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Old November 1, 2012, 10:30 AM   #1
TheBear
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6x45 bolt action rifle

Guys,
I want to build myself a 6x45 bolt action rifle, i just love the idea of the 6x45 cartridge.
What would be the best rifle to start with or can i convert any .223rem bolt action rifle to 6x45? Where can i get a 6x45 barrel? Can every gunsmith do a barrel change?
so many questions, hope you can answer some of them!
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Old November 1, 2012, 11:51 AM   #2
doofus47
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I would figure that you would start with a rifle chambered to 223 and then change to a 243 barrel. Shouldn't be hard. You will have already bolt that will mate with your cartridge base and a gunsmith should be able to headspace the new barrel to the receiver pretty easily, I should think.
I don't even know if .243 barrels come with a wide variance in rifling twist rates.
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Old November 1, 2012, 11:54 AM   #3
emcon5
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Since it starts with a .223 case, a .223 rifle would be a good starting point, as it would need no modification to the bolt.

Your need to find a gunsmith to do the work, and give him the .223 rifle, a .243" barrel blank of your choosing. Hopefully you can find one that has the chamber reamer and headspace gauges.
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Old November 2, 2012, 04:09 AM   #4
HiBC
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I don't know if anyone is importing the Zastavia mini-Mauser anymore.Remington at least put them in the catalogue.CZ offers a small bolt rifle in .223.

You can get AR barrels in that cartridge.

Of course,any Rem,Savage,etc with .223 bolt face would work.

Now,just for confusion sake,the mini mausers were at least advertised as available in 3 configurations:.223.7.62x39,and 22-250.

Not saying anything bad about 6mm-.233,but it is also possible to think about the other two parent cases.The PPC cartridges and the 6.5 Grendel are a natural for 7.62x 39 rifle.

Thje Rem benchrest series of cartridges use a 308 case head dia,like the 22-250.This case is shorter than a 22-250,so say a 6mm,6.5 mm,or 7 mm benchrrest would fit with a little room for a longer bullet.

Hmmmmmm.
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Old November 2, 2012, 07:26 AM   #5
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Great little cartridge, I have a Stevens 200 chambered in 6X47 or 6mm-222 Remington Magnum the parent cartridge for the .204 Ruger. I chose the 6X47 just for the little extra case capacity it would give me and the slightly longer neck. Downside for me is limited availability and quality of .222 Rem Mag brass to neck up if you stick with the .223 case you'll never have that problem.

Understand up front the best bullet range for your cartridge is going to be bullets weighing in at 85 grains or less. Yes if you twist the barrel right you could potentially load 100+ grain bullets but if you aren't wanting a single shot rifle, you'll have a tough time trying to get them to fit in a magazine. Go with at least a 1:10 twist, I didn't because I got a deal on a 1:12 barrel but I have a hard time getting bullets over 80 grains to shoot well. HPBT and BT don't stabalize well for when I go over 80 grains.

I chose the Stevens 200 for my action because I decided I was going to put it together myself. I had a pre-fit Savage barrel made by Sin Arms, I rented a set of headspace gages from 4D reamer rentals, and bought a Barrel Nut wrench from Midway. It took me about two hours to put together my Stevens once I had all the parts together, that included installing new recoil lug, head spacing the barrel, replacing the bolt handle, installing a bolt lift kit, and a new trigger.

If I were looking for actions to build, I'd stay with Remington M700 or M7, and Savage M10 actions. You can use other actions and Howa and Weatherby Vanguard come to mind, but they have metric threads and you just have to make sure your smith can thread the barrel. Yes the Mini Mauser action is still being made and imported to the United States as they pop up on gunbroker from time to time, but be careful with them as you will have no real "wiggle" room in the magazine with it or the CZ rifles.
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Old November 2, 2012, 02:29 PM   #6
Jimro
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Start with a Savage 10 or Stevens 200 in 223.

Get a 6x45 barrel from SharpShooterSupply.

Unscrew old barrel, install new barrel. Done.

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Old November 3, 2012, 05:41 PM   #7
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Savage action are the only ones to get if you like to play with different rounds. With a Savage you only need to loosen the barrel nut and screw out the barrel, then screw in a different one, head space it and tighten the barrel nut. Bolt heads are very easy to change also if you want to change to a round whit a different dia. case head. The 200 Stevens actions are Savage actions so they work the same way. If I find a Savage or Stevens at a gun show that is to cheap I buy it no matter what it is chambered in. The 6 x 45 is simply a 223 case opened up to 6mm. If you wanting to make alot of change over time I would recomand you stay away for the Savage Axis. It has the recoil lug molded into the stock and not on the action makeing it harder to modify. That does not make it a bad gun, just less suitable for mods. I like to play with wildcat rounds and love the Savage actions.
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