2?  I am assuming this is a necked down affair rather than a straight case like the .475 Linebaugh.

Thanks
Silvertp

[Swampman]

The .450 Marlin is another interesting prospect.  I've heard of a few boltguns being converted to shoot it.

[mcwoodduck]

I have been thinking about your idea for a while
I have a 22 Hornet in a Ruger and it shares the frame with the 44 mag.
I do not see where it could take the .610 rim of the 45-70.
I was thinking about a 50 AE conversion but not sure there is room in the barrel and the action and as you said it has to fire 475 Linebough not something that tosses the 475 bullets as fast. Although it would make an awesome brush rifle and you have me thinking about my next rifle.  But back to your idea.
What about a 1895 Marlin action and shorten the lifter space?  But it may not be needed.  You would have a long stroke lever but it could work and give you either a carbine or rifle length barrel and mag tube.  If the 1876 action would be strong enough one of those would be about the right length.  Uberti I think is making them again and they could be strong enough.  Not sure you want to spend 1,200 + on a new rifle to rip it apart and change calibers spending more.
Either would give you a lever action to share ammo with your revolver in stead of a bolt but would be a fast brush rifle.
I was also wondering if a Win Model 94 would work but I think the rim would be too large for the gun.  I think .55 is as big as you can go inside the frame.
Re thinking the bolt action the Siamese could be done you would just have to change the magizine and block it forward.
For that matter an Enfield No1 or 4 could be used and again block the mag forward. (you would need a new spring and shorten the follower).
You will have a really long extraction pull with either.

[Frank46]

Back in the good old days remington made their 600 or 660 rifles in 6.5 and 350 rem magnum. There was an article in guns and ammo that one of these carbines had been converted to 458x2" with a new bbl of course. But the 98 mauser could be converted to 458x2" fairly easy. Normally the standard twist would be 1x22" which was used for the trapdoor springfield. If converting a mauser and using 405 grain bullets this would be fine. I had a gunsmith friend who made up a 458x2" rifle on a pre
'64 94 winchester carbine. I handled it and shot it. So I know it can be done. Since the remington model 7 action is basically a modernized version of the earlier 600 and 660 series carbines it could be the basis for a 458x2". Not up on what calibers these actions are available though. remington did make up a 683 rifle that was chambered in the 350 rem mag. While they do not make it anymore I'd hunt up one of them as it came with a laminated stock. Or to get really trickey just neck up the 350 mag cartridge to 375 caliber (its been done already) new barrel and bob's your uncle. Haven't seen one but since the enfield was converted to 45/70 by gibbs it should be an easy convert to 475 linebaugh. One thing for sure, whichever cartridge you choose won't be many folks bummin ammo from you at the range. You could use the 98 mauser action in a military stock just to get started and see how you like it without having to spend any extra until you make the decision for an after market stock. So you see there are a couple or three ways to go about getting what you want. Frank

[mcwoodduck]

The 450 Marlin, 45-70, and the 458 X2 are balistic tripletts.
The 450 has a different belt so a 458 Win mag is not accidentally chambered in a lever gun and fired.
But the 475 Lighnbough has a 1.5" case.  Even with a large bullet you are looking at a ctg of 1.77"
While 458 X 2 has a 2" case the ctg is 2.6"
the 8X 57 has a loaded length of 3.17" that the 98 was designed for.
that is a lot of free board for the ctgs to move around in the magizine and for rims to over lap and cause a feed problem.
If the top round gets behind the lower round they don't feed.

[Silvertp]

If I wasn't stuck on a bolt gun firing .475 Linebaugh there is always the Ruger 1s that was recently produced in  that caliber.  I did read a test on that rifle and it has a lot of characteristics that I could get excited over.

At one time around 2004 Marlin was rumored to be working on a 480 / 475 Linebaugh but the rifle suited for the heavier round was never produced.

Gunsmith Ben Forkin did build a .475 firing 1984 Marlin.  I called him several years ago about it and he said it was quite a project, and at the time he didn't think he'd ever do another.  That said, I just copied the following from an undated web article.  Now I don't know if he is still making them or not.

"Forkin/Marlin 1894

     Notes: These are Marlin 1894 lever-action rifles modified by Ben Forkin, a noted Montana gunsmith.  His first such “mini-Guide Gun” was chambered for the .475 Linebaugh cartridge.  It uses a carbine-length 16-inch Pac-Nor barrel, a through-bolt, and a thick Kick-Eeze recoil pad, with a C&H Mercury tube in the stock to further dampen recoil.  The sights are of the ghost-ring type, with a bead front instead of the usual ramped post.  Several years later, Bob Forkin modified the design to fire the .50 Action Express cartridge; this version is actually lighter than the .475 Linebaugh model, since the walls of the barrel are simply bored out to the new caliber and are thinner than the .475 Linebaugh version.  In addition, the Mercury tube in the stock is removed, to further reduce the weight and reduce the complexity (and cost) of the weapon.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Bob Forkin still lives in Montana, and makes modifications of many weapons, including these.

Weapon                 Ammunition        Weight      Magazines      Price

Forkin/Marlin 1894  .475 Linebaugh    3.37 kg     6 Tubular     $1251   "

Silvertp

[yosemite]

rossi is building a puma /92 in 480, I think for a bolt gun, look at the Mas 36, it has a large bolt dia, rear lugs , a shorter bolt travel, and a receiver/mag box big enough to build yourself a single column mag, you might look at the mag for a desert eagle 50 ae, maybe not long or wide enough, anoyjer thought is the mosin nagant, already has a big bolt head, and a single column mag with a feed interruptor, maybe with some spacing?, next is the 95 steyr st pull, not sure of absolute strength, but bolt face, charger clip might be about right, and the 8x57 conversions seem to take the ww2 52k psi ammo in stride, best , but hard to find would be a 44 mag cal Remmy 788, mag would have to be widened, bolt face reworked, one in 30-30 might also be a basis, I would also look at the savage/stevens 340, I have done one in 444m, you would have some metal working to do , but it might be a good bet, I have an action if you want to try

[gunnut69]

A mauser could be converted to this larger diameter short length round. A magazine spacer and shortened follower is use to keep the shorter rounds to the front of the mag box. The bolt face would have little fence left but could be opened to sufficient diameter as the 45/70 fit quite nicely albeit with no leftover room.. To keep the rimmed cartridges from locking up by misstacking a guide is installed to forve rounds in the magazine to the rear except at the very top. By forcing the round below back as it is forced down into the magazine the rims locking the feed does not happen. I don'e know if the British Enfield No.4 or any could handle the pressure generated by the 475.  If the action could handle the pressure it would likely be a doable cinversion..