30-338 WM to 338 WM

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30-338 WM to 338 WM

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21 July 2015, 09:34

Austin Hunter

30-338 WM to 338 WM

I may be able to acquire a 30-338 that my dad had made around 1960 that I gave away in the 90's.

i don't have much use for another .30 caliber rifle and don't have a 338 Win Mag.

If I rebored to 338 WM, would there be any changes to chamber other than the neck? And if so, would the chamber clean up or would the barrel have to be set back a bit.

"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" -- Ronald Reagan

"Ignorance of The People gives strength to totalitarians."

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21 July 2015, 16:43

snowman

Should be the same chamber. Seems like a lot of work just to get a 338.

21 July 2015, 21:27

eyeman

Rebarrel it as there are a lot of good barrel makers. Shilen is in the Dallas area and make great barrels.

21 July 2015, 21:46

Austin Hunter

Drop on a #2 on there! Screw those big heavy barrels

Thinking about a 25"

22 July 2015, 05:17

Atkinson

Not a problem..just rebore it to .338 for about $200. or buy a new Douglas barrel, or I prefer Lothar Walthar barrels, that cost more.

Re-boring is about 1/2 the cost of a re-barrel that has to be threaded, chambered, crowned, and installed, and inletted. Ive had outstanding luck with re-boring by High Plains Reboring, Norman Johnson, email him, he won't answer the phone!

Both need to be blued, unless you go with SS..

23 July 2015, 00:09

Stonecreek

Simply reboring the barrel without setting it back and rechambering will work, but the resulting chamber may or may not be quite within SAAMI specs, depending on how close the original reamer was to a standard .338. But if you plan to handload for it and not depend primarily on factory loads, then you can get by with a simple rebore. The reboring shop will have to ream out a little leade, but that doesn't require a full rechamber.

23 July 2015, 21:36

Austin Hunter

Well, found out the rifle is built on a Springfield (when I was a kid, didn't know the action). I was really hoping for a pre-64 model 70 or Mauser.

However..... my dad's friend has two other rifles he wants to know if I'm interested in. One is a 458 win Mag built on a pre-war Model 70. It was custom built for a man that never took it to Africa. The last person to shoot it was Finn Aagard when he visited my dad's friend. Now, I have a 458 WM already (got one from Ray), so I will probably pass. He also has a custom 300 H&H built on a pre-war M70. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I'm going to check this one out.

03 August 2015, 09:12

.366torque

quote:
Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Well, found out the rifle is built on a Springfield (when I was a kid, didn't know the action). I was really hoping for a pre-64 model 70 or Mauser.

However..... my dad's friend has two other rifles he wants to know if I'm interested in. One is a 458 win Mag built on a pre-war Model 70. It was custom built for a man that never took it to Africa. The last person to shoot it was Finn Aagard when he visited my dad's friend. Now, I have a 458 WM already (got one from Ray), so I will probably pass. He also has a custom 300 H&H built on a pre-war M70. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I'm going to check this one out.

Dang! Luck has favored you!

18 August 2015, 20:55

Atkinson

Austin,
A 300 H&H on a mod. 70 is not only a great investment, but it's one of the most outstanding 300 magnums out there..Handloaded it can only be beat by the Wbys etc. and then only by about 100 FPS..Its one of my all time favorite calibers. A mix of nostalgia and performance that's hard to beat. Go for it.