It may sound crazy, and it may very well be expensive, but i was thinking about a H&R Handi rifle chambered for the Russian Rimmed case and shooting 7 mm bullets.
Why? Because i believe that rimmed cases work much better in that type of action, extracting better. And because such a cartridge will probably exceed 7-08 performance, most probably it will be in the .280 range. And because I know how to make one of these rifles really light in weight and itÂ’s my favorite type of rifle action for hunting in the mountains.
The big question is: is it possible to re-chamber a 7-08 Handi Rifle to take that Russian case? I reckon it would work if the original chamber is smaller than the 54 R case. If not possible due to dimensions, how about the .303 British case with the same 7mm bullets?
I guess that if the chamber and throat were to be re-cut properly, and a few lapping bullets were to be fired, the final product should be a flat shooting and accurate rifle.
Do you think that there would be pressure and safety problems for the rifle? I don't think that this cartridge would generate more pressure than a hot loaded .280 or 30-06. I know that there should not be any problem with the cartridge, because Soviets and Finns had variants of the 54 Rimmed case necked down to 6.5 mm and it worked great (in bolt action rifles). Also, the .303 British case has been necked up and down in the past with good results. I would prefer the Russian case, though...for sentimental reasons.
I wonder how much it would cost though....Any idea how much would the whole conversion cost (reamer and dies)?
Actually, I was thinking about the 54 R case necked down to 6.5 mm, that would be one flat shooting hard hitting not excessively recoiling chamois cartridge. In a single shot break open rifle however, I would only have the T/C rig (with a custom barrel) and no other choice that I know of.
Shoot safely.
