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Re Barrel ?

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Topic: Re Barrel ?
Posted By: OLRVRAT
Subject: Re Barrel ?
Date Posted: March/17/2008 at 20:11
 I have a mauser action with a 300 wsm barrel on it. I not satisfied with the perfomance of this barrel so i'm thinking of putting a new barrel on. I don't need a 300 wsm as i have 2 300 saum's & a 325 wsm. 
 I guess i have to go with a magnum cartridge because of the magnum bolt face?
 i do not have a 6.5 cal rifle and was wondering about the performance of 6.5 remington mag and if it would be an option. I don't think i want to do a 264 rem mag as i have a 7 mm mag.
 I would appreciate any advice or suggestions.
 Thanks in advance.



Replies:
Posted By: sakomato
Date Posted: March/17/2008 at 21:52

Hey OLRVRAT

I have just recently rebarreled a rifle to 6.5 rem mag.  I used a 300 win mag action which needed no bolt face work and had a 26" Douglas 1 in 8 #4 contour barrel put on it.

This is the 300 WSM case

 
and the 6.5 rem mag case
 
My guess is you would need little or no bolt face work because there is only .003" difference in the case head.  There might be a question about how the magazine would hold the more slender 6.5 rem mag case.  There might also be a question about whether you would lose some performance because of having to seat the bullets into the case because the magazine might be a little shorter. 
 
Can you measure your magazine and see what COAL is possible?
 
Mine was easy because the 300 win mag magazine has lots of room for the 6.5 rem mag even though it was extremely short for the 300 win mag case and I couldn't load out close to the lands
 
 
I set it so that I could load way out with the bullet because I was advised that the long 140 bullets would take up too much room in the case (these are 130 gr Accubonds)
 
 
But, in my reloading experience that is not a problem.  The 6.5 rem mag case will hold 63 grains of RL22 to the base of the neck and most of my loads are between 56 to 60 grains.  Right now I am loading 60 gr of RL25 and getting 3000 fps and the powder is not compressed at all.  So in my opinion a shorter OAL would certainly be workable.
 
As far as performance, I wanted to shoot the 130 gr Accubonds at 3000 fps.  That velocity is certainly a piece of cake and I have reached 3100 fps without a sweat and no pressure signs with RL22 and RL19.  However, I found that my 1 in 8 barrel really prefers the 140 gr bullets with RL25 and Fed215M primers
 
 
One thing is the load data in the manuals is predicated towards rifles with lower working pressures and it is not even close to what you can obtain with cautiously progressive loading.
 
Now to the loading.  The only cases available are Remington.  They have thick necks that average between .015" to .017".  My gunsmith chambered the neck to .292" which is a little tight and means I have to turn the necks down to .0125".  Now that is a lot of turning!
 
I have a friend who requested I take an old 300 win mag of his and do the same thing but he wanted to be able to shoot factory ammo.  When I took it to the gunsmith I bought a box of factory ammo and took that with me.  The gunsmith called me today and we discussed it and decided on a .298" neck.
 
Dies are not too bad.  I had Lee make me a Collet Neck Sizer and Factory Crimp.  Redding had a Body Sizer and after contacting RCBS we figured out I could use a Competition Seater for the 6.5x55 Swede.
 
Did I miss anything?
 
 
 


-------------
Guns only have 2 enemies, rust and politicians


Posted By: 8shots
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 02:56
Sakomato, that is really some valuable info there! The forum is lucky to have some-one with this type of feedback.


Posted By: OLRVRAT
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 07:34
 sakomato, thank you for the very informative response.
 My magazine is long action length, so the oal shouldn't be a problem.
 I would like to shoot the  130 gr. bullets. Would 1 in 9 twist be better or do you believe the the 1 in 8 is the way to go?
 I was thinking a 24" barrel.
 


Posted By: sakomato
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 16:09
Hey 8shots, kind words indeed, it's easy to talk about something that you have a lot of experience with.
 
OLRVRAT, if I had it to do over again I would probably go with a 1 in 9 twist.  On my friend's rifle I have told the gunsmith to do that.  Usually the only factory ammo you can find is the Remington Core-Lokt 120 gr bullets ($37.99 for that box I bought Shocked) but that probably won't be a problem if you reload.
 
It's a shame no one has taken the 300WSM and necked it down to 6.5 and called it the 6.5WSM, would be a nice caliber.  The 6.5 rem mag has that belt which is not a problem except that the brass manufacturers think that since it is headspacing on the belt they don't have to worry about excess headspace at the shoulder.  That is why case head separations are most often mentioned in the belted cases. 
 
Just have your gunsmith chamber it just past the "go" gauge and you will get the least excess shoulder headspace possible.  Mine has .014" excess headspace between the shoulder and chamber on new cases.  That is about 1/2 of what a pre-64 264 win mag that I used to own had.


-------------
Guns only have 2 enemies, rust and politicians


Posted By: cyborg
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 16:24
I like the 6.5 idea, and the information here is fantastic, thanks guys, thanks sako. good luck olrvrat, I think that would be a good setup and one you will enjoy working with. Keep us informed.

-------------
With Freedom comes great responsibility, you cannot have one without the other

An armed public are citizens. A disarmed public are subjects.

OATH KEEPER #8233 Support us, and join our cause.

Cyborg


Posted By: sakomato
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 17:30
Yeah, I'm pretty happy with mine.  Kicks and shoots like a 270 with a little more sectional density for better penetration.  I wouldn't feel undergunned taking it Elk hunting with those 140 gr bullets (might have to work up a 140 gr Nosler Partition load though).
 
Here are a few pics, I chose the Zeiss Conquest 4.5x14x44 RapidZ 800 scope
 
 
OLRVRAT, you mentioned considering a 24" barrel.  I have 2 rebarrels and both are 26".  Before I got the first one I was back and forth on the 24" or 26".  Of course there are always personal preferences, but I now prefer the 26" so much that I got it on the 6.5 rem mag also.  One thing is you can always cut off a couple of inches and recrown later if it bothers you.  I would recommend the 26" without hesitation, gives you a little more velocity and a little more confidence pushing that full size barrel out in front of you.


-------------
Guns only have 2 enemies, rust and politicians


Posted By: cyborg
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 17:33
Very NICE, That's a fine looking setup.....Thunbs%20Up

-------------
With Freedom comes great responsibility, you cannot have one without the other

An armed public are citizens. A disarmed public are subjects.

OATH KEEPER #8233 Support us, and join our cause.

Cyborg


Posted By: Tip69
Date Posted: March/18/2008 at 18:26
looks like you might have been able to go with Low rings with that set up...... did you consider that?
 
Nice set-up... would really like to shoot one!


-------------
take em!


Posted By: Dolphin
Date Posted: March/19/2008 at 12:29
Originally posted by sakomato sakomato wrote:

Hey OLRVRAT

I have just recently rebarreled a rifle to 6.5 rem mag.  I used a 300 win mag action which needed no bolt face work and had a 26" Douglas 1 in 8 #4 contour barrel put on it.

This is the 300 WSM case

 
and the 6.5 rem mag case
 
My guess is you would need little or no bolt face work because there is only .003" difference in the case head.  There might be a question about how the magazine would hold the more slender 6.5 rem mag case.  There might also be a question about whether you would lose some performance because of having to seat the bullets into the case because the magazine might be a little shorter. 
 
Can you measure your magazine and see what COAL is possible?
 
Mine was easy because the 300 win mag magazine has lots of room for the 6.5 rem mag even though it was extremely short for the 300 win mag case and I couldn't load out close to the lands
 
 
I set it so that I could load way out with the bullet because I was advised that the long 140 bullets would take up too much room in the case (these are 130 gr Accubonds)
 
 
But, in my reloading experience that is not a problem.  The 6.5 rem mag case will hold 63 grains of RL22 to the base of the neck and most of my loads are between 56 to 60 grains.  Right now I am loading 60 gr of RL25 and getting 3000 fps and the powder is not compressed at all.  So in my opinion a shorter OAL would certainly be workable.
 
As far as performance, I wanted to shoot the 130 gr Accubonds at 3000 fps.  That velocity is certainly a piece of cake and I have reached 3100 fps without a sweat and no pressure signs with RL22 and RL19.  However, I found that my 1 in 8 barrel really prefers the 140 gr bullets with RL25 and Fed215M primers
 
 
One thing is the load data in the manuals is predicated towards rifles with lower working pressures and it is not even close to what you can obtain with cautiously progressive loading.
 
Now to the loading.  The only cases available are Remington.  They have thick necks that average between .015" to .017".  My gunsmith chambered the neck to .292" which is a little tight and means I have to turn the necks down to .0125".  Now that is a lot of turning!
 
I have a friend who requested I take an old 300 win mag of his and do the same thing but he wanted to be able to shoot factory ammo.  When I took it to the gunsmith I bought a box of factory ammo and took that with me.  The gunsmith called me today and we discussed it and decided on a .298" neck.
 
Dies are not too bad.  I had Lee make me a Collet Neck Sizer and Factory Crimp.  Redding had a Body Sizer and after contacting RCBS we figured out I could use a Competition Seater for the 6.5x55 Swede.
 
Did I miss anything?
 
 
 
Excellent post.  Just curious.  Why don't you have your gunsmith open up your neck of your rifle chamber to avoid having to turn the necks of your catridges so much?

-------------
D. Overton


Posted By: RifleDude
Date Posted: March/19/2008 at 17:28
Nice setup Sakomato!  You and I have some of the same rifles -- I too have a Browning BBR like in your pic, as well as a synthetic stocked Beretta Mato. 

-------------
Ted


Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.


Posted By: sakomato
Date Posted: March/19/2008 at 20:48
Originally posted by Dolphin Dolphin wrote:

Just curious.  Why don't you have your gunsmith open up your neck of your rifle chamber to avoid having to turn the necks of your catridges so much?
 
Hey Dolphin, the delivery of my rebarrelled gun was a difficult one.  The gunsmith is a well known and well recommended smith.  It seems the older Browning BBR's were put together with a sleeve inside the receiver that is pinned in place.  The barrel threads into the sleeve which threads into the receiver.  Everything was very tight and he had to make a special tool to rethread the sleeve into the receiver.  RifleDude, you might remember that if you ever consider rebarreling your BBR.
 
When I sent it off the gunsmith said his reamer had a neck of .296".  When it came back .292" that is OK as long as I do not have to turn past .010" thick.  Besides it may not be possible and definitely would be risky to dismantle that receiver/sleeve/barrel unit.
 
Originally posted by Tip69 Tip69 wrote:

looks like you might have been able to go with Low rings with that set up...... did you consider that?
 
Probably, I was surprised by the small size of the 44 mm objective on the Conquest.  Hadn't thought about lower rings yet.  I will see how my cheek weld places my line of sight next time I have it at the range.
 
Originally posted by Tip69 Tip69 wrote:

 
 would really like to shoot one!
 
Shoots just like a 270! 


-------------
Guns only have 2 enemies, rust and politicians


Posted By: Dolphin
Date Posted: March/20/2008 at 07:05
I see.  Personally I do not know much about the Browning BBR, but now I know more.  I want to say it again.  Excellent well explained post.  Myself, like the pevious poster want to say thanks to people like yourself for being well educated and being able to post such a response in a well thought out manner that was a direct answer to olrvrat's question.

-------------
D. Overton


Posted By: cyborg
Date Posted: March/20/2008 at 08:00
WOW!!!!! That's an interesting piece of info on those. I wouldn't want to smith one. I'd screw it up real good.....Bucky

-------------
With Freedom comes great responsibility, you cannot have one without the other

An armed public are citizens. A disarmed public are subjects.

OATH KEEPER #8233 Support us, and join our cause.

Cyborg


Posted By: sakomato
Date Posted: March/23/2008 at 21:31

Well, it might have been a bit of trouble but I think it was worth it!!

 
And this was with a 10 to 20 mph wind blowing from right to left!
 
And I take back every bad thing I ever said about Sierra!  Big%20Grin
 
The flyer was the last shot.  Roll%20Eyes  Cencored


-------------
Guns only have 2 enemies, rust and politicians



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