276 MAG Carlson

[ahagen]

I was given a rifle by a coworker. It’s a 276 Mag Carlson.

I’m having some serious issues finding any information online. Any help would be appreciated.

I’m also considering rebarreling it to something more common. It’s a 1951 FN Mauser action.

For clarity: info on resizing brass, load data, measurements, what to start with or should I just rebarrel it?

[crbutler]

I’d slug the bore and have a cerrosafe casting done of the chamber and get some measurements. Also check what size the breech face is (standard, belted mag, etc). If you have fired brass that’s a start, but I’d still do the above to ensure you know what you are dealing with.

If it’s from ‘51 or so, who knows what it really is. Folks named things differently then and it could be essentially a .280 or some such. A .276 moniker suggests a .270 or 7mm wildcat.

Before messing with it, make sure you know who made it. Some old gunsmiths command premiums for untouched work.

Once you know the bore and case, you have a decision to make-
Find a set of dies (since this is an odd one, unlikely)
Have custom dies made (not that hard to have done, but more money than standard)
Rechamber (probably the least expensive option)
Rebarrel

Or possibly just sell it as is. If it’s an odd duck, some folks like those.

Can’t say I’ve personally ever heard of the .276 mag Carlson.

[crbutler]

As to reloading data, first you need the above info.

Lots of ways to develop data for a wildcat cartridge, but they all require some data...

[smurfman]

Give it back. It is a money pit if you can do the work yourself and a black hole if you have to job it out.

It sounds like someone had a personal wildcat made up which was not uncommon at one time. One could make a cast of the chamber to get some idea on the case dimensions and where to start in regards to a parent case. From that you could begin to get an idea of load data.

This assumes you were also given dies with the rifle. If not, then you need to take a chamber cast, send it to the die company of your choice, and have them custom make a set of dies for you. One can get a bout of sticker shock going this route. I almost had to go this route with an obsolete cartridge which was pretty expensive but not as much as a "one of".

A rebarrel is an option and can go several hundred dollars total for a barrel and labor for someone else to do the work. As it sounds like the bolt face and feed rails may have been altered to fit a magnum cartridge, you may be stuck with a round based off that rather than a standard one. If you are really lucky, you may be able to have the barrel set back a bit and recut the chamber for something available.

You will also have to hope the original smith knew what he was doing and did the alterations correctly so there weren't any feeding problems. If this was poorly done there may not be much that can be done to fix the problem. Then you are down to a paperweight and/or a tomato stake.

It was a nice gesture to be given the rifle but in its current state the parts may be worth more than the complete gun. The barrel is basically worth it's weight as scrap, the receiver is an unknown, so the stock and maybe the trigger are the most valuable. I would probably put my efforts into identifying the gunsmith who put it together and pray that it was someone notable. Then you might be able to sell it and get a more usable rifle.

[870TC]

: Standard twist: 10". This is a short 7mm Magnum cartridge, made by necking down and shortening the .300 H&H brass. (Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders/Vol. 1 - P.O. Ackley, 1962)
https://loaddata.com/Cartridge/276-Carl ... -Data/6474

[ahagen]

Thanks for the consideration and confirming what I was thinking about having to cast the chamber to get any real measurements.

Thanks for the link as well. That’s good to know about the .300 H&H case as a base.

Since no dies came with it, it’s probably not worth doing anything serious with it. I’ll try to track down who built it, but the original owner is long gone.

Thanks again.

[crbutler]

Usually there are makers marks somewhere on them, if done by a pro.

However, finding them sometimes requires removing the stock from the action, and looking carefully at both stock and action.

If it’s a home done job, then there usually are no marks.

Good luck with it. If it’s a shortened 7mm and a standard(.30-06) action, rechambering to 7mm rem mag is an option. That may well be the closest factory option (depends how short it is). Heck, you might find with measurements it’s close enough to use 7mm rem mag in it. Sounds like this predates the 7 mag.

[hard h2o]

: Standard twist: 10". This is a short 7mm Magnum cartridge, made by necking down and shortening the .300 H&H brass. (Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders/Vol. 1 - P.O. Ackley, 1962)
https://loaddata.com/Cartridge/276-Carl ... -Data/6474

https://www.bevfitchett.us/guns-01-1959/western-publications.html

"Dick Carlson of Hamilton, Montana also brought out the .276 Carlson, on a cut-off .300 Magnum case that is very similar to the 7x61 Sharpe & Hart. Roy Gradle later made a 7 mm on the .348 case."