Thanks for the info. The only 6mm class rifle I ever fired was a friends Savage 99 in 243. Got to admit I liked it a lot. I have fired plenty of 6.5 Jap and Italian milsurp rifles but it is not the same.
It looks to be both just standard 6mm factory but the mauser chamber is just larger. The reloads don't have a 30⁰ or 40⁰ improved shoulder. COL of the mauser being that much longer on the reloads, the bullet might be running into lands on the standard chamber rifle.
9
Exactly what I was thinking.
Looks to me (from the picture) the reloaded round is partially neck sized. Probably fired in mauser and then neck sized to prevent headspace problems. No biggy , but you can only necksize so long. Check w caliper just above base and compare the two.
Also check bullet diameter !!! Could be using 6.mm brass to load 7mm mauser.. Bullet looks really long to me very possibly 7mm. If your mauser has not been rebarreled that's probably a clue.. Every thing you say would fit. 6mm would load(and probably fire) in 7mm chamber but not the other way.
M
M
You can zoom the pic in or out on the for sure 6mm bullet on the right until you can mic it as 6mm, then mic the left one. They're both 6mm.
Most definitely been rebarreled. It’s a heavy barrel on a Chinese contract Mauser receiver.
Ok the fact it is on a Chinese action likely is the clue. Even though they were strong actions made in Germany nearly all are mismatched with bolts and receivers. If whoever built this rifle did not actually lap the locking lugs to mate them properly you get a situation where only one (or maybe only the safety lug) is actually making proper contact. That can even happen when the modified bolt actually bears on receiver pushing the bolt forward slightly theoretically. If not corrected before reaming the chamber you get into a situation where your go and no go gauges read correctly but when you fire the rifle you get bolt setback effectively changing headspace. In the extreme this can even result in bolt lug cracks, making a bolt extremely hard to open on fired case etc. Only way to test for this I know of without removing barrel is to take some layout blue (or smoke the lugs with a candle) and paint lugs. Then with a strong cleaning rod inserted in barrel hold pressure against lugs while working bolt up and down a few times. when you remove bolt and look at mating surfaces on back of lugs you can see which lugs are touching. This is not 100% accurate but it's a good indicator. I know you don't want to spend money on Smith to test or reset headspace etc but this is test you can do. And the results of firing are as you describe. Just something to check if your curious.
.should read modified bolt handle root bears on receiver pushing bolt forward slightly
Similar threads
