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First of all, to say that everything has already been done, is just silly. Our cartridge companies come up with new calibers all the time. I don't intend to blow a whole wad of money on something that isn't feasible from a ballistic standpoint. What I need is someone who really knows this stuff from the ground up, not an armchair expert.
As far as spending huge amounts of money to complete this project, that is not going to happen, I don't have huge sums of money to begin with, and I wouldn't blow it on a deal like this if I did have it.
A want or a need? That's a good question but I think you will have to admit that most of the stuff we talk about on here , comes under the heading of wants. I don't think anyone really NEEDS a Lightweight hunting double rifle in an effective caliber for North American game, We just WANT it.
I won't say that my idea hasen't ever been considered before, but I don't think it has ever been done before. If it has, I have never seen or heard about it.
For all you guys who only hunt huge animals with humungus guns, you can probably drop out of this discussion right now. That's not at all what I have in mind. I might as well go on ahead and tell you what I thought might make a good double rifle cartridge.
I found some 8mm. barrels in good to better condition and was hunting around for a cartridge that could be used in these after being rechambered. What I came up with is the oldest sucessful semi-smokeless cartridge ever made, the 8mm. Label. It has a HUGE rim, bigger than the 45/70. The problem comes in when we look at the case, it has a secondary sloping area before you reach the neck. In my thinking I figured that that might make the back pressure against the standing breech too high because of the slope. So, what if the case were fire formed in a new redisgned chamber where the case walls were straightened? The shoulder could also be changed to give a stiffer angle and both would increase the available space in the case plus help it hold up better inside the chamber, maybe? The back thrust against the standing breech would be lessened and spread over that huge head meaning that alot of slow burning powder could be used to give good velocity without going too far overboard on pressure. You guys toss this around and after you get through laughing, let me know if any of you think this idea has any value. P.S.- I have dropped the idea of using the old surplus barrels, it too much work building one of these guns to risk using old barrels.
Bob H.