brosteve,

Oops it looks like we got off adam's original question abit.

By kuduae's photos we can see that length will preclude alot of conversions.

To go from a short cartridge to a long cartridge you'd have to get a "long magazine" and cutnshut two actions & bolts (firing pins & obtaining long action firing pin springs) to end up with a long action, just like they do with some mauser magnum conversions.

Diameter would also be an issue if you converted to a cartridge of much greater "girth" than the original. Large increases in Neck size and shoulder size would also become a factor due to their relationship to the neck area of the spool and the inside diameter of the shoulder "support ring". I've already mentioned the inside radius on the magazine where the head of the cartridge rotates.

Kuduae's bottom picture, of the dissasembled magazines, shows the type of magazine I had as an example to work off. The one on the right does not have the partitions between the cartridge bodies.

This shows that each individual cartridge's alloted "bed" area in the spool doesn't have to be closely fitted to the cartridge. Please MS devotees/zelots this is not an attack on what you've said...........just my observations.......and I've been wrong before !!!!!!

I think that it would be adventageous for the indent in the "cartridge pushing paddle" to match the contour of the cartridge. It would, at least, give you optimum magazine capacity.

No Steve I didn't have any left over mags at the end of the whole process........not even any spare parts. Yep it was satisfying work as it had been "converted" by a local "legend" but I got the old girl working like it should have and back in action.