Gents,

I've got a nice BRNO 602 that was worked over by Tom Burgess. Current caliber is .375 and barrel length is 25".

Thinking about reboring to .404 (.423) and shortening barrel to 21-22".

Any issues with that plan? Think the rebore/rechamber is viable?

Thanks

IMHO that would be excellent.
The barrel from the factory is about a number 4 sporter that is about 0.670" diameter at 25" muzzle.
If that is a factory barrel, it will probably be about 0.700" diameter at muzzle if you cut it to 22" length, and that is more than enough to take a rebore from .375 to .423-caliber for the .404 Jeffery.
That is IMHO, but the re-borer man has to approve too, eh?

Opening the bolt face and extractor claw for 404 Jeffery is minor, the diameter to accommodate the 404 jeffery rim is just .012" bigger, 12-thou.

Minor feed work on the rails and ramp might be required, or it might work as is, but could be smoothed up maybe.

Have you tried some feed dummies in 404 Jeffery?



I still have one of those BRNO ZKK 602's that started out as a factory .375 H&H.
It had the barrel cut to 22" and a custom walnut stock before I bought it at Boondock Sporting Goods in Eagle River, AK, about 1992.

Eventually I made the mistake of having it rechambered to .378 Weatherby, 22" barrel is too short for that, muzzle blast!

So to rectify this, I had it rebarreled to 500 A-Square and put it in a McMillan stock, and added a Wisner safety. Excellent performance.





Iron sights on the above 500 A2 (.510 JAB) BRNO ZKK 602, with 23" barrel,
but scopes galore are possible with any rings suitable for a CZ 550 Magnum. The OEM CZ rings are as strong as you will ever get.

Same 500 A2 BRNO and a Ruger No. 1 500 A2, both lying on the skin of the buffalo that the BRNO took:



Boredom set in after a decade or so, so this rifle was re-barreled again to .500/.338 Lapua Magnum Improved 2.670" aka the 12.7x68mm Magnum:







Now it is going to get its fourth barrel: .408 Culloden (.408/.338 Lapua Magnum 2.700").

So I will have 4 barrels and two stocks for this rifle, and it is still going strong.

The trigger is still the factory version that is pinned to the bottom metal, the one-piece, curved, non-set trigger. Still good.
I just could not tolerate a bass-ackward safety, easily replaced.



Rifles in Progress by
Riflecrank Internationale Permanente aka Squirrel Killer
Pet Wildcat Certifying Authority and Tree Rat Control Agent
NRA Life Benefactor and Beneficiary
https://home.nra.org/

That is a great history. Thanks for sharing.

quote:

Originally posted by 10generation:
Gents,

I've got a nice BRNO 602 that was worked over by Tom Burgess. Current caliber is .375 and barrel length is 25".

Thinking about reboring to .404 (.423) and shortening barrel to 21-22".

Any issues with that plan? Think the rebore/rechamber is viable?

Thanks

One thing to keep in mind is that removing 3" of barrel and reboring from .378" to .423", by my very rough calculations will decrease the overall weight of the rifle by about .68 pounds, while increasing the recoil proportionally.

I had my ZKK 602 rebarreled to .500 Jeffery, but I used a heavier weight barrel and also had it restocked. The recoil is quite bearable.