Every Clunker Gun Is An Opportunity

10/29/2023 – How would you define fun, Joe? That is tough, because fun comes in so many forms, and what is fun to one person may not be for another.

Take losing the tractor assigned garage door remote as an example of fun. I moved the little buttoned bugger from the tractor loader control lever, to the garden tractor speed control lever.

Held on with a visor clip, the garden tractor speed control lever was much thinner, so somewhere in the midst of lawn mowing laps, it must have fallen off.

That’s not fun, Joe. It is when I add in that it could not be found by multiple people following the path of the tractor, head down and searching. If it fell down, it would have hung up on the tractor’s frame, or dropped free and fallen to the front of the rear tire. Still, at least pieces would have been found. Nope, it vanished like clothes dryer socks, never to be seen again.

What was even more fun, was programming a new remote and an old remote so both opened both garage doors. Easy deal. Two steps. But one opened and closed both doors simultaneously, the other opened and closed the wrong door, and a third attempt opened my neighbor’s garage door and made his dog bark… which worked out well, as that exposed all of the tools and equipment he had borrowed from me over the years and “forgot” to return.

And when the exercise was all done, and the remotes were working correctly, I opened the tractor’s tool box to get a pair of pliers and, sure enough, the original remote was not there. It’s gone to one sock heaven.

Working on things…

I like working on things… making stuff. No, I am not highly skilled, more Jack of all trades, master of none. However, making something, especially if it functions, is very gratifying. It may surprise you to know that working on firearms often has little to do with firearms, but much to do with developing craft skills… independence skills.

I do not mind paying to have work done that is beyond me, or beyond the equipment I have at my disposal. However, I do not like paying for work I could do myself, if I weren’t too lazy or to unwilling to shed my ignorance of the task or subject.

Beyond what appears on Real Guns, I spend an inordinate amount of time on personal firearm associated projects. As an example, I took some time this week to get some handload development work on a mini Mauser I have been tinkering with, on and off, for the past decade or so.

I also pulled the Model 98 Mauser I had stashed in the loft, and looked through some barrel inventory to consider finishing that build. My plan has been to put together a 6.5x55mm. But there is so much to do for winter prep of the house and shop… other projects…

There is an appropriate bolt action for every cartridge…

Somewhere in 2010, I had the opportunity to review Remington’s R-15 Xtreme Hunting Rifle. The rifle was chambered for the then new 30 Remington AR cartridge:

Remington’s R-15 Xtreme Hunting Rifle Part I
Remington’s R-15 Xtreme Hunting Rifle Part II

Approximately six months later, we put together a shop rifle, a mini Mauser bolt action, chambered for the 30 Remington AR. A second companion barrel was chambered for a wildcat version, the 7mm-30RG.

For context, L-R: 7mm-30RG, 30 Remington AR, 223 Remington, 300 Blackout, 308 Winchester.

The 7mm version’s shoulder was pushed forward a bit. The idea was to add a little case volume for long 7mm bullets and to prevent the bolt from closing if it were inadvertently loaded into a 30 Remington AR firearm.

Yet more context L-R: 30 Remington AR, 450 Bushmaster, 223 Remington. The 30 Remington AR is a legitimate 300 yard cartridge for the deer hunter. With 10 grains less capacity than the 308 Winchester, its muzzle velocity in only approximately 100 fps less. The cartridge, based generally on the 450 Bushmaster case, did wonders for the AR, however, it eluded factory bolt guns, and quickly came to a skidding halt in popularity. Why?

Actually, I have a theory. The AR platform is the GI Joe of firearms. Owners buy, swap, build, accessorize and, like a sea of lemmings, rush to buy the next new thing. In the case of AR cartridges, the road to the scrap yard is paved with competing new ideas, most being of little consequence, other than being New!

The 450 Bushmaster makes a lot of sense. It gives the AR 15 platform real close in capability for hunting large, thin skinned game. If it has a drawback, it is its use of 0.452″, low sectional density, low ballistic coefficient handgun bullets. The selection was necessary to provide useful bullet weights, commensurate with the 450 Bushmaster’s powder capacity and operating pressure, while not exceeding AR cartridge overall length capacity.

Why not just go with the 450 Bushmaster?

The 30 Remington AR utilizes .30 caliber rifle bullets, high sectional density and high ballistic coefficient, and easily drives 150 grain bullet to a 2500 fps MV. Even 220 grain bullets can be loaded to 2100 fps.

The 30 Remington AR achieves greater velocity than the 450 Bushmaster, and overtakes it in kinetic energy at 150 yards. The kinetic energy advantage grows more significant with distance, and trajectory drop for the 30 Remington AR is half that of the 450 Bushmaster at 300 yards.

Hornady Black 250 Grain FTX 450 Bushmaster 200 Yard Zero
Yards		0	50	100	150	200	250	300
Velocity – fps		2200	2013	1837	1670	1517	1379	1259
Energy – ft.-lbs.		2686	2250	1872	1547	1277	1055	880
Momentum – lbs-sec		79	72	66	60	54	49	45
Path – “		-1.50	2.56	4.47	3.80	0.00	-7.59	-19.75
Drift – “		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Time Of Flight – sec.		0.00	0.07	0.15	0.23	0.33	0.43	0.55

Remington  Bronze Point 150 Grain 30 Rem AR  200 – Yard Zero
Yards		0	50	100	150	200	250	300
Velocity – fps		2575	2456	2340	2227	2117	2011	1909
Energy – ft.-lbs.		2208	2008	1823	1651	1493	1347	1213
Momentum – lbs-sec		55	53	50	48	45	43	41
Path – “		-1.50	1.19	2.44	2.09	0.00	-4.03	-10.22
Drift – “		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Time Of Flight – sec.		0.00	0.06	0.12	0.19	0.26	0.33	0.41

If it is such a good cartridge, Joe, where did it go?

Using Wikipedia, the center of misinformation, it suggests there are 87 imperial and metric measurement cartridges available for the AR-15 platform. Of the 87, 9 are .30 caliber cartridges, inclusive of the 30 Rem AR. The remaining 8 cartridges are either wildcat curiosity pieces or lesser in case capacity. The 300 Whisper and 300 Blackout were designed for subsonic application, where their 44% less capacity than the 30 Remington AR is not a disadvantage.

Remember, my premise is that frequent change is a key objective of AR-15 ownership, so the 30 Remington AR was destined to fade from the moment of inception. As an AR exclusive cartridge, it would receive no other firearm market mass or support.

Demonstrating good ballistics, I like the cartridge, but I am not a fan of the AR. No, not a political consideration. For me, the AR is too heavy, too sharp edged for comfortable hunting carry and too utilitarian in form. Too utilitarian? Yes, sort of like comparing modern Swedish homes with exposed plumbing and electrical runs across open ceilings, in comparison to the clean interior aesthetics of American homes. The former may be more cost effective and easier to service and maintain, but…

The bolt action. What the heck is a Model 799 ?

I was looking for a CZ Model 527 micro Mauser action in 7.62×39. This is one version of the mini Mauser that had a tab at the rear of the receiver that engages the full length extractor and guides the bolt to run true. Most mini Mauser actions have serious bolt wobble.

Unable to find a Model 527 chambered for the 7.62x39mm with an appropriate bolt face, and because what was available would require significant feed port enlargement, I purchased a Remington Model 799 in 22-250 Rem. The models 799 (short action) and 798 (long action) were low cost rifles Remington purchased from Serbian manufacturer Zastava, rebranded as a Remington product for U.S. sales. The same rifle is available currently as the Zastava Sporting rifle LK M85.

The overhaul

The 799’s barrel was pulled, and the action and two Douglas match grade barrel blanks, chamber reamers and headspace gauges were sent to Dennis Olson in Plains, MT. One barrel in 7mm with a 9″ twist, one a .30 caliber with a 10″ twist, both 25″ long, to be cut to 21″ long to be optimal for the 44 grain cartridge case capacity.

Both barrels were finished in a #2 contour and target crowned, so our barrel channel inletting of a Bell & Carlson Carbelite stock would fit properly with either barrel. Back in our shop, only a few minutes are required to pull the stock and swap barrels to provide us with two caliber capability.

The barrels could have been tighter on twist, but these were selected to deliver best accuracy with light to middle range weight bullets for respective bores; 160 grain maximum for the 7mm and 175 grain maximum for the .30 caliber. No subsonic heavy weights intended and no threaded muzzles to accommodate suppressed fire.

The Remington 799 Mauser is a little different from most mini Mausers. The rifle has a two position thumb safety. The button on the trigger guard that imitates a cross bolt safety is actually the release for its hinged floorplate. Yes, that is a tiny bolt handle, but it works just fine and it is proportionally correct.

 

An illustration of the diminutive size if the the mini Mauser action is by bolt size, the full length, fixed extractor Mauser bolt along side a push feed Remington Model 700 bolt. The Mauser bolt face was opened to about maximum to accommodate the 30 Remington AR rim.

The good, the bad and the not quite finished. I like hinged floorplates and bottom metal that is flush with the stock, but the floorplate release on the Model 799 is butt ugly and the magazine in its current state only holds two of the large diameter 30 Rem AR rounds.

One in the chamber and two in the magazine will do for deer hunting, but maybe I can guppy belly the floorplate for one more? A good project; finding a solution. Might be able to address bolt wobble also.

If it’s not perfect, why go on?

It is an education. Working on it is kind of like working on a drag car; you baseline, make a change, monitor the objective results, work on it some more.

In the case of the Mauser and 30 Remington AR, the rifle shot 4″ 100 yard groups when first assembled. Cleaning up inletting made it shoot about 1/2″ tighter. After a bit of head scratching, shooting more groups that were about the same size, and bore scoping the barrel and not finding an obvious defect, I was in the process of pulling the barrel and have it air gauged.

The receiver turned way to easy with the barrel held in the barrel vise. So I pulled the barrel, cleaned up the threads and coated them with a little light anti seize compound, then reinstalled, torquing to 75 ft.lbs. The rifle shot multiple 0.8″ – 1.0″ five shot groups.

So now I have an ugly, roughly finished rifle that shoots better than MOA and worth the investment to make it pretty. And now I have another useful Maine deer rifle.

I did go on to work up some more handloads…

And the point is?

Flogging a clunker does not gave to result in the perfect combination of rifle and cartridge, or even bragging rights on social media.

Firearms are interesting machines. They can be challenging, and working on them can be a measure of a person’s abilities. Purchasing a firearm can lead to much more than the occasional trip to the range, or outings solely during hunting season, they foster many ancillary activities.

There is time to spend at the reloading bench, time to spend on a milling machine or lathe while ironing out machinist’s skills, and making what can’t be purchased. Nothing wrong  with cleaning up a field worn walnut stock and applying a fine finish. There are wildcat cartridges to design and theories to prove. There is the quest for ever better accuracy.

Firearm related projects develop critical thinking skills. Cumulatively, skills that are transferable to many areas that are not firearm related. Most important, they keep a person off of the sofa and away from the TV.