No.4 300 Winchester Magnum Test

[Andy]

Interesting project and I'll be watching for results, but my experience in these things is that many sceptics will remain unconvinced, as solid evidence is rarely sufficient for them to cease clinging to their beliefs. I did some proof testing of a Carcano a while back (posted here) and the "fact" that it's a weak and dangerous action remains a fixture of gun folklore.

You'll go to all that trouble and expense, fire 100 max loads through it and it will remain intact, but it will still be considered unsafe for conversion to 300 Win Mag.

Why not leave it in 303 Brit, and load up full cases of progressively faster powder under the 174 gr bullet (e.g. start with 4350 and work down to 4198)? I could not get the Carcano to come apart with a full case of Unique, but the cartridge did come apart.