diyj98,

Ok...OK.., you got me there, that does have appeal. I guess you got me. It does make one think. I personally don't know anyone with one of those. It would be fun to have the only one of those at deer camp.

I guess I now know what I'll be reading about tonight.....ballistic tables.

Thanks, Kevin

While I am certainly not going to talk you out of a .270. I absolutly love mine and it's quite the capeable rifle for North Americas game.

With saying that, and since you have a gunsmith friend helping you, you do not have to stick with only the "standard" case head dimension. You can chamber it for just about any cartridge you want as long as the case head is larger or the same size as the -06. It is a simple matter of opening up the bolt face to the proper dimension. A ten minute job on a lathe. While the .270 is an excelent cartridge it is certainly not exotic like you said you wanted.

Not that this is goint to give you anything that the 308 or 300win mag won't give you but something like the 300 H&H is readily available and somewhat exotic. Or something like an 7mm STW, 240 Weatherby, 6mm Rem.

I'm not a gunsmith, but you might have to open up the bolt face for the 6.5x55 and the 264 winmag, the 257 and 7x57 use the same size shellholder as the 06. Like Bigbulls suggested, it's an easy enough job with the right equipment.

No matter how you cut the cookie, the '17 Enfield sporterized is usually heavy and inconvenient. It's costly to do a good job of sporterizing them and the best sporters are usually big big big game rifles. Mine is a .375 H&H and about the right weight for the caliber. They can be turned into .404 Jeffery, and any of the RUM carttridges. They can hold the .300 Weatherby and all the similar cartridges. The .458 Lott and .470 Capstick are "piece of cake" cartridges for this action.....but the weight is justified in these calibers.

With the conditions you've laid out the calibers that might suit you are the .240 Weatherby and the family of .30-06s and that includes the wildcats (6.5-06 and yes even the .338-06)

Any of these cartridges can be housed in actions that are lighter and less costly than the '17 Enfield conversion.

Staying within your limitations, I'd pick the .280 Remington.

However, I'd ask you to rethink the question to yourself.

I know you said in your original guidelines nothing over .30. But then you let someone talk you into considering the .35 Whelen. So here goes....

You want something truly different, (maybe even esoteric....mysterious even)! Something that you will have no trouble getting brass or bullets. You want something to do things for you that your current battery does not do. And in keeping with the suggestion above.....maybe even "worthy...suitable" of the classic Enfield action.

Here are two "different" choices. Yes...they are both wildcats! Yes.....you will have to reload for either, (and need dies.....which RCBS can provide). But......you won't find either of them just sitting around in any old camp. And they both have the head stamp size of the standard .30-06.

The .375 Whelen Improved.

The .400 Whelen.

The .375 Whelen Improved can be (and most commonly is) loaded using .30-06 cases (actually .35 Whelen cases would be even easier) necked up and the shoulder angle steepened! Respectable velocities can be achieved.....and the cartridge very much resembles the "old English and Continental" medium bore cartridges very much in use in Africa around the turn of the 20th Century.

The .400 Whelen is best reamed and bored to use standard bullets as the .416 Rigby or the .416 Remington. So bullets are common enough. However, it is most common today to ream the chamber to actually handle the case commonly used in the .240 Weatherby. That case is essentially no more......and no less......than a .30-06 with a belt. Because the .400 Whelen has far too insignificant shoulder for positive headspacing.....the belt insures proper headspacing. I know the .240 Weatherby cases are a little less common.....and a little more expensive....but you end up with a truly different rifle. And in a very uncommon caliber. The .400 Whelen out performs as it is a true over achiever! You'd be surprised what a .30-06 sized case can do for a forty caliber bullet. It is not a "flat-as-a-string" trajectory.....but it delivers truly impressive performance over normal hunting ranges.

By the way.....a good source of info on either of these or many other cartridges is a book entitled, "Big Bore Rifles".

Good luck with your decision!

Dave

P.S. One other suggestion. (As long as everything is up for grabs.) An Enfield chambered in either of those and equipped with a good set of adjustable aperature sights.....would be as near perfect an outfit I could imagine for a grand old Enfield! Just my .02 cents.

Some advice I've heard from a gunsmith concerning the 1917- have the receiver ring magnafluxed after the barrel is removed- the 1917's receivers have been known to crack.


I would think about what Vapodog said- the 1917 is a good action to build big magnum rifles on, to me it seems awfully huge to use for anything smaller than an '06.

i am a fan of the 35's
i also hunt in maine depending on where you live shots can be up close and personal out to over 200yds in some clear cuts, logging roads and potatpo fields.
what about a nice 35whelen? fine medicine for the moose tag you are always wanted to get pulled for and bear caliber.
plus down the road if you need the $$$ you will never have the problem selling her. i know alot of people looking for that round in a nice gun. my second pick would be something between what you have already. maybe a 280rem. fine caliber and still wish i never got rid of mine. or a 7mm-08rem.

good luck !!! let us know what you decide to pick out.

Holy smokes, I'm getting just what I needed, food for thought. You know, the more I think about it, the more I sleep on it, talk to you guys, and discussing it with my friends, the more a large caliber intrigues me. I know I originally said nothing above 30 cal., but now something like akbound is talking about really sparks my interest.

As far as the cost goes for sporterizing this '17 enfield. The only cost is going to be the barrel. My 300 mag is a sporterized Enfield, so I am very familiar with the weight and "carry-ability" of this type of rifle. Also, I have two stocks for the 300. One is a synthetic that came with the rifle, the other is a beatiful wood stock of curly maple with mahogany forend tip and grip cap. I am in the process of finishing the maple, it's coming out great. So, I'll use the wood for this project, my gunsmith friend has told me that he'll assist me with the milling on the action. He's going to teach me how to run the mill and lathe. (not on the action) I have my summers off, so there's plenty of time.

This is going to be my first rifle that I'm having built especially for me. All I have ever done in the past is refinish stocks, so this is very exciting.

Hmmmm....akbound,....you may have ceated a monster.
Kevin

IF you would like something a little exotic you could go with the 6.5X64 Brenneke which is a 270 necked down to .264 with no other changes or try the 280 Ackley improved. The 6.5X64 is standardized in Europe and ammo is available in the USA. The 280 Ackley is made by fire forming 280 Remington in the Ackley chambered rifle. There are places such as conley precision that offer ammo ready for the two above mentioned. Although, if you just go with the 280 you will probably be just as happy. Federal has just introduced some new loads for the 280 and winchester offfers 2 very good ones.

Superpig,
That's interesting, ammo wouldn't be a problem as long as I can get the brass and bullets. I definitely want to reload for this rifle.

What I'm searching for now is a good place to buy a barrel.

Akbound,
I just read a couple of articles about the .400 Whelen, .........nice.