doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com .280 Dubiel project

Well, I've been bitten, and am working up a .280 Dubiel. I found a treasure trove of cases, loaded ammo and bullets, as well as a chambering reamer, and have gone back down the Dubiel/Keith/Hoffman rabbit hole. I can get dies from CH4D. My problem, and I seem to have run into a wall, is finding a barrel. There are no barrel makers in the US that I can find that can make the .280 bore diameter barrel (I've read both .287 and .288 groove diameter).

But the .280 D is very similar (diameter wise) to the .275 H&H magnum, which uses a .287 bullet, so I am going to start checking British barrel makers next. I know Holland wouldn't sell me a barrel and I probably couldn't afford it if they did.

Can anyone think of a short cut? Are there domestic barrel makers that can do custom bore sizes?

That is going to be a tough one, not enough demand for barrel makers to tool up for the job.

You spoke to Krieger? Offered to pay for tooling? John would take on special projects in the past if he found it interesting.

Short cut? Have your reamer reground or another made to shoot .284" bullets.

The odd British bore sizes present a real challenge today, I have a .475 #2 Jeffery and have recently sold a couple of Holland .240 rifles.

Thanks. I sent notes out to two British barrel makers, we'll see I guess. It's all silly of course, but I'm sentimental about these old wildcats and the world they came out of. This happened the same week I found an original .300 Hoffman barrel on ebay so it's kind of a perfect storm.

I did call Krieger and they said they couldn't do it. I didn't offer to pay for a reamer, didn't know it was an option, he didn't bring it up. Lothar Walther touts their "anything goes" custom options, I may call them tomorrow, but I'm not hopeful.

.284 may be the best option. What's 4 thousandths between friends?

0.002 to the side.

Ryan,
First, measure the pilot of the reamer you have. The people involved with this wildcat ground their own reamers and it is possible that the pilot will already work with a .284" barrel. If not, you can pretty easily grind the pilot to fit (the neck, not so easy). By changing the expander button to hold the smaller bullet, and neck sizing to keep the case centered in the chamber you may be able to use a .284" barrel satisfactorily.

Mike

Thanks - I'll check that first thing when it arrives.
Correction: I forgot there is a photo on the auction. The pilot Mic's at .2750.

Also found that Woodleigh makes suitable bullets for the 275 H&H (.287 diam) and got the last 2 boxes I found of them. Hoping to find more. And Pacific Tool makes custom barrel reamers - this all might come together.

Ryan,
The .2750" pilot should work with a .284" standard American barrel; you can check it if you have any American 7mm rifle.
Mike

Yes, I think it will. The plot thickens on this, as I guess it always does, and I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but there are two reamer profiles out there, very similar except one is designed to take regular .284/7mm bullets, while the other (sourced from JGS reamers) stipulates .287 which is more correct. The problem with moving forward is that no one can or will drill a hole other than that for a standard 7mm rifle, which is .277. I don't know what the bore size of the original was, and haven't been able to find that in any old documentation, only the original bullet diameter which was usually .288, although some mention .287.

I found a cut rifled barrel maker who can cut grooves deeper on request and thought of getting the standard 7mm barrel with the grooves cut an extra .001 deep. This will take the groove depth from the standard .284 to .286. I can get .286 bullets in any conformation from Hawk bullets. I can get dies cut by CH tool. JGS can cut the reamer (which I already have, but for future reference), they have the print. So we shall see.

There are actually two original 280 rifles up for sale right now - one is an original Vernor Gipson on Gunbroker, on an Enfield action, and the other is Elmer Keith's original target/test rifle and an enormous trove of gear with it.