Raimey,
You are quite right that you will not find a 100-year-old photo of a hunter with a dial caliper or digital caliper around his neck or in his hand. However, I do have a Mauser made pre-WW2 vernier caliper, somewhere under the pile of "stuff" on my work bench. My previous mention of these instruments was only in regard to approximating a measurement of the diameter of a slug representing the groove diameter of a barrel with an uneven number of grooves by a current handloader. Off brand dial calipers and digital calipers are so cheap today, I can't imagine anyone trying to handload without one or the other. I find a digital caliper very helpful in converting from imperial to metric dimensions and back.
There seems to be confusion regarding proofmarks and their relationship to nominal caliber of the ammunition. The numbers on the barrel only represent the dimensions of the barrel's chamber and bore (or grooves if Austrian). The nominal caliber on the barrel (if one is shown) is only the name given to the cartridge intended to be used in the gun. Where there is no Nominal caliber shown (almost all pre- 1939 German proof law German guns) a popular mistake is to take the "proof mark numbers" as the nominal caliber (imagine an inexperienced store clerk trying to find 7,8/57 ammo).
As to your question of whether " Franz Sodia" loaded ammo can be used in a Suhl made rifle: disregarding the fact that I don't believe Franz Sodia loaded ammunition, there is not enough information to answer the question. We only know that you have an Austrian drilling with a rifle barrel proofed as having a 6.8mm groove diameter barrel. We know (or believe) the German loaded ammo has 6.56mm/.261" bullets, but do not know the bullet diameter of the Austrian ammo. The answer to whether you can use the German .261" ammo in the .268" barrel is, disregarding accuracy, yes. But answering the question whether you can use the Austrian ammo in a Suhl made gun is like answering the question, how long is a piece of string?
When we play with guns chambered for obsolete cartridges, we have to consider working out the attendant problems as part of the challenge and fun, even if it requires buying and learning to use different equipment and tools. You may be the only person in Alabama that has and can shoot a 6.5x70R. Good Luck, War Eagle.
Mike
I noted from fuhrmann's attachment that the Austrian nominal designation of this cartridge is 6.6x70 in keeping with their tradition.
Mike
Last edited by Der Ami; 08/29/25 11:18 AM.
