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Daryl,

I have a (probably undeserved) aversion to "improved" cartridges in bolt rifles, which has partly to do with my years of competitive shooting with such rifles and the difficulties those sharp shoulders create in reliable feeding, and partly to the numerous pre-64 Winchester Model 70's I have encountered over the years where a .257 Roberts has had an "improved" reamer run in it and had its ultimate value cut in half. I also spent a year trying unsuccessfully to make a 6mm Walker International, a popular bench rest cartridge at one time, feed in a Model 70. It is an improved version of the 6mm/.250, with a very steep shoulder.

I own a couple of hunting rifles with improved cartridges. One is a Model 70 which I bought in 1965 for $75.00 from my sergeant/clerk, who needed the money. It was a .243 Winchester which someone had improved by rechambering to .240 Page Sooper Pooper. The cartridge was a creation of Warren Page, at the time a well known gun writer and bench rest competitor. In essence, it is an improved .244 Remington, and cases are formed by shooting .244 Remington ammunition in it. I bought it with the idea of using the action as the basis for a match rifle. It was several years later before I decided to give it a chance on the range.

I loaded up some ammunition and took it out to an obscure location where my gunsmith friend had built a range. From a bench rest, he could shoot out to 300 meters. After sighting the rifle in, I decided to give it a try at 300 meters. The resulting five shot group measured less than 1.5". I still have the rifle, and it has accounted for numerous crows and ground hogs. Its dimensions would be close to your 6.5X57 Improved. In fact, it could be called a 6X57 Improved. Reliable feeding is not an issue with it.

The other rifle is also a Model 70. It has a barrel marked "Roy Dunlap" on top and "Bliss Titus" on the side. It is in caliber .300 H&H Magnum Improved. I have always thought that the fact that the 1000 yard Wimbledon Match at Camp Perry was won in the late '40's by a competitor firing a Model 70 with a Titus barrel in caliber .300 H&H Improved had something to do with that caliber's selection for my rifle, which is purely a hunting rifle. Although unmarked, the rifle was evidently stocked by John Hearn, whom Dunlap refers to repeatedly in his gunsmithing book. The checkering on the pistol grip appears to be unmistakably Hearn's.

I have never used the rifle to hunt with, because of the integral muzzle brake, and because I have both a perfectly good Model 70 in .300 H&H and a Weatherby in .300 Weatherby, which I bought at a bargain price, because it is left handed. Problems with my right eye are forcing me to learn to shoot left handed.

I have owned a number of single shot rifles in improved calibers, including the K-Hornet, the .219 Donaldson Wasp, the .219 Improved Zipper, the 6mm Ackley Improved Krag and the .25 Ackley Improved Krag, and in my opinion these rimmed cartridges are the proper subject for improvement.

I apologise for hijacking the thread.

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